Bardonna — Restaurant in Santa Monica

If you know this part of Montana Ave in Santa Monica, you know that this space has held several iterations of Coffee+food for a decade or more now. Bardonna is the latest version, but unlike its predecessors, they focus way more on the food than the coffee and the results are very good!

It's a fast-casual concept, so you order and pay at the counter and the food/drinks are brought out to you. Most of the seating is outside and about half the tables have shade so if it's warm and/or you don't like the sun, be warned or wait for one of the few inside tables. On the plus side, there are a bunch of neighborhood dogs in attendance, so if you sit outside you'll make some new friends.

The food is basically all breakfast/brunch items, from egg-based plates to sandwiches/burritos/wraps to French toast to lox/bagels and from what we've sampled so far, execution in the kitchen is spot-on. Ingredients are fresh, sometimes surprising and, this being Santa Monica, you can get gluten free, vegetarian, or vegan items. Coffee is good here,...

dined in for brunch. service is walk up and then they bring the items out to you. the menu was huge and took us forever to decide but when we finally did

we ordered the breakfast burrito, french toast, poke bowl, and huevos rancheros. also ordered the wake n shake, although the shake was pretty good it wasn’t worth $10.5 to me.

breakfast burrito with kale pesto and chipotle aioli was 8.5/10. i love breakfast burritos and the filling ratio was pretty spot on. flavor was on point and sauces were amazing as well.

french toast would rate at a 5.5/10. the bread/toast was pretty dry and kind of lacked flavor. the strawberry topping did help but it wasn’t nearly as good as i hoped.

poke bowl was rated 6.5/10. pickles were a yummy add in but it needed more poke.

huevos rancheros were said to be some of the best mty friend had ever had and she rated the dish 8.5/10. she said the sliced peppers were an added yummy spice, therefore making it a good mix of spicy and refreshing sour from the sauce.

definitely recommend and...

The first time I tried this place, my friend and I ordered a tostada bowl topped with black beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and maybe feta cheese. We loved it! Returned for brunch and ordered the same dish on a few separate occasions, with some awesome beverages,,still delicious. A new favorite dish..yaay!, We tried something else similar, but it wasn't as good. Also on our first visit, we had been offered samples of the most delicious desserts that we were told would be added to the menu, they were a (piece of pie in a cup) concept. They were the best desserts ever!! Fresh, delicious, fruits, cream fillings, different varieties of cake breads and crusts, and not too sweet at all. My friend and I were telling everyone about these new desserts Groundwork was going to offer on the menu, but when we returned, were told they will not be carrying them after all, Bummer!!! Please leave the most delicious items on the menu!! The other baked items I've tried are good,...