Bluebird Cafe

Not bad. Not great but not bad. I had the turkey burger (based on Unilocaler’s reviews).
The seasoning was good and the overall flavor was tasty. The fries were just.whatever. They were fries. They gave us a free cookie — the kind that you get at the grocery store when you’re a kid — only 4 days older.
I really wanted to love the food here but it was just ok.

I have to say after eating here on multiple occasions one question ALWAYS goes through my mind when I’m ordering… Why? For the love of GOD do they use pre-​made salsa and pre-​made guacamole on their Tacos, Burritos and Bowls?
When you sit there waiting for your food WATCHING the Hispanic ladies behind the counter preparing the food, KNOWING, they could probably make the most delicious, FRESH, homemade SALSA and GUACAMOLE and elevate the level of the tacos, burritos and bowls to a «I need to go to Bluebird and have that awesome salsa on my taco… today!» The pre-​made salsa is gross and the guac is not any better… it tastes like Wholly Guacamole, not fresh tasting at all. The tacos are okay but they could be SO much better with a little love from the Hispanic ladies behind the counter. Come on Bluebird, make us some FRESH salsa and guacamole and I will be there with bells on and friends, friends, friends to enjoy the delicious-​ishness. A ¹⁄₃ of your menu is tacos, burritos and bowls, right?

What a nice café! If you bike around LA, this Café is a must.
OK so since moving to Downtown LA I’ve gotten into the habit of bicycling from Downtown to Pacific Palisades.
Before discovering Ballona Creek I took National to Venice, and Venice to the beach. The first time I passed through this café I thought it looked very… «charming» is the word (can I say that?). That day I didn’t try it, but oh well there was always next time.
So another Monday passes, I want to bike to the beach again, from Union Avenue I took Hoover to USC, then from there I took Exposition (I wanted to see the progress on the Expo Line and there’s also a bike lane) to Jefferson. This time I did eat at Bluebird Café!
I went around 3pm way after lunch hour, when I went, there was only a table that was full. But that was OK, I was really hungry. I ordered a burger with fries and salad, and I received a free cookie as well.
Service is friendly, I believe the owners were in the kitchen that same day, really nice people, their smiled felt genuine.
The burger (aside from being big) was really good (either that or I was really hungry). I managed to pair it with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (love them Pale Ales) it was a nice combination. I must say, there was a lot of food in the box, the burger took half the room, and aside from there, the salad and fries were WALAMBO! But again the food was really delicious, a good meal to have after a 26 mile bike ride! The cookie thought was a little disappointing, it was really hard for my taste, I like smooth cookies better.
Atmosphere of the restaurant was also very relaxed, even though the side patio doesn’t have too much decoration, it is hard not to relax, with the music playing in the back. Good escape from National Blvd. (which I must add, a lot of interesting architecture in the area).
Definitely come here again, especially bring my friends to ride with me along Ballona Creek@

I’m giving this place two stars based only on the carne asada burrito that I had. The filling was a big glop of mess. I couldn’t discern meat, from salsa, from cheese, from sour cream, from guacamole… it was like a gray matter of food stuck in a tortilla. No bueno.
However, they were bringing out plates to other people with huge, crispy onion rings, burgers… maybe those are totally yummer. Oh, and their cupcakes looked scrumptious. I’ll partake and update accordingly.
Until then, do NOT get a burrito, if you know what a real burrito should taste like.

I work in the area and go to Bluebird on a regular basis.
3.5 of five stars based on my more harsh review system… Unilocal STILL doesn’t allow half stars (which sucks).
Highlights:
– simple food, generous portions at an affordable price.
– great salads
– known for their cupakes
– great outside seating
– friendly staff
– get your own glass of water (what?!)
– wraps and sandwiches are serviceable
You’ll have a great lunch. Not life changing, but no complains.

Where do people park their cars!?!
For having only 3 – 4 spots along the street out front, I wonder how Bluebird Café is able to have a packed house during lunch. The entire patio was full so Lucy Y. and I took a table indoors on a hot summer day. We we unable to open the window next to our table because it was broken :(
But the staff was friendly and the service was attentive. The café itself is cute and feels very small town. You almost forget you’re in LA.
I had the Garden Burger on rice with veggies and carmelized onions. I’m not gonna lie, it was boring.
I might not come back but I also don’t hate the place. It’s just not for me.

On the rare occasion my colleagues and I are allowed to leave work for a lunch that might be over 30 minutes, we like to head over to Bluebird Café. It is one of the few places, near work, that we can sit back and enjoy the outdoors.
The food is okay, nothing special. I like to get the burger with fries because it comes with a cupcake. They have taken the cupcake out of the situation. This makes me sad, this makes me really sad. Now I have to settle for a cookie. I want the cupcake back.

