Best Coffee Shops to Work or Study From in Westwood
In Westwood the coffee's easy and the outlet isn't. Some rooms have one at every table and some have none at all, and the good seats tend to go by midday.
Below, each coffee shop comes with where to find power and how to hold on to a table. Street parking is mostly two hour meters and the Broxton garage no longer gives free hours, so walking up from campus or taking the bus usually beats circling.
We're remote workers. Grounded exists because figuring this out used to mean reading reviews and zooming into photos hunting for outlets. Every one of these is scored out of 100 on the same four things, WiFi, outlets, seating and parking, the way every café on Grounded is.
You'll see the score here. The four grades behind it, and what the last people in there reported, live in the app.
5 work friendly cafés in Westwood
Espressoteric Coffee Co.
Westwood
Walk south past Wilshire on Westwood Boulevard and you'll usually find a seat. Espressoteric is a brick walled room with couches, armchairs, stools at the bar and a high table in back, and there's an outlet near almost every seat. Every Grounded check in here has found it quiet, and a Grounded speed test came back fast. It's about fifteen minutes on foot from the south edge of campus, or a few stops on the Big Blue Bus. The side streets sometimes have free parking; otherwise it's two hour meters. It shuts at four, which makes it the place for your longest morning.
Sana’a Cafe
Westwood
Upside Down
Westwood
Drinks here are pay what you want. Inside, it's clusters of couches and small tables, with puzzle tables, a grand piano and art on the walls, part lounge and part gallery. The line at opening can run long, so come mid morning once it's cleared. It keeps short hours, weekdays only and done by three, or one on Fridays, so think of it as the stop between classes. Give it your reading and your notes rather than a long day of calls, and it'll be one of the better hours of your week.
Boondocks Coffee Roasters
Westwood
Boondocks roasts coffee from farms in the Philippines, and the name comes from bundok, the Tagalog word for mountain. The room is small, on the Broxton Plaza block, with floor to ceiling windows, couches, a long desk and outlets you can reach. It's popular with students and the sound system gets used, so headphones help, and so does coming early. There's no food, so eat before you settle. The city garage is right on Broxton, though it charges from the first minute now. One visitor who checked in through Grounded stayed close to four hours.
Ministry of Coffee
Westwood
When your day runs long, this is the one to know: it opens at half past six and stays open into the evening. It's an Australian café, the chain's first in the US, with long shared tables under high ceilings. Laptops belong at those shared tables, since some others are kept free of them, and there's usually an outlet close by. Weekends are the hard time for a seat, so save it for a weekday. The lot next door gives you an hour with validation. Then order breakfast, which here means a real plate.
Find your next work spot anywhere
Download Grounded for iOS to discover Wi-Fi-friendly cafés, check in, and track your favorite spots.
Download on the App StoreHow the Grounded Score works
Every café gets a score from 0–100 based on the four things that actually matter when you're trying to get work done. Each one is graded A through F.
- Wi-Fi
Reliable, free Wi-Fi earns the highest grade.
- Outlets
The easier it is to find a plug, the better the grade.
- Seating
Comfort and elbow room for a long session.
- Parking
Free lots grade highest; metered spots grade lowest.
Cafés scoring 80 or higher are Grounded Certified — the spots we'd confidently send you to for a full work session.
Frequently asked
- Which coffee shops near UCLA have the most outlets?
- Espressoteric, where there's an outlet near almost every seat and the high table in back is a good bet. Boondocks has reachable outlets around its couches and long desk. At Ministry of Coffee you'll usually find one close to the shared tables, and at Bluestone Lane the tables inside tend to have one nearby, though they go early.
- Where can I get a seat in Westwood without waiting?
- Espressoteric usually has room, since it sits south of Wilshire, away from the Village. Elsewhere, earlier is better. Bluestone Lane fills with laptops early on weekdays, Boondocks gets busier with students later in the day, Upside Down's line clears by mid morning, and Ministry of Coffee is far easier on a weekday than a weekend.
- Where can I park near a Westwood coffee shop?
- Ministry of Coffee's lot gives you an hour with validation. The city garage on Broxton, right by Boondocks and two blocks from Bluestone Lane, charges from the first minute now, capped for the day. Street parking is mostly two hour meters, and south of Wilshire near Espressoteric the side streets sometimes have free spots. From campus, walking or the Big Blue Bus is usually easier.
- Which Westwood coffee shops stay open latest?
- Ministry of Coffee, which opens at half past six and runs into the evening. Espressoteric, Boondocks and Bluestone Lane close at four and Upside Down at three. For later than that, Elysee Bakery on Gayley and Headlines Diner on Westwood Boulevard stay open until ten or later, though outlets are limited at both.
- Is there a quiet coffee shop in Westwood for studying?
- Espressoteric, which has been quiet on every Grounded check in. Upside Down's couches and puzzle tables suit reading more than calls. Boondocks is livelier, with music on, so bring headphones.
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