Mani’s Bakery & Cafe

I really wanted to like this place. Any place with with this many vegetarian options and a nice little outside patio holds a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, the menu and patio can only get a restaurant so far. Lets face it, it’s really all about the food and the service. Mani’s can get neither of these right. The only reason they get 1 star from me is that I can’t give it 0 stars.
I ordered a Venice Special Hamburger with tofu instead of meat. My friend ordered a club sandwich on sourdough. The first thing I noticed when the food came out is that the cheese on my «burger» wasn’t melted at all but was just a pile of grated cheese on top of a fresh onion slice, not grilled onion as the menu said. Also there was no avocado on the burger. Strike 1. I couldn’t find my waitress so I called over the nearest waiter and asked if I was correct about what was missing on the burger. He said I was correct. Then said «I’m not your waiter» and walked away. Strike 2.
While all this is going on, my friend is getting ready to take a bite of her sandwich, and immediately spits it out. I asked her what was wrong. She told me to smell the turkey on the sandwich. I smelled it and it smelled like fish. They obviously grill the turkey next to the fish without cleaning the grill. They also had put her sandwich on wheat instead of sourdough. Strike 3, you’re out.
After a few more minutes of waiting to find our waitress, I finally had enough. I asked for a manager, told her what had transpired, told her I would not be paying for the meal and we walked out.
We wandered down the street still hungry, and about a block south, found a place called Panini Garden. I strongly recommend bypassing Mani’s and going to Panini Garden instead.

Honestly, if I could give this place a negative star, I would. One star is even too good a review.
Have had breakfast and lunch here a few times, each time hoping it would be better. The service is slow and incompetent. They are always out of something and then when the order finally comes, not only have you had to substitute for something else because they ran out, but there will always be something wrong ie. how your eggs are done, what kind of toast, etc. In addition to all this, the food is tasteless and disgusting.
To add insult to injury, I bought a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving (didn’t realize Urth would be closed so I was desperate). Well, once the pie was served, we all took one bite and all of us simultaneously spat it out– it was that bad. It was chalky, dry and tasteless. Have tried calling Mani’s to talk to someone about this and so far have not be able to reach a manager.
They should just rename this place Crappy’s Bakery.

Ok, so at first, the service was really slow, but when they switched servers, it went from really slow to just slow, so I guess it was an improvement. I should’ve gone with my instinct and just ordered the Acai Breakfast Bowl, but since it was a little later, I ordered the American Favorite Burger w/​Cheese. My girl ordered the lentil soup and a chicken omlette w/​spinach. Burger was ehhhh, a little below average, and even though my girl liked her omlette and soup, I thought they were average. One thing I liked about this place is that all of their ham/​bacon/​sausage items are made of turkey. I didn’t try any of them, but I like how if I wanted to order a breakfast item, I’d be able to have turkey bacon.
We sat on the patio, and although it was nice, there were a lot of flies trying to outsmart us so they could get to our food.
The bathrooms here could use some cleaning (good thing i just had to wash my hands). When we finished, it took our server a pretty long time to get our check to us, but it had just gotten pretty busy. This place barely makes it out w/​a three. Next time, I’m coming by here for breakfast and getting some Acai.

Hubby and I stopped in here for lunch today — it was about 245pm and not that busy. We sat on the patio which was cute, and our waitress came right over and was friendly. He got the burger with blue cheese and I got a veggie burger with avocado. Both were frickin’ awesome. My side of fruit was fresh and delish. The service was a bit slow after the initial quick greeting, and the waitress had the rather annoying habit of throwing out the water from left over water glasses into the bushes which was always loud and kind of disturbing. But overall we really liked it — a laid back place with good food.

Had a late breakfast there on Sunday… service was slow and somewhat retarded and our portion sizes were TINY. TEENY TEENY TINY. I got the Huevos Rancheros which were paltry and only serviceable at best… no beans, btw. Just a small tortilla w/​A SINGLE fried egg on top, with a small sprinkling of cheap-​ish cheddar cheese, and a small dollop of not-​that-​great salsa. THAT WAS IT. With an ice tea, I owed roughly $ 14. Yes, FOURTEEN DOLLARS. Are you joking??? Puhlease. Thank god I had a friend with me to offer me some of her extra toast. Our waiter was funny at first and then just became downright rude. Also, it was pretty nasty HOT and humid inside (no seats outside). Yeah, I won’t be going back there.

First, the service: 10 minutes to get acknowledged that we were right in front of the cash register.
Then, the food, bland, unimaginative, overpriced, missing items from menu, like tofu scramble with zero sauce, spice or condiment (unless you count the dirty bottles on the table, always a negative).
The waiter, not happy with the request for soy sauce, drops the bill halfway through w/​o saying a word… unbelievably unprofessional. But what do you expect from a backwards cap wearing slacker who looks more disinterested than the customers.
This place could use a new owner to shut it down and rethink it, too much good competition down the street i.e. Shoops, Urth, to allow this kind of dredge.

