Cafe Vida

Stopped by here for breakfast just before we went to the beach. It was amazing! The place looked full when we walked in but there was no wait which was great. Staff is amazing. I recommend you get the pancakes if you’re going for breakfast. Will defiantly be back.

Previously I had been to the Culver City location but wasn’t sure if this was the same chain in Pacific Palisades, but apparently it is — and I like it more than the CC location. Friends and I came one late morning after our hike. It was really busy, but our party of 4 was seated within 5 minutes. There’s a juice bar inside and the entire menu is health conscious. Food (and juices) are a little bit pricy, but it tastes really good and they have a variety of daily specials. I had a mexican café mokka and the chicken quesadilla, both delicious.
Besides the yummy food, another detail that stood out (and inspired this review) was the AMAZING service. Not only were we seated promptly, but we were constantly checked on and attended to (and not at an annoying rate, the perfect amount of attention). Because it was busy it took our food about 30 minutes to come out, but when they accidentally entered one of my friend’s orders in wrong, they brought his plate out 5 – 10 minutes later… and the waiter was running to our table haha.
It’s very cute and kind of upscale… I mean it’s in Pacific Palisades. I’ll definitely be back. Park behind the bank for $ 3!

Despite being crowded, we were seated quickly. While I ordered the California omelette, my friend order the jicama/​mango/​avocado and chicken salad. We split a side of pancakes. The omelette was perfect, the salad massive and the pancakes out of this world.

LOVE THIS PLACE. The manager is the nicest person you will ever meet. I’m happy to go to this place just for the people. Not to mention the bbq chicken salad is amazing

We came here on a beautiful afternoon and ordered takeout. I ordered a chicken jalapeño sandwich with a side of sweet potatoes fries and a Goji cacao smoothie. The sandwich was great. The ingredients really meshed well together. The smoothie, however, was very bitter and not «dessert» like they had advertised. I recommend adding something sweet to it like a banana or some honey. My friend had the hibiscus kombucha and it seriously tasted amazing. The service was also quick and the staff was friendly.

Café Vida is consistently delicious. I’ve been going to this location for over 10 years so it holds a special place in my food heart. There’s typically a (short) wait on the weekends but they turn their tables over quickly. My go-​to is the huevos rancheros smothered green and sauces, the tortillas have mozzarella cheese hidden in there which make it even more special. It’s served with a generous side of guacamole and Spanish brown rice. This dish isn’t as spicy as I’d like so I always ask for a side of pico de gallo or you can add Tapaito to meet you heat levels.
Another favorite is the balance bowl filled with egg whites, lots of delicious veggies including zucchini, spinach and asparagus. As if all that isn’t enough food, they give you the option of chicken or tofu to complete the bowl.
They also have a large selection of juices and smoothies. I promise you won’t be disappointed here. It’s reasonably priced. The staff there are all friendly and attentive although they can be spread a little thin amongst the many tables.

Visiting Los Angeles for a week and you tend to find out very fast that not a lot of people in the city are friendly.
HOWEVER, every single person I encountered at Café Vida was extremely kind and provided very good service.
Our server was very efficient. She brought our food out fast af, and even gave me a bag of ice because I had just sprained my ankle (lol). I even noticed them bring out a cup of water for another customer’s puppy.
5-​Stars from me for great service and puppy service!

First time here Sunday.
The only reason I gave this place 4 stars instead of 5 was the 30 min wait and the noise level inside made it really hard to hear. Some ceiling tiles to buffer noise would be tremendously helpful. Service was fast and friendly!
The food was organic, fresh and excellent!
The homemade ginger ale was amazing (if you are a ginger ale fan. A bit strong for some. (Ask to cut it with plain soda if it’s too much). It has inspired me to make my own!!! Don’t miss the sweet potato fries.
The balance breakfast bowl was perfect! I ordered ½ chicken/​½ tofu. Ask for extra brown rice/sauce…amazing.
My friend had the Denver Scramble. Also delish.
We will be back. Great place to go for breakfast before or after hiking. We checked out The Self Realization Fellowship’s Botanic Gardens in the area. See my review. A perfect Sunday for a bit of R&R!

The customers service really bad the employees never smile and olso give attitude
The food came not fresh and cold.
Whiting for my food more than 1 hour
I never coming back…

Probably my favorite breakfast place. I usually get the breakfast melt sandwich and my daughter loves the pancakes. Highly recommended

I live in Marina del Rey but Café Vida is worth the 25 minute drive. To the point where it became my go-​to spot for brunch after my monthly Temescal Canyon hike.
I pretty much order the same thing every time I go. Getting started with the breakfast sandwich melt and the egg combo plate, aaccompanied by the super detox raw juice. Not the easiest thing to drink but I guarantee this will make you feel like a million bucks for the rest of your day.
If you can’t find a table inside, they have a few extra tables outside and free one hour parking on the lot in the back (access on Sunset).

My friend and I wanted to try this place after a hike on a hot day. This place caught our eye… We walked in and wanted to see a menu first …
The waitress or hostess with dark really curly hair didn’t say hi or offer a menu and said how many in your party we said two but would like to see a menu first… she was like well do u want to sit now… We were like no not inside… Ignored our several requests to see a menu and she followed us and put her face in my face invading my personal space while I was looking at a menu and said again do u want to sit or what… She made my friend and I feel VERY uncomfortable… I looked at her and said you are being VERY pushy and rude please back off… we were so disgusted we left and will never be back!

