Bar Nine

los angeles has more specialty coffee than almost any city in the country, which means the bar for standing out is genuinely high. bar nine, on helms avenue in culver city, has managed it. helms is an interesting corridor to end up on, a stretch that's drawn independent food and design businesses for years, and bar nine fits the pattern without feeling like it's riding on it. you don't have to be a coffee obsessive to appreciate what's here, but if you are, this is the kind of place that rewards that. culver city's got a quieter energy than, say, silverlake or los feliz, and bar nine suits that mood. come for a mid-morning cortado when the street is still finding its feet.