A venture capital-backed coffee chain debuts in L.A. Are locals buying it?

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Set us as preferred After months of anticipation, Blank Street opened its first Los Angeles location in Studio City on Aug.12.

Launched as a coffee cart in Brooklyn in 2020 by former tech entrepreneurs Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha, the venture capital-backed cafe chain has since grown to nearly 100 locations around the world.The company announced its West Coast debut in April, with locations in Studio City and Beverly Hills originally slated to open in June.While the Beverly Hills outpost is still forthcoming, the Studio City location was quick to draw lines.

On Tuesday morning, dozens queued up, sometimes wrapping around the shop’s interior.On the menu are Blank Street’s signature drinks, all of which can be ordered with espresso or matcha as the base, including the cookie butter-flavored Blondie latte, the cinnamon- and honey-forward Daydream latte and the shaken vanilla bean cold brew or matcha.The Cortado Cloud, a 4-ounce espresso or matcha drink sweetened with vanilla syrup and finished with a thick cream top, is exclusive to Studio City.

Customers at the first L.A.outpost of coffee chain Blank Street appreciate the shop’s signature drinks.

But some worry about the expanding company’s effect on small neighborhood business.Customers didn’t have to wait long to try Blank Street’s beverages.Lines at the tech-driven cafe move quickly thanks to automatic espresso machines that produce eight espresso shots at a time and up to 700 per hour.

Patrons who place orders via the Blank Street app can bypass the line and approach the counter directly to pick up their drinks.“The line was long, and we got these drinks in, like, three minutes,” said Angela Guice, a Studio City resident who has previously visited Blank Street’s East Coast locations.

“The coffee shops I love, they take a long time.Blank Str...