Blu Jam Cafe — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I was looking forward to this location opening up in the neighborhood. It was considered one of the best places to get breakfast/brunch when I lived in the valley. Unfortunately, my experience here was horrible. I brought friends who were visiting from NYC and it wasn’t busy when we arrived. I agree with a previous review that they need some organization or clarity around what the best practice here is. Do we order from the counter? Find our own table and use the QR code? See a host? We weren’t greeted at all when we walked inside, but eventually one of the staff let us know our options and we opted to pick a table and order using the QR codes because that’s what we’ve become used to at other restaurants, especially during the pandemic. My friend and I decided to order separately on our phones, not thinking this would be a big deal because it wasn’t busy and we hit “submit” within seconds of each other. We’ve done this at other bars and restaurants that use a similar QR code system with zero issues. My iced cappuccino arrived shortly after ordering, so it was clear my ticket was received. A few minutes later, my friends’ food arrived. At this point I assumed mine would follow shortly since we ordered at the same time and again, the restaurant was not busy at all. 10 minutes passed, and nothing. 20 minutes later, I looked around at tables who arrived after us and they received their food. I waved down one of the staff and asked if my order got lost. Another 10 minutes later, a different person came out and put my order on our table, but said nothing about the fact that my friends were basically done with their food. He returned with extra plates we requested and my friend asked, “Did something happen with her order? You didn’t mention anything about the fact that it arrived half an hour after our food.” The server finally (insincerely) apologized and made some excuse about how if we ordered separately, sometimes other orders come in between and the food is made at different times. This made zero sense considering we hit submit on our phones at the same time and other tables who arrived a while after us were able to order and get food right away. Nothing was done to take accountability for their clear error or try to provide decent customer service. I worked in customer service for several years and never would have handled a situation this way. To add further insult to injury, my food was cold, signaling to me it had been sitting somewhere forgotten about. I was weary of being a “Karen,” but my food was inedible so I went inside to talk to the alleged manager, and she was even worse than the server who brought out the food. She continued to make excuses about “their system” and denied the fact that my order could have been sitting anywhere despite me telling her that my food was cold. She didn’t apologize or offer any kind of gesture to make things right other than offering to remake my food, and I responded that at this point, I don’t even want it because my friends are already done eating and she’s done nothing other than make excuses for the terrible experience. I asked for a refund and she claimed she couldn’t give me one, she could only remake my order. In no situation have I heard of such BS about not being able to refund an unhappy customer. I was firm but polite the entire time I attempted to reason with this “manager,” trying to be understanding because of my customer service background. I ended up leaving with zero resolution, just continued excuses from them and no real apology. I will not be returning and have already warned my family and neighbors to stay...

My younger brother and I were shopping, and the food being served to the outside tables looked delicious. We were originally going to get ramen, but this food looked too good to pass up. I hadn't looked at the reviews, and only just checked because I was recommending the restaurant to a friend, and I was surprised to see that it's not at 4 or 4.5 stars at least.

The service was very nice. We were quickly seated and opted to order with our phones. The wait was about 30 minutes for our food to come. We ordered a breakfast burrito with a side of potatoes and a vegan wrap. The potatoes were diced, crunchy, and delicious. Especially with the hot sauce provided at the tables. My brother loved the burrito and kept nodding his head in satisfaction, and my vegan wrap did not miss! We were both surprised at how filling the food was. This is saying something because my brother has a bottomless pit for a stomach and loves to eat, and he was so full when he was done.

Some people complained about parking, but this is Atwater Village, so if you're complaining about the parking, you must be an outsider. It's just the name of the game.

My go-to restaurant for this area is Buen Gusto, because their pupusas are AMAZING. Now, with Blu Jam, I'm going to opt for brunch here and order pupusas-to-go from Buen Gusto...

EDIT: Since my original review, the restaurant did reach out to me and offer to correct the situation. My daughter and I went to enjoy brunch in person at their request and it was definitely a lot better. I think the key with this place is just to dine in, don’t order out.

Food was delicious & the staff were so kind. Thank you for allowing us to see the other side of the restaurant.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have ordered from this place twice now and both times my order was wrong and arrived almost freezing cold. I live less than 2 minutes away so I don’t think it should be arriving like that. There is no way to contact the restaurant when the order is wrong and they don’t do refunds so you’re kinda screwed if they mess up. I don’t understand how my food is cold, but my juice & coffee are warm.

I REALLY wanted to like this place and give it a better review, but I have no reason to give it more than 1 star since every time I’ve had it, it was horrible.

Maybe they can make it up one day, but I doubt I’ll be going back...