Cafe Monet – Westgate

I picked up our pottery today that was painted on my Birthday and it looks darn good! We had a great time painting at Café Monet and the staff Sarah, Kacie, Amanda and owner Jules were very helpful, personable and sweet! We will definitely be back again.

My daughters and I were here this morning (and stayed till 4:00 pm!), and loved every minute here! Brie was absolutely wonderful and so was the manager Kayla who came in the afternoon). They helped the girls when they had questions on the best way to use the stamps and stencils, were caring, knowledgable, and friendly. We have tried other pottery places, but our search for «the right place» is over! Each of the girls painted their own pieces (4 in total) and were so creative! It’s a great atmosphere with great staff! We had a terrific experience and will be back soon to make a 50^th wedding anniversary gift for grandparents very soon!

Super Fun! Great experience. Staff was very helpful and kind. You don’t have to have a creative bone in your body, they will help you :)

I adore café monet. I’ve been going there for years and used to work for them. Great company and amazing owners! Charles and Jules are incredibly sweet, warm and inviting.
It’s the best feeling to make these pieces that are so significant, memories and to proudly display your pieces in your home. I’ve made many pieces for gifts and for myself. I will continue to give them my business.
Great music playing, friendly smiles, capable and lovely staff.
Highly recommend!

This place is really cool… you choose the item you wish to paint and you get to pick your brushes and paints. The staff is very helpful and is a really relaxing way to spend time with a friend or significant other… highly recommend.

I am writing a review for this location because I was unable to find a Unilocal for the Café Monet in San Marcos.
I was not too pleased with my first experience at Café Monet this past weekend, but I believe that might have been because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I have been to other pottery painting studios and this place rolls a little different. I’ll tell you why.
The place overall is cute; the atmosphere is a little bare for a paint and glass studio, but there isn’t much reason to be staring at the walls when you are supposed to be painting. Additionally, the pottery choices leave much to be desired. I got a cereal-​size bowl to paint, and it was $ 24! Yikes, I would be expecting more like $ 12 for that sort of work.
There was one person in charge of the whole studio when we arrived. There was another party of two finishing up their painting when we arrived. Once they left, it was just us. The moment we walked in, the employee asked us if we have experienced a Paint-​Your-​Own-​Pottery place before. We have. She explained the flow: choose a bisque, choose a style of painting, choose colors, load up palettes, wipe off the bisque with a sponge, paint… she was rambly. A little bit too informative.
I got a bowl, my Mom got a bowl, my sister got an owl. They charged us ~$ 90 for the three pieces and two «work in progress» pieces after all was said and done. They do not charge studio (palette/​color/​glazing/​firing/​handling/​processing) fees. I suppose that makes up for the cost of the bisque. But at that point, just charge a fee, you know?
The employee was apologetic for not having any paper available to cover our table. That’s cool; we ripped out a few pages from my sister’s sketchbook and let the fallout settle onto that as we painted.
She was also incredibly invasive when it came to explaining the different styles of painting (raised, staccato, speckling, what one coat looks like versus three). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but after her having told us we have an hour to paint, I didn’t exactly want to be explained at for the next half hour. Especially when I’m not exactly new to the paint-​your-​own-​pottery concept.
Once we sat down, everything was good. They played good music, we had a good talk, and our painting went swimmingly, despite being pressed for time.
We tried to leave about 15 minutes early to ease the strain on the employee, but apparently there was no change in the register and she had to reload the cash register for receipt paper. We ended up leaving about ten minutes after closing because she had to go get change from next door and reload the register paper.
I asked her about the bisque, because I have been to places where they make the bisque in the back and some of the pieces seemed unique. She said that regrettably, they don’t make their pieces any more. They purchase them through Duncan. They used to order them in from Italy but they stopped doing that because the cost for that is astronomical (can’t blame them!)
In all, I did not see the value for our visit, and the service style of the employee there at the time was a little too over bearing for me.
We will be back again so that my Mom and sister can finish their pieces, but we have already decided we won’t be back after that.

Pretty typical paint-​your-​own place. Lots of paint colors, lots of ceramic things to paint. This is a great place to make a gift or to come with some friends if you are feeling arty. Like everyone else says, it is definitely pricier than just going out and buying your own mug/​plate/​piggy bank… but still worth coming in for the experience of making it yourself.

. Pretty standard paint your own ceramic studio. The choice of things to paint is not great & there are a couple of employees there that take themselves way too seriously. I like the location (especially when I can stop next door & get a treat for my pooch at groovy dog) ill keep going because of the location but would love to see more options to paintabdmaybe a little more friendly staff. It’s on the pricey side but not out of line for this type of place.

