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Get the hot maca drink!

4 Posted on 04 / 08 / 2013

My partner and I came here for lunch before heading out of town. We used the free parking in the back, which was really convenient.

We had the spinach artichoke dip, the "works" burger, and the wet burrito. The dip was alright, the burger was quite tasty, but the burrito was just passable. I found the flavor slightly lacking. Sitting next to the dessert window, we couldn't help but order a coconut blondie to round off our meal. (Actually the other cakes looked better, but we didn't want to pig out completely. The blondies were smaller and appeared less decadent). I also got the hot maca-cocoa drink to go with it. The blondie was good but on the dry side; that drink was wonderful! I could sip on just this for the rest of my life.

Staff was very knowledgeable and helped us a lot in our ordering. Food was solid, reasonably priced. I just wish I lived nearby so I could get to try out more dishes and, of course, the desserts!

Pros: good food, parking

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Good Vibes Great Desserts

5 Posted on 08 / 17 / 2012

I've been here many times since it first opened in late March of 2009 and was here again this week, August 2012. Here's my Golden Mean Vegan Cafe review for HappyCow.

Golden Mean is a cool little place with all vegan food and friendly owners. It's a nice setup for meeting up with friends, having lunch, and enjoying an organic coffee, fresh juice, or power smoothie.

And they make great desserts. The cakes are always so fresh and moist. The chocolate chip cookie is yummy, too.

The set up is casual and cozy with small tables and wooden bench seating. Upstairs is a loft with pillows on the floor for lounging. There is free parking in the rear of the cafe, or you could park on the street in front (metered).

I like: the cupcakes and the cakes! the Middle Eastern wrap with baked falafels inside, the "chicken" caesar wrap, the when-in-rome salad, and the daily changing side salads. The tapas plate features a medley of small bites like cornmeal pizza mini slices, day's hummus, salted olives, salad, and falafel.

Good choice for vegan/vegetarian food, or drink & dessert when in the area.

Pros: friendly owners, fresh food, great atmosphere
Cons: could use better ventilation

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New Favorite

5 Posted on 08 / 11 / 2012

I came here and immediately fell in love with the place. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The had a good variety on their menu. The food was amazing, and the strawberry cake was HEART WARMING. I will be coming back every time I visit Santa Monica. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.

Pros: Everything
Cons: Nothing, seriously

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Small, vegan restaurant

5 Posted on 07 / 21 / 2012

The restaurant is really small, but the food is quite good. The owner is sooo nice. We had to wait for a table and he came up to us before we ordered apologizing. We ordered the quesadillas, nachos, and vegan milk shake and it was all very good. Will return, but will get food to go because of the small area.

Pros: Very nice manager, Food is very fresh
Cons: Small

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OK

3 Posted on 06 / 22 / 2012

I walked by this place on the street and decided to forgo the craziness at huckleberry down the street. Over all the food was alright but lacked a certain amount of flavor to put them over the edge. I left with a general feeling of "meh." But the coconut cakes we took home for later is definitely worth going back for.

Pros: Not crowded, Friendly staff, Coconut Cake

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A contender for the crown of vegan cafes in SoCal

5 Posted on 07 / 29 / 2011

Golden Mean Café is a most welcome addition to the sea of veg*n spots in the LA area. The owner has gone the extra mile to manifest the magic formula: tasty and healthful cuisine, organic ingredients, a warm and inviting atmosphere, commendable efforts toward sustainability, and a lot of love.

Inevitably, Golden Mean Café will be compared with with Real Food Daily, and in our estimation it's a close race, with each having some advantages. Both places offer healthful food that, in taste, ranges from good to great (neither menu is consistently first class, though each has its superlative items), and both lean pretty far to the pricey side with slim pickin's for low-income customers. But, for us at least, the warm and relaxed vibe and eco-friendliness of Golden Mean gives it the edge over RFD, making it our most strongly-recommended vegan restaurant in greater LA... if you can afford it.

- Veggie burger: excellent - one of the best i've tasted.

- Quinoa side: delicious.

- Various salads and greens: all great

- Desserts: Vanilla coconut cake was the best we've ever had; chocolate cake was good but not extraordinary.

- Portobello panini: good but not great (i've had more flavorful ones elsewhere).

- The "rustic Fibonacci cornmeal crust pizza": inventive (quite a leap from traditional Italian-style pizza pie) and very tasty, though the serving size was quite small, especially for the price.

