Dog Cafe Near Me by Carthay Circle: Stella Coffee's Pup Menu Patio

Search dog cafe near me from Beverly Grove or Miracle Mile and most results are coffee bars that merely tolerate a leash tied to a chair. Stella Coffee, at 6310 San Vicente Boulevard where it meets Crescent Heights, goes further: its logo is a French bulldog, its patio backs onto a patch of park, and the counter keeps a separate menu written for dogs. Owners Josh and Emilie built the whole business around rescue animals.

The story starts in 2018, when the couple sold their apartment and bought an existing neighborhood spot called Carthay Cafe. By their own account on the About page, it did not look very nice, and they spent two years learning the trade through mistakes. When the pandemic hit, they rebranded instead of closing. Emilie's sister had decreed that the next family dog had to be a Frenchie, and a friend's daughter named Stella supplied the name.

So Stella the cartoon Frenchie was born, and the cafe followed in 2020. Josh is from Germany and Emilie from Norway, and their real dog, a fluffy Frenchie named Ralphie, gets billed on the website as co-creator who did not do that much. The company says 20 percent of net proceeds from its merchandise go to no-kill rescue shelters, and it calls that a permanent structure of the business rather than a one-off campaign.

The dog policy is spelled out plainly in the location FAQ. Dogs are welcome on the outdoor patio, which sits next to a park area, and they are not allowed inside the cafe. That makes the patio tables the whole game for anyone arriving with a pup. The sister cafe in Westwood, at 10990 Wilshire Blvd, is the one where the menu page says dogs can come inside as well.

What makes Stella a genuine dog cafe rather than a patio with a water bowl is the pup menu on its ordering page. A Pawburger is $5, described as a plain puppy patty cooked with no oil and no seasoning. The Pupcup Deluxe is $3, a frozen peanut butter cup with whipped cream inside. For a bigger celebration there is Cups4Pups dog ice cream at $9, a treat the menu lists for this San Vicente location only.

For the humans, a latte runs $6.25 and a flavored latte $7. Regulars who need more voltage order the Wake Me Up at $8.25. The team says on its About page that it moved to perfectly brewed lattes with beans from Gavina, the Los Angeles roaster, and the bar handles espresso, pour-over and matcha. In October the seasonal board adds a house-made pumpkin spice latte to the regular list.

Hours shape every visit here. Monday through Friday the cafe opens at 6 am and closes at 6 pm, so it works as a pre-commute stop with a dog who needs a walk anyway. Weekends are short, 8 am to 1 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. That compressed weekend window is when the patio gets busiest, so the quietest seat for a nervous dog is usually a weekday before 8 am.

There are no reservations, and seating is first come, first served on both the patio and inside. If the outdoor tables are full, a smart move is to order ahead through the online menu for pickup or curbside and take the coffee straight to the park next door. The website notes that you can also pay ahead for Shabbat, a detail aimed at neighbors who walk over on Saturday.

The setting is a small retail strip rather than a stand-alone building, and the patio is the strip's outdoor seating, with the neighboring park area just beyond. Free Wi-Fi reaches outdoors, and the cafe says there are power outlets at seating on the patio too, which explains the laptops beside the leashes on weekday mornings. Inside there is more seating for whoever in your group is not on dog duty.

Getting there is mostly a parking question. The cafe says there is free street parking on San Vicente and the side streets, plus a paid garage nearby if the curb is full, and no free lot or valet. Metro bus lines run along San Vicente and Fairfax, and the D Line station at Wilshire and Fairfax is a short ride away. Leave the dog crate in the car only for the drive.

After coffee, the neighborhood is built for a slow loop. Carthay Circle is the leafy grid of Spanish Revival houses right around the cafe, and LACMA and Museum Row sit about 0.8 miles south along Fairfax, close enough for a long walk with a fit dog. The Petersen Automotive Museum is the same distance, and The Grove is about 1.3 miles to the north for anyone continuing on to errands.

Keep the leash on for the whole walk. City of Los Angeles parks outside designated off-leash areas require dogs to stay leashed, and the busy stretch of Fairfax near the museums is no place for recall practice. If your dog needs to run, the patio coffee is best treated as the reward at the end of an outing rather than the start, since a tired dog settles far faster under the tables.

A few practical notes. Prices differ between the two locations, so the figures here are the San Vicente menu. Bring your own collapsible bowl on hot afternoons, and order the dog items at the same register as your coffee. If you like the cause, the online shop sells Stella merchandise, and part of every sale goes to rescue shelters.

Stella suits dog owners in Beverly Grove, Carthay Circle and Miracle Mile who want a proper breakfast and a treat ordered for the dog by name, plus anyone visiting the museums who wants a calm patio before the crowds. It is less ideal for a weekend afternoon, when the doors are already shut, or for owners who need to sit inside with their dog, in which case the Westwood branch is the one to choose.