Check-ins
Come here for
"Toasty"
Organic rooibos milk tea with house espresso, brown sugar syrup and cinnamon.
Vienna Latte
Fresh sweet cream with house espresso, brown sugar syrup and milk.
Uji Matcha Latte
Ceremonial-grade Uji matcha from Kettl.
Red Plum Galette (slice)
A slice of red plum galette from Fuyuko's, listed beside date cake, liege waffles and a whole seasonal galette.
Thursday8 AM – 3 PM
Curator’s note
Sherry Gao poured at Cafe Dulce in Little Tokyo, Go Get Em Tiger and Intelligentsia before she opened Mandarin Coffee Stand in October 2022, on the model of the small coffee stands in Japan where people grab a quick coffee standing at the bar and chat with the baristas. The stand set out from the start to raise the profile of Chinese specialty coffee, and in 2026 Gao took first place at the April Brewers Cup in Los Angeles.
The Coffee
Mandarin is a multi-roaster stand: espresso pulls a house blend of Yunnan and Ethiopian coffees or a seasonal single origin, and the coffee list adds a daily brew until noon, a single-origin cold brew and pour-over. Chinese flavors run through the signatures, from the Gui Hua Latte's osmanthus flower honey and cardamom bitters to a house matcha latte of ceremonial-grade Chinese matcha.
The Vibe
The stand sits inside a glass-roofed arcade off South Lake Avenue, where Mandarin's front is a curved bay window of dark wood and small panes, mandarin lettered in gold above it and a hanging COFFEE sign by the door. Fruit and flowers are hand-painted across the glass, and orange stools and a slatted bench sit out under the arcade's string lights.
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