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<\/p>\nOn a quiet diagonal connecting the corner of E. Carson Street and Lakewood Boulevard a new coffee shop stands out next to a nail salon and a vintage boutique. A \u201cgoing out of business\u201d sign is on the sidewalk in front of the gift shop, and gone are the trees that once lined the street, likely removed for the repair of the pavement and new layer of asphalt recently added outside.<\/p>\n
This section of Lakewood Village, located nearby new retail center Long Beach Exchange and a half mile from Long Beach City College\u2019s liberal arts campus, seems to be undergoing a makeover, with the owner of Wolf\u2019s Brew\u2014a specialty coffee shop and art gallery that opened here just over a month ago on Norse Way\u2014Bryer Garcia, saying it\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first started this project, we started it over here on purpose because the market has always been focused on downtown and 4th Street,\u201d said Garcia, who grew up in Long Beach.<\/p>\n
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Garcia signed the lease for the space\u00a0more than a year ago, when the only nearby shop was Eco Coffee House, not counting the drive-thru Starbucks on Lakewood Boulevard. Even after Dunkin\u2019 Donuts and Portola moved in to LBX, the community still saw the need for an independent purveyor, Garcia noted.<\/p>\n
With an extensive background in retail management, working for companies such as Vans and H&M, and later entering the restaurant industry working for Congregation Ale House in Pasadena, Garcia also worked at Starbucks for five years, a time in his life he believes was a stepping stone to opening Wolf\u2019s Brew.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got me into the nitty gritty trenches of the second wave of coffee and what it brought,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI still respect them because they brought in people who had no idea of any kind [about] coffee, they just knew Folgers in a cup.”<\/p>\n
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Garcia wants new customers, especially those who frequent the large chains in the area, to know that they won\u2019t be subtly snubbed for walking in without a degree in specialty or third wave coffee, saying \u201cjust tell me what you like and how you like it and I can get as close to it [as possible] or make the same exact drink here.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, those who frequent Recreational Coffee in downtown Long Beach might already be familiar with the taste.<\/p>\n
With a focus on using beans from Central America or nearby, a nod to the Garcia family roots\u2014 Garcia\u2019s father is from Guatemala and his mother is from El Salvador\u2014Wolf\u2019s Brew uses Recreational\u2019s beans in all their drinks. The local roaster\u2019s Guatemala Hunapu and Columbia Onias Garcia are placed proudly on the shelves. It\u2019s a strong start, with Garcia planning to try out other roasters in the future.<\/p>\n
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And while Garcia harbors a love for art based on his own ventures in photography, you won\u2019t find any paintings hung above the heads of coffee sippers seated inside, you\u2019ll find them in a separate room behind the bar in a tiny 10-by-11-foot space that feels like an art gallery.<\/p>\n
Sure, you can bring your coffee into the mini-museum, complete with a wall painted that trendy pink so often paired with dangling pothos plants, but your experience there will be more about the art or thumbing through records from Northside LB, than what a typical coffee shop has to offer.<\/p>\n
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