- "Chicken" Ceasar wrap: not particularly flavorful (IMHO, could use both more dressing and more "chicken")

- Quesadilla: About as good as vegan quesadillas get (due in part to the Daiya "cheese," which melts well), but even the best of the mass-marketed vegan "cheeses" feel kinda plastic to me so i didn't love it. (I'd prefer a homemade nut-based cheese substitute.)

There's parking in the back.

Our only real complaint is about the pricing (it's easy to spend around $20 per person to get filled). It's perfectly fine to have some expensive dishes, and even a lot of them, but potential customers would be better served (and we think the mission of the restaurant would be better served) by adding several simpler, affordably priced items to the menu so that those with lower incomes can afford to join the party. We would love to go often and bring all our friends and associates, but some are reluctant to go because of their budgets. For that reason, i'm tempted to give only 4 cows instead of 5, but Golden Mean gets so many other things right that we can't hold back. :-)

Pros: Great overall café formula, Organic and mostly healthful ingredients, Some of the food is extraordinary
Cons: Quite pricey for the portions, Not everything merits the prices , Menu could offer a bit more diversity

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Great karma!

5 Posted on 05 / 18 / 2011

I can't believe I haven't written a review for Golden mean! They are so nice there. I threw my gf's birthday party there a month ago. We reserved the upstairs and they made us an amazing spread of food for all of our friends. The owner and the chef are such great people! Don't miss out on this Santa Monica gem of a place!

Pros: burger, gold

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Great vegan cuisine

5 Posted on 03 / 23 / 2011

I frequent this place, about 1x per week. Love the pizzas and veggie burger with the works. All of the side salads are so fresh and delicious...and healthy for you too! I love chocolate, but they have the best strawberry cake and the best blackberry coconut cake. To die for.

Pros: delicious, consistency, parking

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Good veggie burgers.

4 Posted on 02 / 08 / 2011

I went to Golden Mean over the weekend and was very pleased with my meal. I believe everything I ate was oil-free vegan and overall the food was tasty. I had a veggie burger with basil pesto pasta on the side. I loved the veggie burger, but would definitely pass on the pasta. Be sure to utilize the free parking in the back of the restaurant too. I'll surely be back.

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golden mean

2 Posted on 09 / 21 / 2010

We were in the area one day looking for a good vegan place and found this restaurant had 5 cows!! The inside is small and cramped though it does have some nice art on the walls and a friendly staff. The food was expensive for the portion size. We started with a daiya quesadilla, but you can't go wrong with daiya! I was tempted into trying the enchiladas since you don't come across those often......but i saw that they were covered in red (pasta) sauce...

Pros: friendly staff

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Golden Mean

4 Posted on 03 / 20 / 2010

This place had an awkward location far from the busy/popular parts of Santa Monica. Menu was rather limited and a lot of items on the menu weren't available. We got the grilled portabella sandwiches with the potato side. The sandwiches were on the small side, but were delicious. The potato side is supposedly hugely popular according to the waitress, but they were so-so cold herbed potatoes. Got a slice of coconut cake for desert and it was hands down the best I've ever had. Cost almost $20 for a small sandwich w/ potatoes and a slice of cake. Probably wouldn't eat here again in lieu of Real Food Daily down the road, but I would definitely stop by to pick up dessert.

Pros: desserts, food quality
Cons: Location, Portions small

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Delicious

5 Posted on 12 / 09 / 2009

Small and good. I love this place. It is great.

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AWESOME!!!

5 Posted on 10 / 26 / 2009

Amazing food, amazing ingredients (palm sugar as sweetener!), great flavors = high quality food!! Rocks!!

Pros: enlightened ingredients, friendly, taste!!

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Best deserts in town

5 Posted on 07 / 23 / 2009

The food is great -- I have had the pizza, burger, all the salads, and one of the wraps -- all are made with fresh ingredients and taste great.

The deserts are amazing - I started with the choc hazelnut cake -- it is far better than anything Real Food Daily has to offer. The Carob Pecan cookie is the best Carob anything I have ever tried. Yesterday I tried a peanut butter cookie made with sunflower -- best cookie ever. Then the owner recommended the banana muffing - best desert / muffin I have ever tasted.

Pros: Deserts, Fresh, Just great food

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Yum!

5 Posted on 05 / 18 / 2009

I shared two dishes and salads with a friend this past weekend, and everything was so delicious! We had the Middle East Wrap and the Portobello Panini, but I'm looking forward to trying other dishes in the future. I think even the non-vegans will love this food! We actually ended up ordering a few extras to take with us!!

Pros: Delicious food, Friendly staff
Cons: Can't think of any