Norton Simon Café at Norton Simon

Gsayots said it best. This order-​at-​the-​counter, plastic-​utensil café would be unremarkable but for its idyllic location overlooking a lily pond in the midst of a sculpture garden at Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum. You don’t have to pay admission to the museum to linger at this tranquil, umbrella-​shaded café. The menu is not terribly sophisticated: quesadillas, hummus and chips, a turkey sandwich and a roast beef wrap with caramelized onions and blue cheese. But imposing sculptures by Henry Moore, Jacques Lipchitz and Aristide Maillol elevate the experience.

Beautiful setting, perfectly nice food, if a little pricey (but obviously you’re paying for the location). Quick and friendly service. I had a very tasty and fresh salad, my wife had a nice tuna sandwich.

Operated by the Patina group, like in any arts establishments in LA area (Disney Hall, Segerstrom Hall, The Getty, they seem to have monopoly) they serve rather pricey sandwiches, cookies and beverages. Nicely located by the pond and the sculpture garden, actually you’re more likely paying for the ambience rather for the food or drink.

Large portions, fast and friendly service. The staff is very nice and friendly. Some people may complain about the prices but the portions are large so it’s justified. Butternut sandwich is delicious, as is the pulled pork.
Lovely location in the museum’s garden.

I wanted to have lunch in the beautiful garden and I was disappointed. First of all, it was crazy busy and they ran out of the sandwich I wanted originally. I ordered a grilled cheese and tomato basil soup only and the grilled cheese sandwich was burned and the soup was way too salty. I know they were busy, but it’s a crime to serve a burned grilled cheese! There were only two girls working so if they has another pair of hands then maybe the food would be better? I love the museum part, but I don’t think I will eat there since I spend $ 17 on something I didn’t really like.

This was painfully meh. I wanted to like this, comment on how relaxing it was, but I just can’t.
Service was pleasant and there were hot food options in the form of panini’s alongside cold sandwiches and salads. Espresso-​based drinks, regular coffee, and pastries were also available. Prices were what you would expect for museum fare — sandwiches were in the $ 10 range, a cookie in the $ 3 range. I’m a black coffee drinker so good quality coffee is important; unfortunately, the coffee at the NS Garden Café very much resembled the stagnant pond water — slightly muddy, like coffee-​flavored water. Weak as eff.
Seating is ample but beware of the squirrels prowling around dangerously close to your feet and/​or jumping from tree to tree. What can I say? I’m a city girl at heart — I’m not even going to pretend that sitting while these squirrels are prowling/​jumping was relaxing. Oh, NS Garden Café, might you consider a canopy for your dining patrons?
It is what it is and provides sustenance if hunger strikes while you’re taking in the exhibits. I’d suggest you have a pre-​museum snack, enjoy the exhibits, and make your way into Old Town for a better quality coffee or meal.

Likes: Little outdoor café by the pond and random artistic statues. Kinda nice to sit out here on a sunny day and enjoy a drink.
Dislikes: Drink was okay. Museum prices.

Parking:
Parking for the Norton Simon Museum is free, but the parking lot might be packed during the busy time. Be patient and you’ll find a parking spot
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Price:
BBQ Pulled Pork (with a small serving of salad) — $ 9.75
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Environment:
Self-​service café — order at the counter and wait for your food. Tables and chairs are out in the garden — just beautiful view
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Food:
BBQ Pulled Pork — oh come on it’s museum food, don’t expect that it will be the best sandwich you’ll ever have. It’s just toasted breads + pulled pork + coleslaw. Sandwich tasted okay. If you are REALLY hungry on the spot, then go ahead and order here, but it’s PRICEY. (³⁄₅)
Salad — not fresh, which was expected b/​c it came out from the refrigerator … salad dressing was sub-​par (1.5÷5)
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Rating:
5 stars for the view and food is over-​priced. Overall 2.5÷5 stars.

The Norton Simon Museum is a great museum with plenty of big name artists and worldly famous paintings. After slowly walking through the entire museum, the garden was our last stop. Of course, that means one thing, LUNCH!
The Garden Café is a small food stand with tons of outdoor tables right along the beautiful pond that’s covered with lily pads. The menu has sandwiches, salads, wraps, chips, sodas, and some beer, wine, and champagne.
I got the ham, apple, and brie sandwich. It had a good amount of ham but the brie was almost nonexistent. Considering brie is one of my favorite things in this world, and the only reason I ordered this sandwich, I was expecting more. When I found out this café was owned by the Patina Group, I felt really let down on the cheese side of things.
The food at the Garden Café was just okay and exactly what you would expect from a normal museum food stand. However, considering it’s part of the Patina Group, I would expect a lot more. Even though the food is only decent, the setting is amazing and one of the prettiest I’ve seen. Come here for the paintings and traveling exhibits and not the food. However, it’s a wonderful spot for lunch and provides a beautiful settings for a relaxing lunch after hours of staring at priceless squiggly lines on canvas.

Kind of a waste of a café in a magnificent setting.
The pool the tables overlook is stunning. The food — or, rather, the choice of food that is available — is not.

