At a Long Beach art gallery, a makeshift coffee shop hums in the corner. Baristas shout orders over the hum of chatter. Magnetic Mahjong stones stick to the espresso maker. On the walls are “Pure Checks,” asking customers to write notes to deceased loved ones, past selves and even exes from years ago—grief and its many phantoms.
A joke that coffee shop owner Tommy Le often repeats: “Coffee baristas are therapists who serve coffee to people.”
A framed photo of Lim in the cafe opened by Le, who wanted to create a therapeutic space for customers.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Le transformed his personal tragedy and community spirit into a place for clients to channel love and loss. Occasionally customers burst into tears. Le – who founded the cafe in memory of his late friend Reinne Lim in 2025 – welcomes it and even encourages it.
“At least once a day someone comes up to me and starts crying. The fact that two strangers can feel that protection at once, within 30 seconds, is beautiful to me.”
When Le started dating Lim, he noticed that she was always giving change to homeless people on the street. Why? Le remembers asking his girlfriend, whom he met while working as a barista. Raised by Vietnamese immigrant parents, Le learned to be wary of strangers – generosity was ripe for exploitation. Lim rejected this cynicism. “She didn’t judge people like that,” Le said. She lived openly, warmly and without suspicion.
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The couple planned to move to New York City together, each pursuing a creative path. Instead, Lim was killed in October 2022 by a drunk driver who shot her car head-on.
Le survived, but was in critical condition and had to undergo multiple surgeries and months of intensive physical therapy. At 22, a college dropout, he was grieving and had no sense of direction.
“There was so much to process,” he said. “Not only did I lose a partner, but I think people often don’t realize I was driving.”
At Reinne's Place, customers are encouraged to write “Reinne Checks,” messages to those they remember.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Reinne's Place owner Le holds one of his specialty drinks in his hand: “Mot, hai, ba… yo!” (the Vietnamese expression for “cheers” or “one, two, three, let's go!”) and shows off his tattoos in honor of his girlfriend.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In the intensive care unit, Le received “a few hundred visitors.” Friends, family members, colleagues and even coffee shop regulars from his barista days came to offer him support.
Le's mother was stunned. “Who are all these people?” she asked.
“I tried to tell my traditional Vietnamese mother that I did this,” Le said. “It may seem like I'm a college dropout working as a barista – but in that moment, it was a testament to all the years I've put in as a barista. It was the first time in a long time that my mother understood me.”
After the tragedy, Le founded Reinne's Place at the age of 25 to honor the memory of his late partner.
Many of Reinne's Place's investors and business partners were regulars to whom Le served as a barista. “You all saw how bad I wanted it,” Le said. “The beauty of this business is that it is supported by people I have mentored over the years.”
The opportunity to open Reinne's Place arose in the summer of 2025. Le secured a lease with the help of donors. “Organically, things just started falling into place,” he explains. “Oddly enough, old customers started contacting me again. When I found the space, I thought, You know what? I have to do this.”
Customer Julianne Nieh from Vancouver holds a Reinne's Spanner drink with matcha and cream in her hand.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
moment Instagram post Le's memorial for his girlfriend and introduction to Reinne's Place went viral and sparked an outcry of support on social media. Le received hundreds of DMs from people overseas and abroad encouraging him. “I get so many interactions every day that I had to turn off notifications,” he said.
The drinks served at Reinne's Place have a unique Asian influence. Le is Vietnamese and Lim was Filipino. The resulting menu adds Asian flavors to coffee drinks. Ingredients include ube, matcha and jackfruit fermented banana. “We have a whole plethora of things to explore in my culture — things I grew up with as a child, things Reinne's parents told me about,” Le said. “Our main aim was to honor Reinne’s culture. …
“My ultimate goal was to encourage people to try new things and feel connected to those flavors.”
For Le, the café serves as a community space where customers can grieve and share their experiences of loss. “When you come here, I want you to slow down. Take it in and feel what I want to convey – a sense of connection.”
The café's convivial atmosphere is due to Le romanticizing his time as a barista. He watched life happen behind the bar. “That's my favorite part – seeing families grow up, watching kids and babies grow up. Seeing two regulars start talking and then get married,” Le said. “It’s really nice when you start to appreciate those little subtleties.”
Le says as a barista he watched lives unfold. “That's my favorite part – seeing families grow up, watching kids and babies grow up. Seeing two regulars start talking and then get married.”
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Le enlists the baristas at Reinne's Place as part of his larger community-building vision. “When you come to someone’s house, there’s always an Asian parent taking care of you,” said Le, who grew up in Southern California. He hopes to extend this tradition of hospitality to his cafe. “When you go to a café, it makes your day.”
Le has also launched the Reinne-y Day Fund, where once a month a portion of every drink sale is donated to a good cause. “That’s what Reinne would have wanted,” said Le. “She always gave something to every single public figure she saw.”
Reinne's Place is located at Open Gallery, 3902 E. 4th St., Long Beach. A new permanent café is scheduled to open in the spring.
The future home of Reinne's Place in Long Beach.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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