Oaktown Spice Shop in Silver Lake: Chiles and Free Parking

Oaktown Spice Shop, at 2395 Glendale Boulevard in Silver Lake, is the Los Angeles outpost of a Bay Area spice grinder, and it does something rare on the Eastside: it gives you a free customer parking lot. The shop sits in a low strip it shares with Silverlake Wine and Rockaway Records, and it opens at 11 am Monday through Friday and at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday, closing at 7 pm every day. Inside, the shelves are stacked with half-cup jars and refill bags of spices ground and blended in small batches.

John Beaver and Erica Perez opened the original shop in Oakland in 2011, and the company's about page still describes the approach the same way: the best-tasting spices it can source from around the globe, ground and blended in small batches for flavor. Shops in Albany and on Fillmore Street in San Francisco followed. Silver Lake is the fourth location and the only one in Southern California, which makes it the closest the brand gets to the chile-heavy cooking of Los Angeles kitchens.

The neighbors help explain why it fits here. Silverlake Wine is one of the Eastside's best-known wine shops, and Rockaway Records has been selling vinyl from the same strip for years, so the parking lot fills with people running several errands at once. In late August 2026 the shop threw an anniversary party with oysters and poke from Shucks Oyster Co, macha crisp from Cuatro Mamas and free wine from Silverlake Wine next door, a good sign of how settled it has become.

In a city built on salsa and mole, start with the chiles. Whole dried guajillos are $7.25 for a two-ounce bag, a two-ounce bag of whole anchos is $8.25, and the smoky Pasilla de Oaxaca, harder to find in supermarkets, costs $14.25 for two ounces. For ground chile, New Mexican red and New Mexican green are each $9.75 a jar, and chipotle chile flakes are also $9.75. Santa Fe Chili Powder, the house blend for a pot of chili, is $9.75 in the jar and $9.25 in a bag.

Taco nights are covered as well. The house Taco Seasoning costs $8.75 a jar, and the Tacos al Gusto gift box at $30.50 bundles several taco blends into one present. If you want heat as a finishing touch rather than a base, the Umami Chile Sea Salt and the Ghost Chile Pepper Sea Salt each cost $12.75 a jar. Single-origin wild mountain black cumin, at $10.75, is a quiet upgrade for anyone who toasts cumin for beans or birria.

The salt section is unusually deep for a small shop. Hawaiian Red Alaea and Hawaiian Black Lava sea salts are $8.75 a jar each, Applewood Smoked and Cherrywood Smoked sea salts are $9.75, and Yuzu Salt comes in a quarter-cup jar for $10.75. For baking, Paloma Sugar and Matcha Sugar each cost $8.75 a jar, and green cardamom pods are $16.75. Bakers who like Mexican hot chocolate should look at the roasted cocoa nibs, $7.25 for a half-cup bag.

Teas are sold by the cup rather than the ounce. Jasmine Green, Earl Grey and English Breakfast each cost $15.25 for a one-cup jar, the Chai Masala blend is $17.25, and the Genmaicha is $22.25. The Clear Mind Mint and Citrus Hibiscus Twist herbal blends are cheaper at $10.25 a jar, and both are good iced through the long LA summer.

Everything is sold prepackaged in the sizes listed on the company website, with no custom quantities, and the shop does not refill your own containers. The house rule is that you should not open the bags or jars to smell or taste, so ask staff for a description instead. Cash is accepted. If you already own a jar from a previous visit, choose the refill bag, which is 50 cents cheaper than the jar for most spices. Online orders are only picked up at the two East Bay stores, so in LA you buy in person or have it shipped.

Weekend mornings are the smart time to visit because the shop opens an hour earlier than on weekdays and the strip is still quiet. The lot is shared by every shop in the strip, so later in the day on weekends you may have to wait a minute for a space. If you are buying for a dinner party, go during the week and talk through a menu with the staff while the shop is empty.

The shop is a short walk from the Silver Lake Reservoir, whose walking path loops around the water and the Silver Lake Meadow on the east side, a lawn that fills with picnics and dogs on weekends. Leave the car in the free lot, buy your spices last, and walk the reservoir loop first. Flip through the crates at Rockaway Records and pick up a bottle at Silverlake Wine while you are there, since you are already parked.

Head north on Glendale Boulevard and over the Los Angeles River bridge to reach Atwater Village, a small neighborhood of cafés, bakeries and restaurants along the boulevard. The LA River bike and walking path runs along the water near the bridge if you want to stretch your legs. South of the shop, Sunset Junction and the Silver Lake stretch of Sunset Boulevard are a short drive away for dinner.

Oaktown Spice Shop Los Angeles, 2395 Glendale Boulevard, Suite B, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Hours: Monday to Friday 11 am to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 7 pm. Free customer parking lot. Spices come in prepackaged half-cup jars and cheaper refill bags; no custom sizes or container refills, and no opening packages to sniff. Cash accepted. Online orders ship free at $50 and over. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to build a Silver Lake afternoon around a spice run and the reservoir loop.