Banquette Cafe

Not too bad. The wine was good. I’m not from the area, so we did see slot of locals. We sat in the small patio outside and there wasn’t really much of anything to look at.

Excellent and affordable café food, ie: yummi baguette sandwiches. Awesome coffee and natural wholeleaf teas and interesting other beverages and goodies. Nice vibe, big windows. Inside and sidewalk eating. my most favorite café hang in LA. I’ve been there a lot over the past 2 – 3 years and everyone of the staff w/​o exception has been pleasant and courteous. To my best friend and I, it’s ‘our place’
: ]

I come here because every fucking nutball within a 5 block radius seems to be drawn to this place. (myself included.)
It is ‘Cheers’ with espresso. Every person sitting and working in there is a complete character. It may take awhile to fall in sync with the rhythm of Banquette, and surely it isn’t for everybody, but if you give it time and get to know everyone you will be a regular for LYFE.

Cozy, red walls, brass, padded banquettes, big bowl of latte and wine available too.

I go back and forth from liking this place to hating this place. Perhaps its because it depends on who is actually working at the counter for the day. so what i dont like is that:
1. service is lacking
2. its overpriced for what you get ($ 5 for an avocado toast — two pieces of bread with avocado smeared across it with some olive oil and salt and pepper) — the reason why i came until i figured out how to make it at home.
3. coffee was pretty crappy
4. my avocado toast was never consistent — lacking ingredients from the extremely complicated dish — like the salt and pepper.
i suggest you walk a few steps west on 4^th and go down harlem alley and just go to lost souls café.

I went there for morning coffee. I’ve been there in the afternoon and had a real pleasant experience however. The
morning waitress was extremely rude to Lida and I. I won’t be back.

…Meh. I’ve experienced better. Espresso is pretty good but they told me they only had whole or nonfat milk to make me a latte… really!!! Come on people, I now they want to get that whole vintage indie feel to this place but nowadays people like to get some 2% or soymilk… options! I got a bagel and believe me, it seems that they do not clean their panini grill because they placed the bagels there to toast and it came out all black and nasty with gunk. Talk about unsanitary! What if the person ordering the bagel was allergic to something that was placed in the panini grill earlier? Oh, the fig jam (if you can call it jam haha) was ove cooked and practically did not pay attention to the amount of BRIX it had. Un-​spreadable, so don’t bother paying extra for something that is quite inedible :/​.
Customer service was no the best and believe me, if they want to stay in business, the way you do service needs to be improved. Well, they do get a lot of customers from the local people living in the top lofts.
I did, however, liked the whole seating outside of the coffee shop like they do in Europe.
Will I give it another shot? Perhaps, perhaps I shall… perhaps their wine is good? :P

Still not there. This time I went for breakfast, and while they have creative offerings, it’s just … not awesome. I dunno how to describe the place. Good service, decent prices, but three stars for sure! Maybe it’s the bland aesthetic look of both the plates and the interior and exterior of the space; maybe it’s the location of the bathrooms behind the kitchen in the lobby of some building or other. Maybe it’s the location of the restaurant itself: sketchy! It’s just not awesome. I gave it one less star, upon reflection, because it should have either improved or gone out of business by now. The only reason we went here is because Nickel Diner was closed; I have NO idea why other people were here. And there WERE other people. Sorta like a French café — they were there, I guess, because the place is there.

Vendetta much? There are clearly people on here giving outright untrue reviews. Heres my experience:
I’ve been here a few times for weekend brunch with my guy and we loved it. The food is fresh and deelish. I can only speak for the breakfast food but the eggs are soo flavorful and cooked just right. They have a way of making the toast that I’ve never had anywhere. (We always ge the apple butter or avacado toast).
The super-​star of my morning brunch here is the COFFEE. I just get a plain ol’ American and its some of the best coffee I’ve tasted in LA– I taste every roasted, fresh, smokey bean. I always want to ask what beans they use but I’m sure its a secret.
Theres a sleek European ambiance to this bistro and the waitess/​owner/​manager? lady works her tail off but still has the time to be friendly and chit chat whenever possible.
Banquette Café is a great asset to this über cool area of downtown its the perfect place to go on a lazy weekend morning/​afternoon!

1. store brought food– crap.
2. shitty coffee– seriously 7 – 11
3. depressing waitress
4. sorta ruined my weekend since it sucked so much.

This place makes me feel like I’m back home in Europe. I’ll gladly sit outside Banquette for as long as possible with tea, wine or beer and yap to whoever is around.
It would be cool if they had Wi-​fi but it’s just a little place, they’d never get rid of people to have new customers come in and spend money. So I get it.

Being in this part of town is so different from my normal hood and I like it. It makes me feel all urbane and professional, working in this café with the noise and bustle of the city all around me.
The food is pretty great, too. Got a bagel sandwich with huge fluffy egg, gooey cheddar cheese and some kind of dry ham. My latte was tiny but delish.
My only issue was the fact that they didn’t have half the things I ordered off the menu (wheat bagels, soy milk), and the cashier girl was unenthusiastic to the point of depressing. But I don’t think she was a bad girl, it was just kind of her steez to be aloof.
Oh, and no outlets or wifi. But the atmosphere was so cute that I just can’t resist giving it four stars!

Capers in the egg salad… brilliant!
Cute place with ample seating (but only one outlet that is difficult to get to). Noticed they were extremely welcoming to the homeless community which I thought was refreshing. They have the most intoxicating baked good aroma seeping out of the kitchen, and luckily for me, they had samples of their brownie for the taking, so you better believe I scooped me up a piece of that!

