A CUPPA JOE TO GO IN CAR-BESOTTED L.A., COFFEE IS PERFECT DRIVE-UP PRODUCT.Byline: BRAD A. GREENBERG Staff Writer With two young children in the back seat and a long journey to Westwood ahead, Jillian Tribble waited at a Bella Via drive-through window for her almost-daily almond roca Almond roca (sometimes spelled almond rocha) is a confection created in 1923. The term "roca" means rock in Spanish. It comprises almond toffee topped with chocolate and bits of almond. mocha Mocha (mō`kə), town (1990 est. pop. 2,000), S Yemen, a port on the Red Sea. It was noted for the export of the coffee to which it gave its name but declined as a trading port in the late 19th cent. with the rise of Hodeida and Aden. . ``I drive out of my way to get here just because of the convenience,'' Tribble, 42, of Encino said of the Woodland Hills coffeehouse. ``I pass like three Starbucks and two Coffee Beans, but it is just more convenient to drive through when you have kids.'' Tribble is just the kind of customer drive-through coffeehouses cater to. For years, coffee consumption, particularly that of gourmet roasts, has been on a constant climb. And researchers have found there are two things most coffee drinkers consider when buying their brew: quality and convenience. In auto-obsessed Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, where the drive-through was born and people are always in a hurry, the marriage of premium roasts and pull- up windows seems like fate. It may prove so for Neill Anderson, 48, of Newhall. Last year, the former plumbing manufacturer embarked on a new career, buying two former Coffee Kiosks -- in Fullerton and Woodland Hills -- and renaming them Bella Via. On busy mornings, Anderson, whose SUV license plate is MRKOFFE, can be seen beside car windows, taking orders. ``What can I get you guys today?'' the tall, friendly man with red cheeks and a round belly asks. ``Any whipped cream on that?'' Anderson was moved to open Bella Via in late April by his own coffee consumption, which, coupled with his wife's, runs about $600 a month. ``I figured there must be more people like me out there,'' he said. And there are. Plenty. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recent survey by the National Coffee Association, 82 percent of Americans drink coffee, with 56 percent sipping at least a cup every day. Both are a few percentage points higher than the year before, which were higher than the year before that, and so on. Half of those surveyed in December by the market-research firm Mintel barely pause between picking up their coffees and returning to their cars. ``It doesn't matter if there is nice dark wood inside. They don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. if there is Wi-Fi. They don't care what is going on in there. They are just getting their coffee and getting out of there,'' said Bill Hulkower, an L.A.-based analyst for Chicago-based Mintel. For decades, drive-through coffeehouses have been mostly an entry point for people who wanted to sell coffee but lacked the capital to open a cafe, said Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the Specialty Coffee Association of America The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) is a trade organization for the specialty coffees industry. The SCAA seeks to set standards for growing, roasting, and brewing premium coffees. . ``Now, it's pretty much assumed,'' he said. In 1948, In-N-Out Burger In-N-Out Burger is a privately owned and operated fast food restaurant chain in the Western United States. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Irvine, California, In-N-Out Burger has since expanded to Arizona and Nevada, and has announced plans to build in southern Utah. opened in Baldwin Park Baldwin Park, city (1990 pop. 69,330), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, in the fertile San Gabriel valley; settled 1870, inc. 1956. Its industries include metal fabrication, printing, and plastics manufacturing. what the company believes was the first-ever drive-through restaurant. Thirty-seven years later in Hermosa Beach Hermosa Beach (hûrmō`sə), city (1990 pop. 18,219), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1907. It is a residential suburb and a popular resort noted for its fine, sandy beaches and excellent surf. , Starbucks opened its first Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, drive-through. ``Drive-through service provides a convenient alternative for many of our customers, such as parents with sleeping children in their cars, commuters and customers in bad weather who would prefer to stay in their cars,'' said Starbucks local representative Montey Dunn. Drive-through stores have higher operating costs, but also provide a higher sales-to-investment ratio, Dunn said. But a shortage of available space in premium L.A. and San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. locations has slowed the spread of the coffee giant's drive-throughs. There are 40 countywide and four in the Valley -- in North Hills, Reseda, San Fernando and Van Nuys. Starbucks plans to open three more this side of the hill this year. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , people like Evi Avrahami of Woodland Hills will keep going to Bella Via every morning. ``I used to go to the Starbucks down the road, but there you got to park and wait in line. It's a waste of time,'' the 33-year-old diamond dealer said after replacing the previous day's cup with a new roast. brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com (818)713-3634 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Irene Gampel, in car, gets her coffee at Bella Via drive-through coffee house on Friday while employee Charles LaFerrera hands out her order. The drive-through coffee house is on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion