Vees Café

Found this place through GroupOn, had the chicken pesto Panini with greek salad and minestrone soup. Panini was pretty good, sandwich size is a bit small looks bigger on pics, greek side salad is also pretty small about a hand full, soup was watery very little noodles and not the best on taste.
I wouldn’t pay $ 14 for lunch. I would go back ONLY with a groupOn tho LOL. Parking sucks and restaurant is very small and hot inside.
Customer service have to admit was pretty good.

The food is OK
The service is BS
I waited one hour to get my food and watched ten people who ordered after me get their food before I got mine. Such. BS
No room to eat inside and people’s butts facing you as they wait in line to order.
The neighborhood is also dangerous
I think a police man shot a gang member just the other day killing him.

This is my go to neighborhood coffee place. Coffee and pastry deal for $ 4.00 is amazing. Where you can go across the bridge in gentrified DTLA Arts district and your coffee is about $ 5.50 alone with a $ 4 – 5 tiny pastry that weighs more in catch phrases. And your barista will have brought his snobby attitude from Williamsburg with him.
Just an observation of facts.
Staff are always amazingly polite. Just real people who remember you when you return.
I’ve tried several menu items (breakfast/​panini /​salads etc) all delicious! I’m not a professional Unilocal snob who nit picks aesthetics or how much mayonnaise/​balsamic ratio was used, I just come from a family of great cooks.
It’s consistently good and well made dishes.
All in all, It’s a real coffee shop that serves great dishes without the hip folk attitude.

Chipotle chicken panini ⁸⁄₁₀. Can taste the mayo on the sauce too much for my liking but still very good.
Mocha frap ⁵⁄₁₀.
Cheese Danish ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Overall good.

Turkey melt is great. Side Caesar is also great. Something about their croutons are buttery and wonderful. Delivery service on point.

This place is awesome! There’s a bunch of cool art in there that’s actually made by one of the cooks. forgot his name but if you like it compliment him! their food is 5 star. ordered a chicken quesadilla and it was the BEST quesadilla I’ve ever had in my life! comes with black beans, Pesto, avocado, pico and their signature green sauce. don’t forget to ask for extra on the side! I did, they forgot to give it to me, alas one of the workers ran out just to catch me and make sure I got it! great service, venue, and food

I work in the area & there’s not a lot of easy access food joints in Boyle Heights. I wanted something somewhat healthy & somewhat decently priced. Found vees on GrubHub & they have great options! I tried the chicken wrap and it was so tasty plus the the side salad you get makes it a good value. They called me because the juice I had placed an order with was out, so I thought the courtesy call was nice! This might be more my fault, but when delivered it was delivered to the wrong office, thankfully my food was in the same building. I’ll be back for another order soon!

The only reason my girlfriend and I came here is because she bought a $ 30 Groupon voucher. However when we tried to use it, the cashier and the owner told us we only can use $ 15 of it. They said the system didn’t let them to take $ 30 in 24 hours, which I think it was a terrible lie.
I called Groupon customer service, and they told me that they never heard the vouchers working like that way. Never! It is so wired that you only can use half of it.
Maybe they just want to keep customers visit them more times or something.
But lie to the guest? I don’t appreciate the way they treat the customers.
Foods is ok. And just ok.

This is a condolences review. I’m really saddened that a previous worker Ezekiel past away. In the the short time of meeting Ezekiel, he was so kind & nice. He was pleasant to talk to. Met him during the few months of Vees opening. He told me he was there helping to open from another location. He’s Latino, I’m American black. We would talk pleasantly about interracial dating as I’m in an interracial relationship with a Latino man. He explained some eye opening things about Mexican men American black women. Interestingly, I saw his enlightened point. Won’t get all in the details but there’s hope for this lovely trend. We also spoke on other life interesting topics.
He was professional while doing an awesome job at Vees. I have nothing but wonderful vibe memories of Ezekiel. God rest his soul and family.
Kindly,
Your best customer :)

