Valerie at Grand Central Market

There hasn’t been a single time I haven’t been disappointed with this place this passed year, and the only reason I ever go back is because it’s the only place that doesn’t have a line. Worst service! There is always something wrong with the food (raw chicken in the salad, hair in my food.) & the only thing saving them were their pastries, but now those are turning to crap. The only reason I’m writing my first! Unilocal review is because of all the horrible prior incidences, today I didn’t even get a utensil for my yogurt when I’m on crutches struggling, something as simple as that… I will now wait in a line at the many good places instead of going here.

So delicious! And the servers were super helpful narrowing down what to eat. The french toast was incredible!

Coffee cake was soooo good. It’s really rich, so it pairs really well with some coffee.

Our office went downtown this morning to volunteer at the Union Rescue Mission and afterwards 10 of us headed to Grand Central Market for our own breakfast. Someone had a notion that maybe we would try eggslut — um, no, the line wrapped around the corner and none of us wanted to wait for that! But, Valerie was right there and looked delicious. I can report that the French Toast was among the best I’ve ever had, thick cut, amazing bread to start with, crunchy crust, soft, custardy bread, just the right amount of strawberries and powdered sugar — so AMAZING! My only suggestion might be, they give you three really big pieces, they might consider offering a «half» portion — two slice”, maybe for $ 6 vs. $ 9 for the whole thing… I basically forced myself to eat the whole thing because it was so damn good, but I probably would have felt a tad better, if I’d only eaten two pieces! I’m not a coffee drinker, but all reports were that their coffee was excellent. Others in the group got the fruit cup, the breakfast sandwich (some with ham, others without), the two eggs, the friend egg sandwich, and the breakfast bowl — we basically tried everything and everyone loved it. The portions are large, the flavors are tasty. This place is terrific. We were glad there was no line around the corner — but there should be! Everyone who works there was super nice and helpful. I want to go back and try one of their hand pies! I would recommend you consider Valerie next time you are at the market!

Review only based on service and coffee. Coffee was great but it took them forever to make it. Service from beginning to end was not great. Would have liked to have tried a pastry since everything looked very good.

5 STARS for the Banana Chocolate Bread… It is so perfect… soft yet crunchy… sweet yet slightly bitter from dark chocolate. IM IN LOVE.
Mom Peach hooked me up again…

I saw that their chocolate chip cookies was one of the best cookies in LA (forgot which publication, I follow many, but yes it’s a fave) so I had to try one while visiting the Grand Central Market.
Verdict: I am a fan! I loved the salty, semi sweet chocolate cookie taste. Also, it was only $ 1! I should have bought many more.
The other desserts look splendid! I’ll have to try them again next time.

A small bakery located inside grand central market.
Had a few of their cookies and they were all pretty tasty.
Durango: this one has nuts and chocolate chips. It was crispy but chewy and the ingredients worked well. A very good cookie.
Chocolate chip: this was a crispier cookie which I normally don’t enjoy as much. However, the chocolate chips melt in your mouth instantly. It was really good.
Ginger snap: strong ginger flavor with sugar sprinkled on top. I honestly could’ve done without the sugar on top but the flavor was on point and the texture was perfect. A nice chewy texture.
Definitely up for trying a few more of their items.

Expensive splurge. And yes, those rose petal petit fours at $ 4 for each one are a luxurious treat. Also tried the rich and decadent bread pudding with locally-​sourced cherries, as their placard says. One slice was plenty for three of us to share. No way I could be a regular here, due to the prices. But a special place for confections and baked goods in a market that has a lot of good meals for more reasonable prices. Dessert splurge after – why not?

The Breakfast Bowl was good (would order again), but the breakfast Bahn Mi is definitely where it’s at.

After a week on assignment in downtown, this has become my morning starter.
Valerie’s brings together good baristas, bakery delights, and breakfast sandwiches in a comfortable spot in Grand Central Market. Their kale and roast tomato hand pies are a treat as are their breakfast bahn-​mi, a Vietnamese take on the standard bodega egg sandwich. Service can be a bit ragged near opening time, but is well ahead of the other places in Grand Central.
This ‘classy’ bodega in a public food market has just the right level of honesty and food quality to start the day. Sitting at a metal table with a steaming latte, watching the market workers laugh and share sliced mango covered with chile y limon (from Lupita’s food truck on Hill St…), is a whole lot better than waiting 45 minutes at the ‘trendy’ breakfast places here

So glad to have tried this place! Whenever my brother comes to town, I always try to impress him with the awesomeness LA has to offer. When we walked into GCM and saw the enormous line for Egg Slut and no line at Valerie, he kind of raised an eyebrow at me, like «so – we’re going to the place where no one’s eating?» But I’m not an Egg Slut fan, so we tried Valerie. And it was AWESOME! First of all, the service was lovely. The guy behind the counter really took some time with us explaining all the options. I went for the special squash quiche of the day, which was completely fantastic, and my brother got the breakfast sandwich – also amazing. We also split the pluot mini-​hand-​pie thingie, which was delicious, too. We sat at the cute little bar and loved every bite of it all. And best of all, my hard-​to-​impress brother was super impressed and wants to go back…

Stopped by yesterday for breakfast since there was absolutely no line.
The coffee was ok, full marks for decent drip coffee. But we ordered 2 breakfast sandwiches. Toasted bread, reheated bacon and an egg… the cashier told us 7 minutes. After 20 he was still avoiding eye contact and I had to ask. There were 7 people working, but doing prep other meals.
I was really bugged that the guy didn’t just say ‘hey, sorry it’s slow, but still coming.’ He avoided me like as if it was inconvenient for him. Disappointing.
The sandwiches were ok. Bread not super fresh and bacon not super warm.