This is a nice lunch place. The seating is all outdoor on picnic tables. I usually have the ahi tuna sandwich which is a pretty nice hunk of ahi and cooked rare just the way i like it.
Overall, it is a nice and casual place to enjoy lunch with co-​workers, friends, etc.

Harmonie T and I passed by this cute little café while driving around the neighborhood a while back, so I was super happy to try it out with her today.
Their little parking lot was filled at lunchtime, and finding street parking was challenging. One brave car parked in the green 30 minute parking zone right out front, but we played by the ruled and found a meter around the corner. When we walked in and saw the packed patio seating area, we wondered where everyone ELSE parked.
Sitting inside proved to be super warm — and further explained the filled patio. There were windows that opened to let in a blissful breeze, but unfortunately the one next to us didn’t open — so we definitely felt the heat of the open grill just behind us. I cannot imagine anyone sitting inside in the summer!
Service was fine, prompt and diner-​ish, yet not overly friendly. I kept eyeing the fresh cupcakes in the cake holder, but I behaved and went healthy all the way:
Hamburger ($ 10.75) — ordered bunless, my chargrilled patty (perfectly rare) came topped with caramelized onions on a bed of lightly dressed baby field greens. A couple of slices of tomato and a romaine leaf were served on the side, as were somewhat cold parsleyed fries. The chipotle mayo was good on the burger and with the fries.
I didn’t even notice til later that the cheddar that was supposed to come on top of the burger and the cookie that’s supposed to come with all the burgers never materialized.: /​I guess I was too busy blabbing with Harmonie to notice while I was there!
Harmonie’s Garden Burger Bowl looked good — it was loaded with veggies, and had the same caramelized onions on top that I had on mine.
Between the challenging parking, cold fries, hot interior temperatures, and especially my missing cookie — I’d have to say that it would take a lot for me to want to come back here again.

I still eat here regularly because it’s close to work, and I will probably continue to do so, but a couple of things annoy me:
1. though the food tastes good, the chicken bowl always smells vaguely fishy.
2. they make you pay with a card when you order online, which I understand is because sometimes people don’t show up, but I have an account and order several times a week.
3. the girl at the counter is never friendly– she’s not even courteous. ever.

For 2 years, I worked across the street in the Hayden Tract area (thank God I no longer work there!). If you didn’t bring your lunch and didn’t want to drive anywhere our choices in walking distance were The Point or Bluebird Café — that’s it. Needless to say, I’ve had my fair share of Bluebird.
The Ahi Tuna burger is DELISHHHHHH! I’ve had that more than anything else on the menu. It’s a huge, thick honkin’ piece of fish so I don’t feel like I’m getting ripped off! And the tropical fruit salsa is so refreshing and tasty — goes really well with the tuna.
Cupcakes — eh. They’re a’ight. Nothing special. Red velvet is pretty yummy and moist. Vanilla’s a little bland. With this cupcake boom all over town, I honestly can’t tell the difference. What I can tell you is I don’t know if it’s worth $ 2.50 a pop! What’s up with the inflated cupcake prices these days!!! Geez! The burger lunch specials include a cupcake. But the lunch portions are so big, you usually don’t have room to eat it once you’re in food coma. Save it for you’re 4:00 snack…
Strange thing about catering — the Mexican food isn’t too bad! The cheap ass company I worked for had an event last year and had Bluebird cater it. We were SHOCKED that it was Mexican! We didn’t know they had Mexican food on their regular menu so we’d never had it. But it was actually pretty darn tasty. Again, not to-​die-​for, but surprisingly good!
TIP: Order online and save 10% with the coupon code WEBTOGO.
Overall, some dishes are great, some not so good. The place is really a hit n miss type of place. And a bit too pricey for any misses IMO.

I always usually get the tuna melt or a turkey burger from this place and they are both great. Usually the tuna melt comes with Pressed White Bread. That being said, today I ordered the chicken melt thinking that it would be made the same as the tuna melt with Country White bread. Boy was I wrong about that! They used some kind of Olive Bread! They were strait up «Kalamata Olives» put into the mix before baking. YuK! Not that I am disgusted with olives but in this application it just did not seem right. I thought for sure they had run out of White bread and just put olive bread in its place as it was all they had left, WRONG AGAIN! It is actually on their Menu as Olive Bread. I would like to add that the olive bread only comes with the Chicken Melt no other Pressed Sandwich. My bad for ordering so blindly, but their bad for trying to mix chicken salad, sharp cheddar and olives.
I will come here again as it the only place within walking distance to my office but I will make sure not to get any more olive bread.