I’d had a pretty shitty week. Job gets stressful, dogs bark too loud, and apples get too sour. In order to counteract some of the unpleasantries of life I recently decided to start working out and eating healthy. Unfortunately that plan went to shit when my alarm didn’t go off in time and I left the house 5 minutes later without my prepacked lunch in hand.
Well, Vees Café saved the day. I found my new go-​to spot when I work in Boyle heights.
I must’ve passed it without noticing it before, but now that the bridge there closed down I was making a U-​turn and noticed this cute little café. Not gonna lie, I probably noticed it because it is right next to a bright green cross (review on that later) and there was a huge firetruck parked right outside. From the looks of a previous review LAFD must eat here pretty often. Well, they have good taste.
I got a spicy chicken panini with a greek salad and a mango smoothie. Everything was delicious and nutritious. They also have great customer service. I’ll be bringing my coworkers here next time so I can try out more of their menu.

It’s really hard to find healthy and delicious food in Boyle Heights so I was very excited to try this place. To be honest, it totally exceeded my expectations. The food is great. I had the chicken pesto panini and it was absolutely delicious and satisfying. And the strawberry lemonade is to DIE for! I’m serious! The service is really nice here too. I will be back soon and often!

I absolutely love their food. Their customer service is great. The girls and I have lunch here from time to time and always have a great experience. I bought my bf the spicy chicken panini since I couldn’t get him to drive from long beach to Boyle heights and mission was accomplished, he’s hooked. Good job guys !

First time going and all I can say is that it was delicious. I ordered a breakfast panini with a c-​energy drink and my husband ordered a chipotle chicken panini with a espresso banana blended drink. The good was fresh, warm and amazing. Definitely returning.

So on this nice day in LA I got hungry and decided to Yell something as I always do i love Unilocal and seeing pictures before I try a place since I am very picky lol I came across this café and decided to give it a try since they have wraps and a good selection of Panini’s all I have to say is this place is awesome I had the chicken chipotle panini which comes with a salad it was delicious I also ordered a side of potatoes those were really good not hard like at other places it has good seasoning. Their strawberry banana smoothie is delicious I definitely will come back I want to try everything on their menu it’s a small place and has a few tables to eat in but that’s no problem at all because you can’t go wrong with the food, oh and the staff their is also really nice if you want some delicious food or are on your lunch break this is the place to come

The spicy chicken panini is to die for!!! by far the best in the LA

The food at Vees is amazing! I get an extra side of jalapeño sauce whenever I go! Besides Urth Café there is really no place that sells healthy food in the Boyle Heights area. Where Urth is very pricey, Vees is actually quite reasonably priced. The only reason they are not getting 5 stars is because there is hardly any seating! As their popularity has grown it is nearly impossible to get a table. Good news is they deliver for free within a 5 mile radius :) Call about an hour before you actually want your food. Oh and if you have a sweet tooth, get a chocolate croissant! Delish!

DAMN good coffee. Organic to boot! Cute little shop, too. My BF despises coffee but tried mine (Americano with a tiny bit of soy and sugar) and actually said it was good. He usually grimaces at all the coffee sips I ask him to try… not this one!

Super lowkey place in Whittier/​LA. So fresh and a good! I got the panini with salad and a blueberry lemonade. YUM! So filling and satisfying. However, my mom got a quesadilla (green one) and she said it lacked flavor. It’s pretty cheap though! Try the panini/​salad/​lemonades!

Really enjoyed the spicy chicken panini and tuna salad. Good portion sizes and quality for the price.

I cannot stress enough how satisfying my visits are… but I will try.
Sometimes I lay awake at night completely stressed out over how positive my experiences at Vees are. In the past couple of weeks I have seen several shrinks. They all say how I am simply overreacting to an otherwise normal restaurant experience. I fired them all.
I have also visited my local fortune teller for answers. She kept asking me to leave due to the fact that I did not have any money. I told her, «didn’t you know already?!» Shut her up.
To no avail I then visited a rabbi in West Hollywood. He, as a matter of fact, quickly knew I did not have any money. He dismissed me.
All in all, I have searched far and wide for guidance but only found myself back at square one. Until I find widespread clarity I will continue to support this fine establishment. Maybe then, I will be at peace.