Café Monet is awesome and it is a great place to for unique gifts! My boyfriend and I came here on a rainy afternoon to paint pieces for our mothers. I chose to paint a mug and he decided to paint a few tiles for «coasters.» We brought some wine (yes it is BYOB) to get our artistic juices flowing. Well the wine must have helped me because I just started painting away and walked away with a great mug my mother ended up loving. He had a harder time. He isn’t exactly artistically inclined. But thank goodness for the Café Monet staff because they really helped him out. The girls there had no issue coming to show him how to use the stencils, different paints, etc. The only downside of the experience was the noise. They had a party in there at the time and 15 screaming 7 year olds didn’t provide for the quiet, relaxing afternoon of painting I had hoped for but we still had a blast. I can’t wait to go back!

Went to Café Monet with a longtime friend a while back at her request. We picked out our project of choice (I selected a small vase) and got to work! There were a lot of items to choose from and we had a blast deciding on our design and then painting it on! It really doesn’t matter if you can draw/​paint or not because you are definitely here for the experience!
Yes, it was more expensive than if I’d just gone to a store and purchased a small vase; however, the process of creating my own artwork was priceless. The place was busy, but not crowded so the atmosphere was fun and friendly.
The staff was helpful, and we were able to pick up our prized possessions a few days later after the firing process.
Fantastic! What a unique concept, and I cannot wait to go back!

I was all excited to check this place out since I’d done this in Minnesota. I was very disappointed to see a very limited selection of choices and insanely high prices for the pieces that were twice that of what they cost in Minnesota. One plate was about $ 25 – 35! I got a frame to do a mosaic on and it was a small, super cheaply made, lightweight wood that had plastic instead of glass and it was $ 12! The larger frames, which were about equal quailty, were $ 35! The staff (including the owner) were very friendly and willing to help out and the store was very clean. I just won’t be going back there due to the outrageously high prices.

I first came here in search of a pottery place like the one I used to go to in Oregon. I thought I had found a perfect match, yet I was slightly mistaken. I’ve been here a few times and the selection is OK, price a little high, and the service was slightly rude. Overall they got the products done on time and okay, put the process to getting there was a little rough. I would rather try somewhere else than come here.

My kid went to camp here and loved it! He was the only boy in the class but he felt good being there. The instructors were friendly. He liked the class, the projects and the teachers. they were also very helpful because we had to go the camp at this south location even though we live near teh central location. The central location did not have enough participants and the class had been cancelled. The finished items were brought to the central location for us saving us A 40 – 45 minute round trip (outside of rush hour). I appreciated that! My only comment is it could have been a little less expensive. I have recommended this experience to a number of friends and they all say it is too expensive but they like Café Monet.

I love this place! Like a previous poster, I dabbled in a few art classes in high school, including ceramics and fell in love. I found my calling elsewhere (chinese medicine!) but I still really miss being artsy. I first went to a PYOP (paint your own pottery) place in my hometown in Illinois and was excited to find one here… and it’s byob! haha Seems dangerous to me (alcohol+lots of breakable pottery and messy paints?) but I guess they haven’t had enough of a problem to stop allowing it.
I took a friend here a few weeks ago for her birthday. I was not real impressed when I had to hunt down an employee and introduce myself to HER. They should be greeting people at the door and explaining the process, especally for those who have never been there or done pyop. She explained the process and the store to us but was not very friendly. I noticed that she acted this way to other customers who walked in the store as well. Kind of a bratty pompous teenage girl attitude. I did not appreciate it. But whatever. I wasn’t there to talk to her, I was there to paint! Also, the other girl who was working was much nicer.
They had a huge selection of products to paint but their paint selection was pretty sad. Probably a third of the color choices of the small pyop place where I’m from. They have all the colors but not many shades of each color. And the paint palettes they give you are pathetic. She told us that we’re only allowed to have one palette at a time at the table, but the palettes only hold about 4 different ½ TBSP portions of paint. This is pretty ridiculous when you’re putting 3 coats of paint on an item that’s reasonably large. I went back two times to get more paint on the palette just for my FIRST coat before I gave up and broke their rule. My friend and I each had about two or three palettes of paints because it was just way too inconvenient to keep getting up and getting more. I think the un-​friendly employee saw this but she never said anything.
They have lots of stamps and magazines with designs for those less artistically-​inclined (a.k.a. me).
After you’re done, you pay at the single register they have and you can pick up your stuff in about 5 days.
It was really, really expensive (over $ 20 just for the mug I decorated) but pyop always is. It’s the nature of the beast. They do have punch cards though which is pretty cool. After you spend $ 100 with them (in increments of $ 10), you get $ 10 off your next purchase. I spent over $ 40 with just me and my friend, so this is really easy to do.
Also, part of the reason for the extra expense is there’s no studio fee. You just pay for the piece you want to paint and that price includes the paints, the glazing/​firing and their supplies and time.
I would probably rate this place a 3 star due to the paint and palette situation, but I just love pyop so much that taking 5 hours to intricately paint my mug and just generally having a great time with my great friend really made those things meaningless for me. And also this is the only pyop place that I know of in Austin. :o (Apparently the mad potter franchise closed down a couple years ago.
Go here if you don’t mind spending a little extra moola and want to have a really fun time. :o)

