Neighborhood Grinds to Expand

Correction: In an earlier version of this post, Fred Lie was misidentified. It has been fixed, and we regret the error.

North Redondo Beach coffee hotspot will soon expand from its Artesia Boulevard spot and a second location on the Redondo Beach Pier. The unanimously approved the lease at 100B Fisherman's Wharf—the former site of McConnell's Ice Cream—during Tuesday's meeting.

Owner Fred Lie said he had always wanted to open several locations of the coffee shop in the South Bay, and with the planned renovation at the pier, it seemed like a good time.

"I was pretty excited to be on that ship, and at least be a part of that renovation and refacing of the pier," Lie told Patch in an interview before the council meeting. "There's always a sense of uneasiness because you don't know how well (a new location) is going to do … but we're pretty confident that this will be a good addition to our company.

It took "a couple of months" to get the lease approved, Lie said, and he hopes to open in mid-July.

"It's a really small site, but it's really meant for an outdoor seating area where you can really enjoy the view," he told the city council at Tuesday's meeting.

In addition, Lie hopes to serve both beer and wine at the two locations.

"There's a good synergy between wine and coffee, and also with microbrews … This has been a trend that's been going on for years in the Northwest, especially in Portland," he said. "The coffee culture is very similar to the wine culture, where you can appreciate coffee from different regions from the world, and same with wine ... Usually people who are passionate about coffee also have a similar passion with wine."

At Tuesday's council meeting, Mayor Mike Gin said the city was "really happy" to hear about Neighborhood Grinds' expansion.

"It's sort of going to be like the first coffee house, if you will, on the pier," he said.

Lie, who said he grew up in the South Bay, told the council there's another reason he's happy to expand: "I've been in North Redondo for almost four years now, and there's always been that battle between North and South ... so it's nice to kind of play neutral ground and be in both South and North."