The appeal of the indie coffehouse hasn't been fully exorcised from my 21st century modus operandi; I suppose I'm Gen X to the core, easily seduced by a yellow-lit room full of mismatched and well-worn furniture, singer-songwriter melodies emanating from low-fi boombox speakers, and walls bearing a wagon-train display of local artists' efforts. This is probably why I was recently tickled pink to rediscover Lulu's Beehive on the Sherman Oaks/Studio City borderline when I wandered in one overly warm morning and tucked into a latte and a look-see at the latest inky LA Weekly. It seems the Beehive and its caffeinated goings-on survived where so many other indies didn't as the mighty 'bucks and Coffee Beans bulldozed their way onto a corner--and corners--near you. Lulu's comes with the prerequisite tables of industry types talking about the Toronto Film Festival and has ample table-top space and plugs for the ubiquitous laptops of the lower eastside of the Valley. I'm shamefully impressed by their extensive selection of sugar-free Torani syrups; perhaps a survival strategy is to cater to the NutraSweet ingesting South Beach Diet denominator in the clientele. No matter. I was enamored with my (sugar free) Almond Latte and toasted everything bagel, and smugly appreciative of the multiple carvings that defaced the top of the table my goodies sat on. And even though I'm sitting here writing this, sipping my Grande house brew from my local corporate coffee-teria, my heart belongs to the indies.

Lulu's Beehive
13203 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City 818 986 2233