Horrible experience hosting our child’s birthday party here. The owner and young woman were rude. The young woman that helped me book it was very nice, but she wasn’t there the day of the party.
However the day of the party the owner and other young woman that «helped» us host the party were both VERY rude to me, my husband, and they didn’t even speak to my children. We walked in, they didn’t speak to us, I introduced ourselves (they were VERY unfriendly). It was cold out so I asked the owner where our friends could put their coats. He didn’t answer me. I asked to borrow a chair — he said no! He then directed me to put them on a very DUSTY cart! The young woman who was there to «help» was anything but helpful — I barely saw her.
I was almost in tears. I have no idea why they were so rude. It wasn’t personal as it started the SECOND we walked in the door. I paid a lot of money (over $ 200) to go here.
I will NEVER step foot back in this place. I will tell all my friends. I didn’t even want to give them ONE star. HORRIBLE. Go somewhere else!!!

This is where the artist in me really comes out, I knew I was good the first time some one ask me about my Cup, I would love to schedule a have– to –go party, shower, BYOB at 25 dollars to schedule the room have some fun great girls night out .old skool style
i just made my self laugh out loud, a lot of love, peace not war, and rainbow pottery
You already know that the older the lady is, the brighter the color.

Everyone seems to hit the nail on the head here: it is pricey but a great place to make a gift for someone. I try to offset the cost by turning it into an event. You get more bang for your buck than just the pottery you walk away with. I have been known to spend more than four or five hours here in one sitting with my guest and the time just flies.
My mother and I come here almost every Mother’s Day. We pick out the piece we want and let the other one paint it. The best part is just spending the day together, talking and laughing, and being creative. You learn a lot about someone in an environment like this. My Mom is very patient and artistic! Who knew? I have also brung a kiddo or two here to paint light switch covers or kitty figurines and have rented out the back room for a work function where we gave prizes for the most original, most aesthetically appealing, etc.
If you are worried about your lack of ability in the idea or painting departments, there are plenty of stencils and books from which you may cheat to your heart’s content. No one will ever know you are a copy cat. My first time here I created a plate just like one I saw sitting on a counter still warm from the kiln. Totally passed it off as my own. What?
The employees will walk you through the process and give a few tips when you arrive. They are extremely helpful with ideas and expert painting techniques as well. Just ask.

On my way home from lunch at Central Market I passed Café Monet for the millionth time… maybe it was because i was on my bike rather than in a car, but I decided to stop and check the place out. I had been looking for a new coffee mug for my new office… granted, I wasn’t planning on spending $ 20, but I got to paint it myself and it was only a few bucks more than you would spend at a coffee shop.
Just as I was about to sit down, my sister called… I convinced her to bring my 6 year old niece and join me in my pottery adventure.
Suffice it to say, 2 adults and one kiddo had a really good time painting our pottery (my coffee mug, my sister’s cross wall hanging and my niece’s flower shaped jewelry box) and are already planning on coming back to paint the wine cooler, cheese platter and mermaid… and we haven’t even seen our finished product yet.
All in all it was a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon.
Update:
I got my coffee mug today… and while the blue is a bit uneven (I obviously couldn’t tell where I had painted one coat or two) I am pretty pleased with the results. It just makes me want to go back and do a better job on my next mug!

Bonjour, Claude…
So let’s say you’re south of the river, it’s close to Christmas (or Hanukkah), you’ve got some $ in your pocket, and you’re thinking of creative gift-​giving. Café monet could be the place for you…
Pick a dog bowl, soap plate, mug, frame, etc., pick your colors, paint, and pick it up later. It’s an easy process, and it’s really non-​master-​artisan friendly. You can’t go wrong. (Trust me, I saw some ugly ducklings go into the kiln and come out looking like swans.) Or, even if you hate what you made, give it to your hunter-​savvy friends. They’re bound to need some skeet, and it will be entertaining for them to blast something that doesn’t look like a clay frisbee. :)
Long story short, I came here with some girlfriends and have a plate at home that I made (that I really like).
Two cautions:
«Café» is a little misleading. We brought food in there, but couldn’t start painting until we were done eating. And, it’s slightly expensive, but overall, I’d definitely go back.

This is a totally fun place to go, and a super place to get a gift for someone special.
The premise is you walk in, choose a ready made clay mug, plate or whatever and paint it with the glaze and brushes provided for you. What you end up with is a one-​of-​a-​kind item that you can keep for yourself, or give away as a personalized gift. A good time for artist wannabes and people who actually have talent alike. (I’m in the former category.)
While it’s a great place to get a present for someone, allow yourself a couple of days for them to run your mug through the kiln. You don’t just walk out of there with your treasure, you come by and pick it up later.