Magnolia Bakery Cafe

Store is empty but service is very slow. Food no taste. I order coffee but taste very bad. We asked fresh coffee or replace to something else.
But they charge us iced tea price instead of coffee. What a rip off!
Neve go back! No recomend

While the food and service isn’t amazing, I will say that I’ll be back soon since it’s very close to where I work.
I’ve been here a few times now since I work near the Ewa Wing. Each time has been just okay. The cakes are good, cupcakes are meh, but the banana pudding is pretty damn good (however it does remind me of the banana pudding from Sugarlina in Aiea, which is a lot closer to my home).
I’d say this place is worth a stop, and if you do come here, get a Reuben Bake (ugh I love corned beef and sauerkraut so this is a must) or a Croque Madamme, and NEVER skip dessert. Why come to a bakery without ordering dessert anyway, am I right?

Good place for breakfast with the typical favorite and some specialties such as the skillet choices. They place is open throughout the day and they also have sandwiches if you are not into the breakfast thing. They have my favorite Peet’s coffee and with free refills too! You have to try the banana pudding for dessert.

Rv pancakes are yummy. Cc glaze i a nice contrast. Not too sweet.
Veggie skillet is a small size. But tastes healthy.
:-)

Magnolia Bakery Café located in the new Ewa Wing of Ala Moana Shopping Center. It is on the second floor and is walking distance to the parking area.
I have always passed by the restaurant when they were in the opening stages and crowded. Now that there’s another new restaurant right around the corner I figure I meet up with my cousin to try out Magnolia Bakery Café for dinner.
Upon entering the restaurant I noticed the special menu board located on the left side of the doors. The hostess greeted my cousin and I right away. She led us to a two seater table. My cousin and I both wanted to sit on the comfortable looking couch so we asked the hostess if we could sit on the four seater table. Hostess obliged since the restaurant was not really busy.
While glancing around the restaurant I noticed BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY. Gee… I didn’t know that.
Looking over the menu items I seen french toast, pancakes, and even skillet dishes. I decided to order the Wild Mushroom Roast Skillet. The waitress asked if I wanted to add eggs with the skillet.
«Sure. Could I have the eggs slightly scrambled,» was my reply. The added two eggs is $ 3.00.
I also ordered the Lilikoi Passion Iced Tea to drink. I took notice that the cost of soda is $ 4.00. I wonder how big is the cup. (Where my cousin and I was sitting I couldn’t help but notice cases of 12oz cans of drinks).
The drinks came out first. I tasted my Lilikoi Passion Iced Tea and to me it tasted like the Aloha Maid drink. I was kind of hoping to taste some kind of tea flavor with a hint of lilikoi passion.
When I received my Wild Mushroom Roast skillet dish I knew I should have returned the dish. The eggs was not cooked to the way I wanted it. Slightly scrambled means having some white part of the egg shown. Not use eggs already scrambled and cook it half way.
I decided to try the dish even though I’m already disappointed. Taking a bite of the meal I was hoping to come across some kind of meat. When I see the word ROAST I’m thinking some small cubes of roast beef is in the dish. Zilches… no meat. I take a bite of the mushroom and it was okay. On the bottom of the skillet was polenta. I had to Google that up and found out that it’s cornmeal.
Knowing that I may not finish my meal I asked the waitress for biscuits and jam. When I received the biscuit it was flat looking instead of the round ones. Flat biscuits tend to be on the hard… the inside gets soft only if coated with butter. If the restaurant had the round looking biscuits it would have been better IMO.
If I ever do step back into Magnolia Bakery Café then I best be sticking to the pancakes and french toast. Then again I should have studied the special menu before entering the restaurant.
⁵¹⁄₂₀₀

