The Cafe – Paramount Commissary

As far as studio buffet cafeterias go, this is one of the better ones. It is divided into sections: pizza, hot foods, sandwich bar, soup bar, salad bar, and coolers. I believe there is also a burger and grill stall.
The meals I have had here were all good, for what this is. And the prices are reasonable. Similar to a hospital cafeteria’s pricing.
You can only go to this if you are on the lot… for which you need a pass.
There is lots of seating.
This is a good place for meetings, and to see people who are working at the Studio.

Good food– no frills

As far as food goes, it’s pretty decent. There’s variety in the pizza, panninis, salads, and hot food/​sides, as well as the salad/​taco bar. Also soup!
I usually get things from the salad bar or the taco bar, which are actually quite good and not too pricey. I can get a decent salad with some chicken for around $ 5. I’m waiting to find a special I’m interested in — nothing so far, but I’ll let you know!
The parmasean garlic fries are delicious. If you’re just getting salad, it’s worth it to maybe get a hot side (veggies, pasta) which isn’t too expensive.

Lots of great choices for lunch, beats going off the lot. The pizza is honestly the best thing there. 2 slices of pizza and a drink for about $ 6.50. It’s a great deal. I’m pretty sure you can not eat here as a tour guest, and for those of you who meet that criteria, I’m sorry.

*FOOD POISON CENTRAL*
If I could give this place 0 stars I would! In trying to be healthy, I had the fish which they cooked right in front of me. A few hours later I was so incredibly sick. That was all I ate that day so I know it was the fish! I’ve never had such bad food poisoning in my life! I mean, all night sick all the way through to the next day I was miserable.
I’ve talked to some people around the office and apparently a lot of people have gotten sick from the food there. I am NEVER eating here again!
Paramount Café I dont know what you are doing, but you need to start ordering fresh good quality food and throwing it out daily!

Best place on earth! They make my breakfast just the way I like it.

False, this is not a buffet unless you want to pay for every single extra thing you take.
I had the opportunity to work at Paramount during the summer. It was an amazing experience but the thing that Paramount lacked was a good cafeteria. The food is okay at a mediocre price ($ 8/​meal). Don’t expect too much.
The Commissary is just convenient because it is on the lot provides a wide variety.
I suggest you go to the Watertower Café.

It’s a commissary. I repeat: it’s a commissary.
…so don’t expect much!
It simply reminds me of a better version of college dorm food. You know, the salad bars, sandwich stations, hot food area (burgers, pizzas, etc), and pasta area (pastas and Italian panini’s). The food isn’t absolutely, positively horrible like, well, dorm food. But it isn’t the very best, high-​quality food either. It’s somewhere in the middle. Just average! The plus side is that everything is under $ 10 bucks. Not too bad in Hollywood, especially if you don’t want to leave the Paramount Lot.

I’m actually a fan of this commissary. There are a lot of selections, everything is fresh and I felt the prices were very reasonable. I almost always find a full meal for under $ 10.
I particularly like:
* tuna sandwich (panini grilled)
* bacon and egg salad sandwich (panini grilled)
* prepared spinach, mozzarella and pesto salad
* chicken tenders
* pizza and/​or cheese bread
* Mexican bar
They recently installed a frozen yogurt machine too. Yum!
I love eating outside near the trees. You might see the cast of some shows eating together on occasion.
The place is clean, the people are friendly and the food is good. Even when it’s busy, you can get in and out pretty quickly and find a table without any problems. Certainly worth a visit, especially if you’re short on time or tired of the usual fare outside the lot.
Note: The Café is open to anyone who happens to be working on or visiting the Paramount lot.

Maybe I’ve just been to one too many studio commissaries, but there wasn’t anything really special about the Paramount Commissary. On the plus side, I did see some people I recognized, but it wasn’t anyone in Hollywood that you would know unless you were specifically in the industry.
You’re not going to see J.J. Abrams walking in and out of the commissary with his salad. The days of all that ended, at least here. Other studio lot commissary I have spent more time at, so the odds always increase on seeing some wild animal come to the river to drink if you hang around it more… if that analogy even makes any sense.
As for the food, it’s pretty middle of the road. It’ll run you about 8 – 10 bucks back and will fill you up. Really, it’s just a fancier cafeteria food. I was here doing a short term project, so it filled the need of feeding me and I did see a popular radio personality that did his show from this studio lot. though he could not say that he was doing it from here.
So that in itself made me pleased about my time working here. While I wouldn’t say I’d get a job at paramount for their commissary unlike other places where if I lost my current gig, I would love to come work for solely because they have an amazing place to eat, this place is somewhere I’d gladly come back to.

Before I moved to Hollywood, I always had a romantic notion of the studio commissary. I once heard about a waitress who used to work at the Disney Commissary in the 60’s and was irritated with a weirdo artist type who used to sketch dozens of drawings on napkins. He’d leave them behind and she’d always have to throw the sketches away. Years later she went to an art auction, saw the paintings of Salvador Dali’s «Destino» and realized that he was the artist that she’d cleaned up after and that she’d probably thrown away thousands of dollars of drawings. I also thought about the Warner Commissary and how stars like James Cagney, Ronald Reagan, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart would drop in for a bite.
So is the Paramount Commissary like that? Will you be able to hobnob with the stars? Nah. It was like that in it’s heyday, but when you drop by the Commissary today, you might have the delight of running into former fellow crew members, but you aren’t going to see Chris Rock at the Salad Bar.
What you will get is pretty good food. The Salad Bar is good and I’ve always been happy with the choices. Their Hot Food Bar always serves something ethnic and regional and although the attempt is admirable, it won’t challenge any authentic restaurant. The Soup area is pretty solid with three choices plus chili, which I really like.
The Sandwich Bar will serve good sandwiches and they can warm things up on the panini press. They give you your choice of salad, soup, or potato chips to go along with it, so you feel like you get a bargain. If you pick this option, be prepared to stand in line, since this is very popular.
The same could be said of the grill, which makes burgers, a fish of the day, and a tasty steak. I also enjoy the special salad of the day (if they are serving the BBQ chicken salad, then get some of that because it is delicious).
The staff is efficient and they really seem to take pride in what they do. The presentation of food is always clean and they keep things stocked well. After awhile, they might even start recognizing you when you work on the lot.
The indoor seating is okay, but the highlight is the outdoor shaded outdoor seating. On a summer day, you can’t have more fun than to kick back and take an extra 10 minutes out on your lunch break to enjoy the sun. So the Commissary might not live up to any romantic notions, but on those days, who cares about stars. Just enjoy the sun, the biggest star around.