Eightfold Coffee
· Los Angeles, CA ·
First Impressions
Echo Park has no shortage of good food and coffee, but that doesn't stop new places from popping up all. Many of these come and go without fanfare, but some make their mark and raise the standard for the neighborhood and the industry. Eightfold is one of these. They're doing really good coffee, creating a beautiful cafe, with a peaceful uninterrupted kind of atmosphere. They are tapping into the creative community of the area, attracting a diverse group of people to call Eightfold their home away from home. They're super friendly, excited about their day and their city, and you get the feeling that they always have some new exciting thing up their sleeve that they're about to surprise everyone with.
Eightfold's name is borrowed from one of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path. It lays out the eight concepts one should strive to achieve, including right worldview, right resolve, right moral virtue, right effort and right mindfulness. A similar discipline has gone into the buildout of this shop. There's obvious restraint visually, the owners deciding that less is more. The space is calm and relaxing, somehow encouraging both creativity and rest. There is also an elevated sense of effort and focus that is put into the drinks themselves. This, along with the & Pens Press collab – which brings excellent magazines to the cafe – and the hosting of local artists' works, offers the perfect environment to work out your next big idea. The coffee is top-notch. The bright, airy space is refreshing and the collective energy of the room is genuinely inspiring.
Photos owned and copyrighted by 
Eightfold Coffee and Sprudge contributor Tatiana Ernst and Alex Ljubinovic, Azusa Takano, Caleb Durham, Daniel Byun, Erica Choi, and Syammily.
