Why go
Oaxacan chocolate and coffee lead the board
The Oaxacan hot chocolate is the drink that explains Café Santo fastest. It follows the Oaxacan tradition of chocolate ground with cinnamon and sugar, sometimes with almonds, then prepared with milk or water, and it sits alongside coffee rather than behind it. The Oaxacan latte does the same work on the espresso side, and champurrado covers the thicker, masa-based end of the chocolate list.
The coffee itself is sourced directly from Oaxaca, which is the whole point of the place. Oaxaca is a serious growing region, with beans cultivated in Sierra Madre mountain communities, and centring Mexican coffee in a Los Angeles scene more often tied to American roasters and other origins is a deliberate position rather than a marketing angle.
A counter at the front of BLVD MRKT
Café Santo opened its permanent home in August 2021 as a founding tenant of BLVD MRKT, the Montebello food hall built from converted shipping containers and given over to Latino businesses. The café sits at the entrance, which makes it both the first counter you meet and a marker for the surrounding Montebello and East Los Angeles community. Before the hall, the team ran as a weekly pop-up at Los Angeles farmers markets and in the lobby of the California Market Center.
Service is across the counter, with drinks and food made to order and enough contact with the baristas to ask where the coffee comes from. The room is warm and visually rich, with details that point back to Oaxaca, and it carries the noise of a food hall rather than the calm of a standalone lounge. It has been called the first modern Oaxacan coffee bar in Los Angeles.
How to order
If you are choosing one thing, make it the Oaxacan hot chocolate. It is the clearest expression of the kitchen's chocolate work and of the tradition the café is built on. The Oaxacan latte is the coffee-side equivalent, and champurrado is the one to order on a cold morning or when you want something closer to a meal than a drink.
For food, pan dulce is the natural companion to either drink, and tamales turn a coffee stop into breakfast or lunch. Order at the counter, take a seat in the hall, and let the drinks rather than the menu length set the pace of the visit.
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Frequently asked questions
What should I order at Café Santo?
The Oaxacan hot chocolate is the clearest place to start, made in the Oaxacan style with cinnamon and sugar and sometimes almonds. The Oaxacan latte is the coffee equivalent, and champurrado is the thicker, masa-based option. Pan dulce pairs with either, and tamales turn the stop into a proper meal.
Where does the coffee come from?
The coffee is sourced directly from Oaxaca, where beans are grown in Sierra Madre mountain communities. That focus is the reason the café exists: it puts Mexican coffee at the centre of a Los Angeles scene more often built on American roasters and other origins. The baristas will talk you through it.
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