La La Land Cafe lands at Irvine Spectrum
- Share via
Coffee is certainly having a moment. From local coffee shops like Costa Mesa’s Neat Coffee, to designer brew like Ralph’s Coffee by Ralph Lauren at Fashion Island, it’s amazing the lengths caffeine lovers will go for their lattes.
The latest coffee craze contender in Orange County is La La Land Kind Cafe, which opened its first O.C. location at Newport Beach’s Lido Marina Village in March. La La Land Cafe at Irvine Spectrum Center, which has been operating on a soft open basis, will hold its grand opening Saturday.
For the record:
12:53 p.m. May 4, 2026A previous version of this story identified the restaurant as La La Land Kind Cafe. Ownership recently dropped “Kind” from its name.
During the middle of this week, a long line of customers queued up outside the cafe near Old Navy. Viral drinks, like a banana cloud latte, made with a choice of espresso or ceremonial matcha and topped with a frothy, banana foam cloud is part of what makes the concept popular.
“We actually rolled out the banana cloud latte less than a year ago and it’s such a game changer,” said Courtney Alacano, a training manger who started with the company as a barista five years ago. “We make it with fresh bananas.”
Other specialty beverages include the French toast latte, available iced or hot with maple and cinnamon and the Einspanner latte, which is topped with flaky salt for a savory sip. There are also traditional coffee options like an Americano, cappuccino and cold brew.
The food menu includes light bites like “the queen” avocado toast, which layers avocado mash, cream cheese, everything seasoning, chili flakes and lemon zest and turkey sausage and four cheese egg bites, served with a side of La La sauce (a spicy aioli.)
Kindness is also a major tenant of the cafe, which prints positive slogans like “just love to each other” on its signature sunny, yellow cup sleeves.
“The whole idea of La La Land is that we create a safe space and home for every single person who walks in here,” said Alacano. “That’s the goal of our team.”
A cup of coffee with a side of kindness isn’t the only thing drawing customers. La La Land Cafe has a nonprofit extension, the La La Foundation, which supports foster youth.
The first La La Cafe was developed in 2019 as a way to offer paid internships for individuals aging out of foster care through the La La Workforce Development Program. A “cornerstone initiative” for the foundation, the program focuses on foster youth ages 17 to 25 who are transitioning out of the foster care system.
“We started the nonprofit to help aged out fosters get their first job experience,” said Alacano. “It really helps them jump into a career and get basic job experience.”
Along with the professional development, the foundation also offers a scholarship program, mentorship opportunities and hosts fundraising events through out the year across its U.S. locations in Texas, Tennessee and California.
La La Land Cafe’s unique mission is what inspired Terri Rouzan and her daughter to make the drive from Riverside County to Irvine Spectrum on Wednesday afternoon.
“I worked in the court system and worked a lot with the juvenile courts as well,” said Rouzan. “I know that stats show that kids in the foster care system, if they don’t have support after they age out, it’s a challenge for them in adulthood.”
Rouzan is retired now, but during her career she witnessed foster youth struggling with mental health issues and homelessness. When she learned about La La Land Kind Cafe’s foundation, she wanted to come support it.
“When there is a program that is really trying to help young people transitioning out of foster care, it’s so important because they don’t have a lot of opportunities,” said Rouzan.
During the grand opening on May 2, La La Land Cafe will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The cafe will offer 50% off all drinks and toasts, and gifts and prizes will be awarded to the first 300 customers in line.
La La Land Cafe Irvine is located at 756 Spectrum Center Drive, Suite 756, Irvine. For details, visit lalalandcafe.com
