Mare’ka

Is this place even open anymore? I have come here twice and they are not open. I’m not going to bother coming here again.

I’m not sure if I like this place or not yet. I went for a burlesque show my cousin was participating in and had a blast, but that’s due to the show.
First, the location and ambiance: The parking lot is surprisingly large considering it’s right off Ventura Blvd. It was also a bit difficult to find at night, however, because their sign is a dark purple. Inside seems small (maybe the size of a standard coffee shop), mainly due to the fact that there is a stage on the south side of the shop.
The employees: Considering this place was packed, I was extremely impressed that the baristas actually attempted to squeeze through the narrow aisles to take orders. They also brought you your food and drinks.
The Consumables: I didn’t eat anything that evening, but everything that came out smelled delicious. The drinks were a hit or miss, however. I ordered the «I Love My Breasts» and as witty as the name was (many of their menu items had clever names), the taste left me disappointed. All you really tasted were the bing cherries and something chalky. Plus, it wasn’t blended as smoothly as I was expecting. One friend ordered the «Mango Crème». The mango was very subtle and I only really tasted cream. The best tasting drink of the evening was the «Green Colada». If you like bananas and cream, you’ll love it.
The price: Granted, everything is organic, but it still irks me to have to pay around $ 10 for a drink where you don’t even taste all of the ingredients.
I’m excited to try their chocolate drinks and other cocktails next time.

Love everything about this place. food, drinks, people, music, atmosphere… And most of all the owner Mare’ka is so caring and beautiful.

This was quite the strange experience. I heard about the super rich chocolate drinks from Unilocaling around when I was in town and decided to give it a try. I drop in around 3pm and meet Mare’ka herself and she definitely seems a bit «out there». As she slowly told me the health benefits of the chocolate, I decided that I needed to look at the menu and choose something to-​go, and quickly. I got the spiced chocolate drink and she was very helpful with recommendations — almond milk, agave nectar, the works. The drink itself was actually really tasty. It basically was an extremely dark hot chocolate. Definitely worth trying if you like dark cocoa like me.
I wasn’t able to try the cocktails or experience the whole live music set up because I got weirded out and she had the place reserved. But based on my drink, I think it would be pretty tasty and I will be back here when I’m feeling odd.

Awesome organic and unique drinks! This place is great for private parties

Went here to watch my friend perform. It was such a cute spot to relax and grab a drink — either alcoholic or healthy! They have some really great looking drinks. I had the Green Colada, which is exactly what it sounds like! A Pina Coloda mixed with Kale, alcohol free! It was delicious… if I had a blender, this is what I would blend.
Additionally, although I didn’t eat any of it, at my table a pizza was ordered and it looked very appetizing.
There is ample parking here (its in a little shopping center) and was very easy to locate. I love how intimate and cozy it is with the staff being friendly, prompt and whipping up delicious food and drinks.
If I ever find myself in Studio City again, I would definitely pop in to drink that Green Colada. Did I mention the prices are reasonable? :)

I am being generous with three stars because I’ve been there twice now to see shows on Saturday nights but honestly the food is actually just okay and waaaay overpriced. Went three nights ago and ordered pizza that is allegedly big enough for two (it isn’t) and cost us $ 20. It had a few pieces of fresh tomato and walnuts and something green tossed scattered on top. For $ 20 I expect it to blow me away. My iced tea — peach and ginger — tasted like iced water and was $ 4.50. Again, very expensive. My companion ordered coffee which apparently was okay. Just okay. Eat before you go is my advice. If you insist on eating there, go early. Although we did this time, the food still took forever — just like it did last time when we arrived and the place was packed.
The food isn’t great and we arrived early and still it took us over an hour to get the pizza. For a small café they seem understaffed and easily frazzled. If they know they are booked Saturday nights they should bring in an extra waitress., or two.

