Cow Cafe
Originally published 5/5/17
Opening one of the newest spots in South Park, Cow Cafe, was truly a neighborhood endeavor. We sat down with the owners to get the story.
In 2009, musician Samur Khouja was searching for a location for a recording studio and found the ideal live/work building in South Park. While walking the neighborhood with clients, friends, or his dog Comet, he frequently passed the corner of Pico and Grand, where a sewing machine repair shop spilled out onto the sidewalk.
One day, Khouja noticed the shop had closed, and with no experience in restaurants save a high school job in fast food, he leased the space in the hope of creating an eatery that could serve as a cultural and creative hub for the community. He began meeting with farmers and health food enthusiasts. While Khouja worked out the long term plans for the space, it served as a donation-based yoga studio, and was used by Share A Meal, an organization that makes burritos for delivery to Skid Row.
In 2014, Khouja met his eventual business partner, architect Apurva Pande, at a South Park BID Committee Meeting. One of the founding parents at Metro Charter, Pande was getting to know South Park, and was immediately interested in Khouja’s vision. As artists they connected quickly, and Pande remembers “there was nothing like this in the community, and we both felt like we could make a real impact here.”
Before either of them realized they had no experience in running a cafe, they invested time and money and were determined to continue. Pande was accustomed to being told he would fail — both when launching a charter school with no background in education, and as a young architect opening his own firm. Khouja had opened his sound studio while the music industry was in turmoil. As he puts it: “LA is a desert; you learn how to find water.”
Now that the cafe is open and serving a healthy, affordable, vegetarian menu created by Khouja’s wife, Basak, that determination has paid off.
Cow is located at 342 W Pico Blvd, and is open Monday through Friday from 7AM to 7PM. Call them at (213) 536–5255.
Cow has since expanded their hours — the cafe is now open Monday through Friday from 7AM to 7 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 8AM to 3PM.
