In the three years it existed in El Sereno, Antigua Cultural Coffee House established itself as an example of how to run a business that serves the community. Serving one cup of coffee at a time, Antigua’s following snowballed. People from all over LA would come to El Sereno to get a cup of Joe from the little shop that could. Many people loved that it offered free wi-fi, with great coffee and food. Some people loved it because of its fair trade policies, other people liked it because it was an open venue to hold meetings, art shows, recitals…you get the picture.

Even after a successful run, being featured in the Los Angeles Times, Tu Ciudad and Yelp!, among others, it fell victim to a bad lease agreement and had to close shop. In June of 2008 the doors were closed leaving a lot of people without a public place to gather.

Since then, Yancey Quiñones, has been working on his new shop in Cypress Park. Quiñones is very proud of this shop because this is the neighborhood he grew up in. He had always wanted to open in this part of town. He just didn’t know he would be closing one shop to open another. His plan was originally to have both open.

Now, after paying rent to this location for over one year while bringing the location up to code, the new Antigua is ready to open! He started filling his shelves and bringing in furniture all ready. Doors should be open by Labor Day for a soft opening. A grand opening is being planned for November.

The new location at, 3400 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, California 90065, boasts a larger kitchen, wheelchair accessible counters and easy freeway access. The coffee and food will be the same quality you’re used to getting at Antigua. Plans to expand the menu to include hot foods are in the works.

Hope to see you there!

Hit them up on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/antiguacoffeehouse