A Sophisticated Teahouse Is Open in Coffee-Dense Echo Park

Echo Park just got a break from the streak of coffee shops opening in the last year, with a teahouse called Hey Hey. Even though there is still minor construction underway, the self-described tea house and common room is open for business.

Chris Kwok is a former corporate consultant for a handful of Fortune 500 companies, Kwok left it all behind to open Hey Hey. The shop takes a coffee house model and places it in a lounge setting, with a strict tea-only menu. Upon entry, customers use a form to indicate which and how many items they want, drop it off at the bar, sit, and wait for everything to be delivered.

The options include a custom cold tea such as the Atmos, a green, black, oolong tea with ice, and a house made syrup. Or there’s Kwok’s interpretation of the layered Vietnamese drink chè ba mau, called the Trifecta, which is made of coconut milk, red bean, taro, and herbal mint jelly. There is a small food menu with toast, pastry, organic jerky, and eggs tea-steeped for 12 hours.

The teahouse goes for bright, with a skylight to enhance the tiled tables, original brick walls, and a spacious patio. The lack of WiFi and Kwok’s social media posts suggest that he designed a room where laptop work is not necessarily encouraged. The hours are still being determined, but when fully operational will be Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. until midnight.

Hey Hey
1555 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California

*CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article indicated Hey Hey would open in March.

Mona Holmes

• A Casual ‘Tea House and Common Room’ Is Coming to Echo Park Soon [ELA]