At the northwestern edge of Leimert Park sits Tak’s Coffee Shop, a family-owned diner that has served residents near and far for over 27 years. Shielded from roaring Crenshaw Boulevard, the modest spot is tucked into a rear corner of the Crenshaw Square shopping center. The restaurant’s exterior is strictly defined by its fundamental white and blue sign adorned by an outlined maneki-neko (a “good luck” cat). Inside, however, is a lively kitchen serving up Asian, Hawaiian and American staples to longtime customers and visitors alike. 

Waitress Mary Shizuru spent much of her career at the iconic Holiday Bowl, a community hangout spot that served the Crenshaw neighborhood for decades. She left in the mid-‘90s to start her own coffee business with her business partner, Fujio Hori. After the Holiday Bowl closed in the 1990s, she kept its restaurant experience alive by opening the small coffee shop, named after her son, Tak Kikuchi. The Shizurus kept much of the ethnic fusion on their menu, while adding Asian-influenced cuisine and conveying the Japanese influence on the diner in open, crowded shelving displaying mechanized maneki-neko figurines. 

In the mid-2010s, Tak’s Coffee Shop was sold to kitchen staff workers Angie and Florentino Bravo, who had also worked at Holiday Bowl. Under the Bravos, Tak’s Coffee Shop continues to thrive, with its culturally diverse selection of dishes and its incredible history in the greater Crenshaw neighborhood.