Few spots in Los Angeles transition competently from day to night, from freelancing time to fun time. Billions (yes, billions) of coffee shops both Eastside and Westside make fantastic reading nooks and scriptoriums, but what happens when 3 p.m. rolls around and you're thirsty for something palliative yet you're not done reading? What happens when the smell of stale coffee and desperation starts to harsh your mellow? You're not ready to go home. You can't go to a loud bar with too many trappings of unwoke civilization, like TVs and a jarring electro-pop soundtrack, can you? Certainly not. Enter the Semi-Tropic, the Echo Park boho-chic cafe/bar perfectly designed to mix suds and literary sensibility. With a bank of sound-baffled couch alcoves, low tables and a just-low-enough-to-be-calming lighting scheme, Semi-Tropic makes you feel comfortable cracking the spine of a good book and losing yourself in its pages without completely hiding away from the world.

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