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Dola
Category: Shopping Books, Mags, Music and Video Newspapers & Magazines Newspapers & Magazines [Edit]
1423 Abbot Kinney BlvdVenice, CA 90293
Neighborhood: Venice
(310) 664-9300
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
13 reviews for Dola
13 reviews in English
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Review from Steven T.
Westwood, CA
10/7/2009
This place is awesome--low key, inexpensive, secret garden, great place to go to read the latest issue of a literary magazine or write in your journal.
My friend says it always seems like people are here collaborating on the next big start-up.
Look Dola's sandwich board on Abbot Kinney. They have generic tea and an Asian water boiler. Don't forget to press the "unlock" button to dispense water. And shake the falling leaves from your hair before you leave. -
Review from Kelley B.
Flower Mound, TX
9/1/2009
The atmosphere is the only thing Dola has going for it. Hidden garden, quiet escape on Abbot, yes, everything else meh! Maybe I am not quite "hipster" enough, but when I go in and ask for a decaf drip and I am told "we might have some on Wed. Try back then." I get a bit confused.
*Concerned look*
"But you are a coffee place, yes? And you sell only drip coffee, nothing else?"
"We have tea and magazines. But if you would like decaf anything, I would check back on Wed."
Hmmm...assume I am trying to support a local business and get Intelligentsia coffee without treking down the few blocks to actual Intelligentsia and waiting in line...not out of laziness, but because I am trying to make my next meeting. Assume I would like coffee (with no caffeine...crazy, right? :P) and do not have time to read. Remind me again why I stopped here!?!
Surprised by the high reviews...maybe if I had a laptop and hours to kill on free wi-fi...even then I would have to send out for food! Must be some amazing coffee when its available :P -
Review from Thomas H.
Chicago, IL
11/22/2008
I write reviews about chocolate chip cookies, this is my review of the chocolate chip cookie at Dola - if the cookie can even be called that.
Dola has an interesting chocolate chip cookie. It's not baked to spread flat. It is a big glob of mostly cooked chocolate chip cookie dough. I'm impressed by the fact that the glob/chunk of chocolate chip cookie is mostly cooked through considering the shape of the end result. I think it's a great concept, like "shah, forget about the cookie shape, it's more like a cloud of cookie dough", cooked through that is.
According to the man at the cashier desk, the ingredients are all organic. Thats cool, hopefully it's true. He also boasts about how good the cookies are when they first arrive in the morning. That is not important to me. The cookie should be good for like 2-3 days depending on storage conditions, bitch.
I think the cookie is a bit much, I think I'd feel gross about eating the whole thing, Helen my BFF can confirm this, she ate half and asked me to eat the other half which is how this review came to be.
It's $3.00 which is pricey for a cookie, don't over charge just because it's big dude.
Hard to describe the dimensions since it's a glob, but it's like 4-5" wide by 2-3" thick.. again hard to describe. Normal sized chocolate morsels, balance of ingredients was ok, there is just too much. I'm supposed to dream about a life with endless supply of these things, not be half way done and think "end this supply already!".
It looks like a cloud for real.
Bonus points for being a west side cookie no doubt, bonus points for being available in a quaint little coffee shop on Abbot Kinney. The doughy object that is this cookie was alright, I guess. Kind of like communism, cool idea not so cool when implemented. Whatever. Try it, you might like it. It's not my forte.
xo -
Review from michelle h.
Santa Monica, CA
5/17/2009
I just logged on to write a review about Dola and I'm surprised everyone is giving this place 4 stars and not 5. I've been coming here for about four months, and Dola is an-out-of-the-box place, a magazine rack with drip coffee so good, it's like crack. People are constantly confused by it, because it's not really a cafe in the traditional sense, it's become one of the best magazine racks on the west side, and in addition to, it's is also a coffee cafe. I've heard people say it reminds them of Buenos Aires. It reminds me of Europe with dogs everywhere and the relaxed atmospheere.
They really do have the best coffee! It's Intelligentsia and brewed so well... they brew it at Gjelina. I was compelled to write this review this morning because while I was at Dola I overheard someone say they were going to Gjelina to get coffee because it was the best, but the same coffee is at Dola! Support Dola!
The guys that work here are all young surfer kids and are super sweet and hard workers. They aren't always at the cash register because they might be next door brewing more coffee or getting hot water, and they are the ones that wash all the cups! Tip them when you're there!