Pretty good experience.
Pros:
— Good gluten-​free pizza. They get their crusts from Venice Bakery, the same place PizzaRev and Sammy’s Woodfired Grill get their GF pizza crusts, but Mare’ka’s pizzas taste much, much better. More thoroughly cooked, and good fresh toppings.
— Delectable looking drink menu. Obviously I haven’t tried everything on the menu, but just reading it is enough to make you drool.
— Parking was pretty easy to find at around 5pm. Don’t know what the situation is like later.
— They have three-​tined forks. (Yes, this is a weird thing to like. But I really like three-​tined forks.)
Cons:
— Like many small organic/​natural cafes, they might not have the ingredients to make your first order. Or your second order. Usually third time’s the charm.
— There are only a few food menus in the place.
— Not the cleanest place. Bathroom was out of paper towels, and my husband’s fork was dirty. Not «the dishwasher didn’t do a good job» dirty, but «someone used it and left it there and nobody collected it» dirty. The drink menus had pages stuck together and the food menus were stained.
— They’re not that allergy-​savvy so you have to be vigilant. I ordered a gluten-​free pizza and specified that I had an allergy, but they were going to put walnuts on until I asked them to check if the walnuts were cross-​contaminated. Sure enough, they were packaged on shared equipment with wheat.
— Nobody ever offered us silverware. (We had pizza so we were fine eating with our hands, but it would have been nice to stir the drinks… the spicy chai had a thick lump of spices collected at the bottom.)
— Pricy. For that price I expect my mind to be blown (and my silverware to be clean).
— Closed Sundays.
It’s hard to find the food menu online, so for everyone’s reference, here was the menu for January 2013.
Organic Appetizers
Organic House-​Made Hummus Scoop & Tortilla Chips (w/​pita chip option)
Toasted Organic Rosemary Focaccia & Organic Olive Oil
Rustic Pizza Squares — petite focaccia squares loaded w/​chopped bruschetta
Caprese Sliders — bite sized focaccia sandwiches w/​fresh basil, tomato, and mozzarella
Organic Entrees
Kale Salad — Kale dressed w/​olive oil, lemon, & sea salt, tossed w/​walnuts, cranberries, avocado & basil
Salad Maximus — Spinach tossed w/​blackberries, strawberries, walnuts, cucumber, mint & avocado, house-​made herbs de provence vinaigrette
House-​Made Hummus Medley & Tapenade — Traditional hummus, hand chopped bruschetta & olive-​walnut tapenade, served with wheat pita
Rustic Caprese Sandwich — Fresh mozzarella, vine ripe tomato, whole basil leaves & cold pressed organic extra virgin olive oil on toasted organic herb focaccia bread
Organic Vegetarian Pizza — Marinara, hand chopped bruschetta, spinach, walnuts & choice of Daiya or mozzarella, served on a hand-​made gluten-​free herb crust from Venice Bakery (serves 2)
Organic Desserts
Mango Gelato — Mango, yogurt, and coconut milk whipped to perfection
Champagne & Grapefruit — A delicate & delicious way to end a meal
Historic Drinking Chocolates — the original recipes from around the world, melted to sip on
Vegan Baked Goods — Vegan pies, cupcakes contain wheat, muffins are GF

I’m a red meat eating, country music loving, beer drinking redneck kind of a guy so how did I end up in this organic martini bar eating vegan pizza on jazz night? It was because my wife’s holiday office party was held there and I’ll try almost anything once. I was not sorry.
We sampled quite a few menu items including the kale salad and the aforementioned vegan pizza. All of which were delicious.
I wanted to try several of the martini concoctions but the first one I had was called Sweet Fire – strawberry flavored with a hint of lime and jalapeño – and that was so unbelievably good, I couldn’t bring myself to try anything else. I had a couple more.
I did sneak a sip of my wife’s espresso martini, though, which was also fantastic.
Will I go back? Absolutely. I can’t wait. If a guy like me can enjoy a place like this, anyone can.

