Hammer Cafe

This place was delicious. We were all very impressed by the quality and quantity of the food. Great coffee too, served in French presses. Friendly and reasonably quick service. Great ambience with views to courtyard. Priced at about what you’d expect. Would definitely come here again.

Had a lovely experience here yesterday. Was meeting someone for a business lunch; her office is nearby so she suggested it. Great suggestion. The atmosphere — as you would expect in a museum — is peaceful, relatively quite — and just plain nice. They have these crazy «spindle chairs» out front you have to try. It was unseasonably cold yesterday so we sat inside but they have outdoor seating also in the courtyard of the museum. Also, they validate under the building for $ 3 parking — a great rate in Westwood Village! Our server, Sara, was awesome! I went with one of the daily specials — beef stew — since it was so cold. My dining companion went with the salmon. We both really enjoyed our meals. Definitely a spot to keep in mind the next time I’m in the area! And, if you are visiting the museum, definitely hit up the café for lunch!

Nice place to grab a glass of wine and some appetizers !

What a lovely time
Ignore the naysayers
Hi Robert!

Now is Ammo at Hammer. A nice open courtyard museum café less crowd, serving soup, salads and sandwiches. Brunch on Sat and Sun. Pricey.

The Hammer Café (as run under the Wolfgang Puck name) has closed.
For information on the new café, it is now under different management, and is titled AMMO at the HAMMER.

I work near the Hammer Museum, so the Café is a nice spot for a mellow bite to eat in a setting that doesn’t reek of fast-​food without having to hike so far away from the office that you will surely miss your afternoon meeting.
The café is in a bright open-​air courtyard with plenty of seating. It wasn’t crowded when I went and based on the reviews, I don’t imagine you would ever have to contend with standing room only for lunch during the week, but I could be wrong.
I had the baby beet citrus salad. I expected a proper lunch salad, but it was more like the starter salad of an 8 course meal. Very small and not at all filling, though what there was of it was tasty. My companion had the tomato soup and grilled cheese; I would probably go with that combo if I were to return.
The setting and tea selection are by far the best thing this place has going for it. I love the open courtyard (complete with outdoor heaters for those brisk afternoons). I could see returning for a work-​lunch or for tea with a friend that is more about the conversation and company.

As is often the case, the best items on the menu aren’t the ones that are the best for you. Skip the skimpy salads and order their wonderful egg salad sandwich (if they’re offering it) or grilled cheese with soup. If such filling food seems stressful, order yourself a glass of white wine, too.
The atmosphere is lovely. Perfect for a solo «splurge» lunch on an afternoon off from work with a good book – especially as (as everyone else has already noted) no one who works here is in much of a rush either.

I like the idea of the place — a bright, airy sit-​down to enjoy a sunny lunch after strolling through the Hammer.
There are two problems with this:
1. The service and food are both so mediocre that it’s impossible to «enjoy» your lunch.
2. The Hammer isn’t all too grand to begin with.
If you’ve got the patience of a saint, you will be only half-​prepared to deal with this severely understaffed establishment. There about twenty small tables indoors and out, with one or two poor guys working the entire crowd. Café Hammer, would it kill you to hire a few more people so that your employees aren’t overworked and your patrons aren’t sitting there twiddling their thumbs?
If you ask for, say, Splenda for your iced tea or some extra utensils, you’ll either get it the second before you conclude your meal — or not at all. So be prepared to go without.
Let’s say that understaffing is a management issue, not a service issue. Fine. The ONE time a waiter sidled over to my table and offered me water, I was actually surprised and happy to see that I was even on his radar. However, I happened to be drinking a strawberry lemonade — and he poured water into that glass. Um… not what I had envisioned when you offered me water, sir. Thanks for ruining my expensive lemonade and leaving me with a weird, diluted, pulpy drink.
The food is overpriced and largely unmemorable. The one memory I have of the sandwich I had here: the sprouts were unwashed and obviously going bad. Sprouts naturally have a light, grassy taste — not a dirty, moldy, sour taste.
There are so many lunchtime options in Westwood Village. Just grab something to go and bring it into the outdoor patio.

