Gypsy Den

Awesome healthy soul food in an eclectic atmosphere… I feel at home here. April was fantastic… didn’t bother us mid conversation and her bubbly personality was refreshing. We will definitely return!

This place is very cute for catching up with friends or to go on a casual date. Not too noisy to chat and has a cozy atmosphere. Love that they serve beer (in the mornings too with breakfast) at this coffee shop/​restaurant/​BAR. I had their French toast and it was nothing special; I’ve had better ones before. Next time, I’ll try something different! Their portions can easily be shared. Their lattes are super!

The atmosphere was cool and the staff was friendly, but the menu is limited and for me it’s expensive for what you get. I ordered the blueberry pancakes for $ 11. According to the menu it’s «two short stacks of two pancakes». I incorrectly assumed that it would be four pancakes total. In actuality in Gypsy Den speak a single pancake constitutes a stack and it was only two pancakes total. No egg, no meat, just two regular size pancakes. For $ 11.
I thought the menu description was at least unclear and at worst misleading but when I showed our waitress the menu she said that she had never noticed but «it’s not a big deal» because they could bring me more pancakes. But at an additional charge of course. Great. Four pancakes for $ 22 is so much better. Glad that’s not a big deal for her or for Gypsy Den.

The place has a pretty cool vibe and the staff is nice, but overall this place is pretty mediocre. The food is okay and I got a chai, which was pretty average. If you’re in the area and need a place to stop in, this won’t be terrible, but there are plenty of better places to go in general.

Came for Sunday brunch and it was great! Environment was awesome. There was a long wait for my food to come out, but I did not mind it since I had my mimosa and music to be distracted by.
Bottomless mimosas & great live music made for a very enjoyable time!

Haven’t been here in awhile and I regret not having gone to one of the neighboring places. They don’t have the dessert display case which was really nice to look in case you were there for just for dessert /:
I came in on a Tuesday at noon for lunch. I got the chicken waldorf with the house fries and my friend got the tuna melt on a croissant also with house fries. I’ve definitely had better sandwiches here but my friends sandwich came with sprouts and tomatoes and when her sandwich came out NOT A VEGGIE IN SIGHT!
Her sandwich looks sad and squished down but that’s what we get for trying something besides our usual here (roasted turkey for me and tuna for her) however the house fries are always great here! I have 0 complains about those.
Gypsy just isn’t what it used to be but I hope they add some of the things I’ve previously seen on the menu throughout the years such as the Rosemary sage bread! That used to be so good but haven’t seen it in years /:

This place has changed and not in a positive way. Everything is super expensive and they have minimized their menu. The items that used to taste so delicious now taste very bland.

I work near GD so I’ve been here a number of times. Before the menu/​bar changes I would have given GD 4 stars for their treats, coffee and friendly staff. The main courses were average for the price.
When they got rid of the dessert case and limited the selection, as well as changing the menu that rating fell to a 3. Today however, I’m officially done eating at GD which is too bad because the staff is always pleasant and quick. My $ 12 wrap with fruit was terrible. The tortilla was ice cold and stale, the chipotle seasoning was basically paprika and that’s it. The fruit… wow the fruit. Okay, I wasn’t expecting peak season fruit as it is February but my melon was more rind then meat and the pineapple was brown.
I’m not sure how I feel about this last bit but thought I’d put it out there for everyone to make their own decision. One of the workers took a bottle of alcohol they had poured into the container on the bar (the ones with fruit and juice) and stirred the mix with the bottle, neck and all. This means that the part they held with their hand was in the drink. :/

STARBUCKS ARE FOR BASICS. This is where it’s at! I’ve been to both locations, however, I actually had a blast at this one. The service was awesome & although I’m not a big fan of hot drinks, i am addicted to their chai latte here! I got a teddy bear design with coffee beans in it. I really wamted to buy a book from here but it wasn’t for sale.
Advice: you know when you go to a place, you want to feel like you’re the main character to a movie all about you? It’s like this place with no judgement or rush that makes you feel like there’s so much to life. That’s right, i just got philisophical

I’m doing a quick update and giving them an additional star because management listened to all the negative Unilocal reviews and changed the menu back to what it was before according to a very respectful and friendly message from mgt.
I have not yet been back since only because we haven’t nearby. Next time we’re headed to Theatre Out, will check it out again. Then I’ll edit this and let you know.

I USED to enjoy coming to Gypsy Den for dessert and coffee. You USED to order at the counter and there USED to be a dessert display case with big slices of chocolate cake, carrot cake, coconut cake, bread pudding and other goodies. That was then and this is now. About 6 months ago, we visited for dessert and coffee and noticed the remodel. The place was almost empty. The dessert display case was completely removed and it’s place was a long wood counter bar! The printed menu listed a couple of lame ass dessert options, none of which was cake. We ordered something and I think I consciously forgot what it was because it was so disappointing.
We decided to give the «new» Gypsy Den one more try, this time for Sunday brunch. When I say the «new» Gypsy Den, I don’t mean that they’ve spruced up the place or improved it any noticeable way. The décor is still shabby chic (80% shabby, 10% rustic, 10% tired, 0% chic). At the least, they could have replaced that dim lightbulb in the men’s room.
The menu was uninspiring. I had a hard time deciding what to order because nothing jumped out at me at all. From the time we placed our order, it took about 15 minutes to receive our coffees («we’re brewing more, it’ll be out soon»), and then another full 30 minutes until we received our food.
An order of breakfast tacos came with 2 tacos with scrambled eggs and slow braised pork. These were served a la carte. The two tacos took up about ½ of the plate and the other half of the plate looked sad and empty. The tortilla fell apart as I ate it.
The Turkey Croissant was $ 11 and served with an order of skillet potatoes (these crispy potatoes were the one and only highlight of the meal). The sandwich itself was very average with a couple of thin, meager slices of turkey. If you like bland, this sandwich was made for you!
I really feel like I wasted my time, money and appetite during this visit and sadly this is not the Gypsy Den that I used to enjoy.

