Los Angeles based specialty coffee brand Dirty Latte Co. has established its first brick & mortar location at the high-profile office campus Water Garden in Santa Monica. The new café is located in 800 square feet of space in its 26th Street lobby.
Dirty Latte Co. started in 2022 with a coffee cart and a simple idea: create a coffee experience that felt fun, approachable and different from the traditional coffee shop. Its Founder Guy Blanco wanted to combine specialty coffee with flavors and drinks inspired by his culture and the things he grew up with while creating a brand that had its own personality. Blanco established a coffee cart at Water Garden only about a month after his launch in 2022, creating a consistent home for the coffee cart and building a loyal fan base.
“Water Garden has always felt like home to us. We started here with just a coffee cart, built relationships with tenants and regular customers, and were able to grow alongside the community. Over time, we went from people discovering us for the first time to having regulars who knew us, knew our drinks and genuinely supported the business. That support has been a huge part of the Dirty Latte story,” shared Blanco, who leveraged that fan base to open his café in a statement.
Specialty drinks are what sets Dirty Latte Co. apart. Their signature drink Ube Leche is a customer favorite. Matcha drinks have also become a huge part of the company’s brand, including Matcha Mami, Strawberry Matcha and Banana Matcha, among others.
“As we grew, the natural next step was to create a permanent home for the brand. A brick & mortar location gives us the opportunity to offer the complete Dirty Latte experience every day. We can give our customers a consistent place to find us,” added Blanco.
Dirty Latte Co. came to Water Garden during COVID, when the marketing team was focused on finding new ways to bring energy, convenience, and a little bit of fun back to the campus. Coffee was something tenants wanted and needed, and the cart was an opportunity to introduce an independent concept that felt much more personal than simply adding another standard coffee offering.
CBRE Marketing Director Bess Wyrick added, “There’s a real warmth and spirit to the experience that people connect with at Dirty Latte. It also filled an important need as the only dedicated coffee concept at Water Garden. Watching it grow from a cart, to a truck, and now to a permanent retail location has been really exciting.”
To that end, Dirty Latte Co.’s success is the kind of organic growth the team looks to foster at Water Garden. The brick-and-mortar location gives people another reason to spend time on campus and helps evolve Water Garden into a more active, engaging destination throughout the day.
“Our goal is to create a retail mix that feels useful, distinctive, and genuinely relevant to the people who work at Water Garden and live in the surrounding community. We’re looking for concepts that add energy and personality to the campus — great food and beverage, everyday conveniences, and experiences that give people reasons to come together and stay awhile. Ultimately, we want the retail experience to elevate Water Garden from a traditional office campus to a vibrant neighborhood destination,” Wyrick added.
As Blanco attests, the Water Garden location provides a unique mix of office tenants, visitors, events and regular customers throughout the week. It’s a location where they can serve someone grabbing their morning coffee, someone meeting a coworker in the afternoon or hundreds of people during a property event.
Dirty Latte Co. is now open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1620 26th Street. For a full menu and to order online go to www.dirtylatteco.square.site
