Gnarwhal Coffee Co. — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Not the Café Experience You’d Expect — Rude and Unwelcoming

I’ve been coming to this café usually before and after work for quite a while and have usually had pleasant interactions with the baristas — but today completely changed my view of the place.

I came in early around 7:30 AM. Had a clean cut and presentable as usual. It was quiet, with maybe three people in the entire café. I sat down for a moment to quickly jot down an idea before ordering — literally no more than 15 minutes had passed — when a staff member approached me with a big forced smile and asked, “Are you going to make a purchase?” No hello, no greeting, no warmth — just that.

It was abrupt, condescending, and totally unnecessary. It made me feel more like a problem than a customer. The café was far from full, so it’s not like I was taking up space or lingering. I was simply gathering my thoughts before ordering. A little patience and basic courtesy would’ve gone a long way.

What’s worse is that I’ve been a regular here. You’d think there’d be at least a moment of recognition or the benefit of the doubt. But instead, I felt singled out and unwelcome. Here’s a helpful hint: maybe ask one of your coworkers if you’ve seen me before, because there were barista’s there that served me before including the person that asked.

Hopefully, management sees this and reviews the footage from this morning. I was respectful, quiet, and intended to purchase something — but that moment completely ruined the vibe for me. After today, I don’t plan on returning. It’s sad when a place you once liked starts making you feel like a burden just for...

I come here almost daily and the service has deteriorated in the past few months. Today was the final straw. I was rung up by a woman (around 10:50am on a Friday) and ordered a pastry and a coffee - the same order I make almost daily. I sat down and after several minutes when the pastry still hadn’t been called out, I asked her about it. She said “I never rung you up for it” despite her confirming verbally what my order was before I paid. She then tells me to get BACK in line - not at all acknowledging that this was her mistake. I asked kindly if she would just ring me up and she got a major attitude about that. She rudely acquiesced at some point saying “can you be patient”. No apologies, no accountability. Her attitude of all the staff has always been the worst. She’s almost catatonic at the register. Nothing worse than someone who is both sloppy at their job and rude about it. The lack of service here is disappointing, blue bottle on the other hand knows my husband and I by name and never gets our order wrong - and if they did they would certainly handle it with more grace. Never...

My absolute favorite coffee shop on the west side. There is such a great variety of drinks and they have fun monthly specials! I love asking the baristas what's the fun drink that isn't on the menu. That's not to say that their basics like drip coffee and espresso aren't superb as well. My favorite go-to is the baja cold brew. I'm not a huge fan of super sugary drinks but this one is perfectly mildly sweet. Their pastries and bagels are also incredible (even the vegan ones which really surprised me). Lastly, the overall vibe of the shop is great. I am usually running around all over the place and so I typically take my coffees to-go, but Gnarwhal makes me want to slow down and enjoy my drink in the shop! Not to mention, it's one of the few coffee shops where the beach is right in front of you, just a block or two away. All of the baristas there are so great and extremely friendly and talented. Needless to say, I...