Before going any further, let me say that the parking meters around the place now have to be fed until 10 PM. The City of Santa Ana changed that recently, it used to be 8 PM. I guess they have to find a way to pay for the scandals the city faced in recent years. The area is pretty safe, but I would always advice females to travel in pairs like any downtown place.
So walk in, grab a menu, and sit anywhere you can find a seat. You may not find an open seat during Open Mic, though. So get there early on Monday and Thursday nights.
After going to open mics here off and on for about years, I know the menu, the staff, and have met many of the open mic performers. Yes, this is a coffee shop with a bar, and a decent but small selection of food. It’s still four stars for me, as this is one of the few local places where you can hear live music. As a coffee shop, to me, it’s only fair because their main stay, their regular coffee, always tastes a little bitter. When mixed with milk and sugar… i.e. the lattes and cappuccino’s and are actually decent. But I like my coffee black when eating dessert. The desserts selection is more limited compared to what it was over the last few years. The only fresh, really good dessert items are the coconut cake and crème brûlée. With coffee, you’ll have an $ 8 tab. The other items for me, the brownies and cookies, are just OK. I hear stories that they once had carrot cake and peach cobbler. Wow, Gypsy Den, please bring those back. Sometimes, I come her twice a week and end up having no dessert because I am tired of having the same thing.
As far as sandwiches, you might be shocked at the prices, some of them are $ 15…Even their cheapest sandwich, the Grilled Cheese, is a little pricey at $ 11 served with chips and sweet tomato jam. It’s a great tasting pannini sandwich. And if you’re vegan or vegetarian, you have some options here. Their vegetarian adobe stew is good, $ 4 for a cup and $ 7 for the bowl. My favorite soup is the butternut squash soup, but don’t know if it’s a regular item.
Most of the time, they’ve got an eclectic mix of music playing, cool art, and a place to have good conversation with a friend or sit at the table and work while sipping coffee. What I like the most here is the vibe and the staff. All of them for the last 5 years I’ve been coming here, have been very nice and polite. They do get overwhelmed at times, and service might be slow. But they’ve all been very nice to me and my friends. There is one annoying patron at times. He’ll leave you alone if you’re female, but he’ll sometimes dress like a woman. That is fine with most of these liberals and hipster patrons, but he hits on all the usually younger males in place. He’s harmless… I just ignore him even if he stands in front of me and tries to make eye contact.
Downtown Santa Ana locations are in older buildings, and will seem old and dated. This location is no exception, though some thing it’s got a cool comfy vibe. The bathrooms are not bad, but some think it could be cleaner.
There are some really good musicians, songwriters and singers at the open mics. Lately, my favorites have been Jacob Wright and surfer girl Avery. They have live music on Sat. night as well. But check their menu and calendar. It’s an oasis in downtown Santa Ana.

At the rate this place is going, it will probably go out of business soon. So sad and I really want to give a higher review. The only reason preventing me from a 0 star is the live band, they really played very hard, bless their heart. But We both had food poisoning the following day!
Came on a friday night and the place was completely empty, bad sign. We ordered a salad and a turkey avocado sandwich to share. The watermelon mixed greens salad was made from rotten yellowing arugula leaves (see picture) with black dots and mold on them. It was horrid. Our waiter was very nice and took it back and made me the same salad with spinach instead. Dude looked at the salad and wouldn’t even touch it. The chef informed us that the yellowish moldy arugula was still good, really? Sometimes people really just need to admit their mistakes. The turkey sandwich looked ok, but dude and I both got super sick from that the following day, and that was the only thing we shared the entire day.
The live band played very nice, mellow, sleepy music. Very romantic, something to slow dance to. Our server was really nice, but he forgot our drink order several times and my water was not refilled. It seems absent.
Bathrooms are dirty, and the faucet was broken. This place is really sad, and we will not be returning.

Friend suggested coming here on Sunday around 1pm after browsing around Patchworks (arts/​crafts festival). We were seated quickly. The menu was very simple, had about 15 items, no pictures on menu, just words. I consulted with Unilocal pictures and saw some tasty items, but didn’t see them on the menu. When the waiter came back, I showed him the pictures from Unilocal,but sadly he said that they got a new head chef with a new vision so the former items are not available.
I ended up going with the Everything Bagel, which included tomatoes, some type of fish, bits of hardboil egg sprinkled throughout, light arugula, over some kind of sauce, all on an everything bagel. It was definitely tasty, but mine had a little bit too much sauce.
I also tried the fries with pork belly over egg dish. It was definitely tasty, but heavy. I felt quite sluggish and thirsty after this meal.
Service was great. Different staff members came by to check on us. They kept on apologizing for being backed-​up and slow, but we didn’t mind since we weren’t in a hurry.
Interior décor is interesting in a good way. My friend and I were seated in the back so we had lots of privacy to catch up since most other tables are out in the open and noisier. I probably wouldn’t come back again with lots of different options popping up around the area.

If you’re looking for a late night cup of coffee in a hipster-​esq ambiance, look no further, this is your spot! The setting is dim with walls that are covered in art and rugs and the servers are hip and chill.
While the place has a full menu (and bar I might add), I only tried their chai latte and hands down this is one of the better ones that I’ve had. The froth is nice and thick and the cinnamon they sprinkle on top is a treat!
Parking is pretty scarce on the street but there’s a structure about one block away that charges a flat rate at night and judging by the plethora of police on horseback and in patrol cars, I’m not quite sure that the area is the safest to be in so definitely adhere to the buddy system.