If you've walked the lake loop lately and ordered a latte at the boathouse window, do you know who poured it?
On November 5, the city's Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners took up a request to hand the Echo Park Boathouse Café contract to VanillaBlack LLC. The company is owned by the woman who has been managing the café for the current operator. The board report says she previously ran her own café in Echo Park for four years and closed it in 2021. Under the proposed assignment, she would keep running the lakeside concession, now under her own brand. The handoff takes effect once the City Attorney approves the agreement and it is signed.
It's a small item on a city agenda. The boathouse already sells coffee, pizza slices, beer and wine. That is close to the menu proposed for the Echo Park Clubhouse across the street, which is stalled at City Planning. The lake has its corner café. It took a lot of turnover to get there.
A counter that kept changing hands
The boathouse café has had more operators in the past few years than most Sunset Boulevard storefronts. Here is the short version:
- July 4, 2024: Piknik opens in the boathouse with a Scandinavian-influenced menu of pastries, coffee, pressed juice, salads and open-faced sandwiches, plus picnic baskets. Its stated hours were 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to Eater LA.
- Less than six months later: Piknik closes permanently. The Eastsider reported that it was the fourth food concession to run out of the boathouse in recent years.
- August 2025: The parks board approves Contract No. 4194 on August 7, and the city signs it with a new operator on August 22.
- November 5, 2026: The board takes up assigning that same contract to VanillaBlack LLC. The operator's reasons were limited sales, staffing issues and the difficulty of running several businesses at once.
- August 2027: The contract term ends.
Piknik came in with real investment. The Eastsider reported that the operator signed a two-year agreement and added touch-screen ordering, new seating, a beer and wine license and dockside entertainment in summer. Even with all that, the café lasted less than six months.
The number that explains the turnover
Based on prior-year revenue reports, the parks department expects to collect $6,000 from the boathouse concession between now and the end of the contract in August 2027.
That is the city's share for roughly nine months at one of the best-known lakes in Los Angeles. Seen next to that figure, the reasons the current operator gave for stepping back were limited sales and staffing issues.
The new arrangement is smaller and more personal. The board report says city staff met VanillaBlack's owner at the boathouse. They found the space "already has a fresh, new look with new equipment and seating furniture, including many fresh plants." The report also notes she already has "regular" customers. It describes the handoff as a continuation, with no change to the existing contract's obligations.
What the boathouse counter sells
Her proposed menu is attached to the board report. It's short, priced for a walk around the lake, and branded "VanillaBlack Coffee Cafe Culture."
- Coffee: double espresso for $3.75, latte for $6.50, and the Layla Latte, Lavender Latte and mocha for $7.00 each. A 16-ounce cold brew is $5.00.
- Matcha: $7.00, or $7.50 for the Oh' Sweet Matcha.
- For kids: the Doodle, with cinnamon, cocoa and steamed oat milk, for $3.50. The Fluffy, warm milk with a froth top and a marshmallow, is also $3.50. Hot chocolate is $3.00.
- Food: Nutella espresso bread, cinnamon bread or gluten-free chocolate bread for $4.00. A ham and cheese croissant sandwich is $6.00, cheese pizza is $5.00 a slice, pepperoni is $6.00, and popcorn is $2.00.
- Beer and wine: $7.00 and $9.00.
Under the city contract, the café is required to serve from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. In October, Wheel Fun Rentals' Halloween announcement pointed visitors to VanillaBlack Café at the Echo Park Boathouse for pumpkin spice lattes, tea, hot chocolate and savory croissant sandwiches.
Across Echo Park Avenue, nearly the same menu is on hold
Cross Echo Park Avenue from the lake and you reach the Echo Park Clubhouse at 1004 Echo Park Ave. It's a 118-year-old Craftsman building and a city historic landmark. The Eastsider cites Historic Places LA describing it as "believed to be the oldest intact structure commissioned by the City of Los Angeles." The building first stood at 1630 Bellevue Avenue, one number away from today's Echo Park Recreation Center, and was moved to its current lot in 1925.
Developer MFR Capital LLC has applied to turn it into a restaurant with three service counters, including a coffee shop and a pizza place, with alcohol served from one counter. The Eastsider reported that the Echo Park Neighborhood Council's Planning and Land Use Committee opposed the plan unanimously. The full council then sent letters of opposition to Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Assemblymember Jessica Caloza.
The two lakeside counters look like this:
| Boathouse café | Clubhouse proposal | |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | Espresso, lattes, matcha, cold brew | Coffee shop counter |
| Pizza | Cheese and pepperoni slices | Pizza counter |
| Beer and wine | On the menu | Served from one counter |
| Hours | Noon to 9 p.m., until 10 p.m. Fri–Sat, per city contract | 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, as proposed |
| Seats | Not specified in the contract | 8 inside, 17 outside |
| Where it stands | Assignment to VanillaBlack LLC before the parks board Nov. 5 | Case ZA-2026-1880-CUB-CU1 listed as on hold |
The menus are close. The big difference is that the Clubhouse sits on a residential block. Neighbors told the council the front door is about 10 to 15 feet from tenants' bedroom windows, The Eastsider reported. They also raised concerns about noise, foot traffic and parking. Erick Uribe of developer South Park Group told The Eastsider the team wants to "reimagine the Echo Park Clubhouse" and is open to "constructive feedback and productive dialogue." He added that the timeline is still uncertain. On the City Planning case page, the case was filed April 15, 2026. It is now listed as on hold, with no hearing date set.
So for now, the coffee-and-a-slice stop at the lake is the one in the park.
After dark, the boats keep the boathouse busy
The café's late hours line up with the swan boats. Wheel Fun Rentals has run the boat concession at Echo Park Lake since 2018. Its posted winter schedule, November 2, 2026 through March 5, 2027, is 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, with night rides from sunset to 10 p.m. Hours depend on the weather, and the last rental goes out an hour before closing. Reservations are required. Walk-ups aren't accepted.
The boats got programmable LED lights in late July. They glowed red, white and blue through Labor Day, then green and purple with floating jack-o'-lanterns through Halloween. Wheel Fun's October announcement put swan boat rentals at $13 an hour for adults and $7.50 an hour for anyone 17 and under. It also said snacks, picnic dinners and non-alcoholic drinks are allowed on board.
On a Friday night, a hot chocolate and a Fluffy from the counter can go on the boat with you. If you book an 8 p.m. boat on a Friday or Saturday, you'll be back on the dock with time to sit down at the café before its contract hours end at 10.
Up Bellevue, the rec center's busy week
If you keep walking past the Clubhouse's original Bellevue address, the Echo Park Recreation Center at 1632 Bellevue Ave. has a full calendar for Thanksgiving week, according to the October Park Advisory Board agenda.
- Turkey Shootout, Friday, November 20, 6 to 8 p.m. A free event at the rec center, per the city's flyer.
- Harvest Camp, November 23 to 25. The rec center is closed Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after, November 26 and 27.
- New restrooms at the baseball field. Completion was expected in late November, with a ribbon cutting from the Council District 13 office.
- Echo Park pool lessons. The pool was projected to reopen October 29 after a six-week closure. Group lesson registration opened November 14, and four private lessons cost $108.
That same agenda listed the boathouse tenant as Echo Park Cafe, doing business as Vanilla Black.
If you've been ordering at the boathouse window this fall, you already know the café's owner. If you've been wondering what keeps a lakeside corner going, or what a historic building across the street could become, we're always up for a lap around the lake to talk it through. Connect with your real estate best friend at Lexi Newman Team.