Located in the newly built section of Ala Moana Mall by Bloomingdales. The room has a color palate of soft green and vanilla white which gives it a calming and inviting feeling. The menu consists of sandwiches, salads and skillet dishes.
I had the Rueben Bake Skillet ($ 14 with egg +$ 2). Corned beef, potatoes, Gruyère cheese and topped with an over ez egg. Good dish with good flavor on the corned beef. The potatoes were cooked perfectly. Good tip is to let the ingredients sit in the sizzling skillet for a few minutes before you dig in. The corned beef and potatoes will crisp up adding a nice crunchy texture to the exterior. On the oily side from the cheese and corned beef being contained in the skillet. My fave part was scraping the crusted cheese from the sides of the skillet.
My gf had the Pork & Egg. Pulled pork and scrabbled egg served on a homemade buttered biscuit. I’m not a big biscuit fan but this one was really good. Moist and flaky. The dish itself was good with good flavor but on the rich side for my taste. Felt like it could have used some acid to cut through the richness. Perhaps a little sauerkraut or thinly sliced pickled onions on top.
Service was good and friendly. The food takes longer to come out so order right away if you’re on a time schedule.
There’s usually a wait of about 10 – 15 minutes so plan accordingly.
I would come back to try other items in the menu. Heard they’re known for their Banana Pudding. Putting that on the Bucket List for next time.

This place did not live up to the hype. I had dinner here last night with Jeana P. and it was a letdown. The food was overpriced and subpar. I don’t mind paying a little more if the food is at least decent. This place does have a homely feel to it. The décor is nice and bright. The muted blue, green, and white furnishings give off a soothing vibe.
We got there around 5:30 pm and five tables were being occupied. The hostess was standing outside the door and greeted us. She sat us right away with no wait. She sat us at a two top but we both wanted to sit on the sofa, not one on the sofa and one on the chair. We asked the hostess if we could have a four top instead, so we could both sit on the sofa. She obliged since there were open tables.
We looked over the menu and it’s minimal. There’s not a huge selection. It’s basically breakfast foods that’s served throughout the day. We put in our drink orders and the server came back to take the entrée orders.
Jeana got the Lilikoi Passion Tea. It was tart even though the menu states that there’s syrup in there. I got the Honey Dew Melon Cooler. That was a pretty good honey dew soda. Interesting, with tiny bits of honey dew fruit floating around the soda.
For her meal, Jeana ordered the Wild Mushroom Roast Skillet with scrambled eggs, and a biscuit with jam. The skillet was bland and watered down. The biscuit was hard and dry. My Croque Madame was topped with an over easy egg. This dish was the only item I enjoyed and it saved my dining experience. I cut into the runny egg and it oozed all over the grilled ham, cheese, and baked bread. It was yummy despite the price tag. Twelve dollars for basically a ham and cheese sandwich, that came with a side salad. I chose the lemon shallot dressing for my salad. It tasted like straight lemon juice. I winced every time I took a bite. It was that sour.
For dessert, I wanted to get a slice of the Hummingbird cake. It’s banana cake with pineapples, pecans, and cream cheese frosting. I had gotten the Hummingbird cupcake outside at their kiosk before and it was divine. The best cupcake I ever had. I thought that the recipe would be the same for the cake. I was mistaken. The slice of cake was so overly sweet that Jeana and I couldn’t finish it.
I wish my experience at the café would have been better. I will be sticking to the kiosk. They have some gems there, namely the Hummingbird cupcake and the Snickers tart.

I was super excited to try Magnolia Café. Heard all the hype about it but also knew that there would probably still be a long wait. Got there around noonish on a Saturday and the line wasn’t too long but the hostess gave an approx wait of 20 min. Not too bad. However I did notice that there were several tables open but they weren’t seating people. The hostess said that she would just have to set the tables and then it would available but it seemed like forever before she set the tables which really isn’t a hard task to do. Not sure why they would want to keep the tables open while there’s about 15 people waiting in line!
Once we got seated, everything was fine. Our server was great and accommodating. My friend and I ordered the mango coconut iced tea which turned out to be kind of a creamier drink. Not what I expected although it taste good, it was too sweet for me. I asked the waitress if there was another tea and she recommended the lilikoi iced tea which was much better. She replaced our teas with of course no extra charge.
I definitely recommend the Reuben bake skillet with eggs. So delicious! The Apple Dutch Baby was good as well but it needed a little syrup to go with it (which it doesn’t come with).
Then of course we had to get the famous banana pudding! I would come back just for this. It’s almost like a custard with bananas. So yummy! It’s a must if you come here. Overall I enjoyed the food but just wasn’t happy about the waiting in line while seeing tables open.
*Update 1/​24/​16*
Service is just as bad as the first couple times I have went. Please management do something about the horrible customer service! Many tables were open but left uncleaned. Not sure why since the bussers weren’t doing much and looked lost half of the time. I saw one busser bus a table one plate at a time. I felt bad for the table next to me. I overheard them waiting 20 min for someone to take their order. They didn’t even get their waters! It’s too bad the service is so bad here because I actually really like the food. Thankfully our food didn’t take so long but had a few missing items that we had to ask for.