I wasn’t jumping up and down or anything over my food or my latte for that matter but that morning waving a giant sack of money and Christian Louboutin shoes wouldn’t have made me jump either.
I had a ROUGH night before Mani’s.
The place was cute though, menu looked good, I will go back.
Fo shizzle! Oh no I didn’t … cue the snap and the twist.

Had eggs florentine and just a cuppa java; good overall, was basically pleased with the food and service, but I’m giving 3 stars bc i wouldn’t say it was knock-​my-​socks-​off brunch, and the portions were just okay. (I mean, I’m not a big gal, and I don’t know how folks roll in Santa Monica, but in Oakland we like to EAT…)

This place has amazing turkey chili. However the rest of the menu is kind of lackluster, and not exactly cheap. Also, like others have mentioned, the service isn’t exactly what you’d call ‘reliable’.
But assuming you can deal with the service, the turkey chili is worth the wait, and only costs about $ 5.

My husband and I live up the street and love to walk down here for breakfast on the weekends to sit outside in the sun. As locals, we’ve been going there for a couple of years now. Traditionally the food has been solid, the people-​watching from the patio great and they do have some yummy baked goods. They use organic ingredients and have healthy options like egg whites, vegan pancakes, muffins and desserts, acai smoothies and fresh juices.
But recently the food has gone way downhill. I’m not sure if they’ve changed ownership or what happened, but the scrambled egg whites are usually burned and the pancakes taste like dirty water. It’s upsetting because it’s one of the few breakfast places on Main Street where you can sit outside and not have to wait in line (like you do at Urth Café down the street.) There are also a lot of tourists and europeans outside, and families with kids.
It’s still okay every once in a while, but it’s just not as good as it used to be. :-(

I got a couple of baked goods to go — a cookie and something else that was so forgettable that, well, I’ve forgotten what it was. It took me awhile to pick something out since nothing looked appetizing, but I was craving some serious dessert so I forced myself to waste a few bucks on the scraps they had left late in the evening. Big mistake (well, not that big of a mistake, I only spent about $ 5, but it went in the trash a few minutes later). Dry, disgusting, flavorless, makes a strong case for why vegan, sugar-​free, dairy-​free, gluten-​free baked goods should not be consumed unless you have no choice due to genetic predisposition.

We were just walking by today, and my gf and I decided to stop here on our way to Urth and experiment. I had never seen a Unilocal review on this place before, and I’m laughing as I now read all your reviews because I had the exact same experience.
She was drawn to the Shrimp Salad, and I just wanted a Burger. In the end, she changed her mind and got the Pesto Chicken Sandwich. We first sat outside, but after freezing our asses off since they havent trimmed the tree outside in years, and there’s a giant shadow over the patio, we moved inside next to the jewelry store and surf shop? (WTF??) Well, we sat down and ordered with our waitress (I swear, this girl didnt smile once, and maybe said one word).
We waited. We waited. We waited. We waited. Got our iced tea. We waited. We waited. Had to wave my arms and legs for a refill. We waited. We waited. We waited.
Then, and you really wont believe this… The waitress came to our table and asked if we wanted to order anything other than our ice teas… an orange juice perhaps??? !!! We had to remind her that she in fact took our order about 20 minutes ago, and that we were still waiting for our food!!! I am not kidding… but it was kinda funny.
Ten minutes later, I look over my shoulder, and I see our food sitting on a metal inventory shelf with no heat lamp. Theres a busboy, check in hand, just staring at our plates. Literally, staring at our food, starting at the check, staring at the food, staring at the check. Finally, he decides that its a good time to bring the food to our table.
In the end, the food was actually surprisingly pretty good. My gf loved her Pesto Chicken Sandwich, and my Venice Turkey Burger was solid. The balsamic dressing that came with the salad was tastey and so were the potatoes.
But in general, the service here is just horrendous and comedic. I dont know where they find these people and who is running the place, but its a total joke. It looks like everyone in the place is doing everyone else’s job, but at the same time, nobody knows what the hell they are doing. The place runs like a chicken without a head. I’m giving it 3 stars only because the food was good, and I got a good laugh.

This place is friggin craptastic! I decided to beat the heat today and join my sister in Santa Monica and I should have just eaten at Dennys in Burbank. The service here is soooo crappy I don’t have anything to compare it to. I knew we should have gone to Urth but we were like «Eh, lets try something new». Bad move

I went here the other morning to grab brekky on my way to work. I had an Acai smoothie, which was good, and a chocolate croissant that was lacking. It was too dense and didn’t have much chocolate filling. I’ve had their cookies before and they are good, if a little too sweet and overpriced. What really disappointed me was the fact that their menu displayed the incorrect price for the smoothie. When I pointed out the discrepancy to the girl who rang me up, she said, «don’t argue with me this early in the morning.» Sure it was only a dollar, but on principle, combined with the cashier’s customer service skills, I can only give this place two stars.
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Take the Big Blue Bus #1 or #2.

