The Heights is a neighborhood that has quickly become one of Houston’s hottest dining districts, filled with great restaurants, bars, and cafes. This weekend I had a chance to visit a new coffee shop, well known in cities like Dallas & Los Angeles, based on its instaworthy aesthetic and passion for kindness called La La Land Kind Cafe.
La La Land Kind Cafe was established in Dallas with a mission to provide jobs to youth who have aged out of the foster system. The name La La Land land represents a dream world and symbolizes a place where you walk in and feel a true sense of joy for life. You may recognize the name from the viral Tik Tok account @lalalandkindcafe which has over 5.5 Million followers, focusing on normalizing kindness and spreading love.
About the location
La La Land Kind Cafe’s first Houston location is now at 600 North Shepherd Drive, inside the M-K-T Building. M-K-T is a collection of adaptive industrial buildings located in the heart of The Heights. M-K-T is named after the historic Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) railroad line. The abandoned rail line was transformed into the vibrant MKT Heights Hike and Bike Trail forming the project’s 3-acre linear park. You’ll know that you’re at La La Land once you see the bright yellow vintage Chevrolet truck located at the entrance.
La La Land is known for its creative drinks and bubbly staff. When I arrived the line was already out the door but it moved pretty fast. Once you order, getting your actual drinks can take up to 15 minutes (if you get tea, they can make it pretty quickly with no wait) depending on how busy they are. Seen above is the following – The Perfect Latte, Avocado Toast and Green Mango/ Lemonade Tea.
Despite it being busy, the staff was extremely kind and friendly greeting each customer with a “Welcome to LaLa”. It is fairly vibrant inside and there is relatively loud music playing which gives the atmosphere an upbeat vibe, but it does get packed with people waiting for their orders plus seating is limited, so it wouldn’t be the best place to work remotely. There are two outdoor patios, but with the humidity and summer heat waves, it’s hard to sit outside for too long.
SHOP This look
The original location debuted in Dallas in 2019, after Owner Francois Reihani was inspired by learning first-hand from foster youth several years ago about the challenges that some of them faced. Every city that has a La La Land, also has a flagship store that runs an 8-week internship program for foster youth. During the 8 weeks, they learn life skills, on-the-job training, customer service training, and Mentorship.
At the end of 8 weeks, youth can decide what they are passionate about and what career fields they want to go in. They are forever a part of the WAO program to get help with job placement, housing, schooling, and therapy.
Is La La Land Kind Cafe on your Houston bucket list? Let me know in the comments below. I look forward to reading your additional thoughts and experiences, as well as answering any questions you may have!
Until next time,
Stephanie