Da bomb cupcakes! Love their cupcakes! I didn’t join in on the madness opening month. But I slowly made my way into their lines later when it was less busy the month following. Dining at the restaurant was yummy. My friend and I shared an item. Then we added a cupcake to our meal at the end. It was perfect!
Or, you can skip all that, go to the kiosk a few steps away from the restaurant and grab a cupcake there to enjoy at one of the many seats nearby!

On a Monday, the week after Christmas chaos, I was surprised to find that my in-​laws, husband, and I were able to pretty much just walk into this place. We had a maybe 5 – 10 minute wait. Sweet! So glad we waited for the hype to die down a bit before trying our luck.
Overall I was pleased. I heard things about service and wait times, and yes, they are true. Expect your meal to take awhile, even though the place seemed not very busy, the server rarely checked in on us. My husband had to drink my water since his never got refilled. Like… ever. But the interior is cute, clean, and the food is yum, so I’m ok with service being slightly under par for that.
Dont get me wrong, service wasn’t horrendous, the staff was friendly we were seated ok, we weren’t rushed, but I kinda feel like everything took long and we were kind of just neglected.
But having good food and good company kinda washes that away for me. I had a pear and brie Nolia pie — it’s not crispy/​flakey if that’s what you’re hoping for, mine was more soft and soggy. But it was still buttery and the flavors were great, I could’ve eaten two :). My husband had the mushrooms and polenta and my mother in law ate the red velvet pancakes, both of which were standard. The winner was my father in law’s reuben skillet. The corned beef was fantastic. They were very pleased.
Overall, I’d come back for the food for sure. But probably only when I know I have time to spare and am not in a huge rush.

I really wanted to love this place. It’s such a cute restaurant/​bakery with yummy food.
My family and I came here for dinner one night. I had the grilled cheese with bacon. It was really rummy, but I wish the chips were more than just plain potato chips that taste like they’re from a bag. The sandwich though was really good!
What really ruined this spot for me though was our waitor and and wait time. First off, we ordered and then 15 minutes late our waitor comes back to ask us again because he said he forgot. Although I was a bit irritated, I figured it’s because he’s new to waiting tables so I brushed it off. But, my cousin asked for a new water, very nicely, because there was something in his and the waitor rolled his eyes and never came back with a new one until we asked.
Also, the wait time was ridiculous.
I’ll be returning after a few months so I can see if the downfalls were just due to it being new. I hope so!

This place has only recently opened and it’s averaging 3 stars, despite its Sex and the City fame and people’s unanimous love for fat, sugar and butter. So then, what’s the problem? If Unilocal and just looking around at the restaurant can reveal anything, it comes down to the fact that service, efficiency, and value are in need of syncing.
In terms of quality, I thought the food was good. All of the breads were delicious, the eggs softly scrambled, the bacon thickly crisped – seriously, the ingredients tasted top grade! The French toast was a real winner and the melding of béchamel with the gruyère and egg yolk of the Croque Madame was simply heavenly. The pulled pork sandwich was pretty tasty too. However, the «green eggs and ham» (aka a ham scramble with goat cheese swirled blobs on top) was just okay. And the fried potatoes were just potatoes.
Price: it’s ok and not too bad for the area. Think $ 10 – 15 per person for a plate of eggs or a sandwich with a small lightly dressed salad, which isn’t spendy considering it’s around $ 12 for a bento at Shirokiya these days.
The catch: your stomach acids will begin eating your intestinal wall before your food gets to the table. Just take a look: most obvious upon walking in here is that hardly anyone has their food! People are just waiting, drinking coffee, sipping their waters, and seriously running out of things to talk about. This makes me wonder about the efficiency of their kitchen, whether it can adequately service a restaurant of this size without jeopardizing the quality of a good dining experience. We waited 40 minutes for our food (after ordering) which is frankly too long. At one point I noticed the next table hadn’t even started on their food, despite the fact they were there before us, all due to the fact that one of their entrees hadn’t arrived and they were too polite to start without everyone’s food on the table. Oh man.
This isn’t just a blast on the service because service can mean various things. In fact, our server was very friendly. The staff was all friendly. But to be honest, I’d much prefer it if the food just came out at a decent time. There needs to be an audit on overall efficiency for this place to be a top spot favorite. Hopefully it can get the kinks ironed out in the new year.