I’ve been meaning to visit this spot since moving to Boyle Heights. The reviews were enticing and it is so close by. I’m glad that I finally got a chance to stop by for brunch this past weekend and check it out for myself.
Parking seemed sparse but we found a spot surprisingly quick in the residential area.
The shop itself is small and hole in the wall. There were plenty of food options but somehow we both decided on the breakfast burrito. It was very satisfying! I didn’t like that it dropped everywhere though.
The outdoor seating is nice, but I can definitely see that inadequate seating (if it got any busier than the day we visited) would be an issue.
Also, I wish I checked in before ordering… I’m definitely coming back to use the check in coupon!

This place makes some really bomb paninis. I recommend to use a groupon though, because the prices can be very high depending on your budget. I gotten 2 paninis and 2 smoothies all under like $ 22 but I used one of my $ 15 vouchers, which I purchase for $ 12 at the time for 2x $ 15 vouchers. Incredible deal. Ummm every time I come, I order the caprese grilled panini w/​ceaser salad and my girlfriend always gets the spicy chicken panini which is also (kiss my fingers up to heaven) good. Oh and other than the food, the shakes are spitacular. And I very picky when it comes to smoothies. Con: the place needs a lil improvement with the venue, other then that, the place is great for serving great food. Haven’t been disappointed. Hopefully it stays like that…

We sat outside because there was barely any space inside for three people. This wouldn’t have been an issue except it was swarming with flies outside.
Service was just ok. They didn’t even come wipe the table that we were sitting at which had crumbs and sauces on the table from the previous customers. Also they forgot my order because my friend and I got the same dish with the same sides. The waitress said the chef was new so he thought there had been a mistake and threw away the extra ticket order.
Despite these nuisances, the food made up for most of it. I got the spicy chicken panini with the organic salad. All the ingredients tasted fresh esp the avacado. The bread was toasted nicely. The dressing on the salad was good but the salad was slightly over drenched in it.

I have mixed feelings about this place. The short summary is basically the food is very good, but everything else pretty much sucks, the attitude of workers being the worst. Lunch options are slightly limited in ELA unless you want Mexican food, for just a good old fashioned straight forward sandwich or salad this place is excellent. The ingredients seem fresh, it’s simple but wholesome food.
My coworker said she had food from this place and it was amazing so I ordered some for a lunch meeting to give it a shot. I called ahead and placed an order for about 8 sandwiches/​salads and they took 40+ minutes to prepare!!! I waited over 20 minutes standing around in the tiny non air conditioned space where many flies were enjoying themselves. I was asking them every 5 minutes or so when the food would be ready to go because I was trying to be on time for a meeting. The cashier with the thick eyeliner got pissy and started to argue with me about how long she had quoted me on the phone, so I got snippy and retorted back that I KNOW what time she quoted because I CALLED. I ended up barely making it on time for the lunch meeting so DO NOT order food from them for an important event. I only go now when I have some time to spare; I’ve ordered one or two sandwiches a few times now and it doesn’t matter even if it’s one sandwich, they take 20 minutes.
On another occasion, I had ordered 3 sandwiches and they all come with half salads, I had misspoken on the phone and when the lady was reading back the order to me I corrected her saying I had misspoken and had ordered a different salad. When I went to pick up I noticed they got the food wrong so I told them again, and when the girl at the front told the kitchen staff he screamed «AI-​YA!!!» Dude everyone in the store can hear you, also it’s not my fault you’re frustrated because you got the order wrong. These things matter.
There’s no parking so you are at the mercy of the street parking Gods. May they smile upon you and your vehicle. There’s a few spots right in front on Whittier and some across the street, there’s also some residential parking but it’s unpredictable. Inside, there’s almost no seating, maybe 2 tables and seating for 4, they have a few tables outside on the sidewalk but it’s in the baking LA heat.
Don’t feel like this place is cheap necessarily, almost everything is just about $ 8. Do not get their pastries, I picked up a chocolate croissant that was covered in powdered sugar once on impulse and it was pretty bad, like regret spending calories on this bad. I want to love this place so bad but the attitude of the workers here leave a bad taste in my mouth that is replaced by their delicious sandwich. If I acquire enough self esteem and willpower I’ll stop going here but meanwhile I’m still a slave to their dang food.

