Takagi Coffee on 3rd Street

 Takagi Coffee, originally from Tokyo, is now an international franchise. Los Angele's Takagi Coffee opened a few weeks ago and has been all the rave.

I went with my friend Jean last week but the line was too crazy and we couldn't find parking. it was Sunday afternoon and the IG commercial had been flying around the internet.

I went again by myself on a Tuesday afternoon and got in with ease.

i sat at the counter that surrounds the Baristas, right next to the back.

It's a new place so i was able to hear how the trainers from Tokyo were addressing issues with the servers who i assume live in LA and for the most part were not from Japan.

My image is that if you are trained in Japan, it is tough live 100% of the time. However, we are in LA and I really enjoyed hearing these Japanese trainers use a very friendly and almost joking tone with their very young servers. It was such a contrast of what I think would be the same scenario in Japan. I loved that cultural nuance.

I went for the tofu salad and it was great and huge.  Of course i finished it all with a smile but no room for pancakes. Boo.

As advertised, the coffee was excellent, the Om-Rice delicious and that Chicken Katsu was sentimental and juicy. There a few more classics on the menu I would like to go back for in the near future.