A cafecito on a reclaimed-wood table inside East Village Cafe, ivy and art on the Carmel-stone walls
A Carmel-stone landmark · Est. in Old Monterey

Coffee with a hundred years of stories.

Tucked into a century-old Carmel-stone building on the corner of Pearl & Washington, East Village is the neighborhood's living room — organic coffee, house-made chai, warm morning buns, and a wall that's always full of local art.

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Our Story

Poured inside a
Monterey monument.

The walls are Carmel stone chalkrock, quarried and stacked more than a hundred years ago into one of Old Monterey's most recognizable corners — the old Monterey Herald building at Pearl & Washington, with its little castle-like turret watching over the street.

For over twenty years this room has been a coffee house of one name or another — an institution people meet at, work in, and grow up around. In 2020, longtime neighbor Ryan Lama gave it a new chapter as East Village Cafe, keeping the soul intact: the reclaimed-wood tables, the ivy, and the ever-changing gallery of neighborhood art.

Come for a cafecito. Stay because it feels like the whole village dropped by.

The Carmel-stone turret entrance of East Village Cafe with its black awning
100+ yrsCarmel-stone landmark
1900s

Carmel-stone building rises as the historic Monterey Herald home.

2000s

The corner becomes a beloved neighborhood coffee house.

2007

East Village Coffee Lounge brings art, music & community.

2020

Reborn as East Village Cafe under Ryan Lama — a new chapter.

Neighbors and regulars gathered outside East Village Cafe under the east village awning
More than a cafe

The neighborhood's living room.

Kids' artwork on the stone walls. Local painters showing their work. The morning paper on a long communal table, a cafecito going cold while conversation runs long. East Village has always been a gathering place first and a coffee shop second.

"Come on in — we're open." It's on the sidewalk board, but really it's the whole idea.

Local art wallCommunity tableLive & localDog-friendly patio
Come say hi

Find us on the corner.

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Address
498 Washington StCorner of Pearl & Washington · Old Monterey, CA 93940
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Hours
Open daily · 7:00am – 5:00pmBreakfast, lunch & coffee all day
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