Nico and Fiona are not only delightful and attentive to customers but the mix up the most unique drinks. We were licking our glasses at the happy hour on Tuesday night. I enjoy organic and healthy juices everyday so why didn’t I ever imagine a cocktail could taste so refreshing and alive?
They’ve spoiled me and I can never have premixed again. The beer soup is also heavenly!

Maybe I went on the wrong night? If you are reading this, I would check with the genre of music that is playing for the night you happen to attend if they happen to be having music that night. There was a $ 5 dollar cover charge for the night I happen to go and it was country hillbilly kind of music. OMG, shoot me now is all I kept thinking. I am one that is open to any genre of music but the crowd was weird and it was just an odd night not to mention I felt so out of place that I couldn’t help but giggle the whole time I was there.
In anycase, lol I tried to make the best out of it so we ordered a pizza (not the best, I think their food selection most def needs to be worked on) and two drinks (which honestly, were okay). I expected a lot better from the place and to top it off two drinks and a pizza cost around 45 bucks which is not that great especially if you are a poor student like me. Needless, to say I took the place off my bookmark and sadly, will probably never come back. I so wanted it to be good as I think the concept is really neat.

If you like the Library Bar inside the Roosevelt with its creative, healthy drink concoctions, you will love this place and more.
Heck, if you like drinks in general, you’ll love this place.
You’ll miss it if you haven’t been here before. It’s tucked inside a plaza on ventura blvd. near jerry’s famous deli.
I didn’t expect it from the outside but when you walk in, the décor is very elegant, warm, cozy with a comfy sofa on the right, a stage on the left, nicely arranged tables in the middle and a bar in front. Music is in the air, candles surrounded the place with a nice decent. Great ambiance to relax and have a good drink.
Everything here is healthy, organic and FRESH!
They even have Organic Beer! I tried it and I definitely tasted the difference. It felt like I wouldn’t get a beer belly if I drank too much. :)
Oh, and organic wine as well.
I ordered several specialty drinks:
Strawberry Basil Lemon Drop (This was very refreshing. Served on a martini glass, this was a great start. As mentioned, they use all fresh ingredients, strawberries, basil, lemons, very nice)
Blackbird (I’m a big fan of mojitos. This one one had blackberries and ginger. Ginger being a source of good immunity, it definitely tasted revitalizing)
Sweet Fire (This was probably my favorite. This had a good kick to it. It had jalapeño and spices to it. When you sip it, it has a smooth taste with a spicy finish. A must try.)
They use a vodka that is healthier for you and doesn’t give you the usual effect you get when you get a hangover. That sounds good to me!
They also have all kinds of drinks for healing and health.
And they have Chocolate drinks, from what they told me, the chocolate are one of a kind and 99% pure unsweetened. I’m definitely going to try that out next time.
This is a really great place to hang out, get a drink, bring friends or a date. It’s a fairly new place so I hope they do well. I’ll definitely be coming back soon to try the others.

Was just looking for somewhere organic and found this place. They have the most amazing organic juice combos AND they mix alcohol in?!
I couldn’t partake today but so coming back at night; this day I was on a specific diet protocol and nothing on the brief menu worked for me (drinks are really their thing) but one of their staff is a raw food chef, who listened to what I could have, and whipped up an awesome cucumber salad with grilled tofu, it was great.
Décor is really cool too, wifi, all that.

Honestly, this place is a hidden gem in Studio City… The best vibe I have seen in a coffee shop in the valley & the friendliest staff that are so accomodating. I’ve tried their food and it is amazing as some organic places try so hard to be so organic that they miss the whole flavoring the food concept.
I dig the smoothies — Get the peachy green smoothie which they can also make with mangos and other fruits. Super refreshing!
Highly recommended and at night it’s an amazing place to bring a date… really hip and relaxed vibe making it easier to talk.

