The new Intelligentsia Coffee drive-through location in Santa Monica. All images courtesy of Intelligentsia Coffee.
Drivers seeking quick pick-me-ups in Santa Monica gained a surprising option this month as Intelligentsia Coffee opened its first drive-through coffee bar.
The shop represents Intelligentsia’s first new retail location in more than five years, and its first since reintroducing a more conventional drinks program to its formerly instant-focused Pasadena Illumination Bar.
Off Pico Boulevard, the new shop occupies an A-frame building that formerly housed a Wienerschnitzel, with patio seating for more than 40 and access for foot, bike and car traffic. Walk-up customers order from one side of the building, while cars pull through the other.
A single coffee station in the 250-square-foot coffee kitchen serves both sides, with a Quad Crathco dispenser for cold options and a Fetco XTS system for batch brews. Baristas work with a La Marzocco Swan grinder and Puqpress auto-tamper to prepare shots pulled on a 2-group La Marzocco KB90 espresso machine.
“We did our best to maximize the efficiency of the menu and the equipment to keep wait times down,” Intelligentsia Coffee Vice President of Retail Lori Haughey told Daily Coffee News. “We have also planned ahead with some extra power outlets if we really end up doing next level volume that warrants adding additional equipment in the future.”
Founded in Chicago in 1995, Intelligentsia became a leading figure in the “third wave” specialty coffee movement, emphasizing producer relationships and detailed provenance in both sourcing and service.
In 2015, the company was acquired by Peet’s Coffee after Peet’s was purchased by German billionaire family-owned JAB Holding Company. Intelligentsia currently operates 12 locations across four U.S. cities, plus four more in South Korea. The Santa Monica shop is Intelligentsia’s fifth in the Los Angeles area.
Haughey said the Santa Monica shop borrows speed-oriented techniques from Intelligentsia’s high-volume private event operations.
“In those settings, we commonly make one drink every 13 seconds. We took learnings from there and combined them with the product mix from Venice and Silver Lake to better understand what customers will order,” Haughey said. “We made sure the most popular offerings can be cranked out fast and the less popular offerings won’t freeze the queue.”
In recent years, Intelligentsia has also shown a willingness to experiment. At its Illumination Bar in Pasadena, for example, espresso drinks were initially prepared using a freeze-dried, instant version of its Black Cat espresso blend. While drive-through service may feel like a pivot from the brand’s legacy cafe experience, Haughey said it is meant to be an additional option, not a replacement.
“The location is intentionally more than just a unique drive-through. While designed for the on-the-go commuter, the walk-up counter and the thoughtfully renovated patio space are there to provide that classic, relaxed coffeebar experience for the neighborhood,” Haughey said. “It allows us to meet every guest where they are.”
Intelligentsia Coffee Santa Monica Coffeebar is located at 3010 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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