Garden Cafe (of Sherman Oaks) — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Had nice memories at this place 20 years ago when I first moved to Sherman Oaks, back when it was lovely. I’d stopped going around Covid, because all of the protocols they had in place made it just so unbelievably unpleasant – more so than most restaurants – they seemed hell-bent on minimizing, friendliness, and Service, to the point where it felt like even fat burgers down the street had staff who cared more.

I’m sure ownership is well meaning, but the experience tonight was abysmal.

Understanding that it’s become expensive for restaurant owners to employ, given minimum wage, and all the other concerns – either figure out a way to make it pleasant for guests, or fold your tent.

The manager at the front was an attractive female with large eyeglasses and a huge flower in her hair. I got a huge lecture when I asked if I could have an iced cappuccino – apparently they’re not “safe“… It was really absurd.

I ordered the avocado toast, which was served on stale, white bread. I wanted to get poached eggs, but again got a full explanation that no I can’t get those because they only poach eggs in the morning etc etc.

The manager disappeared for about two minutes to have a loud laughing conversation with one of her staff who she was releasing at that point, and when she came back, she said “you need to hurry up and order because the kitchen is closing now”. It was not even 915 even though the restaurant closes at 10. So I made the decision to just get the avocado toast and get my entrée elsewhere. I sat down at one of the tables and was treated to an obnoxiously loud conversation between the manager, and one of her male staff speaking at a volume that you would’ve thought we were in a crowded noisy bar, the place was completely empty, except for some partiers out on the terrace at that point.

To top it off right at this point they began cleaning the bathrooms or kitchen with Lysol, or other strong, smelling cleaning products, which completely wiped out any enjoyment of the avocado toast. So I hastily got everything boxed up and headed to another nearby café for my entrée.

I get it, they don’t want the staff to have to stay a moment past 10 PM when they close, but why make it an enjoyable for the last hour? Can you hold off using incredibly strong cleaning products with ammonia until your guests in the restaurant have finished eating?

Would highly suggest any of the other 14 to 20 restaurants in Sherman Oaks that make FAR better avocado toast (O’cado, Civil Coffee, Republic). The total for this non-joyful experience of mediocre avocado toast, on stale, white bread, two sunny side up eggs, and an iced coffee, was $38 plus tip.

Definitely not worth it. And strongly suggest OWNER have a conversation with the manager that is rushing and stressing out customers. And that she understand that part of the dining experiences, is Guests being able to concentrate on a magazine and their meal, and not have to listen to shouting matches between staff members sharing their weekend plans…

DO...

I’d been here once before, and although the dish I had then looked like dog food in the most unappealing way possible (French Fries with Short Ribs), it was still quite tasty. Today, I decided to try the “simple” grilled cheese, which, according to the menu, was a grilled cheese sandwich made with white cheddar, American, and provolone cheese. Grilled cheese really shouldn’t be that hard to mess up, but Garden Cafe certainly found a way to do it. It was painfully obvious that this was cut-rate processed cheese, beyond cheap. It was mostly American and that ultra cheap yellow (not white) cheddar that conceals almost instantly once removed from the heat and sweats uncomfortably on your bread until eaten or removed from sight. To make matters worse, there was no provolone cheese to be found on my sandwich, the cook having decided that a smear of dried-out and past-it’s-prime cream cheese would be a suitable substitute. It wasn’t. Any moderately decent cook will tell you that it’s the simple things that, due to their simplicity, need the best ingredients to make shine. And that cream cheese does not equal provolone despite both being similar colors.

Somehow this grilled cheese managed to be simultaneously dry, greasy, flavorless but much too tart, and completely terrible in a way that simply seemed impossible prior to this experience. It was accompanied by a salad of wilted and slimy spring greens and lettuces, with the tiniest little cup of dressing I’ve ever seen deployed with a salad. They should be ashamed to sell such a horrifying “sandwich” for $12. My drinks were good, particularly the iced tuxedo mocha latte, but it was also pricey at $5.45.

I won’t be returning to...

All these great reviews and I’m surprised that they overlook 2 things, but I’ll start with the positive. Good food and a great atmosphere is what you can expect here….BUT this atmosphere warrants better service. My husband and I ordered at the counter (not my preferred way to dine, but ok) then the staff brought food to our table. As another reviewer said, the staff did not look happy and it was not busy either. We both ordered the mimosa special for his birthday which includes 3 drinks, each. What happened next was awkward. Here we are sitting in this nice garden setting, the metal table is small but sufficient, that is until they bring the 6 drinks— all at once. Yikes!!! (A lazy and dumb business decision) The small patio type table wasn’t the most stable and it had to share the small space with our brunch too. Honestly, it looked tacky and we had to eat very carefully as to not risk the drinks from crashing to the ground. This place doesn’t know what it is. Sure it says Cafe in its name, which alludes to a more relaxed atmosphere, but the food, PRICE, and ambiance warrants better,...