Alder & Sage — Restaurant in Long Beach

Came with my parents to enjoy the patio . We order drinks at the cafe bar . Immediately the lady who rung us up was very unfriendly and cold . Which is fine . But it was just the beginning. We got a $7 Oj that came out of a plastic jug . coffee and pastry. My mom asked for cream for her coffee , she had to ask about 4 times because no One hears her ; and it wasn’t available . Also Ok and forgiveable . We sat outside and I grabbed what I thought was my drink (same Order and it was placed on the counter ) Not abnormal for a coffee place to put down a drink for patrons to grab. It was in a pretty glass cup , and It was pretty tasty .

We sat outside , and the unfriendly lady tried to Give me my drink that was in a paper cup . “Oh .. you have a drink… thats confusing” I said I was sorry , I grabbed what I thought was my drink. And apologized . She said okay . And I said to my mom, “o thought it was my drink, it was the same Order , but I’m glad I have a glass cup “

A waitress overheard and it took it upon herself to bring back the other coffee that was in the paper cup , slammed it On the table and snatched the one I was drinking from the table and gave me a glare and said “ this one has WHOLE MILK- I hope you aren’t lactose intolerant and get sick “ to which I replied , “oh .. it was labeled almond milk so I’m sure I’ll be OK.”

It felt very hostile and unwelcoming and unnecessary. It felt like they didn’t want us there They were cold and rude , and for someone who has never been there Before - They should have told us that our cafe drinks would be TO GO only and would be brought to us .

I will not be going back - especially since it was clear we weren’t...

TLDR: Come for a coffee date and ambiance, not food.

As others have noted, the portions would be considered small even in more uptight parts of LA, and unfortunately the taste of the food didn’t make up for that. Nor does the farm-to-table supply, which I see is called out heavily in replies as the reason for the price, which I would get, but does farm-to-table mean higher price and less food? I didn’t think so.

For specifics and in transparency, my service may be an anomaly. I ordered the Turkish eggs (almost all their egg dishes are soft eggs), which they serve sous vide, not poached—which they said explained the running gooey whites. To me, that is not “set” whites. Even then if the yogurt underneath had tasted okay I would have made due with the toast and yogurt, but maybe it was off or they forgot seasoning. We just put it aside. When they came by, I asked if I could switch it out for another dish, which I hate doing, and pay the difference. It was also laughably small portion of polenta and-idk-tasteless, watery meat? Juicy is not the word. It pulled apart easily, will give them that. We had a laugh because it looked sad, and our experience felt like a comedy of errors. Thankfully, my partner had the Caesar salad with added chicken, which was nice.

The coffee bar was excellent and the barista with reddish hair? who served us yesterday while we waited for our table was helpful and made us...

I love going to Alder & Sage. It’s such a beautiful restaurant that was thoughtfully designed to include a large outdoor space with fire pits, coffee bar, and indoor seating area with views of the kitchen.

I try to come during the weekdays when they are less busy. Sometimes I need to work in the area and they have high communal tables for people that need to use their laptops and offer free WiFi.

I love to order the Jidori chicken wraps, their omelette specials, and whatever version of breakfast hash they have on the menu. The last one I tried was a vegan soyrizo hash and it was so filling and flavorful. I love to also get their grain bowls and add two eggs for a very satisfying meal. Their menu is seasonal and they use the freshest ingredients and produce. They also have great coffee drinks too and thankfully decaf versions of their espresso drinks.

I finally made it out to the Sunset Social Hour with my neighbors. It was a Thursday evening and they had live jazz music. The anchovy toast was incredible and we ordered another one since it was so good. All of us tried the shrimp and grits which were amazing and we all cleaned our bowls. We shared the basque cheesecake for dessert and it was enough for 3 people. Afterwards we relaxed by the fire pits and enjoyed the...