Cookie Monster: Levain Bakery Is An Instant Sensation In Los Angeles

How early does one show up for an 8 a.m. bakery opening? If you’re talking about Levain Bakery and its freshly baked 6-ounce cookies making their Los Angeles debut last Saturday, the answer for one guest was 4:30 a.m.

Day one for Levain Bakery’s Larchmont Boulevard location was an absolute frenzy. The first 100 people in line were given swag bags. But the main attraction was Levain’s decadently over-the-top cookies: chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, dark chocolate chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, two-chip chocolate chip, recent addition coconut caramel chocolate chip, seasonal rocky road and a vegan/gluten-free version of chocolate chip walnut.

Multiple guests were in line by 5 a.m. By 8 a.m. when the doors opened, there were close to 300 people outside Levain Bakery and the line snaked down the block, around the corner and then around another corner. Clearly, Los Angeles was ready for some oversized cookies that are crisp on the outside and ooey-gooey on the inside.

Families enjoyed face painting and balloon twisting as the line moved along during the day. Proceeds from opening day are being donated to Alexandria House, a transitional home for women and children.

Levain Bakery is a sweet sensation, founded in 1995 by Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald on New York’s Upper West Side. With the Larchmont Village opening, the cookie monster now has 12 locations (in New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles) and offers nationwide shipping. Weekes and McDonald have seen and done a lot, but what happened in Los Angeles last weekend was unprecedented.

“It was the longest line we’ve ever had on opening day, and we broke record sales,” McDonald says. “Our contribution to Alexandria House will hopefully be very impactful for their organization and all the wonderful work they do.”

“The amazing welcome that LA and the Larchmont community gave us was beyond heartwarming,” Weekes says.

Levain, known for baking everything on-site and donating leftovers to charity each night, has an LA location (designed by Brooklyn-based Sarah Carpenter & Studio) with street-facing windows that let customers see the baking action. Beyond cookies, the Larchmont Village bakery also has bread, rolls, blueberry muffins, loaf cakes, weekend-only sticky buns and local Canyon Coffee espresso beverages. Another local touch is the 80-by-20-foot mural from artist Janice Chang, a native Angeleno who created a dramatic piece of art that celebrates the neighborhood and the city beyond it.

It’s all on a pleasantly strollable stretch of Larchmont Boulevard, which has become a hotbed of out-of-town sweets. Portland-based ice cream empire Salt & Straw (a rapidly expanding business that recently opened its first Las Vegas location at the new UnCommons development, which is also home to the Sundry food hall) has been going strong here since 2014. Holey Grail Donuts, which originated in Hawaii and serves taro donuts, opened here this year after making its Los Angeles debut in Santa Monica last year.

Meanwhile, local bakery powerhouse Clark Street opened on Larchmont Boulevard this year with sandwiches, breads and sweet and savory pastries. And Great White, an all-day cafe that happens to have some of the city’s best pizza and sourdough bread pudding, has been here since 2021.

Welcome to your new carb crawl, Los Angeles.