Say You Want A Revo-lution - Hangin' Out at Revo Cafe in Atwater Village

Growing up in Los Angeles, as a teen, there was a dearth of places to go hang out in. My only choice back in the day was the Glendale Galleria. Today, there’s all sorts of places withing walking, biking and subway distance. It’s always interesting to see how the urban landscape has progressed over time.

On Thursday night I got to check out another new “hang out ” spot, just blocks from my old high school, nestled in the Atwater Village area, just across Glendale Blvd from my chiropractor’s office.

Situated in a small shopping center where a Coldstone Creamery used to operate, Revo Cafe has only been operating for less than two months, but after hearing about it from a Facebook invite, as well as a friend of mine – who happens to be one of the co-owners of the establishment, and wanted me to perform there, I decided to finally check it out.

It’s in a modern storefront facing Glendale Blvd near the corner of Madera St. Sporting a contemporary design with unique couches, and polished aluminum flooring with LED bulbs mounted at various locations below the floor, it looks clean without being sterile.

On most nights of the week, live music is featured, with Thursday night’s billing belonging to keyboardist Sergey Kyosayan, joined by saxophonist/flautist Katisse Buckingham, who played jazz standards up against the corner of a room under a HDTV monitor. The two possessed great chops, my only complaint was the absence of a percussionist or an upright bassist.

Aside from coffee, their menu specialty is crepes, so I tried the “Adam and Eve” savory crepe ($7), which is comprised of spinach with feta, mozzarella and provolone cheese. It was good, though I was expecting the spinach to be cooked, not fresh, and the crepe to be served at a much hotter temperature.

The crepe came with a mixed-greens salad and vinaigrette dressing, which was great and went well with the crepe.

Later, I had myself the “Revo Latte” ($4) which was served in the fancy Italian style, with the milk foam design up on top. Now that was off da hook!

After the band packed up and as the place was closing down, I had a lengthy chat with my friend Israel, on both the establishment and the neighborhood. He also runs the Artology gallery in the same shopping center, which he’s been extremely busy setting up for the past year or so.

Revo Cafe was formerly located in Glendale, near Chevy Chase and Adams. But one of the partners parted ways with the original management team, bought the rights to the name and set up shop in Atwater Village. Israel told me that the former tenant, the Coldstone Creamery, failed due to extremely poor customer service and an anti-chain attitude in the neighborhood. He told me as they were setting up months ago, locals would be suspiciously inquisitive as to what business was opening up, but soon let their guard down after being assured it was an independently-owned cafe.

He also shared with me the cafe’s nature as not only a business, but an institution for the community. Not only does it host entertainment, but it’s also a registered US Census 2010 polling site, and will host a pet adoption event. It also features an outdoor patio area which plans to host events during the Summer.

If all goes well, I’ll be doing (semi-) acoustic gigs here starting February 21. Either way, you can find me hangin’ out here every so often!

Revo Cafe
3134 Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village
(323) 664- REVO