Amara Cafe & Restaurant — Restaurant in Pasadena

Finally got a chance to try Amara after my many times of driving/walking past it. This is a shop well known for their chocolatiers and churros, but they also serve sandwiches, pastries, coffee, and arepas. With the many favorable reviews, Amara definitely brings something interesting and unique to Pasadena.

Amara is located on Raymond. The best place to park is in the free 90 minute garage on Green Street; upon exiting the garage, you'll find yourself right outside Amara. The shop isn't too big, with several tables outside and a few more inside. I've been here twice - once during the evening and once during the afternoon. Both times the store was pretty crowded with people wanting to get an order of churros to satisfy their craving.

With so many different items you can order from, I was a little overwhelmed by what to order. I stuck to the dessert items rather than the savory, just because I enjoy eating churros so much.

Churros con chocolate Madrid style: $7.85 I can see why this is award winning. You're served 6 crispy, golden brown churros and a large cup of their award winning sipping chocolate. So if you love chocolate, you'll probably want to order this. I am not a fan of chocolate, but even I was impressed by the richness and extra flavoring that it added to the churro after dipping. It's best to eat this when it's just freshly fried, but even after taking the churros home for my dad to try, he still was amazed at how crispy and flavorful they were. I ended up just eating the churros sans chocolate. A lot more authentic than the ones you get at Costco - super crispy on the outside, although not too much breading so that it still gives you a nice crunch after biting into it.

The classic ice cream churro: $8.75 This came with 6 ribbon shaped churros with a dollop of Vanilla ice cream in each ribbon hole. It also comes with a small cup of dipping sauce. I tried the dulce de leche, but my sister wanted chocolate - we were able to get both to contrast with the churros. The ice cream really gave the overall dish an extra "oomph!" While the other churros were good, this one was that much better due to the ice cream! The extra kick of sweetness with the not too sweet churro - perfect combination. I drizzled a spoonful (or three) of caramel on top and stuck the churro ribbon in my mouth. Explosion of fireworks! The contrasting texture and temperature really went well together. Chocolate was a bit too rich for me that it overtook the churro taste. I really liked the dulce de leche with this!

Medium latte: 12 oz for $3.99 Hooray for latte art! It was a bit more subdued, but the cup of latte was just what we needed to accompany the ice cream churro. Loved the fact that it was frothy and foamy near the top, but after taking a sip, you get the rich and warm flavors of the espresso. Not too bitter, but not too sweet either. Something that you can enjoy in the middle of the day or as an evening treat.

I've heard their signature lattes - especially the Cacao and Amara are quite popular! I definitely want to come back to give it a try ... and try the Apple Cinnamon churro dish as well!

Service: everybody is extremely nice and friendly; since the restaurant is always buzzing with people, the workers are quick to clean off a table once a party leaves so that another party can sit.

tl;dr - A must try if you're ever in the area. Especially if you love desserts and sweets! And with free parking, how can you say no? Highly recommend trying the churros and a latte, but their chocolatiers looked super...

I have been here 3x for their Aztec latte and churro croissant and the food is very good.

Today I witnessed some concerning treatment of one of their customers that I feel is worthy of noting and maybe some suggestions. There was a customer who was ahead of me he asked about seating and the employee said typically you have to wait to be seated but go ahead sit anywhere and the customer mentioned he was waiting for someone - so he did and ordered a coffee. He asked for the wifi login which another employee said they don’t hand it out they need to keep people moving - ok I get that it more of a restaurant than a coffee place. A couple minutes later another employee came to him and said you can’t sit there it’s just you and there are 2 tables put together (note that is how the restaurant sets it up and can and should be separated for more 2 tops) and the employee pointed to some sign outside which I will admit I never really saw before so it is not well placed. The man packed up tried to get the attention of someone so he can get his coffee to go - the whole event was uncomfortable to watch and the man handled it better than I would have. He ended up not taking the to go coffee which I don’t blame him. I have been in the service industry in my past and there were better ways to handle this while a couple of employees seemed to be apologetic one of them was abrupt and did not provide a resolution - like we can separate the tables it was more of get up and when your friends come if it’s available than it’s available. I myself left before the gentlemen so I am not sure what happened after that.

My thoughts are this is one of those places where you order at the register and sit down I have always chosen my seat and no one has ever sat me. Signage is not clear and depending from direction you come from entering the store you may not see it so I would recommend the owners rethink their signage and clearly state no wifi. If they want to seat people there should be someone there to seat people when me and the gentlemen arrived it wasn’t too busy and lots of open seats shortly there after the morning rush came. This is not a place you go for ambience and/or to linger as they made it clear we need to get customers in and out. So if you are ok with rushing or if you want to go this is your place. Otherwise there are plenty of coffee shops and/or brunch spots that will accommodate a more leisure breakfast in...

The WORST restaurant experience of our lives!

The place is small. We took one of the tables outside since the inside was full and we had our baby stroller with us. Note: There were no clear signs saying we couldn’t sit down before placing an order.

Since the line was long, we began placing the order through their website, and then a man—who we were later told is the owner—came and said that if we ordered that way, we wouldn’t be allowed to eat at the table, but would have to leave. My wife had a craving, so I had to wait in line.

While I was in line, this man approached my wife, so I had to raise my voice and tell him to leave her alone, that we were already doing what he asked. I had already told him to leave things as they were, despite the inconvenience. He stubbornly tried to justify himself.

I placed the order, and to my surprise, they began serving several people who had ordered after me. And not only that—someone at another table was given their food in a to-go bag and stayed to eat at the table. He wasn’t told to leave.

The coffee we ordered was brought after we had already finished eating our arepas.

One of the workers brought us churros—perhaps to make up for the situation—but given the owner’s shameless attitude and complete lack of an apology, we refused to accept them.

My wife enjoyed the arepa. As for me, not only did I find it unimpressive (especially considering the high price), but I even got diarrhea—though that might have been psychosomatic due to the extremely unpleasant treatment and experience.

CONCLUSION: It was without a doubt our first and last time visiting. We do NOT recommend it. Deep down I felt sad, because I’m a Catholic missionary who has helped many Venezuelan brothers and sisters—people who are often unfairly stigmatized in the countries they migrate to. But with Venezuelans like these, they only reinforce the negative reputation, hurting so many good, hardworking, noble, and humble Venezuelan migrants.

I’ll be sharing a more in-depth reflection on my YouTube channel and social media, for the benefit of Latino entrepreneurs who want to avoid falling into the harmful practices of places like this.

GOD bless...