Under the Metro A line tracks in Chinatown sits a restful café. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like the kind of spot that would become a late-night mainstay. But as the sun goes down, the bright red lights flicker on, and Café Tondo takes on a second life as a wine bar.
Since opening, Café Tondo has become a gathering place. But for co-founder Abraham Campillo, that was always the point.
A group of friends sit down for a meal at Café Tondo (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn)
The vision for Tondo can be traced back to Campillo’s youth, which he spent traveling back and forth to Mexico. There, public spaces were central to everyday life.
“I really valued those spaces, the organic environments you could just spend time with people in,” Campillo said. “That yielded the manifestation of Tondo.”
That philosophy — a place where connection comes naturally — guides everything about Café Tondo.
The café opens every day at 8 a.m., serving coffee and pastries to early risers and neighborhood regulars. There’s no free Wi-Fi, a choice meant to encourage conversation over screens.
Barista preps a batch of coffee (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn).
Campillo wanted it to be a place people could return to throughout the day. “I grew up drinking coffee all day,” he said. “So having a place where you can drink and order it all day with a dessert was important.”
As the afternoon turns into evening, the energy begins to shift. People sit roadside, catching up with friends, enjoying a glass of wine and waiting for the music to start.
People wait for music to start at Café Tondo (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn)
“We do feel like the value, and the reason why we exist, is to create more human connection in the nighttime,” said Campillo.
Music is at the core of what brings Tondo to life after dark. On Tuesdays, the café hosts weekly bolero nights — a commitment Campillo says is rare in Los Angeles. “I grew up with that genre, and I don’t know any other place that does boleros consistently,” he said.
“Parents will come to listen to boleros with their kids,” Campillo added. “They’ll have a café and dance. It feels incredibly wholesome.”
A jazz collective plays a set on a Sunday at Café Tondo (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn).
It’s also become a hotspot for Sunday night jazz, designed for those moments when “you don’t want to sit up too late, but you still want something to do with friends.”
Over time, Tondo has hosted high-profile artists, including Tame Impala, and Campillo hints that more special events are on the horizon. “We’re known for our music,” he said. “And this is only the beginning.”
Bar Tondo menu and shishito peppers (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn).
The selection of food and wine has evolved alongside the space itself. Since opening, the café has gone through three menus and two chefs — a learning curve Campillo speaks about candidly.
“When you’re busy from day one, it’s hard to do quality at scale,” he says, especially while operating as both a café and a bar.
Today’s menu is intentionally small. The food is meant to be “light, easy to eat, and shareable,” said Campillo. Standout dishes include shishito peppers coated with crispy onions and lime, a bluefin tuna tostada that has become a crowd favorite and a crudo featuring kanpachi.
Each dish had a unique flavor profile. Campillo recommends ending the night with a café de olla and a choco-flan — two dishes that nod to his upbringing.
Balancing food quality with hospitality is no small task, yet Tondo does both effortlessly.
“We really care about taste,” he said. “But we care even more about the overall experience in [our] environment.”
Customers order their drinks at the bar inside Café Tondo (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn).
And that shows: despite the crowds that gather at the bar, staff maintain a warm attentiveness whether guests are stopping in for a quick coffee or settling in for hours of wine and music. It’s impossible to leave Tondo without a smile on your face.
“We aren’t trying to replicate any [style], like New York or Mexico City. Tondo is our own new thing,” he said.
What Campillo has built is more than a café or a wine bar. It’s a place for community — something increasingly rare in Los Angeles. A space where people slow down, step away from the noise of the city, and enjoy a real-time connection instead.
Beer and wine served at Café Tondo (Photo by Andriana Yatsyshyn).