🍽 Overview:
- Restaurant Name: Friends & Family
- Location: 5150 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
- Cuisine Type: Bakery, Breakfast & Brunch
- Date Visited: January 20, 2025
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ( 3.75 out of 5.0)
🌟 First Impressions:
This is a trendy(ish) LA bakery, complete with tasty pastries, a solid coffee setup, and some really great breakfast entrees. The standout dish was the breakfast burrito, which was absolutely incredible, despite its simplicity. I was not enamored with the coffee, though.
🍔 The Food:
What We Ordered:
- Breakfast Burrito:
This was not your typical breakfast burrito that is stuffed full of everything in the kitchen. Instead, this really came off purposeful, with an amazing braised pork, red Chile sauce, eggs, and small diced potatoes. The last bit really made the difference for me, as I can't stand giant potatoes in just about anything. - Breakfast Sandwich:
A simple sandwich that really shined due to the quality of the bun and its perfectly moist eggs. We made the mistake of getting it sans sausage and I am positive it would have been even better if we included it. - Buckwheat Pancake:
A giant, thick pancake. More hearty than you might think. It was not my favorite thing on the menu, although it was quite tasty when combined with the blueberry compote. Otherwise, it was a bit dry. - Assorted Pastries:
Like a lot of pastries, many of them looked better than they tasted. Admittedly, this was not their fault... it's just that I am not crazy about pastries. Give me a donut any day. That said, we tried the morning bun (this was actually pretty darn good), the chocolate croissant (also good), banana bread (pretty decent and moist), cheese muffin (buttery, but not much flavor, imho), Almond Streusel Coffee Cake (good flavor, but sort of dry).
Restaurant Scoring Breakdown:
| Category | Weight | Score (1-5) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Quality | 25% | 4 | The entrees were pretty awesome, but the coffee was just ok and the pastries were a bit hit and miss. |
| Service | 20% | 3 | You order at the counter and they bring the food out. I can’t really give them points for service since there really wasn’t any. |
| Ambiance | 15% | 4 | For a busy cafe, I thought the ambiance was pretty good. It was a mix of busy foot traffic, people working over coffee, or friends chatting. |
| Presentation | 10% | 4 | The food was presented pretty well, especially taking into account the restaurant type. |
| Menu Variety | 10% | 4 | Tons of stuff there to meet just about every taste. |
| Value for the Money | 10% | 4 | The reality is that the days of the $1.99 Grand Slam breakfast are gone. Even a Denny’s breakfast is going to cost you $10-15. So, this place wasn’t too bad given the quality. |
| Cleanliness | 5% | 3 | Pretty clean, especially given the traffic. But, I can’t really give extra points for just being clean. |
| Overall Experience | 10% | 4 | Overall, I was impressed with the food. Definitely a good spot. |
🛑 The Quirks:
They have a water jug for filling your water cups, but there were no cups to be found. So, we had to flag someone down for that, which took a bit. There were almost no seats available when we got there, so you have to take that into account. You may find some good food, but not a spot to eat it.
🏆 The Verdict:
If I am in the area, I’ll be back. The breakfast burrito was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was not trying to be a git buster, just a quality dish that showcased the flavors of all the ingredients. The breakfast sandwich was equally worthwhile and something I need to try with sausage. I will say the coffee was a bit lackluster, despite having a beautiful machine and a decent bean supply.
