A line snaked out of Harun Coffee at its grand reopening in Leimert Park last week, and customers passed the time taking selfies in front of the A-frame mirror sign out front. Inside, they settled on furniture that doubled as functional art, including a two-tier table and stools created by designer Shin Okuda for the neighborhood coffee shop.
“As someone who likes visiting different coffee shops, I thought this one was really unique,” said Sneh Chawla, a Palms resident visiting Harun for the first time. “I love that it has that community feel.”
Founded by former music executive Chace Johnson in 2019, Harun Coffee was forced to close in 2023, marking a disturbing trend of minority-owned businesses closing in the historically Black neighborhood, including long-running Eso Won Books and Swift Cafe. Since then, an effort to preserve Leimert Park's identity has taken hold, led in part by Community Labs, a private investment firm founded by Prophet Walker and Cheron Hall with the mission of nurturing and protecting the legacy of underrepresented communities.
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“We are part of a really powerful movement that will pour into this community to create commercial revitalization and beautiful spaces where we can identify,” Hall said.
The symbolic heartbeat of Leimert Park, Degnan Boulevard, looks different than when Harun closed its doors three years ago. Long-running Hot and Cool Cafe has transformed into ORA, a spacious co-working oasis with coffee, slushies and all-day brunch. A few doors down is Plant Chica, a community-focused nursery that was forced to relocate when new development forced it from its home in West Adams. Next door to Harun, you'll now find Lore, a Black-owned bookstore that builds on the legacy of Eso Won Books.
“Every community goes through peaks and valleys, and I think we're on the verge of another peak now after some really tough times,” Johnson said.
The new Harun Coffee focuses on African coffee traditions, with an expanded food menu led by Alta Adams chef and owner Keith Corbin and an attached speakeasy that affirms the South Los Angeles community as a nightlife destination.
“Leimert [Park] “It is affectionately known as Africatown or Little Africa,” Johnson said. “I thought it was important to reflect what has always been part of the neighborhood.”
The compact interior features bright lemon-lime walls and a window nook with seating that overlooks Degnan Boulevard. Open a shelf packed with Harun products to reveal the newly opened listening room awash in a rich eggplant hue, from the walls to the plush rug to the stage where local artists like musician Terrace Martin perform.
All of Harun's coffee drinks feature Ethiopian beans and a new selection of mocktails is designed to complement the nightly lineup, including a seasonal tonic with makrut lime leaf, oleo saccharum and sea moss.
“It's about paying homage to the place that really started the coffee phenomenon,” Johnson said. He was also inspired by the coffee culture in places like Morocco and Egypt, where the drink is consumed late into the night. “It's about coming together and slowing down for a moment.”
The breakfast menu is based on flaky buttermilk biscuits that Corbin also offers at his West Adams restaurant, but at Harun they can be paired with house-smoked salmon for a tasty start to the day, or whipped cardamom butter and seasonal citrus jam for a dessert. In the evening, the menu switches to bar snacks, including tamarind-glazed pecans and a nostalgic brown butter coffee cake inspired by the one served to Los Angeles Unified School District students and staff since 1954.
Both Hall and Johnson recognize the importance of coffee shops as essential sites for community organizing and are hopeful the tradition will continue in Harun.
“Coffee has been a spark for radical thinking and new ideas throughout history, whether it's musicians coming together to play music in a cafe, or politicians and changemakers and local organizers coming to discuss new ideas,” Hall said. “That must be kind of an anchor… and then, great coffee, great food.”
Harun Coffee is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
haruncoffee.com, instagram.com/harun.coffee