Valerie’s location near Eggslut is either strategically awesome or annoying for the business. Awesome because people who can’t wait in line for Eggslut may eventually choose to eat here due to time crunch or annoying because the line for Eggslut is so long that the staff at Valerie’s has to constantly remind those waiting in line to wrap the other way and not interfere with their business.
I stopped by GCM bright and early Friday morning to have breakfast prior to reporting to jury duty. I arrived around 8:15am in the morning and there was already a 10 people deep line for Eggslut and continued to grow as I sat down at Valerie’s. I quickly checked out Valerie’s menu and decided their Fried egg sandwich ($ 7) would have to suffice. I added a cup of coffee ($ 3) to supplement. Their sandwich was a decent offering but nothing compared to Eggslut. The egg was actually perfect but the bacon doesn’t compare to what you get at Eggslut. Counter-​service was pretty lackluster (probably dealing with the morning rush).
If you’ve got the time: wait for Eggslut (if you are here for their egg sandwich)

Definitely overpriced, but everything was great quality!
I got the double layered club sandwich which was super simple but everything was exactly as it should be. I don’t even really like tomatoes but for some reason the slices they used were plump and sweet, the bacon was thick and crispy, the bread was nicely toasted and chewy and even the mayonnaise was creamy and savory.
I was too full to try any of the desserts but they looked really tasty!
*They serve Verve coffee here which was a nice plus :)

We initially came for EggSlut, but after seeing the absolutely ridiculous line and hunger making me grouchy, we decided to eat at Valerie… ohhhh such a great idea.
My boyfriend got the breakfast bowl, eggs on top of potatoes and roasted tomatoes and all that good stuff. He enjoyed it, and I thought it was tasty. But the real star was my dish.
I got the Bahn Mi breakfast sandwich with scrambled herb eggs and bacon… PHENOMENAL. The mint and cilantro alongside the crunchy vegetables made for the perfect accompaniment to the herby eggs and bacon. The sriracha aioli is exactly the slight spice it needed. The pickled daikon and carrot added a tangy element that one usually doesn’t get in an egg sandwich, a pleasant surprise. I was very impressed, quite honestly the perfect breakfast sandwich.
Screw the EggSlut wait, if u want a hearty breakfast sandwich head to Valerie.

This little coffee/​dessert spot is inside grand central market. We stopped by after having eggslut next door. We were craving some coffee and something sweet. I had a cold brew which hit the spot. We also ordered a fruit pie, warm and tasty. There were a few other things I want to try so we’ll stop by once were in the area. They have a good selection of cold and hot drinks. Their customer service was really good.
They offered samples, always a plus.

3.5 stars for this bakery at Grand Central Market! i’m always way too full for dessert when i visit GCM but i decided to push my boundaries and eat Valerie’s anyways since its been on my bookmarks for a while
—lavender petit four: moist cake encased by shell of white chocolate i think
—coffee crunch cake: a sweet MOIST cake COVERED in honeycomb candy, i wish there was more coffee flavor in the icing because the honeycomb got a bit sweet after a while
the worker suggested i try the chocolate pudding next time if i’m craving chocolate!
NOTE: they have their own counter seating if you cant find seating elsewhere in the market

No line here and everything seemed really appetizing. Got a mocha and a green tea latte. I’m really shocked at how expensive drinks can be nowadays; you can spend $ 5+ in a blink of an eye for something as mediocre as drinks.
Spending money on a mediocre drink just hurts man.
The mocha was very powdery and did not taste very good at all.
The green tea latte was pretty good… but nothing special
The gentleman who seemed to own the place was very nice but the girl that rang us up seemed to be in a bad mood but hell, I’d be too if I had to work in a poorly ventilated work space.
Very wasteful: We watched them make their drinks and instead of reusing materials and just rinsing out mixers, they made every drink in a plastic cup and threw the cups away after transferring to the togo cups. Idk if this is done daily but I found this very wasteful and I felt SO guilty ordering my drinks.
Overall, nothing special and very pricey

My lady and I stopped over at the GCM for lunch after a busy day downtown recently, and we decided to try something new.
I ordered a chicken curry sandwich, and after about five minutes of waiting I was told they didn’t have the ingredients to make it. So I ordered the club sandwich instead.
We ended up waiting almost twenty minutes for our food, which was a little annoying because they were well staffed and we were there only customers at the time. Once our food was ready, it just sat behind the counter until we walked up to remind them we were waiting.
The sandwich was good, but the side of couscous was pretty bad. Overall a less than stellar experience. Perhaps it was just an off day for this place, but I doubt we’ll be back.