I would have given the café 4 stars if they hadn’t been out of ALL of their food. However, the beverages were fully stocked and they had those little mini haagen daaz ice creams that are really just a huge waste of plastic/​paper. But they ARE really cute, though. So huzzah for chocolate ice cream and bottled water!
This place is definitely great for a first date– Situated at the outskirts of the sculpture area, the dappled shadows and delicate rustlings from nearby trees make for a pleasant background to conversation. It’s got that whole «intimate but still public» feel that’s oh so comforting when you want to get to know somebody better, but don’t want to worry about what to do if they get creepy. There’s a decent amount of chairs/​tables, and the employees are polite. The prices, however… Not so great. I know, I know, museum fare is not known for being cheap, but still! I was actually kind of glad they were out of sandwiches/​salads, so I wouldn’t feel bad at picking at an overpriced ham and cheese.
But overall, a very comfortable café. Check it out.

Had an eggplant & mozzarella sandwich and a turkey and cheddar sandwich. Both came with mixed greens. The eggplant was cold and hard, but the mozzarella was fresh, so I peeled off the eggplant slices– all the flavor, none of the texture. This café is run by the Patina Group– the same company which owns and operates most of the restaurants in Downtown Disney at Disneyland in Anaheim. The food is all pre-​made, but fresh. For less than $ 20 I got stuffed, and all within the serene (er, freeway-​noisy?) sculpture garden at the Norton Simon.

A deli-​stand ala Monet. No monet, no less.
The Norton Simon Museum, a masterpiece of a gallery, has relegated it’s only eatery to a structure no bigger than a taco truck that offers choices not much better. Pre-​packaged Patina products provide* the only opportunity to squelch your hunger pangs unless you packed something into your over-​sized Gucci handbag and managed to sneak it past the guards. I find that a shame worthy of a 3-​Star review. What it HAS going for it is the fact that it overlooks the garden and it’s easy to find a table to relax and enjoy a few moments of respite in a very busy town. Why they don’t do something like LACMA with a small restaurant such as the Pentimento must be an abstract notion to them (hey, that’s like art talk). They certainly have the room for it and can afford it. If not, all they have to do is pull a Monet off the wall, auction it off, et voila!, they have Monet money (sounds like a 60’s song, doesn’t it?) to build a real museum eatery of the class it so rightfully deserves.
Seeing as that won’t happen too soon, it might be a good call to eat right down the street in Old Pasadena, getting something really good and then walk it off in the Norton Simon. After so many Degas ballerinas, Asian Shivas and linghams (hehe, linghams), you could stop by the Garden Café for a glass of wine or a beer (somehow beer and Norton Simon just don’t jive but maybe that’s just me) and marvel at your awesome planning abilities. Hell, now you even have time to go by the Gamble House. And if you done really, really good, perhaps Houston’s for a martini and ribs?! Hot Damn! Now you’re on Fi-​Ya!
*ran out of «P’s»

It seems that the month of June starts out the same every year… cloudy skies. One of the reasons I love
is because of the sunshine.
Last Sunday I awoke to gray skies (not cool). Fortunately, the forecast called for sunshine by late afternoon. I piled all my eggs in one basket and made plans to spend the late afternoon at The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. As a member to the wonderful museum admission is always free so my trips are not always planned to experience the world class art on display. For instance, this trip was planned for the express purpose of chilling in the garden courtyard while enjoying lunch from the Garden Café.
Right on cue, the weather began clearing by 2:00pm. As I reside just a short distance away, my l.o.m.l. (love of my life), my number one crime partner (see pics) and I were strolling through the front door by 2:30pm. As my lil crime partner is still in the midst of his Ninja training, we cut through the 20^th Century hall so he could have some bonding moments with Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, and a few of the other masters from the 19^th –20^th Century Hall.
Shortly thereafter it was time to eat… and thanks to the good folks of the Patina Group, the Garden Café was there to serve us. The café serves up food that is pre-​made for speed and convenience yet not lacking for freshness. If all you need is light fare to hold you over, you can’t go wrong. Beer and wine on the menu mean skies the limit for what you can potentially experience with the artwork inside.
Our order would consist of a couple Chicken Breast sandwiches with fig spread on fresh bread, potato salad, soft drinks, Pellegrino water, chocolate brownie and a blondie brownie for good measure. Although the sandwich was delicious, something was missing that neither Loml or I could put a finger on. The chicken itself was fresh, the fig spread was outstanding, fresh greens and bread were both present yet it didn’t all come together. I think the bread was too thick and/​or it needed more chicken. Loml put forth her theory of the organic meal whereby the individual parts did not properly coalesce to produce a worthy sammy. My lil crime partner was content to gnaw on his sippy cup. All was not lost as the friggin sweets were ALL THAT. Good lawd, only Raphael’s Madonna and Child With Book in the 14^th-​16^th Century hall was more divine.
Particulars about the sammy aside, the sweets more than made up for any shortcomings. By this time a few other fortunate folks had taken up seats and grabbed some eats. The vibe was cool, very cool.
If food isn’t your thing but art is, memberships begin at $ 65 a year (tax deductible) and are just $ 8.00 a day for adults (children under 18 and students are free). Admission is free for all visitors the first Friday of every month from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The collections themselves are world class and warrant repeat visits.
We love food and art just the same. Fed and satisfied, we bonded in a metaphysical stroll around the pond. It was just another fabulous day in sunny California.