La Monarca Bakery & Cafe - South Pasadena, California

Anna S.

The conscious and Café de Olla were delicious. After finishing my coffee and sweets, I walked across the street to see the Michael Myers historic home from Halloween.

Ernesto C. R.

This was my first time visiting a La Monarca store. I was passing by and decided to pop in for a snack.

I had a black coffee and a Beef Chipotle Torta. The torta bread is slightly smaller than the standard bolillo you usually find. It tasted good, with that freshly baked bread flavor, toasted outside and soft inside, delivering a nice tart taste. However, the filling didn't match the advertised chipotle flavor for me. I generally prefer stronger flavors, especially when something is labeled chipotle – I expect some heat and a toasted aroma. The meat, though good, lacked the chipotle flavor. The bean paste was more prominent, seasoned well, and delicious. They also provide a small serving of green salsa, which is delicious with a slight touch of heat and refreshing, enhancing the torta's flavor. I plan to visit this location more often and try a different item on each visit.

angela A.

was really excited to try the flan from this place, but unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. The flan wasn't sweet at all, which made it hard to enjoy. On top of that, there was no syrup at the bottom, which is a big part of what makes flan so delicious. It was dry and lacked the rich, creamy texture that I was expecting. Overall, it didn't come close to what I hoped for, and I won't be ordering it again. For $38, I could've had a much better dessert, or even a full meal somewhere else. Definitely never again.

Greg S.

First time at La Monarca and it didn’t disappoint! I ordered the cafe de olla (muy rico!) and a soy chorizo breakfast burrito. Everything was a high quality at a great price! With food & drink prices so high in so many establishments today, it’s nice to feel like you’re getting a value when you eat out and La Monarca is exactly that, a great value, in a great location, offering great drinks, breads, burritos, y más! Highly recommend.

Vanessa C.

As a tenant living above here, it’s clear their employees simply don’t care about their responsibilities as a neighbor in south pas.

Every week, we wake up to loud music shaking our walls between 2 - 6am. Then the opening shifts will play music very loudly after 6am…. On average, we get maybe 3-4 hours of sleep while trying to maintain our daily and working lives.

Spoken to various employees, managers, and even get the cops to tell them to respect quiet hours, and we haven’t seen much long lasting change.

It’s a real shame, we love our community in south pas, but this disruption from this business is starting to take a toll on our daily lives. Hope they care enough to make changes soon.

Marisela V.

I was very excited for this cake. I bought 5 slices as a substitute for a birthday cake, but when we tried them they were absolutely gross. The sponge cake tasted like water and chemicals on all of them. I’ve had Monarca before and I don’t remember it being this disgusting. Plain frosting and bad sponge cake.

The slices are around $5 each. I would avoid buying them from here.

Jay C.

Been meaning to try this bakery out & was craving some baked goods after a long day. So decided to Postmates some things to try. I'm I glad did since most items were quite good.

ITEM'S ORDERED:

Bolitas de Dulce (chocolate)
Danish
Mini Concha
Confetti Mini Concha
Cuernito (Croissant)
Trenza Ham, Cheese & Jalepeno

TASTE:

This might be the first time I've had these Mexican baked goods from an actual "bakery" & not just from a local Mexican market. So was curious how much better (if any) the quality would be.

Bolitas de Dulce (chocolate) was one of my least favorites. Nothing so bad I didn't finish it though. It's pretty much chocolate icing (w/ sprinkles) on top of a sweet bun. The bun itself was a subtle sweetness which was nice because the icing is very sweet. The chocolate icing really does taste like the Sara lee or Pillsburry one you pick up in grocery aisles. So if you like that flavor you'll enjoy this.

The Danish was basically a very good cheese danish. Very common type of danish and this one is very well made. Cheese has a pleasant flavor, not like the cheese danish you'll find at gas stations. & the dough was very fresh.

The Mini Concha was a chocolate one that was just ok for me. Bread is good I just didn't love the chocolate flavor, seemed a little washed out.

Confetti Mini Concha was one of my favorites. It's supposed to be confetti birthday cake flavor that just comes off as an inviting vanilla flavor.

Cuernito (Croissant) was a very well made croissant. Nice flaky texture & buttery enough.

Trenza Ham, Cheese & Jalepeno kind of comes off like a ham & cheese panini. Little salty for me & wish it had more jalepeno. The green salsa was tasty & worked well to enhance overall flavor.

SERVICE, LOCATION, & PARKING:

No comments on service since this was delivered through Postmates. But I do like their branded bag the food came in.

They are located right on the corner of Mission St & Meridian Ave. If you're lucky you'll find street parking right on Mission & I think there's a few spots in the back of the building. Otherwise you should be able to find residential parking not too far off.

Random notes:

Some of the bread have different varieties, but the Postmates app does not give you an option to pick one. Like for the Danish, the app says pineapple, guava & cream. I ended up receiving cheese.

All in all, the baked goods worked out well & when I'm craving these types of sweets & I'm open to checking this place out in person.

Mario G.

This Bakery/Coffee Shop is great. They offer cakes, cookies, pan dulce, food, coffee, lattes, smoothies and more. The bread is soft and has a good layer sweet topping. The coffee has a slight bitterness to it, but adding some chocolate and cream helps make is amazing. Staff are nice and the vibe in the shop is comfortable and non rushing. I felt I could take my time but not hold up a line. Definitely coming back.