Greetings to all «soon to be Brides or Grooms»…
My review on Bluebird café is solely based on my experience as a «wedding photographer.» I wish I can share all the insights and details with you from bride’s perspective but unfortunately I can’t… although I really want to… THANK YOU.

The fact that this little café is literally in the middle of no where yet still manages to stay in business and have a steady stream of customers all day is a testimony of how great the food is.
I came here for the free cupcake (guilty!) The lady gave me a regular size (I totally expected a mini-​sample size!) red velvet and, wow, it was soft and fluffy, and the frosting was not too sugary. I now understand why people go crazy about the cupcakes here. Got a latte w/​no sugar to go with it and it a perfect mid afternoon treat.
There is a very homey feel to the place, the décor or condition of the building is nothing to write about, but it’s clean, has a spacious patio outside and very bright. Too bad the view was of some run-​down apartments and the metro expansion construction-​lovely.
Ironically I sat right by the DPH sign with an «A» grade and there was the FATTEST black fly drooling at my cupcake…
long story short:
— get the cupcakes
— food is worth driving here to pick up
— lack of ambiance

Note, this review is solely on the Red Velvet Cake (and not cupcakes).
A friend of mine bought an entire cake for $ 35 for a friend /​co-worker’s Birthday cake. She loves finding great cake bakeries and found this place on
having listed Bluebird as the #1 place for cakes. Rated higher than Sweet Lady Jane’s and Susina… of which we’ve had cakes from these highly rated bakeries several times before and just loved their cakes. So the expectations for Bluebird Café were set high since they were rated #1. Well that was my friend’s big mistake by going to another site for reviews on food and not checking
first!
Well when she brought the cake in to work and I saw the box, I thought to myself… you’ve got to be kidding me! The cake was in a re-​used shoestring frozen french fried potato box! Then when I saw the cake in this way too big of a box for this size cake, I said to her… are you kiddin’ me?! AND the writing on the cake looked like a 6 yr old or a very drunken cake decorator did the writing! (I’ve posted the pictures of the box and the cake. You need to check out how ridiculous the cake writing and the «cake box» looks, since it’s just indescribable! And laughable!)
Judging by the looks alone, I’d give this cake a one star! Warning, do not buy this cake if you were going to take it to a friend’s birthday party, because it does not look presentable!
However, luckily for Bluebird Café, «you can’t judge this book by it’s cover,» as they say. The cake was a red velvet cake. And it was actually delicious, believe it or not. I had to have my foodie friend and Unilocal Elite Friend Debbie W give it a taste, since she’s the red velvet cake connoisseur. She loved it. So based on the cake taste alone and not the presentation, I’d rate it a 4.5. But given the sad ass box and the sad ass writing on the cake, I’m deducting 1.5 stars, bringing this down to a 3 star. Take it from me and the pictures for proof, go for the red velvet cupcakes and not an entire cake. But warning, if you get the cupcakes to go, don’t be surprised if Bluebird Café places the cupcakes in a reused shoe box instead of a regular bakery box!
An update was posted on Bluebird’s website that states…“At this time we are not selling any cakes due to the expectations of our customers that we cannot meet.” Wonder if they read my friend’s e-​mail complaint and my Unilocal review and decided to post that message. Well good for Bluebird for owning up to that!

Love love their red velvet cupcakes. Used to come here on a break during work to get a cupcake. Hehe… I’ve resisted the temptation for a while now.
This is a nice place to have lunch when the weather is nice out. Not too hot and not too cold. The seating is outdoors and sometimes you can be stuck sitting in the sun. They’ve just recently expanded this place in the last year, used to be a much smaller seating area. Picnic table style with plants around the edges.
Service has always been decent here, I always come with big group of coworkers (about 6 – 15 depending) and its always been no big deal.
Best thing they have here is the burger deal. Comes with fries, salad, and a cupcake for 10.50. You choose from beef, turkey, ahi tuna, and veggie. I’ve had both the beef and turkey and both are yummy. Turkey is surprisingly juicy. Haha they like to keep the lettuce, tomato, and pickles separate, and it gets buried under the fries, so don’t forget to dig round for those. Burrito here is humongous, I haven’t tried it though so I don’t know if it tastes good or not. I have tried their ahi tuna rice bowl, and I thought it was horrible. Just a bunch of smushy rice mixed in with smushy veggies and then topped with overcooked ahi tuna that was dry. Most of my coworkers either go for a burger or a wrap. Burger is prolly the best thing though.
Nice relaxing place to eat lunch, but food is a bit pricy-​ish and not all of it is good.

