The joy of 45-cent coffee at Philippe’s

Walk into Philippe the Original, the French dip institution on the eastern edge of Chinatown, at any time of the day, but especially the morning, and you’ll notice a few things. There’s the crowd, of course, a cross-section of Los Angeles: tourists, cops, kids, parents, lawyers, city workers, the kitchen crew at a nearby Chinatown noodle shop on a break. There are the carvers behind the counter, many of whom have been here for decades, taking orders, dipping and double dipping sandwiches, picking out pickled eggs.

And then there is the coffee, which has become notable in the same way that Los Angeles street tacos are often considered notable: for the price. But unlike cheap tacos, the existence of which some Angelenos regard as their birthright, the price of Philippe’s coffee gives folks pause, so much so, that as manager and partner Andrew Binder says, many see the sign hanging above the enormous batch brewer that advertises the coffee (roasted by Sante Fe Springs-based Apffel’s Fine Coffees) and the price (45 cents) and mistake it for a fun artifact of a time past.

– See more at: LA Times