The Helio Cafe

This place has closed as of Spring 2016.

?? Is this place closed? I’ve been by 3 or 4 times since I moved to the area and it’s always closed, the website is down, and no one is answering the phone. I really wanted to check this place out but I guess that might not happen.

This place never opens on time! Wtf. Still waiting for the owner to show up. 15 min. passed and counting.

Love this coffee joint. They’ve got amazing, tasty, small batch coffees. My favorite is the Vietnamese. They are very friendly and passionate about coffee. They also make sandwiches on baguettes that taste so bomb.

I like this neighborhood coffee shop! I only wished they had longer hours on the weekend, and outlets downstairs, and maybe cheaper tea. $ 4 is a lot for iced tea. But they have a good atmosphere and a very friendly staff! I hope they stick around awhile.

Good cold brew. He said it was brewing for 15 hours. Was a little concerned with the translucency but had quite a bit of flavor.

Great little coffee shop. The owner is really nice and you will find him behind the bar making your drinks with love. Come for great coffee stay for the atmosphere.

great place to hang out. Coffee is top notch, customers are easy to get to know and the music is always good. If you are in a rush and want that typical over the counter fast manufactured watered down coffee, this is not your place. But if you want a good, strong fair trade coffee and know that it is worth the time to make, come here and get to know the place.
Everyone here is always friendly.
oh, and try their lemonade. Tart and not overly sweet. so good on a hot LA day!

While driving around looking for a coffee place other than Starbucks, we decided to trust old reliable Unilocal and found this place. It was 9am, so the street was quiet. We weren’t sure if the store was open because of the dark colored windows, but parked and proceeded to go in.
We were greeted by who I’m assuming was the owner since his references about the coffee and décor were all possessive. We ordered two Vietnamese coffees and a cold brew coffee. The Vietnamese coffees were definitely an «experience.» We were told the coffee was actually imported from Vietnam and would need time to brew the authentic way. It took a while for us to get our Vietnamese coffees, but they were unique and delicious. I’ve had a Vietnamese coffee before and since it has condensed milk, it is usually very sweet. You almost feel bad for ordering it. This was different. It was sweet, but the owner said he did not add a lot of condensed milk because the coffee itself was sweet. I have never had coffee that tasted like this and I’ve traveled a lot. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the coffee, but it was definitely a unique taste for me.
Be careful with parking, owner said that they give tickets pretty often. The place had a quirky/​artsy vibe. Prices were reasonable. Great little stop.

A really great spot that’s so close to home. The areas been in dire need of a coffee shop and this one delivers. A very great atmosphere and great coffee.

I love helio café! the baby bear is my fav drink. And the owner is very friendly can I add they have 2 floors which is greAt for a study session. He has pink lids so cute

I’ve now been on three separate occasions when the café was closed after it was supposed to have opened, or before it was supposed to be closed. The one time I actually got inside, the barista seemed confused as to how to make the drinks on the menu.
The neighborhood needs a great coffee shop, and I wish this was it.

I look for the truly cool places. The places that aren’t trying to be cool, they were just born that way.
If you don’t like high end coffee shops because they feel alienating, then Helio Café is your spot. Personally, I’ll go anywhere that makes the best coffee, but I only become a regular when a place is as legit as this café. Contrary to one reviewers experience, when I walk in to Helio I am greeted by name, and I notice that everyone else is also. Elias and I talk about the finer points of different beans and brewing methods, and the rougher points in life. Some shops are rude, some are disingenuously friendly. Elias is neither, and feels like an actual honest to god friend. Love this place.

This is a fanTASTIC neighborhood spot that I am guilty of not visiting often enough. Back before Eli took it over and it was still Cafecito… it was kind of dingy and I never really liked to go in there, even though the coffee was decent.
Since Eli has taken it over, it has gone through many changes aesthetically, and he is constantly experimenting with new menu items, and they are always awesome. He is awesome, super knowledgable and passionate about his craft. The space is awesome, the coffee is awesome, and I really do enjoy going in there! I need to make an effort to pop in once a week, especially since I live within walking distance!
Favorites: Vietnamese iced coffee (great hot too, he uses Trung Nguyen Creative 4 last time I checked) and I had the Baby Bear latte (steamed milk with honey and cinnamon with a shot dropped in) this morning which was incredibly satisfying!
I know Helio is in a little bit of a weird spot, but if you are in the area you definitely owe it to yourself to stop in!

