In 2019, Francois Reihani founded a coffee shop in Dallas offering paid internships designed to help youth in the foster system transition into adulthood. Soon, this cafe that gives back will open its doors in Austin.

La La Land Kind Cafe will be located at 1400 S. Congress Ave., just next to Hopdoddy Burger Bar. Since the building was just secured less than a month ago, Reihani says the team truly has "no idea" when construction will begin or when this new location will open; but it most definitely will be opening here.

"I can't tell you enough how excited I am for this store. I have never tried this hard for real estate, ever. This is a six-year long wait to get the perfect location in Austin," says Reihani. "Austin has been by far — like not even close — our most requested market."

In the years since La La Land's opening in Dallas, it's grown into nearly 20 locations across Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. But Reihani describes Austin as a "soulmate" to La La Land Kind Cafe's brand.

"It's the perfect balance of a kind culture and people," he says. "And Austin obviously likes to stay weird, and all of those things are kind of embraced in La La Land."

Every city with a La La Land presence has a flagship store that runs the entire program for the city. So in Austin, this first location will be the flagship store. There, youth coming out of the foster care system will go through a 10-week paid internship program.

Through the La La Land Foundation, each person is assigned a youth director who handles things like housing, schooling, and therapy for them; store managers focus on workforce development. At the end of their 10 weeks, it's up to the youth to decide if they want to continue working with La La Land. If so, the store manager will employ them at one of the nearby La La Land locations, and if they want to do something else, their youth director can help guide them in that direction.

Reihani adds that the program has changed and adapted over the past six years. For example, at first workers were simply "thrown into the job right away" without the internship period.

"It was often their first job and they weren't able to get the hang of it very quickly," says Reihani, so over the years they added more guidance. "It started out not working very well, and finally just now, almost six years in, it's starting to work very well."

Like its other locations, Austin's La La Land Kind Cafe will feature a full menu of coffee drinks including signatures like the La La Latte, plus iced coolers and teas. It will also include the chain's signature toasts, like Truffle Burratta Toast, La La Classic Avocado Toast, and The Hazelnut; plus, Reihani hints, there may be "some special things for Austin."

Also like the other locations, this new store will be decorated in the chain's signature bright, white, and airy aesthetic.

La La Land Kind Cafe's Lovers Lane location in Dallas.Photo from La La Land Kind Cafe Facebook

"The goal is, you walk in and you kind of feel like you're in this heaven," says Reihani. "And to me, that means an all-white and wide-open space where you feel happy, and then these little pops of yellow, like these little boosts of serotonin."

As a brand, La La Land Kind Cafe is all about bringing humanity closer together, and showing the world that companies can help their communities and still be financially self-sufficient.

"A better world can be had," says Reihani. "If you walk into a La La Land, you're walking into the way the world should be. Like how people treat each other, how we feel. Humanity should be closer together."