Bookworks — Restaurant in Pacific Grove

Do not go here if you want great coffee. Quality of espresso is less than Starbucks, very mediocre, especially for the price. Perhaps people go for the charm of this location but if you’ve ever experienced really high quality espresso you’ll be extremely disappointed here. The blueberry muffin was worse than store bought, the berries were bitter ( frozen?) and the muffin was stale. It almost tasted like corn meal, a really weird flavor. Whoever owns this place is just taking advantage of tourists that don’t know how bad it is, I doubt there are any regulars that come here. Nothing here was different from any chain store restaurant, very low quality and very expensive. Anyone that knows how to bake a muffin, which is not difficult at all, could have done a better job, the people who work here just don’t care, neither do the owners. No sense of passion about wanting to give you an amazing experience, these people just care about how much profit they can squeeze out of this joint. Why not create something truly special and earn customer’s loyalty as a way to run a business? It seems like this location attracts a lot of business owners that just want to trade off location for piss poor quality food at...

Service: There were two staff members there, and the place was packed, and only one seemed to be comfortable dealing with customers at all. The individual who served us didn't even look at us, which was the epitome of impersonal. Instead of putting my order with my husbands, they asked him for his name for his beverage, and mine for my beverage, which is just ... what/why? Lol. Otherwise the service was very swift.

Menu: The drink menus are positioned on very large chalkboards, located directly behind the staff at the counter. The food items located under the myriad cake cloches and within the refrigerated case have no labels or prices attached to them so, you'll have to ask the staff questions about them. The offerings are rather mediocre, and they use a microwave to heat everything up, including the quiche, which is just YUCK when it comes to pastry.

Atmosphere: The seating area is surrounded by very large windows, which only slightly alleviate the feeling of being packed in like sardines ... Far too many couches, chairs, and tables are positioned too close to one another to the point that all conversations should be had at barely above a whisper so as to not irritate the...

Great vibe and cool spot with sofas inside, some tables outside and a cute little bookstore in the back.

Wanted to try based on the reviews seen online. The hot chocolate took quite some time to get out - I can understand - but it wasn’t a crazy line either. It was pretty good, I really enjoyed the taste.

I also got a croissant and I think that’s my biggest disappointment. It didn’t look really nice but I still wanted to give it a try. I know this is not a pastry shop BUT if you sell some for $5, it has to be somewhat decent. You would think? And, not gonna lie it was probably one of worst croissant I have ever had. Probably some Costco croissant (sorry Costco I actually never tried yours either) - but some industrial, frozen ones that you buy in bulk for nothing. So, yeah, extremely disappointed, I know it’s a thing to sell overpriced pastries around here, but trust me to anyone around here, it’s not worth it at all.

I wanted to support the business and get some food, but probably something I won’t do again because that feel like you’re getting robbed. I know I’m focusing on just a croissant, but I was so shocked haha.

Anyway, cool spot for a quick drink, but that would...