Small boutique/​coffee shop feel in the new Ewa wing of Ala Moana. We came for brunch at 10:30am and had no wait which was nice.
The best dish we got was their Pulled Pork Biscuit– the pork was flavorful and the biscuit was light, crisp, and delicious. We also enjoyed their Meat Scramble which was no better/​worse than other places– the standard meat, eggs and potatoes blended together in a pan. The disappointing dish was their Red Velvet pancakes– the four small pancakes were not as big as other pictures and the cream cheese butter was quite heavy. It wasn’t bad per se– but just had a lot better ones.
Overall kind of expensive and not a lot of memorable dishes. Was on the edge of 3.5 stars but rounded down to the $ 43 bill for three small breakfast dishes.

As I went to go pick up my marathon packet the other week at the Hawaii Convention Center one of my Yeeps texted me asking to join for dinner. When Magnolia Bakery Café came up I jumped on board as I was anxious to visit the new Ewa Wing of Ala Moana Center.
We arrived and luckily my friend wrote her name on the waiting list, despite the restaurant having quite a few vacant tables. While waiting my friend asked if I enjoy Koko Head Café, which I have yet to write my subpar review. I tried to keep an open mind but my dining experience just fell flat.
First of all, as stated in many other reviews, the service is sure lacking. The turnaround to get your meal, water refills and even your check. Unacceptable.
Our waiter was very friendly but he just wasn’t there. It wasn’t busy so I cannot understand why it took forever to get water refills and your bill. I mean, to remind your waiter twice before finally getting water. Disappointing.
Perhaps I can cook a decent breakfast so my standards may be high but the food was nothing special. Here’s what I sampled:
1) Rueben Skillet with Soft Scrambled Eggs (³⁄₅)
The description sounded good but the execution was flat. On the good note, eggs were cooked well but the potatoes were too big and not seasoned well. It was bland and mixed with the tender corned beef and cheese there was no wow factor.
2) Pulled Pork Biscuit (³⁄₅)
Biscuit was good but the pulled pork tasted commercialized. Putting the food together but no harmony between them. Edible but nothing special wanting me to order this again.
3) Nolia Pie (²⁄₅)
We were advised these are made-​to-​order so we expected a longer wait. The food was not piping hot as I was expecting. Furthermore, the filling quality was mediocre. Potatoes were cut big and not seasoned well. The bacon flavor couldn’t make up for the bland taste of the spuds. Seemed simple and not worth paying to eat.
4) Banana Pudding (⁴⁄₅)
This is what the Café is known for. Very flavorful and got my attention. Serving portion seemed small and disappeared quickly. The vanilla wafer was soft and stale so I’m docking a point off.
Décor, ambiance and lighting made this place fun to be at but nothing special in my opinion. Perhaps I ordered the wrong thing so I’ll give Magnolia Bakery Café another shot but not eager to return in the near future.
As stated above, this restaurant really needs help with improving the service and food quality.

I had high hopes of Magnolia Bakery Café since there is one in Los Angeles and their cupcakes were my addiction. Granted, going to Magnolia Bakery Café located in Ala Moana with the same expectations may have been naïve since each locations are different per se.
My friends and I waited 20 minutes to be seated for the café. Strangely enough, the café was not that crowded but they made us and other people wait for a table. Once seated, we discovered that our server was a friend of one of my friend. She was funny, personable and provided great service to us. One star goes to her for this review.
The menu is rather small on the selections to choose from. Note: if you go there, plan on ordering more than one dish or two to share as the portions are small. Yes. Surprisingly small!
I ordered the croque monsieur which is a baked ham and cheese sandwich. It was dowsed with cheese which is good if you are not on a diet. I found the croque monsieur to be rather bland and not to my liking. I will probably not order it again.
I think my friends enjoyed their entrees but am not sure.
The bakery has large windows so that this makes it a great place to people watch.
Possibly since this location recently opened, the establishment may still be experimenting with their menu to determine what items work and those that do not. Or, it may have been my high expectations going into the establishment and they were not met. I would have to return to see whether their menu and selection expands and improves in the future for this revised review.

