Friday, April 24, 1998
WEHO Lounge injects joe, tests for HIV
RESTAURANT: Coffeehouse serves desserts, dose of AIDS awareness
with mystic touch
By Frances Lee
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Leave the Starbucks and the Coffee Beans to the Brentwood
yuppies and the I’m-stuck-in-Westwood crowd and head on over to a
low-key, unpretentious West Hollywood hangout that serves up a mean
cup of joe and offers free AIDS testing, besides.
No, this is not a coffeehouse for the faint of heart, and
definitely not a place for the faint of stomach.
At the WEHO Lounge, get ready to chow down on a bowl of tangy,
sun-dried tomato pasta salad ($3.95/$5.95), grab a turkey croissant
sandwich ($5.50) and wash it all down with some hardcore cafe mocha
($2.50) – the kind that literally screams, "I’m a cafe mocha,
dammit!"
And don’t bother counting the calories or fat grams in the white
chocolate praline cheesecake ($3.50). Or the Snickers cake. Or the
cream cheese chocolate chip muffin ($1.60).
You don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that high.
Just take a look at the menu in this coffeehouse – there is nary
a "lowfat" item to be found. At this place, indulgence is the word.
The prices, fortunately, are reasonable.
Pasta salads and sandwiches aside, WEHO’s piece de resistance is
their dessert selection. No self-respecting coffeehouse should be
without one, and WEHO’s dessert bar would tempt Kate Moss to gorge
on a slice of tiramisu.
For the anti-caffeine crowd, WEHO also serves smoothies and has
a wide selection of fruit juices and obligatory bottled water.
Located on Santa Monica Boulevard, nestled between a nightclub
and a bookstore, WEHO Lounge is not your father’s cafe.
Founded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, WEHO Lounge also
serves as a community center for its clientele. In the back of the
cafe, "Treatment = Life" volunteers man a couple of rooms, offering
free oral HIV testing Monday through Wednesday, and counseling and
support seven days a week.
Come in any day of the week – not just for the coffee, light
coffeehouse fare and AIDS test – but to partake in any of the
numerous activities offered at this unconventional cafe.
Check out the revolving photo display on the walls. How about
getting a henna tattoo on Wednesdays from 8 to 11 p.m.? Tarot card
readings are offered Mondays and Fridays from 7 to 11 p.m., with
past life and aura readings on Thursdays from 8 p.m. to
midnight.
Compete on the Gay Dating Game next Wednesday, laugh it up at
one of WEHO’s comedy nights, or get serious during their weekly
cocktail-hour discussion groups.
Or if you don’t feel like participating in any of these events,
pick up one of the numerous board games and stake out a table. Or
cozy up with a book and lounge on one of the overstuffed
couches.
Here, you can do it all – and have your cake too. Come for the
food, stay for the fun.
MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin
Located on the Santa Monica strip in West Hollywood, the WEHO
Lounge offers a great place to relax as well as literature to
educate about the prevention and the dangers of HIV.