Very little place indeed, but has a few wooden tables outside, which i particularly liked.
I am only going with 4 starts because of my disappointment with the «greek» salad that i got, and that had nothing to do with a greek salad (instead lettuce with a bit of stinky feta cheese) and because of my friend’s chicken salad, which again — was 90% lettuce.
The pesto-​mozarella panini that i got was good, and the bread — excellent.
Parking is tough. Unlesss u get a spot on the street, i dont think that one has any other choice.
Btw i very much doubt it that their vegetables are «organic» because the tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce (that lettuce again!!) were tasteless.
Ok place for a quick lunch but definately not going to my «go back» list.

So this is a good place to come on your own, or a couple, maybe a small (3 – 4 people) group but not a large group. There is very few tables and chairs and the place is tiny. I came with a group of 7 during lunch on a weekday and we struggled to get a good seating arrangement. Guess it’s my fault for not calling ahead. Parking sucks. There’s street parking but don’t count on parking nearby. So please feel comfortable parking in a sketchy neighborhood. The food was great! Everyone enjoyed what they ordered and the juices too! The prices are reasonable and everything tasted fresh. The food was nicely presented. Definitely has a clean look to it. They charge if you ask for extra dressing so be prepared to pay .27 cents. Lol! I would definitely order from here again but it prob makes more sense to do delivery and pay the extra $ 5 to avoid parking and seating hassle.

I have heard about this place before and it’s great because Boyle heights doesn’t have healthy options around. I had high hopes but oh well. I got the Unilocal deal, 6 for 12. I got the chicken Caesar salad and a orange mango smoothie. –1 star for being given something that wasn’t an orange mango smoothie.
I didn’t pay attention since I was bringing food home for my mother and was in a rush. It tasted all right but I think they put in strawberries since it was pink in color? And the Cesar salad was good but the amount of chicken that was in the salad was very depressing. Dunno if it was because it was a 50% off deal that they decided to give me too little and not what I asked for but definitely won’t return.

Nice local coffee shop (4 stars)
Today was my second visit, and decided to pick up lunch.
First visit was for a capuchino and pastry.
Second visit was for a chicken pesto panini with side of Greek salad and a capuchino.
Nice local coffee shop with friendly service.
When in East LA this is the place to go.
Parking may be a little problem since street parking can be limited.
See photos.

What I Ordered
— Iced Blended Banana Mocha
— Picker-​Upper Juice
Not sure how I feel about this place. I tried the Iced Blended Banana Mocha the first time. It was good but, I threw up afterwards haha. I’m not sure if it was because I had a virus or possibly just allergic to something in it but, I will never try that one again. The second time I had the Picker-​Upper juice… it was okay. A little too sour for my taste. I was hoping for more watermelon than lemon. I will give it another try… 3^rd times a charm, right? lol

We love Vee’s Café! The drinks, food and employees/​baristas are amazing! Our favorite drink is the iced sweetheart. We’re not even kidding. Cause we’re there almost everyday! The spicy chicken panini is the best! Also. When you check in on your Unilocal app. You instantly receive 40% off your entire order! How amazing is that? They also deliver. Which is a plus!
The only con we have about Vee’s is their parking! Street parking is really bad there.
Have a nice day!
Xo,
Brenda & Naomi