Tyler Wells, the restaurateur behind live-fire restaurant Betsy in Altadena (named one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants in 2025), will open cafe-slash-wine-bar Bar Betsy on Monday, April 13. Located off Lake Avenue in Altadena, one door down from Betsy, the all-day Bar Betsy serves coffee, pastries, and snacks from morning until mid-afternoon before flipping into a rollicking wine bar in the evenings. “Bar Betsy is a culmination of all the things that I’ve dedicated the last 20-plus years to,” says Wells, who previously co-owned Los Feliz’s All Time. “Coffee, food, wine, and baking.”
Bar Betsy spans 1,300 square feet and seats 45 diners. Local furniture maker Tommy Ferrick custom-built the restaurant’s wall-length banquette, shelving, stools, and window seating using red oak wood to match Betsy’s warm yet minimalist design aesthetic. The restaurant’s hi-fi system, designed by audiophile Serge Shakuto using vintage Altec horn speakers, plays a steady stream of “bright, fun music that doesn’t get in the way,” says Wells. Think reggae, jazz, and Madonna’s early discography.
The bar counter. Skandia Shafer
Executive chef Paul Downer oversees both Betsy and Bar Betsy, with chef Avanthi Dev (formerly of Grá, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Vespertine) and head baker Dahlia Gomez (formerly of Farmhouse at Descanso Gardens) running the day-to-day in Bar Betsy’s open kitchen. Growing from one restaurant to two means mastering the art of delegation for Wells. “It’s a lot of mentoring, coaching, and trying to learn how to lead and empower without so much doing,” he says.
Open daily starting at 8 a.m., Bar Betsy welcomes early birds with an array of baked goods made in house using flours sourced from Central Milling and Tehachapi Grain Project. Find the pastry case filled with Gomez’s sweet and savory lineup of puff pastries, brioche breads, and grab-and-go sandwiches. Wells, a pioneer in Los Angeles’s third-wave coffee scene and co-founder of Handsome Coffee Roasters, goes back to his roots with Bar Betsy’s coffee offerings. The pared-down menu includes half a dozen “old-school” coffee drinks made with Vancouver-based Ex-Animo beans, one sweet latte, cold brew, and matcha.
The goods at Bar Betsy. Skandia Shafer
Seating at Bar Betsy. Skandia Shafer
While coffee remains Wells’s first passion, his appreciation for wine has grown exponentially over the past decade. Bar Betsy and Betsy share a wine list featuring many makers that Wells has a personal relationship with, including Farm Cottage Wines (“Ryan Alfaro is making some of the most soulful wines anywhere,” says Wells), Âmevive (“Alice Anderson’s the biggest champion of regenerative farming that I can think of in California,” he adds), and Scar of the Sea and Lady of the Sunshine from Mikey and Gina Giugni (“If they bottled dishwater, I would be so chuffed to drink it,” Wells jokes).
A hand-written menu guides Bar Betsy’s ever-changing smattering of snacks. From crudo to salads, every dish seems anchored by the season’s ripest produce. While developing the menu in recent weeks, straddling late-winter and early-spring harvests, Dev experimented with tomatoes, beets, and kohlrabi in a raspberry vinaigrette. Though this exact combination of ingredients won’t appear on the opening menu, its ethos will. “It’ll be a similar format, with a sweet-acidic vinaigrette paired with some delicious things in the market,” says Wells. The hope remains to capture a snapshot of the season on the plate.
Farmers market produce gets supplemented with flowers, herbs, tomatoes, chiles, and peppers grown in the budding rooftop garden located behind Betsy and Bar Betsy in the former Altadena Hardware nursery. The open-air venue doubles as a private event space for 100.
Skandia Shafer
Skandia Shafer
Skandia Shafer
Wells’s clear vision for Bar Betsy’s food and beverage program extends to how he sees its place within the community. He aims to create a business that feels comfortable rather than transactional, which he says is missing from many similar establishments he’s encountered. Wells likens Bar Betsy to a house party — “not in the college drunken way,” he clarifies — but one where diners and the business’s needs are both met through ongoing dialogue. To encourage more conversations and connection at Bar Betsy, laptop users will be politely asked to power down.
As soon as Bar Betsy finds its footing, Wells’s attention will shift to Melrose Hill, where he leased a massive, 6,500 square foot space from real estate developer Zach Lasry in 2025. Scheduled to open later this year or in early 2027, the yet-to-be-named restaurant will be Wells’s magnum opus, serving “a legendary coffee program” and “California food through the lens of a guy not from California, who is still in love with every second of being alive here. This is gonna be my Balthazar,” he says.
Wells can’t wait to dive deep into his cross-town project, but for now, his focus is squarely on Bar Betsy. “We’re ready. Knees are bent and ready to receive one person or 300 people,” he says. “We’re hoping for the best.”
Bar Betsy is located at 871 E. Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA 91001, and is open seven days a week at 8 a.m.