I can’t understand how anyone can rate this place 2 stars. Now, that said, I have only gotten coffee here so far. It’s quickly become my new favorite coffee place and I’ll walk the 3 ½ blocks to prove it.
The coffee is good. Not thick and sludgy like a lot of other places. I can drink a black iced coffee here and actually like it. I usually order the iced mocha though and YUM. I’m obsessed.
The service: Everyone that’s ever helped me here has been super sweet and super attentive. Even if they are busy, they will usually try and offer up a hello to acknowledge me. When people complain about service anywhere, my thought is usually that they are the type of person that needs to be waited on hand & foot and has NO patience whatsoever. But I’ve only ever gotten good service at this place, which is a good reason that I keep coming back.
Overall? I’m giving 4 stars, because I haven’t tried the food yet. When I do, I’m sure I’ll bump it up to 5.

Banquette is not too bad but not too great either. I popped in with a friend one morning to grab a quick breakfast because the line at the Nickel Diner was out of control. I ordered an Americano, avocado baguette, and a cup of fruit. The avocado toastie was delicious and simple. A piece of toasted baguette with a hint of garlic topped with smashed avocado and a bit of salt. The fruit cup was decent but some of the strawberries were overripe and mushy.
I would have given Banquette four stars for the food, but my service wasn’t so great. The woman behind the counter seemed annoyed and had no desire to help us out at all. As first time patrons we were a bit confused as to where to order and sit, etc. The waitress scowled a bit at us instead of easing us through the process. Maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe this happens a lot but I’m spending money. Be nice to me!

Eek is pretty much what I said when I walked in but I didn’t actually eat there (see
) so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
I walked in and the place was pretty dirty, the woman stood there and made no kind of greeting. I looked around for a menu, couldn’t find one and noticed a great smell coming from outside. So I scooted out quietly and ended up at Pete’s. I’m going to have to give this place a try sometime though, it looks like people really like it!

Definitely a local’s joint. I get a bit of the stank eye when I walk in ’cause I guess I must give off too much of a Westside vibe – sorry! I try to only go in when I’m with my cool downtown friends.
Banquette used to be run by a guy, whose name I can’t remember, who basically let you stay as late as you wanted and didn’t hound you about keeping a tab open. Basically, he considered whoever walked in the door to be trustworthy, and that contributed to the community atmosphere of the place. But I heard he got really pissed about something and up and quit. That’s sad ’cause it hasn’t been quite the same since. However, it’s still a great place to spend a couple of hours writing or chatting up the locals. I love the sangria and the sandwich with figs, prosciutto and goat cheese – SO GOOD.

Ridiculously cute with just the right amount of sass and grunge to keep you coming back for more. With that in mind, the sangria is not wimpy nor is it refreshing. It’s on the verge of jungle juice and it’s perfect. The fruit is pre soaked in some kind of 40 proof alcohol that makes your head start happily spinning as you sit outside wondering if you should buy one of those fruity flavor colored painted skulls being sold on sheet on the the sidewalk next to you.
This is the exact kind of café I used to spend my evenings in Athens with a group of friends smoking cigarettes, sipping wine and talking shit about the Greek government until the late hours. This is the kind of café you’d find in any international city where there are students and old buildings. And weird white collar creeps like me.
We had the pizza foccacia which had large strips of roasted zucchini and big splotches of tomato sauce scattered about. The cheese plate was stuffed with as much brie, herb encrusted chevre, blue cheese, fig jam, dried fruit and spiced nuts as they could get on the plate, accompanied by another plate filled with freshly toasted baguette slices. All yummy. The sassy part is the server/​bartender people who are basically like, «Hurry up and order already before I die of boredom,» but it’s cool — it’s unrealistic expect to have your ass kissed everywhere you go. I will be back for sure and I may even love it so much as to up the stardom.

Very cozy. It’s a tiny little place right next to Pete’s
Came here for a quick bite right before heading out to the Downtown Artwalk. Got there at 7pm and it was packed by the time we were done.
Their toasty sandwiches are scrumptious. They offer about 8 different kinds made with fontina, mozzarella, goat cheese, proscuitto, chicken, and various aioli’s. It came out nice and crispy w/​a small side salad. I had the Turkey club w/​proscuitto, arugala, and horse radish spread. Not a fan of horse radish, but it gave it a nice kick. I also had a glass of pinot grigio. From 4−7pm, $ 2 off all wine, Nice!
They also offer 2 kinds of soup which varies by day and have a breakfast menu.
We sat outside and people watched, it was great. The server was also very friendly and everyone else there seemed so nice and cheery. I forgot for a minute that I was in the middle of graffitied, home of skid row, traffic like a mofo downtown L.A. Very nice place.

Offbeat, arty, disengaged, unhurried, relaxed, friendly, local, cool. This place has that vibe to it, co-​created by the staff and the locals who congregate here on the weekends.
Recently discovered by me thanks to a friend who moved down the block to live within the burgeoning downtown scene, I have so far here only sampled the coffee, dark, strong and rich and the conversations, broad, witty and engaging. Just bigger than small, it has a nice feel to it, a broad L shaped bar, made of dark wood, some tables scattered inside on the tiled floors, a Parisian corner café mixed with a St Marks place bistro, a dash of Nob Hill style to pull it together. Outside, it is chairs, magazines and cigarettes, dogs tied to the iron fence that defines the space.
This has been enough for me to return several times. I notice they have an eclectic and reasonably priced wine menu which one day I hope to sample. Also, a selection of panini, salads and breakfast items as well as an attractive and unusual variety of familiar and uncommon pastries, cookies and cakes.
The kind of place that makes you want to be a local.
see pix posted