Bon Vivant Market & Café — Restaurant in Los Angeles

It's never in my nature to review a place - good or bad. If its good I'll come back, if its bad I won't - simple.

This place is different.

They have a cool ambiance which deserves credit. Food comes out pretty quick too and the water jug is filled with strawberries etc, so thats nice as well.

They also have a sign that lets customers know that this is a dining restaurant and people with computers should be mindful of others. Understand that 100% and appreciate the soft way of mentioning it.

With that being said - My fiancee and I went there for breakfast to do some work for our wedding. We ordered Eggs Benedict, a waffle and coffee. My wife thought the food was good. I thought the eggs had no flavor, the crab cake was good, the English muffin bad (how is that possible), the waffle was dry and seemed old. Coffee - well wasn't expecting much so it'll be left at that.

My fiancee went up to use the restroom and had a bite left on her fork. The fat guy who wears a hat there, his name is Jason I believe - he may be a host, because he's not intelligent enough to have a managerial position. He needed to seat more customers so he came up to us and told us to leave. Without allowing for conversation, he bussed our plates with food on my fiancées plate (Keep in mind, there are 5 tables full of people who have been sitting for over an hour just chatting). We arrived at 11:05 and we were booted at 11:50 (took 10 mins to wait in line and order, took 15 mins to receive food, took 15 mins to eat).

I've never really been so disappointed or embarrassed about a place before.

PLEASE KNOW - You have options! Atwater is an awesome place - Do come - but leave with a good impression.

Here are some suggestions! For coffee, I suggest going to Kaldi (the guys are real cool there) next door. You can also go across the street to Proof (great pastries and coffee).

For breakfast / brunch - Highly recommend going up the street to Alcove. The ambiance is just as good. The food is 100x better. The coffee is great. And the price is the same as Bon Poopant.

Alternative for breakfast - The Village Bakery - Still in the Atwater area and again 100x better in every way.

They breakfast burrito a few doors down is also great for a quick bite...

Bon Vivant is a super cute bar, bakery & restaurant in Atwater Village. My friend and I really enjoyed coming here to enjoy a late lunch. I ordered a half portion of the smoked duck sandwich on whole multi-grain, and it was delicious! I'm really averse to ham and it originally looked and kind of smelled like it, but the texture was nice, and the taste of it was great, particularly with the apricot jam on the sandwich! My friend ordered a half of Jamaican Spiced BBQ Beef sandwich on cranberry walnut bread, and that was even better! Amazing flavor in the spread that they put on there. We both got a cup of their soup of the day (Curry Chicken)--wonderfully delightful! The soups came with warm baguette slices, and we loved it so much we were definitely getting the last drops with our baguette slices. Sweet potato fries here are also yummy!

The only issue we had was with the attitude of our cashier (order & pay, then they bring it to you at the table). It seemed like she was really annoyed with our presence, and even when she dropped off our food, she had a plop-here-it-is-peace-out kind of feel to her. Perhaps she was having a particularly rough day, but it's just a note.

Overall, it's a cute spot. It reminds me of a larger version (plus with a bar) of my favorite coffee & pie spot. We'll most likely pop by again when we're on this side of town, in particular...

If I’m being honest Atwater does not deserve this new era of Bon Vivant! I was in 2 days ago and everything was fantastic, we came in for brunch or “bistro” and everything was stellar and so fresh! The Trot burger easily one of my favorite burgers of all time! I did however overhear an older gentleman who had to of been in his 70s near our table saying how prices have increased and that the food was mediocre, which if I’m being honest he said he missed some cold turkey sandwich for dinner. Yeah.. imagine a cold turkey sandwich for dinner???? Anyways hearing that just really reminded me why we don’t deserve these beautiful gems blooming in our neighborhood! All of these entitled and ungrateful people who we’ve known for years complaining about nothing it’s truly ridiculous. I feel sorry for the staff having to put up with these very sad old folks. Just wanted to say thank you to the gentleman Daniel for our lovely meals and to the new team and chef at Bon Vivant. We respect what you guys are doing and we love the new Bon Vivant! Don’t let the sad old community take away your shine! Out with the old and in...