Cult LA Coffee Chain Opens in New York

Since 1963, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has been a Southern California staple. There are currently 750 stores open across the United States and in 22 countries internationally (including Australia, Brunei, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, UAE and Vietnam).

Despite all of that expansion, there has never been a location in New York. Until now. The company opened their first store in New York City on August 29 and was filled for most of the day. Apparently plans to open the New York outpost have been in the works for a long time, but the company wanted to find the right fit. 

"Just going in and opening one store in the city, to see how it works, is no good," Bob Kaufman, the company's VP of Business Development explained to the Huffington Post. "You need to build enough stores to allow customers to fit a Coffee Bean visit easily into their day, rather than working their whole day around us."

The chain carries 22 varieties of coffee and 20 types of tea. All their products are kosher and the company works to establish relationships with small farms for their purchases. The Coffee Bean next plans to expand into Washington DC.