World Cafe

07/11/2008 Posted by tlorenz

When I took my first moved to LA and took a trip down Main Street, I was immediately drawn to World Cafe because of its impressive bar with such great ambiance/decor- mood lighting that wasn't too dark, interesting ottomans to sit on, etc. It was a pleasant suprise that the food here is just as good. I had the goat cheese and arugula salad which was divine (well dressed, warm goat cheese, perfectly portioned), and next time I return I plan to try some of their heavier dishes. Most importantly, even though it can get busy I've never found it overwhelming. Plus it's close to the beach.

Pros: Ambiance, Bar

Cons: sometimes it's packed, sometimes empty.

06/26/2008 Posted by jenheidir

Since I came here late on a Saturday night, I can only really speak to this place as a bar, and as a bar, I actually really enjoyed it. They had a delicious mojito bar, and I liked being able to drink at the tables outside under the lights strewn across the patio. It was kinda hard to navigate through the bar since it was so crowded, but that can happen with a lot of places on a Saturday night. Bottom line – I would definitely come back here again.

06/19/2008 Posted by santam

Went there on Wednesday night and had a 9pm reservation. However, when we got there we still had to wait 25 minutes despite there being empty tables outside. They appeared to be very short staffed and the servers were rushing around. Once we finally got seated our waiter was nice, but we had to ask to have some bread. It has a great outdoor dining patio and the food was okay. It just wasn't worth wait. I got the seared ahi tuna, which was over cooked and my boyfriend got a bbq chicken pizza which was good. The best part of the meal was their bread. It was a delicious honey wheat bread served warm. I'd go back just to have a drink in the bar with some friends.

Pros: Great outdoor patio

Cons: Made us wait 25 minutes, even though we had a reservation

01/30/2008 Posted by hawtmila

I honestly don't understand where one review calls the servers "animals." My personal experiences here have been opposite, its great service that keeps me coming back! Not to mention the romantic atmosphere. The outside patio is glimmering, you could fall in love out there. The main dining room has a funny sort of nautical theme, which can throw you off but it grows on you. Now to the food...I have ordered the scallops a few times, served with a corn succotash and buerre blanc, also garnished with homemade potato chips! Very odd, yet they go great with the dish! Also a pretty good wine selection, the David Bruce pinot noir never fails. I had some munchies in the lounge while waiting for a table, pancetta wrapped tiger shrimp with citrus soy sauce. Suddenly I'm hungry...I will be back!

Pros: ambience, consistency, service and food!

Cons: no valet, prepare to search for a spot!

12/12/2007 Posted by sandylicious

Went to check out World Cafe last Friday with a friend after passing it many-a-times and never having the chance to drop in. We were seated promptly at the patio on a very chilly night but with the heat lamps blaring, we were warm all night. Our waiter was very friendly, albeit felt he checked on us one too many times that night. However, I'd rather that than slow/lack of service! Food was great - had the sea bass while friend dined on the linguini pasta. Very affordable pricing. Menu limited though. Overall, found the experience definitely worth repeating.

Pros: ambience, service

10/29/2007 Posted by pointdume

What ruined this entire thing for me was crass ill behaved waiters and waitresses who have positively no sense of manner at all whatsoever. They bark at you, they growl, they make left field comments, and are people you dont want to interact with in the real world. This was all really odd because the managers were great, the hostess was great, the food was also great as was the atmosphere. But the ones you interact with the most, were sheer animals. No, despite everything else, I wont be back here. No courtesy, ill mannered, ill behavior. The waiters/waitresses are under the same pressures as anywhere else in the world but you never see behavior like this. Animals.

Pros: Good food, good service, good ambiance

Cons: Waiters/Waitresses are Animals

10/22/2007 Posted by agentorange

I just returned there for the first time in 6 months. I've never had the food, but enjoy stopping by for a drink. They overhauled the drink menu (doing away with the best drink on it, The Cartel), and raised the prices on their specialty drinks by 50%.

Pros: Great setting

Cons: Pricey

07/18/2007 Posted by njrfilms

World is a decent place to start the weekend, grab dinner or recover in the morning. I went the day after my birthday and the server we had was just amazing. Food isn't bad. I like their dinner more than breakfast (breakfast on Main is at Omelet Parlor)

Pros: Fun spot, good location, great atmosphere

Cons: A bit pricey

06/15/2007 Posted by nicachica17

albeit i visited this place during in between hours but the service was absolutely horrendous! i waited at my table for 20 minutes without even a glass of water. when i finally got the waitress's attention, she seemed annoyed and half-heartedly apologized. the food was below average and half of it was cold! i don't think they'll be getting my patronage!

Pros: ambiance. the patio is lovely.

Cons: service, food

04/30/2007 Posted by miklosmester

Looks pretty nice on the outside but the World Cafe is like an expensive call-girl with a substance problem. Looks kind of good on the outside but once you get in, (take the bait) the customer service leaves a lot to be desired and the food is sub-standard. It's like she's wearing a D&G on the outside, but she's TGI Fridays on the inside. The portions are small and my Gfriend hated her food. This was for plates at $22-25 a pop. As another reviewer said before, nobody ever asked us if the food was OK or if anything was OK. We sat outside on the terrace, which was kind of nice. But, the seats are really uncomfortable (cheap) and the ground is uneven so one feels like one is about to fall over backwards at any moment while eating. Not a pleasant feeling. This place is pricey and they should pay more attention to detail, which would make the whole experience nicer. Overall big thumbs down. Plenty of other nice places to eat in the area, avoid this one.

Pros: Nice ambiance, great location

Cons: Bad food, bad service, bad value, expensive.