Cognoscenti Coffee

Cool new place in Atwater!
I was headed to Kaldi with a friend but on a yolo whim decided to try this place.
Decently strong Americano, and not cheap like some of the other places that kinda skimp you *cough cough* café vita.
We also tried their scones which were so freaking good. Not too dry and it had nice dried fruit and chocolate chips with a hint of orange zest mixed in– I only wish that had offered to warm it slightly before serving it to us.
It seems like it gets really crowded, and there isn’t too much seating, so you might be hovering.

I had the honey latte and it was delicious! Decent pastry selection. I went on a Saturday and it was super busy, there were no available seats, but sipping the delicious latte and mozying around Atwater Village was fine.

They make good coffee here and the staff are friendly too. They also offer different brands of beans on the counter for you to buy. The only caveat is that the seatings are quite limited to a few tables inside & out. So when it’s busy, your only option is to take it to go or just finish it there standing.

CogCoffee is great love the workers and love the beans love the work that they do make each cup amazing! There cappuccinos are amazing here along with a Proof’s croissants and you’ll have a perfect day! Thank you for amazing start to my day!

The coffee is just excellent on every visit as I have frequented here a dozen times. This little pop up has the advantage of being at an amazing little bakery. What a great combo. The seating is very tight if you eat in.

What a pleasant surprise, good coffee! Great coffee. I love the one in culver, so now to have one in my hood– along with delicious baked goods! Just perfection. They make a killer almond milk cortado or cappuccino. And way better coffee than across the street…

I’ve only been here a couple of times and enjoyed both visits. The coffee is good but this review is for the chocolate croissants. I can say from plenty of experience that the chocolate croissants in France are quite simply the best in the world, bar none. You can walk into any basic pastry shop and be treated to the best of the best. I’ve had reasonable «imitations» outside of France but nothing compares. Until now. Are they as good as the real thing? That’s tough to say but I will say that they are the first I have ever tried outside the country of escargots, Citroens, and artsy berets that deserve a note of distinction and a 5-​star review on Unilocal.And if you get the last one of the day before I get there, I will hunt you down and stick a baguette so far up your…

The salami sandwich is yummy. Very simple. But the saltiness of the bread and meat are great. I would have liked two for the price though. Felt more hungry by the time I was done with the sandwich. Would’ve loved a baked good but the prices overwhelmed me a bit. The iced coffee, black is pretty delicious. Good quick stop for a small bite. Not best place to do work or hang out for wifi.

Creamy latte for a latte junkie.
Hidden inside of proof bakery, this coffee shop offers quality coffee and service. They are definitely the best complementary item to proof’s yummy pastry.
There’s parking on the back street (one-​way drive way alert) for two hours. The location is easy to spot (look for proof bakery instead of the cognoscenti coffee).
Good place to study or read a book in a sunny afternoon.

(So apparently, Cognoscenti and Proof Bakery share a Glendale Blvd retail space about the size of my kitchen. Interesting concept, but it works pretty seamlessly. Didn’t even notice the distinction on my first few visits. The only downside is having to write two separate reviews, for coffee and bakery. #firstworldproblems, right.)
So I’ll save the baguette and chocotart reviews for the PROOF page, this review is for Cognoscenti. And I love Cognoscenti. I love Cognoscenti for great cortados but even better pour overs. I love Cognoscenti because they sell Four Barrel beans 2 miles from my house.
But, primarily, I love Cognoscenti for one accomplishment: finally, a high quality cup in Glendale. (Well, technically Atwater, but it’s basically Glendale)
LA has one of the strongest coffee scenes around. Handsome, Demitasse, LAMILL, Groundwork, Jones, and dozens more local roasters… even out in the LA burbs the scene is strong, Klatch and Dripp, for instance. LA has also long been the first option for other respected roasters to expand into. Intelligentsia, Stumptown and Blue Bottle, for instance. My point is, a quality cup is easy to find anywhere in LA.
Except Glendale. Right in the middle of LA, a community of +200K people, and it is ruled by Starbucks. We live in Glendale, we love Glendale. But before Cognoscenti, a quality cup meant getting on a freeway to Pasadena or DTLA, or driving the length of Colorado Blvd to Eagle Rock or Highland Park.
Here’s hoping Cognoscenti is the first in a Glendale coffee revival.

I’m not sure if I should right a separate review for this place and proof since they are the same location. The outside says proof. And the little sticker to the right of the door says cognoscenti. I got an Ethiopian pour over. It was a rare stormy day in LA so sitting facing the window and watching the rain made for a lovely day. The coffee was good. Good flavors. The interior is small. If you want to come here to mess around on your laptop (like me) expect to share a table for at least part of the time. Parking is a tricky thing. For some silly reason the meters on the street are only good for a hour. Thanks city of Glendale. Or is it Atwater villages fault? Either way. There’s 2 other coffee places in close proximity to hear that I want to try. Since they all are literally across the street from each other the stars for this place will either go up or down depending on there quality. Right now I’m feeling 3 is fair for a good cup of coffee.
Bottom line– good coffee but a little small.

Saw the reviews so I wanted to check it out.
— Salami baguette sandwich was good but could actually of had some more ingredients for the price
— croque Monsieur was nothing to rave about — reminded me of left over pizza in the fridge
— coffee was good but when it’s warm out I get iced coffee and they don’t have simple syrup!!! How do you not have raw simple syrup if u consider yourself a coffee shop. I would not come back purely for this fact alone.
Get raw simple syrup… No one wants bits of sugar floating around their ice latte

Cute little place in Atwater to get coffee. It’s the black storefront next to out of the closet with street parking on both sides of the Main Street.
Ordered a hot and an iced latte. Service was quick and the store reminds me a bit of Tartine bakery in SF but I didn’t try the pastries from Proof bakery which is the «front» of the store and then the Cognocenti part is the «back”-ish lol, you pay at the register in the middle.
Lattes were quick and well done. Not the best I’ve ever had, but better than Starbucks!

