Breakfast burrito specialist Wake and Late expands — and it’s morphing into Sundays the Bakery

Sundays the Bakery

The maker of some of L.A.’s best breakfast burritos is expanding and rebranding, relaunching as a bakery this year with multiple cafes across the county — but don’t worry, those breakfast burritos will still be on offer. Wake and Late, which serves burritos and coffee from a blue walk-up window downtown, is now Sundays the Bakery, teasing what’s to come with a new line of chocolate rugelach. Soon, its sourdough bagels, pastries and breakfast sandwiches will begin cropping up downtown and in Pasadena, Santa Monica and Hollywood.

“We’re really diving into that cafe environment,” said founder Ben Richter. “We’re having a dine-in vibe everywhere, we’re introducing a barista bar everywhere. … Right now all we are is a burrito window in downtown.”

It all began as a college-campus delivery service from friends Richter, Alex Sauciuc and John Shoemaker. Over the years, the menu evolved — serving and then axing items such as breakfast bowls and dinnertime items — then switched to a breakfast burrito concept in 2018.

Vegan burrito with scrambled tofu and refried black beans, Wake and Late.

(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)

As the team began to consider expanding, they realized that a broader but still breakfast-focused approach could appeal to more customers. A bakery, they thought, could provide cafe fare such as breakfast burritos as well as a new direction for the company. They tapped Alexander Roman, formerly of Chicago’s Floriole and Somerset, to serve as bakery director. When looking for a centralized location, which could serve as both a sit-down cafe and a commissary for other outposts, they landed on the first floor of the former Le Cordon Bleu building in Pasadena, which will eventually accommodate about 150 seats. Richter says the location will debut as a takeout operation in April, then fully open with on-site dining over the summer.

The Hollywood location also is slated to open in April, with Santa Monica following in May. Downtown, the space adjacent to the walk-up window will open as a cafe with dine-in capability this summer. Future items for all Sundays the Bakery outposts include old-fashioned doughnuts and croissant “cubes,” with new items rolling out within the next two months downtown.

Sundays the Bakery currently operates out of the Wake and Late walk-up window from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.

Downtown: 105 E. 6th St., Los Angeles; Pasadena: 525 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; Hollywood: 6334 Selma Ave., Los Angeles; Santa Monica: 411 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, sundaysthebakery.com

Or Bar

A new LGBTQ bar is taking up residence in the space previously occupied by Gold Coast, one of L.A.’s oldest gay bars until its closure in 2020. Or Bar, a West Hollywood cocktail lounge from a trio of style experts and entrepreneurs, riffs on late-disco glamour and serves options such as the Or 54, made with vodka, prosecco, passion fruit, lemon and agave; and the Liberace, with armagnac, toasted coconut and pineapple. It also offers wine, beer and nonalcoholic options, plus snacks and daily happy hour. The venture features art from LGBTQ makers and custom staff uniforms, and is a joint project from former “Fashion Police” co-host George Kotsiopoulos, Circus of Books owner Rob Novinger and Stephanie “Stevie” Schestag, the former owner of New York’s VBar. Or Bar is open 4 p.m. to midnight Monday to Wednesday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday and 2 p.m. to midnight Sunday.

8228 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 380-6060, theorbar.com

West Hollywood’s new Or Bar fills the former Gold Coast space with late-disco-era touches.

(Chelsea Lauren/Or Bar)

Clark Street Larchmont

Clark Street, the local bakery chain that expanded to Hollywood with a diner last year, is now open in Larchmont Village. Its newest outpost, in the former Uncool Burgers space, is serving fresh pastries, whole loaves of bread, tartines and the brand’s usual cafe fare, but the additional kitchen and flattop-grill space of this location mean a more robust menu than in previous iterations. At Larchmont, look for dishes from and inspired by Clark Street Diner — a restaurant on The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list — such as a pastrami reuben, an Asian chicken salad, a Cobb salad, a smashburger and a weekend-only French toast. Unlike all other Clark Street outposts, Larchmont’s coffee will be sourced from local roaster Canyon Coffee. The newest Clark Street bakery offers sidewalk and back patio seating and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

139 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, clarkstreetbakery.com

Cofax Culver City

Fairfax’s premier coffee shop and breakfast burrito spot is set to expand next month, launching a second, larger location with a few additions. Cofax, from restaurateurs Nick Starr and Jason Bernstein, opened in 2014 and hasdeveloped a cult following for burritos and Dodgers-inspired merch. The owners are hoping for a February launch of their Culver City location, which will continue to serve some of L.A.’s best burritos, plus doughnuts and coffee; they also plan to offer the menu of its former sibling, the now-closed Golden State, for delivery. The new kitchen, at nearly three times the size of Fairfax’s, will allow for more menu experimentation, catering, hosting pop-ups and making more items in-house, such as smoking tomatillos and potatoes. “The biggest risk of opening a second location is losing the magic at the first,” Starr said. “My brother once told me, ‘The difference between a good restaurant and a bad one is whether the owner is there.’ Jason and I will keep the hours and menu the same, but more importantly [we] coordinated our schedules so that both of us are at both locations during the week.” Cofax Culver City is expected to launch in February with daily hours of 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., to start.

10868 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, cofaxcoffee.com

Taiwanese dumpling shop Bafang just opened its second Southern California location — with many more slated to open this year across L.A., Orange County and San Diego.

(Emily Nelson/Bafang Dumpling)

Bafang Dumpling Chino Hills

A rapidly expanding Taiwanese dumpling specialist just opened its second Southern California location, with more in store for 2023. Bafang Dumpling, founded by Jiayu Lin in 1998, launched its first U.S. location with a shop in the City of Industry last spring; this month it opened a Chino Hills restaurant serving the same menu of noodle bowls, handmade dumplings (available steamed or fried), soups and chile pepper fried chicken, Taiwanese pork chops and bags of frozen dumplings for home cooking, plus boba tea and other specialty drinks. The chain is nearing 1,300 stores globally; eight more locations are planned for Southern California this year, including in L.A., San Gabriel Valley, Orange County and San Diego. Bafang Dumpling Chino Hills is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

2923 Chino Ave., Unit H3, Chino Hills, (909) 590-1686, bafangdumpling.com