Lady Byrd Cafe — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I had been here 2 years ago and this last time was a major let down. If it wasn't for Milton's superb attitude & dedication to service this place would be getting a 1 star. When we arrived there was a cluster of people after about 10 minutes a lady, I believe the hostess, asked who's next. We all waited our turn and went by who we notice was waiting longest...the only thing was almost every table was empty so the wait was a bit unnecessary and could've been avoided with a dedicated hostess. (we watched lines like this build up over and over again) We then got sat but in the span of 20 minutes had 3 different people come to our table. The first person was the hostess and we asked her if there were any seasonal specials or pastries, she left to go find out. Another guy came to our table and we asked the same question letting him know we requested water & the specials. We asked him if he knew. He did not and said he'd go find out. Next came Milton, who we let know we already ordered twice and asked for the specials but no one returned with either. He said he'd go find out, he came back with waters and let us know the specials. I mentioned seeing a chicken and waffle benedicts (which was not mentioned) and he said yes they should have that. We then waited 30 minutes for tea, eggs benedict, pancakes, and a frittata. Our food came in the oddest order, first pancake, then frittata (which was the veggie one instead of the spanish one we ordered - it was covered with salad so we didn't notice right away) then our eggs benedict and after we were half way done with our food came the tea... so this was a bit frustrating. When we got the tea, there was only one cup that came with it, we had to explicitly ask for another mug. My husband is the one who notice the mistake with the Frittata which Milton apologized for and fixed as best as he could. All in all we were a bit disappointed but just figured this team is doing there best and management/operations must be lacking in their communications with them. We weren't going to complain or do anything (like this review) but at the very end of our meal some random lady (maybe the manager or owner - we wouldn't know because they never introduced themselves to us) came up to us and asked how's everything? We hesitantly answered alright, when she told us "oh no, tell me what's wrong" we didn't want to get any one in trouble but we told her a couple things that occurred. She kept prying and asking what else, so we told everything that had gone wrong in the meal, the wait times, no defined server/sections, the mistake with the wrong item being made, the things that just kind of rubbed us the wrong way. And after saying all this and expressing we know they're doing their best and maybe they need more communication or training and we don't want to complain all she said was, "what's the name of your server?" like that's it! No apology, no let us make it better... this just rubbed me the wrong way. It was like she just wanted someone to blame. The idea of potentially getting someone in trouble has bothered me since this encounter. I've sat with writing this review or not and the only reason I am is because I think leadership is failing the staff and customers. Why go up to table and not introduce yourself? Why asked what's wrong if you're not going to make it right? And I hope I did not get this young man into any trouble by mentioning who it was. Milton if you see this, you are golden! You did your best and we appreciate you! We appreciate you taking care of every single table that Sunday morning. We saw how hard you worked and how positive of an attitude you...

I’ll start by saying everyone who works there is nice. No one was rude and everyone seemed to be trying their best. But, wow, the experience was an overall debacle.

We made reservations via Yelp - they’re not available on open table. Yelp says something like, “this restaurant takes a limited number of reservations,” so I grabbed one of those “limited numbered” reservations for Father’s Day. We were seated pretty much immediately upon arriving - but there was a very long line waiting to be seated the entire time we were there. (Sunday, Father’s Day, dodger game, prime brunch time — probably all didn’t help.)

The water glasses came out dirty - legit dirty, we asked for new ones and placed our drink order. Getting the drinks took 30 minutes. Getting coffee took 30 minutes. It shouldn’t take that long for drinks but especially coffee. I don’t even drink coffee, other folks in my party did - and usually coffee at breakfast, brunch is served immediately and someone is walking around refilling along the way. No. 30 minutes for the first coffee and never a refill. We didn’t get a fresh bottle of water for the table when we ran out either.

The silverware and napkins were tossed in front of me to hand out to the rest of the table - there wasn’t enough - I asked for more, that request remained unfulfilled.

It took about 45 minutes for the food to finally come out.

I ordered the chicken panini (chicken slices, mozzarella, tomato, pesto on panini bread) but asked for it without chicken. I figured it would make a nice caprese sandwich. I was wrong. First the sandwich came with just tomato and pesto. I asked for the cheese. They brought out sliced American (or maybe cheddar either way wasn’t mozzarella) on a plate. I ask again for mozzarella, another plate of yellow sliced cheese comes out. I ask again - finally mozzarella comes out and it’s like grocery store sliced mozzarella, not nice, fresh mozz. Disappointing- but the modification is on me. The service and communication challenges between the servers and the kitchen however, not on me.