I’ve been to this place twice. Once directly after the transition from Cafecito, and I remember it being a little over priced in comparison. With the original Cafecito being a stones throw, I just never came back.
Today, I was in the Heliotrope neighborhood and thought I’d try it again. I waited exactly 7 minutes (I was taking note) and left without being acknowledged. There were 3 other people in the store, presumably waiting for drinks.
I’ve put my fair share of years working in the service industry. I totally get being busy or taking your time to make a good product or shit just going horribly wrong, but to not be acknowledged is kind of a deal breaker for me. You can have the best product in the city, but terrible service will kill your business. Again, I don’t mind waiting for something, but I don’t want to stand there, arms crossed, wondering whether the barista knows I’m there.
Really a shame, too. Not many places serve Four Barrel in LA.
Back to Cafecito I go.

The new improvements to seating and work space sealed this place as my «get stuff done» spot.
My new favorite drink on the menu is the iced chai latte. Couple that with the fixed/​new AC and Helio is a chill respite from the heat.

I go here on a weekly basis hoping against hope that the burgeoning friendship between the owner and Nathan Fielder will be rekindled. They really did well on social outings, and I feel like if they did start to hang out that they would probably have a really good time.
Also, the coffee is good.

Really cool place to stop by and grab a drink but it’s a little too small to spend time browsing web or reading because there are not to many seats. You don’t want to hold up the seat.

So, what’s this «café» stuff about? You already know about the _​_​_​_​ing amazing coffee. This follow up is about the _​_​_​_​ing amazing food.
I dropped in because I was working nearby and there’s a dearth of anything edible in the neighborhood unless you consider Burger King or Fritos health food. I knew they had a modest food menu at Helio. I was blown away, not just surprised, but honestly blown away by the quality of the lunch du jour.
It was homemade asparagus and pea quiche with small side salad. Well, that may sound quite ordinary — plenty of horrible, tacky frozen quiche out there in the world, which has unfortunately become the norm thanks to the likes of stouffers and Marie Callendars. This quiche was fresh, homemade, with a handmade, hand-​crimped organic crust. In fact, I was informed that the entire quiche was organic, and the side salad as well. The ladies who served it also make all of the baked goods at Helio, which are simply divine. (I sampled some anise biscuits while waiting, those were to die for too.)
What did I pay for the homemade organic quiche lunch plate (which BTW was a very generous slice)? Oh, around $ 8. Talk about mind blowing. If this lunch were served on the west side, that plate would’ve been $ 15 or more.
In case you were wondering about the food. Don’t. Just expect the same high quality, as the coffee — somewhere in the atmospheric realm of heavenly.

Wow oh whoa yow aaaghghghlabunga! The Americano is invincible here. It was so strong and it even had that brown layer of oil on top that marks a very fresh bean. This was one of the best Americanos I could recall having in recent history. The owner could have convinced me that he was growing and preparing coffee plants at the walkway in the back, it was so fresh, but he said that it was imported from San Francisco.
I watched a documentary on coffee based on this woman’s Fulbright scholarship to study coffee in Italy and this shop reminds me of this movie. This shop epitomizes a life-​long pursuit to get the perfect cup (perfect notes and taste from freshly prepared beans) that has its rewards in making a good fresh coffee to a great one. The subtle taste of freshness and a distinctly sharp flavor that this coffee offered was that surpassing point.
One thing that I thought was notable about the movie was how being a barista in Italy was a life career there and secondly how Italians emphasized the process of making coffee as an art in opposition to the pre-​grounded coffees of American Starbucks. Well, here it is an art and better than any of the coffee I’ve had at the outdoor cafes in Italia.
Bravi!