My friends and I had been eying this place on Unilocal for a couple months. We tried to go one time but they were having a private party, so we waited until the next time we could get together. Wow, so disappointing.
I guess we were confused about what this place was supposed to be. They offer a menu of organic drinks, all of which looked very interesting. They also have a «day» menu which lists food items. Their website says their bistro is open until 9pm and then special events afterward, including live music.
We walk in and the place was empty except for some random people who appeared to be setting up for a music video shoot. When we sat down we were warned that they only have 3 food menus because people keep stealing them. Who does that? Who steals menus? And what restaurant can’t print a few more paper menus? The menu online made things look tasty, so I couldn’t wait to try the food. They offer a few items on the happy hour menu for $ 5 a piece, so we tried the hummus, the pizza bites and the fruit tray. The hummus was served with tortilla chips — not my favorite choice. We also ordered the goat cheese salad and the silk road salad. At one point we were trying to figure out what took so long, when a lady walked in carrying Trader Joe’s bags. I watched her walk to the bar and unpack the bags behind the bar. Low and behold, the lettuce for my salad was in that bag. I can only assume so was the rest of the items for our salads. If I wanted a trader joe’s salad (I love TJs) I could have stayed home and saved a ton of money because the food was right in my fridge. WTF?!
I definitely will not be going back, I rather pick up TJs on my way home, and change into my comfy clothes and eat on my own couch while watching tv! Thank you but I will pass. I am not even intrigued enough to go back to try their drinks menu.

I celebrated my birthday party here. Service for the party was well organized because I coordinated with the owner and chose all the food for my party in advance. It was all laid out when we walked in. There is an impressive menu of organic cocktails, wine and beer. I enjoyed all the salads. The menu for food is limited, but everything tastes good. They have a few sandwiches and 2 different pizzas. I also enjoyed their salsa (comes with chips) and hummus/​tapenade platter. Drinking chocolate was also great.
The dining room is decidedly small, but it is a nice looking place with a personal feel. They have a small stage for musical acts, and you can sit at the bar. Kitchen is essentially what you see right in front of you when you sit at the bar — blenders for the drinks, small oven for pizza.
I did notice that several items in the kitchen seem to be straight from Trader Joe’s. That doesn’t bother me. One time I did notice that the stickers on the avocados showed they were conventional, not organic. Since TJs carries both organic and conventional avocados, I was surprised. They do have a board stating which of their ingredients were not organic, but the avocados were not listed. I am a stickler for organic, and I just want to know what I am getting. Does that mean the cheese on my sandwich wan’t organic either? I don’t want to be the jackass who asks to see all the food labels.

Came on a Thursday night with a group of five for my best friend’s 21^st birthday dinner — perfect place because she is the biggest fan of anything organic. Made a reservation for 7 but ended up half an hour late, in which the waiter was more than friendly and inviting.
The place was fairly empty before 8, which is strange because happy hour is from 5 – 8, so we got royal treatment all around: the waiter offered to put in a movie for us, we got to select the music playing in the restaurant, and was offered the couch area to enjoy our meal in.
A friend and I got the happy hour specialty organic cocktail of the week (strawberry, lemon drop, basil, and more), and it is seriously, seriously, the best drink I have ever had. Refreshing, fresh, could barely taste the alcohol, and felt healthy!!! The birthday girl got a custom-​made specialty «greens» (apple, spinach, celery, etc) cocktail for the happy hour price, and her drink would make for a perfect daily portion of vegetables. Also very refreshing, light and delicious.
The Silk Road salad (get this if you like spinach and BREAD) and the Kale Caprese Salad (kale lovers only) are definitely big enough for two. $ 3 extra for grilled chicken isn’t worth it because it is only four small pieces.
Five stars for fantastic service. The manager engaged with our party on a personal level and we got to hear the story of how she started her restaurant (definitely, do ask Mare’ka). We also found out some exciting things the restaurant hosts like free movie screening Fridays, and sample chocolate drinking Fridays.
AM DEFINITELY GOING TO TRY A SMOOTHIE. I will definitely come back for more refreshing drinks and salads if I am in the area! (Although pricey so don’t come with an empty wallet).