One of the executives in my office really enjoys the acai bowl with hemp granola. Let it be known, that I have no idea what this is, if it is good or bad, or what the purported «health benefits» may be.
I WILL say, I have been let down time and again by 1) the food quality and 2) the lack of attentive service, that I refuse to order lunch from there ever again. I’m sorry, but it’s just bad. They claim to be «healthy» but I have tried their food many times, and it never tastes extraordinarily fresh OR healthy. It’s just bland. It’s so blah. To say it is average would be too forgiving. The service is sloppy, they constantly get our lunch orders wrong, take an inordinate amount of time, or forget to include stuff. Do yourself a favor and avoid; there are better places to go in Santa Monica.

Waste of money. Waste of calories. Waste of time.
Hmm…that sounds harsh, and I’ve never given a one-​star rating, but this was well-​deserved. Is this what I get for venturing off the beaten path and trying something new that haven’t been given the go-​ahead from trusted restaurant-​frequenting friends??? It appears so.
I was one of the other victims of the intolerable dining experience that Christina A. Unilocaled about, and I just don’t think one poor rating is enough. I love me some good service. So much so that I will even come back to a place if the food was only decent, but this place really has nothing I would come back for. Our server didn’t even ask how we wanted our eggs — he had to be told. I had to get up to get my extra plate, I got the maple syrup that the menu claims the pancakes are served with, and had to take my mug up to the coffee bar to get my refill of coffee. If this were a self-​serve establishment, that would have been okay — but it’s not. The over-​easy eggs were the real kicker, because by the time the food came we already knew the service sucked. My breakfast burrito was acceptable, but eggs where the whites are still a transparent yellow that jiggle when the plate is shaken = still uncooked. This place is a mess! (figuratively, not literally.)
Their pastry case looked tasty enough although I didn’t try anything from it, and probably never will, as I will not be returning to this place.
«There is one Mani’s Bakery Café Location, the original on Fairfax Avenue. Come and see us!» is stated on the Mani’s Bakery website but it’s from 2005. I sure hope this is still the case, as I believe the crowds that are outside that location cannot all be wrong.
(I enjoyed the coffee, but it’s Groundwork coffee, and they have an outpost down the street, so there really is no reason for me to step foot at Mani’s Main Street ever again.)

Wow. Worst service EVER. I went here this morning with a group of friends. We just went on a hike and were famished and Mani’s looked inviting enough. There was no wait, the menu looked appealing so we said, why not?
I don’t think our server spoke more than 2 words. Not only was he unfriendly, he was useless. I shared a breakfast burrito with a side of potatoes with my friend. 2 of my friends got some bfast plates with potatoes, pancakes and bacon. Someone else got a bfast burrito as well. His girlfriend got 2 eggs and goodies (goodies being toast and her choice of a danish). There were also smoothies and mocha frostys ordered.
So the food comes. One of the bfast plates was missing a slice of bacon. I think half of the potatoes there were supposed to be on my plate fell off on the way because there were only like 5 cubes left. I needed an extra plate, asked for it but never got it. Our server never asked if we needed anything else. And he also never brought the syrup for the pancakes. My friend’s girlfriend who ordered the eggs and goodies only got her 2 eggs and potatoes. Her toast and danish never came and when she went to eat her eggs, which she ordered over easy, they were… pretty much raw.
The rest of the food was edible but nothing to write home about. I think mostly I was starving. Nothing I couldn’t have whipped up myself. I asked for the manager who finally came by to see what we had to say. We got zero sympathy and almost had to twist his arm to comp the «raw egg» bfast. He then offered to also give us 20% off the entire bill which was «the best he could do.»
This place is TERRIBLE. Next time head over to Urth Caffe if you’re in the area. I’ve never had a bad experience. The food is soooo much better and so is the service and the ambiance. It’s worth the extra couple of bucks.

Okay, I don’t know if it was the fact that when I came here a few weeks ago for my hair appointment across the street at Salon Blu I was literally famished or this place is just really good. I’m thinkin it might be a combo of the two, because that Club Sammich was sooo damn good!
A double-​decker piled high with roasted turkey breast, grilled marinated chicken breast, turkey bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and Dijonaise. YUM!
It was perfect and that Dijonaise is what did it I think. Dijonaise, what a great word. I think I am going to name my future daughter that someday… she won’t get beat up at school with that name, right? ;)
Also there is a little shop in here that sells really cute purses and Asian goodies like a cute little change purse with a cat on it. Yeah, I’m soo that girl.

I like Mani’s — having only been there twice.
The first time I went was for a coffee, and I like the space and the vibe. It’s inside a large loft-​type space on Main Street, with a jewelry shop and clothing boutique inside. There are tables on the main floor, with the bakery/​café on the right side. They make really good coffee and use Groundwork coffee. They also sell Sambazon Brazilian drinks and Acai (an awesome fruit-​based granola bowl). Reason enough to drop in.
I had a breakfast sandwich that was good, came with a couple slices of fruit and cost $ 8. My friend had an open face tuna melt with salad. Her tea came in a tea press, which is nice. So overall I’d recommend it for a coffee break or snack, and the little patio is great for people-​watching on Main St.