During a hair appointment earlier today, my beautician mentioned that while the cupcakes from Magnolia bakery aren’t anything special, the dishes at the café are supposed to be quite good. So we decided to eat lunch at the café. After we added our name to the long list, we had to wait 20 min or so before we could enter the restaurant. Then had to wait again once we were seated. After abt 5 min, we were finally served water and were able to place our order (fortunately they provided us with a menu while we were waiting). Two stars off for all the waiting (especially because the café itself wasn’t extremely busy).
After awhile more of waiting, we were served our orders– the apple dutch baby pancake and the pulled pork sandwich. We weren’t impressed with either; the pancake was tiny and had the consistency of bread pudding, and the pulled pork sandwich was blah. The presentation of both the pancake and sandwich was cute and added to the homey feeling of the restaurant, but the cute presentation simply could not make up for the disappointing taste. Another star off for taste.
The café was adorable and the atmosphere warm, but the service was slow and there was too much waiting. Perhaps our expectations were too high given that Magnolia Bakery has a number of locations across the nation, but it’s disappointing that a popular bakery doesn’t have awesome food. Probably will not go there again, and probably won’t try the cupcakes (as adorable as they are. presentation isn’t everything).

Here’s the thing… I know this place is just starting out, so they haven’t hit their stride yet. Maybe a few more months to work out the staffing issues, the slow service, and food kinks, is what they need. Unfortunately, I did go, and so here is how they are still doing now…
I arrived at 5:45 on a Thursday night and thankfully there was no wait. My friend and I were seated right away and then we waited and waited. There were 6 servers working about 10 tables
And they all seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. Finally a guy came over, introduced himself as Makana, and took our drinks order. We wanted to order our food too since we’d already waited 15 mins but he said he would come back.
I ordered a latte and my friend ordered a Coke. Both priced at $ 4 which seems outrageously high. My server asked me if I wanted syrup in my latte because their coffee is bitter… Um, no thanks, I said. He kept insisting and I had to tell him I liked the taste of coffee. Weird.
Ten mins later he came back with our drinks… Ten minutes. Really? And my latte came in a tiny cup and it was only filled half way. Also it was no longer hot but kind of lukewarm. Not good.
We ordered our food then. I asked for the Apple Dutch Baby and my friend got the Croque Madame. When asked what kind of egg she wanted she asked what kind there were and our server didn’t know the difference between over easy, sunny side up, over medium etc. We had to
explain how she wanted the yolk.
Much much later our food came. It looked delicious and mine was steaming hot, served with a cute silver teapot filled with syrup. My friends Croque Madame looked odd. It was just a thick piece of toast on a plate covered in cheese and ham with a pathetic looking egg on top. Then separately she was served a small plate of coleslaw that was pink and swimming in liquid that looked like pepto. Not appetizing looking at all! But my friend said it tasted ok.
True to the reviews, unfortunately, my Dutch baby was bland and flavorless. The apples on top were a weird texture, I assume canned. The bottom was burnt and the whole thing was a doughy eggy flop. The worst part was the flavorless syrup. It was watery and tasted nothing like maple. More like warmed up corn syrup. Such a disappointment.
Once we were done it took a long time for our server to come back. I flagged him down a few times but he just waved at me and walked away. For being in a restaurant that wasn’t even half full our meal from start to finish took an hour and a half! That’s crazy.
The only good part of our experience was the pretty décor of the restaurant and the warm and friendly attitude of the manager who checked in on us twice. I think her name was Debra. She was the only employee smiling the entire time. Everyone else seemed annoyed to be there.
I think I probably will come again but maybe not for 2 – 3 more months. By then they should have their shit together.