I arrived way early (as usual) to the Hammer Museum for a Unilocal Elite event. So with time to kill I wandered over to the Hammer Café to see what they had to offer. This is a pretty cool spot in an open air courtyard setting. They offer several bottled beers and wines to sip on. Although you cannot walk through the galleries with wine in hand. I found this out the hard way after I ordered up a glass of Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon ($ 10) and tried to enter the gallery and was stopped by security. The lady behind the counter offered to let me sample wines before making my choice which was a nice surprise. They also offer food items but I didn’t order anything to munch on but the table behind me ordered some tacos that looked pretty tasty. All in all nice little chill spot when your at the museum and your looking to take a break for a few.

I have yet to walk around the actual Hammer Museum, but I love the Hammer Café. I’ve been here a couple times now with my office for lunch and it is always delicious. Service can be slow, since they are serving people at the window as well. But the décor and setting are so pretty that lingering is not unpleasant at all. The décor is mostly white, shiny, and modern, with splashes of color from the chairs and fresh flowers on each table. The menu has some permanent items, but the specials and weekly seasonal options are always fun.
On my first visit, I tried one of the specials: an Heirloom Tomato, Cannelini, and Crab Salad, with lemon vinaigrette. Wow– very unusual but very tasty, and just loaded with sweet, fresh crabmeat. On my second visit, they were out of the Roast Beef Hot Dip, but I was feeling sandwich-​y so I ordered the Hammer Grilled Cheese, with the Tomato Soup with Basil Oil. Fantastic. Maybe one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve had, with sharp cheddar, gruyère, and tomato, on delicious sourdough bread. The tomato soup also ranked up there among the best. I also really liked that they gave me a small side salad (maybe by mistake, since I chose the soup?) that was topped with goat cheese. Loved it! The pomegranate lemonade was tart and refreshing.
I really like this place, but I can understand the mixed reviews since service can be slow and it is on the pricey side. I wasn’t paying so I couldn’t complain. Portions seem reasonably sized to me. They should at least offer bread and butter to customers eating in though. Anyway, I’m sure I will be back again soon.

If you’ve read any of the other reviews, you’ll see that people tend to either love or hate this place. Basically, what everyone says is true — it just depends on your priorities at the moment. The service is either slow or nonexistent — just realize that they do not care about you, about whether you like your food, about whether you need to get out of there in a reasonable amount of time. The silver lining is that you can sit there as long as you want without feeling like you should keep ordering or leave.
The space is really a beautiful, quiet and pleasant place. The seats aren’t super comfy, but they’re doable. Around 2p on a weekday, it was pretty dead, so it’s a nice place to catch up with a friend over a couple of happy hour drinks. Can’t speak to the food. But I can say the beer list was decent for such a tiny place — the IPA lagunitas was tasty. Not cheap, but not astronomical.
As another reviewer has said, definitely go up to the counter when you first get there. Even if the person behind the register tells you to sit down; you will otherwise be sitting there for 20+ minutes trying to make eye contact with the server, who has much experience avoiding your stares.

I will tell you a secret. When you walk into this café, there are two choices: You can order and pay at the register and have your food brought to you by a food runner, or you can be seated with a menu, order from a server, and have a full-​service meal.
DON’T be duped into being seated with a server. Ordering at the register is ten times faster because the same people who are ‘servers’ are also ‘cashiers,’ and the person who seats you will get stuck behind the register taking orders from the people who are ordering at the register, and will take forever to get back to your table to take your order, while all the people who ordered at the register will be already be getting their food while you’re still waiting to order. And all this on your limited lunch break. True story.
Why it’s set up that way, I have no idea. Defies all common sense. The food itself is good but overpriced. I had a farmer’s market salad, a plate of salad greens and veggies, for about $ 14. Great veggies, bad price. I was still hungry when I finished. Two stars for the quality of the food and two stars for the aesthetics; minus a star for the price/​benefit ratio and minus a star for the inane service setup.

You can’t review Hammer Café without first talking about the space– it’s a nice open air (but building-​enclosed) patio. It’s 20 yards off Westwood Blvd and it’s QUIET. It’s outside. It’s shaded and comfortable and I could definitely sit here for a while if my lunch break wasn’t just an hour.
Food service was, as others have noted, slow. If you’ve got to clock out/​in for your lunch break, this place will stress you out. If you can be a little more leisurely with your time, this place is a treat. It’s a little far from campus, but worth the walk.
Food was decent (if you’re expecting true Wolfgang out of a Museum restaurant, you should probabyl adjust your standards) — I had a fancy grilled cheese, a bowl of posole, and a salad for $ 11. Sure, you can find soemthing equivalent at Corner Bakery Café up the street for $ 8, but that extra $ 3 buys you some peace a quiet, some class, and something completely different from the usual crazy lunchtime scramble.
Important note: food service does not start until 12:00pm, and they just started serving alcohol at happy hour!
If you’ve got relatives visiting, take them here!

