Mandarin Coffee Stand

Bright Temple City coffee shop serving espresso drinks, matcha, and pastries from Colossus in Long Beach. The kouign amann and strawberry matcha are definite reorders from the soft-opening visit, and the iced vanilla latte was great too.

A Korean-style coffee counter inside Haven City Market known for cream-top drinks and rotating seasonal specials. The coconut water matcha (a summer-only pour) is a genuinely different way to do matcha, and it's one of the few spots in SGV doing a real Kyoto-style slow-drip cold brew.

Gram Cafe in Monterey Park is all about the souffle pancakes, thick, jiggly, and worth the hype. They can take up to sixty minutes on weekends so order them early. We loved the seasonal mango pomelo version, fluffy, not too sweet, and full of ripe mango. They've also got chicken karaage, unagi, and drinks like the ube and Oreo lattes.