I had the day off from work & decided to try Magnolia on a weekday morning with a friend, to avoid the weekend crowd. We arrived around 9:20 & were first in line (they open at 9:30AM). The café is a beautiful, bright dining space with large windows that allows natural light to fill the dining room. The dining room is an L shaped space where the back area is less noisy than the front. The dining room is graced with marble dining tables and pastel blue chairs and seating cushions in the banquette area.
We had:
Reuben skillet with poached eggs (4.5÷5) — very tasty and the poached eggs went perfectly with the meat.
Dutch baby with apples (3.5÷5) — this was good, delicate pancake served in a mini skillet but didn’t blow me away.
Banana pudding (⁵⁄₅) — this was delicious, light, fluffy & not overly sweet. A must try if you like bananas.
Chocolate cake with vanilla and icing (3.5÷5) — this was good but I wouldn’t run out the door to get it.
Warm, friendly service was great too!
Overall, 4.5 stars. I will definitely be back to try more items & have the banana pudding again.

Surprised that Magnolia has a below 3 star average. Maybe it’s because there was sooooo much hype around before this place opened its doors? Maybe it’s because this is not just a bakery like the other Magnolias are and is full service eatery? Who knows? I thought it was good. I’ve been to the Magnolia Bakery near Rockafeller Center and was pretty blown away by the pastries there. My expectations for this place was pretty high as well and I was not disappointed.
Got here at about 930 a couple of weeks ago and waited for a table through the first seating of diners. They didn’t have enough staff to man the entire café so the back section remained closed (that’s ¹⁄₃ of the entire restaurant.) I was a little disappointed in that since I’m sure it wasn’t a surprise that it would be packed on a Saturday morning. They were able to get another server to come in early, though so they opened up the back section about 45 minutes later. One nice thing when we were waiting in line was the friendly hostess came by and chatted with everyone in line.
We ordered a total of 4 dishes, the Roasted wild mushroom on creamy polenta for me and the Croque madame for Mark H. Of these 2, while the roasted mushrooms were good, the croque madame was the star. Very creamy and rich bechamel with the salty tartness of the ham, dijonaise, and gruyère cheese… all topped with the slightly runny yolk from an over-​easy egg… YUMM! My gripe with the roasted mushrooms on polenta was that the mushrooms themselves had quite a bit of liquid in them which sort of diluted the creaminess of the polenta.
We also split a Bacon/​carmelized onion tart which was also very tasty. The pastry on the tart was tops, very flaky and buttery, just what I’d expect from Magnolia. For dessert we split a slice of cake… the Pumpkin spiced cake to be exact. The cake itself was more of a spiced carrot cake instead of pumpkin but the butter cream frosting was where the pumpkin was. We both really enjoyed the cake. The cake was the right amount of lightness with just enough denseness to make it feel «hearty» all while still being very moist. The butter cream was light and airy with a subtle hit of pumpkin which didn’t overpower the cake.
All in all, Magnolia Café is definitely worth more explorations for me, or if you’ve never been, it surely is worth trying.

Magnolia Bakery Café. For those who aren’t familiar with their baked items, they serve up a pretty good breakfast and brunch menu as well. Since opening in November, there have been lines every morning. For the most part, it’s worth the wait to try for the first time. After trying it once, I’d definitely not want to wait more than 30 minutes for a seat. That’s just me though.
From the outside, you can see it’s not a very large space, but they have a good amount of seats for small groups (of two to four). The décor and interior design give a nice homey and bright feel, and the booth style seats (under the window) provide just enough of a comforting divide from the anxious onlookers. A very cozy spot, considering the fact that you’re in a shopping center as busy as Ala Moana.
Their servers were very polite and helpful, and made great suggestions for what to order. My girlfriend and I ended up ordering a Croque Madame, Vegetable skillet, a Nolia pie with bacon and caramelized onion, and an Apple Dutch Baby.
The Croque Madame, you can’t go wrong with, unless you hate a nice toasty slice of bread with ham, smothered in melty cheese, and topped off with a fried egg… hated it so much that I cleaned the plate of traces. I definitely enjoyed the Nolia pie with its flaky crust, and caramelized onions and bacon. The Vegetable skillet was a nice option for those who prefer a non-​meat dish. And while I’ve never tried an Apple Dutch Baby, I’d say it’s worth trying at least once as well.
When I’m feeling up to braving the lines again, I’d like to try some of their other brunch and breakfast dishes, since everyone else’s food looked good too… and maybe I’ll go grab a Banana Pudding after, from their kiosk outside.