From the organic libations, the 100% organic juices, the signature chocolate drinks, and the complex flavors on the menu, Chef Mare’ka created an entirely original experience. When you enter her namesake restaurant, you see a glimpse behind the curtain into the heart of a restaurateur who is as much a chef as she is a composer flavors… an emissary of gastronomy and mixology who created an entirely original menu without compromising your integrity is possible when you cook from the heart. Chef Mare’ka fills the menu with a genuine love of cooking and mixology that transcends expectations. Bobby Flay will lose a cocktail challenge here any day of the week at Mare’ka!
All the drinks and edibles were born in the crucible of Chef Mare’ka’s culinary imagination. Chef Mare’ka builds taste combinations that pair the unlikeliest of flavors in a way you never imagine before but shall crave combined for all time. She layers the juices in her mixologist creations similar to Degas layering the pastels on his masterpieces. Like Nina Simone or Tom Waits, a playfulness exists that demonstrates the jazz of the chef. The menu dreams in color with vibrant flavor. I tasted a whimsy in the mischievous mind of the chef. You too will recognize their menu demonstrates a serious love for creating great food that dares the palate to enter on a journey of culinary improvisation while eating high quality fresh organic ingredients without stretching the budget.
Five stars on the drinks; cuisine; and the staff!

Organic cocktails??? I THINK YES.
Went here for a quick drink before dinner around 4pm the Friday after thanksgiving, and it was not crowded. And by not crowded, I mean it was pretty much just me and a friend, and the staff. (It did get pretty awkward at some parts of the night, we’d be talking about something and the music stops, and it gets completely silent for about 3 seconds and can hear our conversation LOUD and clear LOL… awkward…)
But I tried #11 Coconut water martini? You cannot taste the alcohol at all, and I LOVE COCONUT so I would definitely recommend this drink to all the coconut lovers. I wished there was some sweetness to it though, but I absolutely loved that this thing was purely organic! Tasty tasty. Not to mention, I was definitely buzzzinnnn afterwards.
Also ordered the fruit and cheese plate, MMMM. Mozzarella, goat cheese (which I wasn’t a fan of before, but I’m starting to like it now!), grapes, sliced apples, and blackberries. The plate was so dainty and cute! Mozzarella was the
.
Now for the downside… A couple of small gnats were flying around us the WHOLE NIGHT, ahhhh! We kept having to shoo them away from our faces and near our food so that was quite annoying. Bugs really get to me in restaurants, so I have to take a star out for that…

Seriously? Where do I start… my passion for all things healthy & nutrient-​rich reached a whole new level when I met Mare’ka & her amazing shrine of all things good.
I am from the school of «Let medicine be your food and food be your medicine… I am crazy picky with what I put into my body. I spend a large part of my life encouraging others & leading them toward their best lives. I will recommend this place to anyone!
Everything you sip, nibble on, scarf down, guzzle down here will be Organic, good for you, and the people preparing it will know what exactly each ingredient does to improve your life.
Fresh juices, elixer shots, tonic drinks, drinking chocolates, espressos, soups, sandwiches, salads… it’s all here, and it’s all house-​made.
The organic hummus medley & tapenade was made by Mare’ka herself… genius! Warmed organic wheat pitas dipped into the olive deliciousness. Her red pepper hummus is also off the hook!
There a 100 hand-​crafted fresh juiced specialty cocktails as well… The kombucha one (plus a shot of fresh ginger) is my dream drink!!!
So CHEERS to you Mare’ka! You deserve much success and a thriving business… your passion is evident!
So stop searching for places to go and head over there… don’t miss them, they are tucked in a little shopping center… you won’t be disappointed!