Decided to try this place with a couple friends and let me tell you something, their flourless chocolate cake is to DIE for! It’s so yummy and it melts in your mouth (literally) and I’m not too much of a chocolate cake person but man, it is goood! I also got a ham and cheese croissant and that was also really great. I love the ambience. Super friendly staff. They make your drinks quickly. Since it was my first time there, I didn’t know what to order, drink wise. I got a mint iced tea and it was OK. I’ll try something else next time. Definitely coming back with new friends.

After a hectic morning at the orthopedic’s office, i was fed up with the receptionist’s attitudes and my doctor’s useless prognosis on my shattered elbow. And I’m sure my empty stomach and lack of caffeine had something to do with my perception of the world, too.
After parked in the rear public lot for free, I strolled to the front and almost missed the coffee shop. The sign for Cognoscenti Coffee on the door side was so tiny that you would only recognize the place by the name of Proof Bakery.
My latte was served at the perfect temperature quickly after I ordered. It was a much needed cup. I forgot to ask what coffee they used for the espresso. It tasted decent but I’ve had better. The baked goods sold out quickly after the lunch crowd. By the time I decided to grab a bite, the baked veggie square was my best bet.
All in all, it’s a nice stop for specialty brews and pastries in the area. Free wifi and friendly staff. Watch out for the lunch crowd.

I was around the neighborhood, checking my car in for its first service at the dealership, when I realized I was really craving a good cup of coffee. I whipped out my phone and found that Cognoscenti was just around the corner, and oh my gatos, I’m so glad I stopped by!
The place was petite but quaint, interior reflected minimalist décor, and there were large glass displays of Proof Bakery’s delectable goodies. I had to exercise the utmost amount of restraint and pass on the pastries so I could get straight to the core of my mission: coffee. Ordered an Almond Milk Cappuccino for to-​go and then settled myself in on one of their marble top tables to get some work done.
Verdict?
This is probably one of the best capps I’ve had in a while. Frothy, creamy, warm without being scalding hot, pleasant. Just so darn delicious! And the fact that their wifi is decent is just the topper of the experience.
I will be back for another round, and this time, we’ll do some damage with those pastries. I spy a buttery croissant in the near future.

Pretty good cappuccino.
The service is good.
That’s all I ordered but I liked it so they get a four star rating from me.

Unpretentious and delicious. I stopped in for a quick cuppa at Cognoscenti this afternoon and enjoyed their macchiato. The espresso was smooth and unburnt and the milk was just the right consistency. The barista was cheerful and efficient.
My only gripe is that it is sorta off the beaten path and on a Saturday afternoon, it was empty and slow. And that made it seem to lack the «I love this place!» vibe I get when I walk into most third wave coffee joint.
Definately a place that I will come back to.

Once a pop-​up coffee shop, Cognoscenti Coffee Atwater is a permanent fixture existing inside Proof Bakery. Like all multi-​roaster coffeehouses, Cog rotates a variety of specialty coffee from the likes of Four Barrel, Heart, Handsome, Coava, Bows & Arrows, etc.
While I’m quite fond of Cog Culver City, if not for Proof Bakery, I probably would not give this location much time of day. These are sad terms to come to as this location served as my introduction to Cog.
At one time, Cog Atwater was one of the best places for specialty coffee, where I had some amazing cups when Yeekai, Leo, Matthew, and Jonathen were pulling shots.
But something seems to have changed over the course of a year. Of late, I’ve noticed their baristas struggle pulling consistent shots. Then there was that one time where my cappuccino was so over extracted and unpalatable that I had to send it back. After a quick redialing, Jon pulled a redeeming shot of Handsome Dapper. (For the record, Jon did not pull for the first capp.)
Rating these drinks can be tricky due to the great deal of fluctuating results of under and over extraction, so all in all, cappuccino ($ 3.50) and caffe latte ($ 4.00) ratings are a solid 3.
However inconsistent espresso at Cog Atwater has been recently, they do have the advantage of being paired with arguably the best pastries in Los Angeles from Proof Bakery. I suppose you can always chase an okay espresso with a delicious sea salt chocolate chip cookie, scone, or slice of cake!
Hopefully I’ll have a chance to chat with Yeekai about my concerns. Even though I haven’t seen him much, I’ll probably have a greater chance of catching him at Cog Culver City.
Public parking lots behind Cog offer two hour of FREE parking, otherwise, metered curbside parking is available along Glendale Blvd and surrounding side streets.

It was a very pleasant experience to find myself in this area… I used to live REALLY close by a few years ago: P
Although the girl working the register was a bit clueless (or maybe she’s a new employee), I had a delectable latte!
I would recommend this café for anyone looking for a pretty good non-​mainstream coffee joint… especially if it’s on your way to the Americana in Glendale, Griffith Park, Downtown, or anywhere in the surrounding LA area. It is reminiscent of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea!
By the way, there are no restrooms in Cognoscenti. Also, it may be a tad bit easy to pass right by it, since there is currently no sign on the storefront… It is located on the southeast side of Glendale Blvd. right next to Out of the Closet.
You can find all-​day free parking on the nearest cross street on Madera Ave. (which is what I did) or any of the other parallel residential streets :)