A turnkey coffee shop inside a century-old Fashion District building has new owners, a new mission, and a strange new drink: soup served like a latte. Espresso Scene, at 817 S. Los Angeles Street in Downtown Los Angeles, officially opened on September 1 with a ribbon-cutting that included a mariachi band and community partners, according to co-owners Mayan Arias and Ryan Jackson.
Arias and Ryan Jackson purchased the existing cafe about a month before the shop's debut, buying it as a turnkey operation and keeping the Espresso Scene name and aesthetic intact, as reported by Los Angeles Downtown News. The pair met while working at a previous restaurant job and had discussed teaming up on a coffee shop for several years before this opportunity came along. Arias, who was born and raised in Los Angeles and has family roots in Oaxaca and Sonora, brings a passion for matcha, espresso, and coffee shops, while Jackson, originally from Hawaii, focuses on business and expansion and says his experiences there shaped his appreciation for community and culture.
A Menu Built on Culture and Curiosity
Arias described Espresso Scene as a community-based coffee shop, and the pair say the menu is designed to incorporate different cultures, reflecting Los Angeles' diversity. Arias has said the cafe will include Hispanic, Mexican and other cultural influences, evident in specialties like horchata matcha and Earl Grey matcha alongside more traditional lattes, cold brews and a cafe de olla cold brew.
The cafe is also introducing its own vendors and products, including bottled beverages, and plans to eventually add pastries, protein bars, breakfast wraps, breakfast burritos and fresh-made sandwiches — though food options remain limited for now while the owners coordinate with distributors. Jackson has said he hopes to give exposure to local food trucks, coffee roasters, vendors and other small businesses through the shop.
Soup, Served Like a Latte
Perhaps the most eye-catching addition to the menu is the soup latte, a caffeine-free drink made using the traditional latte-making process but built around savory, powdered soup bases instead of espresso. Espresso Scene is collaborating directly with Soup Latte and will be one of the concept's first locations offered in Downtown Los Angeles, planning to serve truffle mushroom and coconut curry versions.
The drink itself traces back to David Rio co-founder Rio Miura, who created the Soup Latte concept and debuted it at the Specialty Coffee Association's World of Coffee trade show in April, combining steamed milk with powdered soup bases such as truffle mushroom and coconut curry, according to Perfect Daily Grind. The Specialty Coffee Association went on to officially recognize the Soup Latte as an entrant in its 2026 Best New Product Awards in the specialty consumable category during that same trade show.
Beans From Guatemala, Colombia and Ethiopia
For its actual coffee, Espresso Scene sources beans from Stereoscope Coffee, a Southern California roaster founded in 2013 by baristas and Q-graders that roasts its own beans in-house and operates locations including Buena Park and Echo Park while also serving as a wholesale roaster for independent Los Angeles cafes, per Visit Buena Park. Stereoscope's beans for the cafe come from Guatemala, Colombia and Ethiopia.
A Building With History, a District Built for Foot Traffic
The building housing Espresso Scene is itself a piece of Downtown LA history. The 817 Creative Building at 817 S. Los Angeles St. is a 30,055-square-foot commercial structure originally built in 1916, according to Movoto, now home to a mix of creative office space, retail storefronts and local business activations.
That address sits within the LA Fashion District, a 107-block area home to more than 4,000 independently owned retail and wholesale businesses, per the Fashion District's own account. The district's highest concentration of retail and boutique storefronts runs along Broadway and Los Angeles Street between 8th and 11th streets — the very corridor where Espresso Scene now operates, connecting garment wholesale activity with high-density pedestrian traffic.
Sidewalk Seating and a City Permit Process
Espresso Scene currently has eight seats on the sidewalk and about six seats in a hallway adjacent to the cafe. Jackson is applying for a special-use permit for additional sidewalk seating, a process that in Los Angeles means securing a Revocable Permit, or R-Permit, through the city's Bureau of Engineering.
Under city policy updated in 2023, that process requires a formal application review, liability insurance, a waiver of damages and a one-time Sewerage Facilities Charge per added seat, according to the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering. Sidewalk seating citywide is also shifting under the city's permanent Al Fresco program, which moves temporary outdoor dining authorizations into a formal operator pathway starting this coming July 1, with a final deadline of April 1, 2027, for businesses to secure full building permits and certificates of occupancy, according to Archipartners Design.
Leaning on a Local Lender
Espresso Scene has also connected with Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit that supports aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. Founded in 2008 and certified as a Community Development Financial Institution in 2020, Inclusive Action supported nearly 1,500 local community members in 2024 by distributing nearly $1.25 million in low-interest microloans and grants alongside more than 860 hours of business coaching, according to Cause IQ.
The organization's lending has skewed heavily toward entrepreneurs who often lack the collateral traditional banks require: as of late 2024, 57 percent of Inclusive Action's client portfolio consisted of women-owned businesses, while 95.8 percent were owned by Black, Native American or other minority entrepreneurs, per the Los Angeles Business Journal.
What Comes Next
For now, Espresso Scene is open seven days a week, initially running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., though Arias and Jackson plan to expand those hours over time. The two are also considering an extended mocktail program from 2 to 5 p.m. down the line.
Beyond drinks and pastries, the owners describe a longer-term vision for the space: Arias and Jackson envision Espresso Scene becoming a resource for the community through partnerships and job training, building on the connections they've already made with local vendors, roasters and nonprofit partners. Updates on the cafe's hours, menu additions and the sidewalk permit are expected to follow on its Instagram account, @espresso_scene.
