Venice perks up to some corporate caffeine

BOHEMIAN Venice is warming up the cool veneer of corporate coffee.

When a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf opened off the Venice boardwalk last year, locals came in and threw things. After all, in what’s left of socially activist Venice, anything corporately owned is bad.

For a while, there was an unstated boycott of the store, which is incongruously snuggled up to a tattoo parlor and across the street from a noisy bar.

But lately the lines have been getting longer, as the shop has acclimated to its funky environs, and vice versa. That’s partly thanks to the uber-friendly baristas, such as Dave, a massive teddy bear who salutes customers’ selections with “Excellent choice!” and offers samples of the latest ice-blended drink.

“People were a little disgruntled at first, but they’ve slowly been won over by the quality of service,” said Anthony Alonzo, the store’s general manager. “Things have gotten busier. By summer it’s going to be booming.”

By then, of course, Venetians will have a new target for their venom: a -- gasp! -- Pinkberry is opening soon on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

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-- Nicole LaPorte