Fifth-generation coffee roaster Yancey Quinones opened Antigua Coffee House on September 8 in Cypress Park, a neighborhood that’s sandwiched between downtown and Highland Park. He owned a coffeehouse by the same name in El Sereno but lost his lease a year ago and relocated.

For many years, the space housed an ice cream parlor, and leading up to Antigua, it held a clothing store. Quinones grew up in Cypress Park and went to the ice cream parlor as a kid. He pays respect to his Guatemalan heritage by naming the coffeehouse for one of the country’s prominent coffee growing regions. The logo even features an iconic Mayan character drinking a cup of coffee.

Speaking of coffee, Quinones sources the bulk of his coffee from his family’s Guatemalan coffee plantations, which date to 1865. He said his two primary beans are Antigua, which sport a blue-green color and taste like cacao; and Panibaj, a higher elevation, shade-grown coffee with a sweeter taste that grows green and packs blueberry notes. Antigua’s espresso blend includes Brazilian and Guatemalan coffee beans. Quinones roasts all his beans in Boyle Heights and pulls espresso shots on a four-group La Marzocco. CLICK HERE FOR THE ANTIGUA COFFEE MENU. You’ll currently find muffins and pastries, and Antigua will soon add simple sandwiches.

The interior features plenty of windows, comfortable seating and colorful paintings from well-known Chicano artist Jose Ramirez, who painted a high-profile mural at the entrance of White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights.