CRAFT CAFÉ at Mingei

Good coffee. And for a good price considering the location of the cafe.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Stopped in on a Sunday afternoon for something refreshing after spending the day in Balboa Park. Ordered a divine smoothie which was tasty, but was pretty banana forward. Definitely pricey for the amount you receive, but good overall.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Great latte

Nice modern Little Cafe on the corner of the Mingei museum. Nice options, expensive. I tried the gluten-free carrot cake. It was really good! Great service, but takes a while

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The employees forgot about my order, so I waited forever for them to microwave a premade slice of quiche 🙄

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

A bit pricey because of the location probably. Cappuccino was super good and making the drink was pretty quick.

Delicious food. Very slow service and presumptive tip levels for a take out counter.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

The food was borderline inedible. I got the grilled chicken bowl, but the chicken was flavorless and had the texture of rubber. I had to spit some out. I could've gotten a tasty chipotle bowl for how much I paid for the rubber, rice, and chickpeas.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 2

Tried a cappuccino today with two pastries with my wife . We had a sweet pastry with fig and pistachios and a pumpkin flavored pastry. The coffee was delicious. I could tell they used a fresh roasted coffee.It had a smooth rich chocolate taste you would expect from a good expresso. I like how their menu states where they purchase their coffee from. It said Dark horse. I've heard nothing but good things from that roaster. The pastries were delicious and filling. We will definitely know where to get coffee when we come back to balboa. It's nice to sit and drink coffee with a pastry and take in the sites of balboa park.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pastries

When we were buying the drinks, the cashier selected the tip by herself and we did not notice it and signed the receipt. As well, the cashier did not ask if we need the receipt and choose to not print one. Please be careful when you are buying, check before you sign for your order for any chosen tips.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 1

The servers were nice. There is no indoor seating, but there is a lot of shaded outdoor seating. The lattes are beyond disgusting; one sip and you'll swear off coffee.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 3

Being in Balboa park in a popular pedestrian area, the café is a bit overpriced. Food was good, though, and we enjoyed the atmosphere.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

Being in Balboa park in a popular pedestrian area, the café is a bit overpriced. Food was good, though, and we enjoyed the atmosphere.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

Cute little cafe inside Balboa Park!

They have lots of pastries in their display (croissants, quiches, danishes), as well as a fridge with quick to-go items (sandwiches, salads, dips, etc.) There's also menus you can pick up by the cash register which has more food items as well. I was torn between the smoked salmon focaccia and the avocado one. I ended up getting the avocado focaccia with pistachio pesto and it was so delicious! The sauce itself is definitely on the salty side but it's perfect with the focaccia, which was nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Totally drooling just thinking about it!

Plenty of tables outside to enjoy your food and take in the beautiful atmosphere.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We stopped by thinking it would be a faster service than Panama 66 and less expensive than the Prado and the restaurant in the Mingei. I tried the chicken and artichoke sandwich which was toasted and had a very strong pickle flavor. The small latte was great. One person tried the quiche, another a charcuterie from the fridge. I got a small kombucha that was about $5.

The four of us sat outside at small, white metal tables and chairs on the sides of the hallway outside. Folks are walking through, but it was shaded and near an outdoor enclosed exhibit of Sew Loka's sewing machine and jacket. There was no bathroom there that I could see, maybe inside the Mingei Museum?

Needs work: As you can see from the photo, the menu is posted as you enter on the wall on the right, another near the front, and there was one menu near the register. The lettering is so small and light colored it was hard for us to read them. I asked the cashier for a recommendation and I could not hear her. It was kind of a comedy of errors. They need to get a QR code for folks to look at it outside as well as a larger menu placed outside the place. A second thing they could improve was the amount requested for a tip. First of all, it's counter service and they do not bring the food to the table to serve you. Second, the tips start at 22% and go up! There was no enthusiastic welcome in or chatting with customers to help them decide on some delicious food items. You can of course decide to not tip, but what happened to starting at 15%? It's too much.