Such an amazing brunch spot nestled in palisades. I go after my hike at temescal. I love that families come here. It’s the only place that I feel has a pulse in palisades Brentwood area. I love that it’s organic and healthy. They have amazing smoothies and juices to pair with your meal. I love that it’s across elyse walker too because while I’m waiting for my table I sneak in haha!
Just be weary of the line, it can get long but it goes by super fast. Luckily the staff is so nice and it’s a pleasure to be there.

A group of friends of I visited Café Vida after having first visited two years ago. We were looking forward to the juices and corn cakes we had so enjoyed the first time. The food and service were fantastic and the food arrived quickly. The staff were very helpful and the coffee kept flowing. Between us we sampled the eggs, corn cakes, chicken sausage as well as smoothies and juices. It was all hot and delicious and made us eager to return soon!

Came here after a hike, the place was busy but we were seated within 15 minutes! They have a small outdoor area.
We ordered:
Huevos Rancheros — delicious
Homemade ginger ale — incredibly gingery
Balance breakfast bowl — delicious
Chai latte (matcha) — wasn’t a big fan of it
They have a Juice Pharmacy Bar, which has a ton of fresh juices that we’ll try next time. The portions are pretty big (check out the pictures) & prices are reasonable. The service is great.
There’s street parking around the area

This place is really popular! I came here with a group of five around noon on a weekend, and we waited a bit for a table. Breakfast foods get served until 2PM on weekends and until 12PM on weekdays. Yay breakfast foods! I shared an omelette (well, it was originally the egg-​white scramble but we asked them to make it in omelette form for us) with my friend and got potatoes and sourdough with that. The omelette didn’t have much flavor, but the potatoes were really flavorful and delicious. The bread was thin and didn’t have much sourdough-​ness either. Overall a pretty bland experience, and I was a bit disappointed. Service was alright, portions are big, but prices are also high. The omelette was almost $ 14 pre-​tax, although portions are big. Sharing 2 dishes among 3 people is probably sufficient. Not bad, not amazing, but decent.

Perfect post-​hike meal (temescal canyon trail is only about a 2 minute drive away). Good food for fair prices and portions.
Lots of options from juices/​smoothies to salads, breakfast signatures (pancakes, frittatas, huevos rancheros), balance bowls, etc. The entire menu was about 4 pages long. Something for everyone.
I went with the balance bowl with tofu. Although when it arrived it really didn’t look quite like what I was expecting, it was delicious and felt like a healthy option post hike — brown rice, egg whites w/​mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, guacamole and tofu. There was some red/​orange sauce over everything which threw me off but don’t judge a book by it’s cover. applied here. LOL.
Would definitely come back for a low key, delicious breakfast/​brunch/​lunch. We came here around 2:30pm Sunday post-​hike and the place seemed like it was just dying down. There were a few open tables with other tables also finishing up but still a steady stream of people despite it being midday.

Stopped in for lunch here to today.
They have delicious peach ice tea and the watermelon lemonade is so good!
I had the spicy chicken enchiladas which are very good. Really liked the sauce on them. Ceasar side salad was good.
All ingredients seem fresh.
Great friendly service, but lunch is busy.

Came here after a trip to the Getty Vila. It was around 2pm on a Saturday and the wait was about ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minutes.
The food and drinks were both great, although I think it was a little pricey. But considering the area we were in I guess it makes sense.
Ordered:
–Gogi berry lemonade, ~$ 5: it was just ok. Not too sour or sweet. I wish I would’ve ordered the peach iced tea. It looked really good with fresh peach slices!
–Chicken, mango & avo salad, $ 14.50: I was concerned with the price but it was actually really good and filling so it made the price more worth it
–Turkey meatloaf salad: my S.O. originally ordered this but after eating a few bites he found a HAIR in it. Management was really nice and let him order something else and they comped his meal. It actually turned out for the best because he ordered the turkey sandwich ($ 13.25) instead, which was what he originally wanted.
Despite the hair in his food, we both really enjoyed our food. We would definitely come back again.

Café Vida gets a five star vote from me! We came here on a Monday afternoon during brunch. We didn’t have to wait long before they seated us. The turnover for this place was rather quick. The tables inside were crammed together pretty tightly, so my friend who is 6’4″ tall had a tough time squeezing his long under our table. But for normal people like me who are around 5’5″ tall, the spacing shouldn’t be a problem.
My friend ordered the Balance bowl and I ordered the chipotle chicken quesadilla. Both entrees were healthy, tasty selections. The quesadilla came with a side of ceasar salad. What I found surprising was that they included sunflower seeds in the ceasar salad. It was different, but added a nice touch. The quesadilla also came wrapped in a wheat tortilla for all you healthy people out there!
As for beverages, my friend ordered the arnold palmer and I ordered the homemade gingerale. You can’t go wrong with an arnold palmer – half lemonade, half iced tea. The gingerale had a nice kick to it. As the name implies, they use real ginger, so if you’re not a ginger fan, I wouldn’t recommend this selection. The gingerale does not have free refills so drink sparingly :) It did take a while for our waitress to fill up our empty water cups. Usually I’m a stickler when it comes to service, but I guess the quality of the food made up for the lack of service this time around.