Garçons de Café — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Had the oddest interaction yesterday 10.12.24 when I stumbled upon this place during an event called Broadway night lights - which was exceptional! I'm surveying places to take my friend when he comes to visit. Decided to sample some cocktails and maybe an appetizer. However, I didn't get to because the workers, the owner, whoever, were so evasive.

I had on sweats, a hat and a shirt. Didn't look disheveled. Therea were two entrances. I went to the side that had the bar because I saw an older gentleman who was dressed similarly. Before walking in, a Hispanic worker saw me and I asked him if it was OK to enter with the way I'm dressed because some establishments have strict dress codes. I wanted to adhere, even if this establishment is in the middle of a strip mall on a street overrun with homeless but I digress.

He told me that he didn't know and that I had to ask the owner. There was a slim white? bald man on the shorter side of 5'7" who obviously heard the conversation a because it was only us 3 around, no noise and he was within an arms length distance. I assumed he was the owner because the Hispanic guy kept chanting "ask the owner". I even asked if he was the owner and he said nothing. It was perplexing. If it was Halloween already I would've thought it was part of the act but it's not.

A reasonable worker would have asked if I needed help. He a just kept trying to avoid eye contact and grimaced when the Hispanic man kept telling repeating that I had to talk to the owner. I don't want to be presumptive but I felt there could've been some underlying tones. As a black woman, I don't want to bring race into, so I'll just leave it here, but that was for sure an uncomfortable...

The pictures don't fully capture the essence of the entire restaurant. Stumbled upon this place while being scared away by Blue Jam Restaurant's 1 hour wait for brunch on Sunday morning (few doors down of this place). Talk about getting lost! Once you enter the white, drawn curtains....you are in France. You will be greeted by a kind, French bartender that will walk you through their extensive French wine list (reds, whites, and rose), cheese platters, or even brunch if you arrive by 3pm on the weekend! We ordered of their brunch menu: $12 Francine which is a beautiful presentation of two over-easy eggs, buttered toast, side of fresh bananas and strawberries lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. I'll be honest, the portions are very French and not large whatsoever (like you may need to grab a cheeseburger shortly after). To drink, we ordered a $4 latte and their must try $5 Tea Mariage Marcol Polo which is a black tea with fruity undertones. The tea is exquisite and had soft hints of fruit to stimulate your tastebuds. They offer 25 tea packets for $30 inside to take some home to savor another time. We didn't get to try their French wines, but will definitely venture back to this lovely spot soon. Great location for romantic date, informal business meetings, or even group meet up.

Despite the complaints, I didn't mind the restaurant selling material goods. There are various art pieces, clothing, backpacks, and other trinkets sold. All of the pieces are made by French artists and placed in clever nooks to blend in with the vintage decor of...

This establishment is both a wine bar and coffee shop. A couple of friends and I came here after going to a group show of young artists' work at a temporary 'pop up' gallery space nearby. (There was nicer art on the walls here, than in the gallery space, by the way.) We had coffee, tea and tapas style snacks. The place has a nice, warm, cozy neighborhood feel to it, and reminded me of the wine bars one used to find on West B'way during the height of the SOHO gallery scene back home in NYC. The only drawback (and it's a minor one) is that, with only the barman (possibly the owner/operator himself) on duty that evening, and a decent number of other patrons to attend to, I had to remind him to bring us our second order of finger food. Nice place. I'll be coming back next time I'm in this...