I’ve been here 2 more times since my initial review.
I have to still agree the Turkey Club was NOT good.
However, I had the yummiest Chicken Melt with chicken salad with aged cheddar on olive bread.
I also still hold to the fact that the cupcakes are NOT good either. They are dry and not flavorful. Go to Sprinkles or make them yourself.
Blue Bird is walking distance from my work. Thus, I would go back for a sandwich every once in a while.

Great place for lunch! They have a couple in-​door seats, but its mostly out doors. Their benches are a bit longer, so you may have to end up sharing with some strangers, but somehow it feels OK in this peaceful place.
The service was not great. Nothing particular to complain about, but just not very friendly. However, they may have been stressed because they were hosting a big party in the bag and could have been understaffed, so I’ll try not to judge.
Their lunch deal is awesome. For $ 10.50 you get a burger, salad, fries, and a cupcake. Salad was the only disappointing part. It was much like a bunch of leaves thrown on top of the fries than an actual salad. The fries, however, were great. Not too thick or too thin, just right.
The Burger! The bun was was crispy and soft in all the right places. HUGE, but since the patty was pretty big too, it ended up fitting just right. They put some grilled cheese on it (chedder?) that was pretty good, but didn’t come through much. Neither did the grilled onions, because they only had a couple. The patty itself was solid, but nothing special. It wasn’t as juicy as some of the other burgers I’ve had, so the taste was a bit too bland for my liking. But overall, a solid burger.
After all that I had the coconut cupcake. There were mounds of frosting! I usually don’t like cupcakes that much, but I devoured this one. Burger, fries, cupcake… no matter I passed out half an hour later.

Cupcakes! The CEO of my company brings in boxes when he’s feeling generous. Or has done something wrong. Either way, they still taste the same– goo-​ooo-​ooo-​ood!
Lunch, on the other hand, is hit or miss. But I think more hits than misses. I’ve had hits with the turkey burger and greek salad (ok, so the salad was just so-​so) and my coworker has had a miss with her turkey sandwich– too dry.
Eating on the patio is a treat in nice weather, and it’s within walking distance of work. Plus + Plus!

Oh jeez. There are separate reviews for Bluebird BAKERY and Bluebird CAFE, but it’s really all just one small restaurant with a little gravel parking lot. Better review both. This location review… thingie…says BAKERY, so in this one, I shall review cupcakes.
Before I say anything else, I’d like to point out my cupcake-​tasting superiority over all these other Unilocalers. Seriously. I take cupcake eating to be a mission: I don’t just eat them — I photograph and write down details. I have an entire Unilocal list dedicated to them. Do not fuck with me, and do not say these are the best cupcakes evarrr.
God, I’m an asshole.
Bluebird’s ambiance was super cute: the front door was open and only a beaded/​bamboo curtain separated you from the sidewalk. The walls were a cheerful yellow and lots of sun shone in, and the women’s bathroom had framed prints of birds and a teeny chandelier. Little tables were scattered around a counter area (didn’t look like you could sit there) with covered cake plates of brightly colored cupcakes.
The cupcakes were the specific reason I chose to drag myself out to Culver City from Long Beach. All these ooh-​la-​la ratings… I’ll be the judge of that.
Yeah, the cupcakes are big, which is nice; so many places charge $ 3 for a piddly little cupcake. These ones were allowed to spread up and out of the wrapper, almost mischievously because they KNEW that you’d thus end up covered in frosting trying to unwrap them. The frosting colors were a nice touch, because while all these other bakeries are making yuppie cupcakes, Bluebird’s come in neon blue, green, pink and purple. The fun hasn’t been lost.
All of the cakes had a good consistency, dense but not too dense, and not dry, either. Neither cakes nor frostings were overly sweet, nor were they bland.
There were too many flavors available to split between my brother and I, so I (bossy) picked the basics. Vanilla with electric blue vanilla frosting and chocolate sprinkles: cake was good, but there was some weird undertone I couldn’t identify, almost chemical? Not a good one, but didn’t ruin the cupcake. The red velvet cake had the same undertone and an odd aftertaste. However, it was actually a proper red velvet cupcake, the taste was correct instead of being a fake-​ass vanilla cupcake dyed red. Against it: the frosting was white and fluffy, seemed whipped. Tasty, but I was stunned to find out it was cream cheese frosting. Generally, I feel cream cheese frosting should taste like cream cheese, you know? The chocolate cake was especially moist, and I didn’t taste the odd undertone. The chocolate frosting was very gooey, not terribly rich, but not overly sweet, either.
I thought the service was good, and our server was happy to chat with me about cupcakes. If I was in the area, I’d stop in, but the cupcakes don’t necessitate a special trip from Long Beach: they’re good, but nothing amazing.