Novel Cafe

Affordable but highly disappointing.

Nice little café on Ocean Park… Pretty quiet and a nice place to grab a sandwich and a coffee while either with friends or alone with work or a book.

Delicious fluffy waffles! Extremely friendly staff! Food made it to our table very quickly.

Really sad that I have to give this place a low rating. My friend and I came here almost every Tues/​Thurs for brunch. I accidentally ordered a breakfast quesadilla without specifying «no bacon». When I realized it as the waitress brought it out, I asked if they could make me a new one without bacon because I don’t eat meat and haven’t for almost 4 years. I told her that I was vegetarian. I completely realize it was my fault for not specifying, but the fact that a quesadilla was brought back with small pieces of bacon in it here and there (it seemed like they just picked out the bacon and gave it back) was upsetting. Again, my bad for ordering wrong. But, this is dangerous for anyone who may have allergies or anything.

The staff and the food were amazing. We had a group of 10 people but we were still all served really well with all orders taken care of promptly. Definitely coming back

A friend dragged me here who had fond memories of the place when he lived in the area. Food was very good but for the sliced yam (steamed?). I was expecting more of a morning hash browns or fried potato. The vibe is a starving artist type dive eatery. Would not call it a restaurant as you order at the counter and pick it up yourself. Tables and chair mismatch, very worn, desperately needs paint, cleaning… light and brightening. Paintings on walls are disturbing, not peaceful, and poor quality.
I did not see any outside tables or umbrellas… pretty sure this is the same place. Forgot to check in with phone when there. Prices were very steep for such a divey place. Eclectic I guess. Looked like mostly transient tourists there.

Worst breakfast burrito of my life. How do you mess up chorizo and eggs?

I come here every morning I work close to here so I usually pick up something to eat for breakfast. But now I will never go back the prices jumped extremely high from just last week. I got one waffle with fruit on it for 7 bucks this week I go in to get one waffle with no fruit on it this time and charged me 11.99 for one plain waffle. It’s a shame because the workers are so sweet but I will never go back its not that great of food and they charge u up the wall for everything. A small cup of coffee that really isn’t good is more than a small cup at Starbucks or coffee bean that have way better coffee. This would have been one star but the workers are sweet. If your prices jump then the quality of food should jump as well. Did I mention I have found hair in my food here before…

We came here for breakfast on Sunday. The service was very slow. We had to get up from our seats to get one. Then we waited at least 30 min. for the food. I ordered pouched eggs and it was overcooked, almost like hard boiled eggs. The busboy was very nice, apologizing and that is the only reason I am giving them 2 starts not 1. The server didn’t even bother to check on us. And we had to get up again to get our checks. Also overpriced for what you getting. I am hoping they will open another place here because I like the location and the outdoor sitting.

In town from Phoenix and stopped in at Novel. I was very impressed. Great friendly staff. Food was amazing! I highly recommend checking it out!

Microwave like food, slow service, and slow service. We had to get our own menu and almost had to put in our order at the counter. We should have left but Crimsons next door was full.

This place needs some serious cleaning and renovations — take your Christmas decorations down, repaint those grimy walls, scrape the old tape off your windows, reupholster the seats, and have some pride in your restaurant! On the plus side, the staff is friendly and food is good, but if the front of the house is that run down, I don’t really want to think about what the kitchen looks like…

This place is pretty good. I needed to get a bite in the area and I saw Katie B had given it a thumbs up so I knew it was a safe bet. The burger was quite good, the tomato soup side was nothing special. The service is really slow and there’s no one there to seat you. You do the — grab and the menus and I guess I’ll sit down until someone comes over 15 minutes later –luckily I was in no rush. Overall decent food with healthy options– service could be better. The menu is really extensive and has vegetarian options as well as brunch and even pasta to satisfy most pallets.

Came here because I had a
coupon but unfortunately it was not for this Novel Café. Apparently the different locations of Novel are owned by different owners. The other reason I chose this one on Ocean Park instead of the one on Main is I did not want to fight the crazy crowds on Main on a Saturday afternoon. It was a good choice. There were plenty of free parking and ample indoor and outdoor seating. The atmosphere was chill and service friendly and efficient. The Lox Scramble hit the spot for me, tasty and good size portion with plenty of lox!
Next time? I’ll try one of their burgers.

Took Bill Burr here in Comedians In Cars. Fantastic menu. Very extensive. Bill and I ordered orange juice. Then we had coffee and then I had eggs again which almost caused me to go into another egg-​waitress rage. Bill had a fruit cup which flies landed on throughout the meal. He was lucky. I had a Komodo dragon land on my eggs. Spicy. Reminds me of the old ‘Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup’ joke updated for 2014. «Waiter there’s a fly in my soup. So I shot up the restaurant, took 2 hostages, and then blamed it on the police when they took me away with a Members Only jacket on my head.» Try their Italian Scramble (cook’s name is Mannzoni and he’s insane). Delicious cobb salad delivered by a Thai delivery man. It’s their Thai Cobb. They cater to Vegans. Try their Ronald Vegan platter.

Great food, but they don’t get the full 5 stars due to lack of customer service. Twice I had to get up from my seat after dining to request service from the waiter… First, to request a water refill and to request the bill (even after requesting the bill right after ordering and mentioning that I was not going to order anything else). I ended up paying at the cash register and requested they bring the receipt and change to the table. Then I got up the second time after seeing that they didn’t give me a receipt.
I’ll probably visit again as I definitely enjoyed my meal… Just not the service.

It was a great experience overall. The waiters were really sweet and always attentive.
I ordered the Novel Caesar Salad and it was really good! For $ 10 you get a huge bowl of yummy greens, with shredded cheese, croissants and a bunch of avocado slices! (no extra charge)
There is outdoor seating and in door.
I only had a 30 minute break and the food was delivered quickly.
Would recommend if you are in a rush or if you just want to read a book or have lunch with a friend.

I just came here today for the first time ever. A friend of mine and I were speculating for place to have brunch. Brick + Mortar and Urth Caffe had 1 hour waits, so it was over to Novel Café for treats.
I had the chilaquiles and my friend ordered the 2−2−2 special.
The chilaquiles were pretty good, but not prepared how I was expecting them. I am used to them being served all mixed up with the eggs. These are served with everything separated, so that was odd. Also, it seems like they used Doritos to make the chilaquiles instead of just tortilla chips. A bit odd.
My friend got 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of toast, 2 pancakes, and 2 slices of bacon. He seemed satisfied.
I would come here again. It was nice and inexpensive. I will probably stick to the basic fare — like an omelet.

After receiving my tea, I was ignored for the entire two hours I was there. Had to get up and get my own water and watch while the waitress served everyone but me.
Good times!

Reasons to love Novel Café on Ocean park:
*lots of light
*lots of seats
*lots of outlets
*free wifi
*EZ street parking, or 2hr parking in the back!
*TIGER CHAI (all caps was necessary)
*bomb ass sun dried tomato & goat cheese omelet that comes with fruit/​home fries/​yogurt and toast, all for $ 9.95
*no stink eye from the staff for curling up and studying in the corner for 12 hours
If you are looking specifically for just food/​breakfast, this place is decent, but as a study spot, it’s pretty much perfect.