Lena J.
Yelp
1. Good coffee (from Mighty Good)
2. Pretty good food with nice flavor combinations, but expensive. I really love the pistachio turkey sandwich but nothing else has impressed me. Ingredients aren't as high quality as the setting and decor make them seen.
3. Lackluster baked goods, lots of gluten free options though. Day-olds are half off. Many of the baked goods contain nuts in case allergies are a concern.
4. Decent spot for studying as long as it's not at a busy time (e.g. lunch).
5. The interior is cute, but in an artificial, controlled kind of way. A review by from 2013 says "it feels like a formulaic copy of all the things that have ever trended on Pinterest" and I feel like this is extremely accurate
6. Most (but not all) of the staff members are friendly. Others are aggressive and unwelcoming, almost hostile :(
I really really really want to like Songbird. I've been coming here periodically over the summer for the past three years, but my recent experiences have been disappointing. It seems that instead of innovating and trying new things, they're sticking with what they know works. The menu hasn't changed in the past three years other than price increases, which wouldn't be a bad thing except for the fact that they've branded themselves as innovative and inspiring. I'm probably going to keep returning, but not with high expectations.
The baked goods look really tempting, but appearances are deceiving. They're generally just really dry. If you arrive in the morning at opening they might be taking out fresh muffins still warm from the oven - the one I had fresh was slightly better, but still needed a lot of water to get down and I couldn't finish it. Many of them also don't have prices marked on the signs. Also, the emailed receipts aren't itemized, but they'll give you an itemized physical copy if you ask.
More specific food that I've had here recently (in the past two weeks):
Pistachio turkey ($9.50) - the apple/goat cheese/fig/pistachio combination is just so good. I will keep coming back just for this sandwich.
Spicy pork and avocado wrap ($12) - Korean-style bbq pork, semi-greasy onions/bell peppers/mushrooms, and a small amount of avocado in a tortilla. The pork is pretty sweet and not very spicy. 3.5/5
Grilled cheese trio and tomato bisque ($7.95 lunch special) - the bread and cheese are soft (the surface of the bread isn't super crisp like most other grilled cheeses), really satisfying cheese pulls. 4/5
Avocado toast ($10.50) - high quantity of food, low quality. It's like substandard guacamole on soft bread that's thinner than in sandwiches and doesn't feel toasted at all. The egg makes it even softer. The flavors weren't bad but weren't very interesting, and the texture was just not good. I also don't understand why the tomatoes are there. 2.5/5
Bacon pesto grilled cheese ($8.50) - mostly just tastes like pesto. It's really drippy from the pesto so it's difficult to eat. The bacon was mostly crunchy but some parts were stretchy. 2.5/5
Chili bean soup - a little spicy, very tomato-y. 3/5
Blueberry muffin ($3) - looks appetizing but was extremely dry and tough. "Worse than Sweetwaters" and "it feels like I'm eating cornbread but it's not corn" 2/5
Green tea muffin ($3) - got this fresh from the oven in the morning and it was still dry. The green tea flavor is strong, and the candied ginger on the top is quite good though. 2.5/5
Sea salt chocolate chip cookie - thick chewy cookie, also kind of dry, generic milk chocolate chips. The surface is pretty dry and hard. Very light on the salt. Ok but not exceptional. 2.5/5
Oatmeal raisin cookie - barely any oats but very cinnamony. It's a decent cookie, just not an oatmeal cookie. Like the chocolate chip one it's also chewy. 2/5 as a cookie, 1/5 as an oatmeal cookie.
Almond joy bar ($3.70) - GF and tastes just like an almond joy. The untempered milk chocolate layer makes it difficult to eat, as you have to crack it to get to the coconut underneath. Ours came with a piece of aluminum foil stuck in the bottom :( 3/5
Carrot cake ($2.50 for day old) - even at a day old the best of the sweets I tried. Cream cheese frosting is very light and sweet. It's a bit dry and light for a carrot cake and is more like a normal cake, but it's quite good. 4/5
Apricot pistachio cake ($2.50 for day old) - The cake is just hard and dry. As a friend put it, "It's undercooked but somehow still dry, which is amazing in its own way." The frosting has a tasty apricot flavor, but it's really sweet. 1/5
Lavender lemon bar ($3) - GF. It's very gooey and the crust seems almost undercooked. Very lemony and very sweet. The crust has bits of dried lavender, and the lavender smell is very strong. 3/5
Snickerdoodle with cream cheese whoopie pie ($4) - the frosting is very fluffy and very sweet but not cream cheese-y. The snickerdoodle is chewy and has a strong cinnamon flavor. Don't try to finish this alone. 3.5/5 if consumed in moderation