There's internet wifi access and the place is filled with writers who sit there most of the day back in the courtyard, which is also filled with vintage outdoor furniture owned by French 50's and 60's/ Galerie Sommerlath next door.
This is a gem... a place of discovery. It's true Venice.
There're usually tons of parking spots on the street during the week. If you park closer to Venice Blvd, there's 4 hour parking. No meters! -
Review from Savannah R.
Santa Monica, CA
1/16/2009
This place is great. No, not because of their coffee and tea and lack of food (well no food). Or their waaaay over priced magazines. They actually put stickers over the printed prices and sell them for like 1-2$ more, I don't think so. But they do have foreign publications. cool
This place is great for the atmosphere. It's quiet, people are nice, and very serene. I'm so happy there is a little gem of a cafe in Venice. And they do have good juices, I wish they had more though -
Review from Puno i.
Los Angeles, CA
8/8/2008
I'm SOO HAPPY Abbot Kinney finally has a newstand!! They don't have many mags yet since they just opened but they've got Vogue India! That's pretty awesome.
And I think they're accepting recs on mags as well. Very accommodating! :) -
Review from edgenia r.
West Hollywood, CA
7/12/2009
Congrats on finding Dola! You've stumbled upon a great Venice spot. To be honest, I've never purchased a magazine here because I'm not interested in spending 27 bucks on something obscure, but if that's your thing...
Their coffee is great because it lacks that burned taste that other brews may have. If you add a little cream and sugar, and not the refined white disgustingness, but the raw cubes, then you'll really dig it. The newstand is well hidden, and it's great if you want to sit outside in an eclectic courtyard and maybe do your taxes with a "free with purchase" wifi connection. Plus there's typically a cute blond guy manning the fort. Enjoy! -
Review from Jaime L.
Huntington Beach, CA
4/24/2010
---closed-----
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Review from Brooke W.
Santa Monica, CA
11/15/2008
This little hideaway is a gem. Trees sprout in between 2 buildings to provide the roof of this newsstand/coffee shop. In any other city, not having a roof would be a major problem but since it rains so little here, I would think that wouldn't pose much of a risk.
The ladies and I had our book club meeting there one Sunday afternoon and it was the perfect venue for book discussion and for getting in a little gossip. The coffee is from Intelligentsia, so somebody there has got fantastic taste. The magazine selection appears to be right on as well.
they did have a rather large sculpture in the middle of the seating area which was kind of awkward just because it seemed too big for the space. I loved the earthy quality of this Venice nook - the trees, the brick walls, the stone pavers, the open air. I mean, how could you go wrong with that combination?
I hope to spend a ridiculous amount of time here.... -
Review from David L.
6/11/2009
A hidden sanctuary as valuable as a depression-era speakeasy serving the green fairy. Green is key here, and it's quiet, very quiet. That's how the space wants to function, marred only by the occasional Industry fellow reveling in voice projection, as if stillness were a territory to be conquered.
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Review from Eric W.
Los Angeles, CA
4/21/2009
Dola's a great find.
If you want to kick back and relax from the hectic Abbott Kinney scene, sneak into this shady outdoor newsstand and unwind.
It's simple - coffee, tea, water and an eclectic selection of magazines are the only things to purchase. The coffee's great with first rate cane sugar blocks.
Great spot for pet lovers. Owners and their dogs are always soaking in this shady little oasis. -
Review from Leah O.
Venice, CA
4/27/2009
if you cannot bear to sit inside of a coffee shop on a beautiful afternoon, but have a bunch of work to do, you should check out dola on abbot kinney. offering a gardenlike courtyard setting, strewn with funky and oddly shaped chairs and tables, it is a perfect place to pretend to get work done while you surf the web on free wifi. also available for your distraction, is a news stand brimming over with every cool and hard-to-find magazine you could want to read. and last, but not least, many attractive and painfully hip venice locals strung out on caffeine and nicotine.
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Review from Andrea M.
Cambridge, MA
12/16/2008
I actually love the chocolate chip cookie. I CRAVE the chocolate chip cookie. It is decadent, true, but also delicious. I also love this space. It's the only place in the neighborhood where I can go sit comfortably and work for hours on end. At this point they only serve coffee and a few sandwiches and sweets, so I usually bring my own tea or decaf, but they say they're expanding the menu one of these days. And the space is a dream: just a bunch of trees in a beautiful courtyard sandwiched between two buildings with a good old-fashioned newsstand. I always feel like I'm in NY or Paris. It just doesn't feel like LA. It's otherworldly. Love it!