My son ordered a plain burger - it came with cheese. We send it back, a new one comes out 15 minutes later, the plate is chipped and has bits of shredded lettuce and pesto on it.

My daughter ordered the French toast - the syrup on the table is like fake corn syrup syrup not real maple syrup.

My brother and husband got breakfast burritos which they said were tasty.

The experience on a whole was frustrating and overpriced for the quality of the ingredients and lack of service Definitely would not go back.

All of that said - there were people being really rude and nasty to the servers - and I feel like the problem stems from leadership. It’s almost like the people running the place have never run a restaurant before and have no clue what they’re doing. There’s not enough help, the servers and the kitchen clearly are not communicating clearly with each other, and there’s a cleanliness issue with the plates, glasses, and silverware.

It’s a shame because vibes are chill, space is nice, and we live in the neighborhood so would love to have this as a spot on regularly rotation - but it’s a big never again from me.

Parking is another conundrum - why the management at the restaurant hasn’t worked out valet and/or paying the empty-on-the-weekend school to use their school yard for parking. It must be tough on the restaurant neighbors.

If you do go, try not to take frustrations out on staff - it’s not their fault. There was a guy at the table behind us being a real jerk to the servers. There’s no point - it’s the management/owners who are...

We’ve been to Lady Byrd Café many times over the years — mostly for the patio and atmosphere, which are admittedly lovely. The food? Usually fine. Never amazing. But after what we experienced on Mother’s Day, we won’t be going back — not even for the view. We had a reservation. What we didn’t have was any warning that they were scrapping the regular menu and offering a fixed “special” menu instead. Surprise! That menu was also missing about 30% of the listed items. We placed drink orders right away and still had to wait nearly 20 minutes just to get them. The place was packed way beyond what they could handle. Every single table around us was dealing with the same disaster — missing dishes, long waits, staff with trays of food walking around unsure where anything was supposed to go. It felt like the restaurant was being run by people who had just discovered the concept of brunch an hour before we arrived. Dessert showed up before the food — not on purpose, just out of pure dysfunction. Only two out of three arrived, but that was honestly a gift. The “poppyseed pancakes” were so dry and lazily thrown on the plate, they looked like something from a high school cafeteria with budget cuts. Then finally — after about 90 minutes — the food arrived. Sort of. What was supposed to be a frittata was just a basic omelet thrown under a sad, soggy mountain of undressed mixed greens. No flavor, no seasoning, not even oil. It was like someone dumped half a grocery bag of lettuce on top and called it plating. The “Bolognese” we ordered came out as shrimp pasta. We sent it back. Three minutes later — THREE — they brought out the corrected “Bolognese” and guess what? Still had shrimp in it. I don’t know what kind of cursed kitchen mix-up that is, but shrimp doesn’t belong anywhere near a meat sauce. It looked like leftovers thrown together by a sleep-deprived toddler. And then… there’s the owner. I’ve never seen someone so blatantly uninterested in the restaurant they’re supposedly running. She strutted around with a pack of cigarettes glued to her hand like it was a badge of honor, doing absolutely nothing while her staff was drowning. No checking on tables, no apologies, no leadership. Just pacing around like she was filming a slow-motion perfume ad in a garden. And trailing her the entire time? A poor guy in jogging pants that looked like they had survived a natural disaster — complete with a suspicious stain in a very unfortunate spot. He looked like he’d fallen asleep in them during a global pandemic and just emerged. When my wife politely asked the owner for the bill, she didn’t respond. Just turned, snapped “CHECK!” at a waitress, and walked away. Not a word. Not a thank you. Not even eye contact. It was the customer service equivalent of spitting on the floor. And to be clear: the servers themselves were doing their best. They were kind, fast, clearly overwhelmed but trying hard. They deserved a better system. A better team. A better boss. We spent $140 on a brunch that looked and felt like a live demonstration of how to mismanage a restaurant. Zero coordination. Zero hospitality. Zero chance we’ll return. Lady Byrd Café may photograph well, but behind the scenery is a disaster held together only by exhausted waitstaff and misplaced ambition. If you want overpriced chaos, shrimp in your Bolognese, and pancakes that can double as insulation — go for it. Otherwise, grab a taco down the street. It’ll be faster, hotter, and way...