Got to the Hammer for an event with plenty of time to get a bite to eat. First in line at the café with my friend in tow. I order the sliders, a beer, and some fries. He orders beer and fries. 30 minutes later, still no food. Manager walks by and we inquire about our order. He comes back with two plates of fries and my sliders and asks if we had two tickets. «Nope, your counter asked if she could put our two orders on one ticket and pay separately. We did that. Here’s my receipt. May we have our food please?»
He puts my burgers down and puts a plate of fries in front of my pal and then he walks to another table and gives them our other order of fries, looking me dead in the eyes the entire time. He says, «Sorry. I’ll be right back.» Next set of fries didn’t show up for another fifteen minutes. At this point, all the other customers are jumping onto him because no other food has come out of the kitchen.
My sliders were ice cold as were my pal’s fries. Your service is abysmal, your food is overpriced, your menu is shallow, and your décor is ill advised. Don’t spend a dime in this joint, they don’t care about their service, their food, or your experience in the short time you will spend with them. Another museum café that knows they have hostages and does not care to hire up a proper staff or present anything resembling proper foodservice.

I’ve been here a few times, and when I leave I feel a tinge of regret.
The last few times I was here, I ordered the sandwiches. They come with chips on the side. For $ 12 that’s a bit steep. I wish they’d substitute the chips for something else like salad or fries. The sandwiches are good.
The crabcakes with asparagus and salad that I had today was phenemonal. That with an iced tea with tip was about $ 20. All the ingredients were fresh and the crabcakes tasted like the ones I had in Baltimore, the crabcake capitol of the world.
If the Hammer consistently puts out great food like the Crabcake special I have no doubt that more and better stars will be coming.

Ok, I get it. It was a busy night, with a big crowd for an event the museum, BUT…
We stood in line, ordered 1 pizza and 2 salads at the counter, and found a table to enjoy the live music in the courtyard. Over 30 minutes later we still didn’t have any food. Finally, a pizza (not even the one we ordered, BTW) and just one salad arrived… with no silverware. My husband had to get up to go get some. The Caprese Salad was pretty good, and a fair price at happy hour. The pizza was cold and mediocre. Cold? Was it just sitting around for half an hour?
Like everyone else there, we only had a limited about of time to squeeze in a quick dinner before a show. With the clock ticking, we decided we couldn’t wait for the missing salad much longer, and I went back to the counter with my receipt. There was a cashier for food and one for drinks only. The food line was really long and the cashier there refused to even make eye-​contact, so I went to the bar guy :
‘I ordered a salad that never came. I don’t think you want to deal with a refund. Could you just give me a beer instead? They’re the same price.‘
He threw up his hands and shook his head at me: «I don’t do food. I’m just the bar. Talk to them» (‘them’ being the next register over, 2 feet away).
By this time there were maybe 3 staffers crowded in behind that register, and several patrons were trying to get refunds for food that didn’t arrive in time to eat. None of the staff would look anyone in the eye and spoke as little as possible. The low-​point: Another patron, with small child in tow, was getting a refund for food that never showed up. Her little girl was in tears. «Mom, I’m so hungry. Isn’t there anything I can eat?» Someone behind the counter said that there were brownie-​bites ready to go and handed them over. The cashier processed the refund for dinner with no apology of any kind and then said «…and that’ll be $ 2 for the brownies.»
I finally got someone’s attention, and asked again if I could just get a beer instead of my missing salad. She just blinked and moved on to the next person in line. Another staffer must have heard me, because she handed me a beer.
Back at our table, the salad had actually arrived while I was at the counter. We had to inhale it in record time so I can’t really say much about it– It was ok.
I felt bad for a minute about taking a beer we didn’t pay for. But, come on, after the disaster they call customer service, it’s the least they can do.

Wolfgang Puck is one of the most famous celebrity chefs in the world and he has a whole slew of restaurants, cafes, and bistros all around Los Angeles. His name is also stamped on specialty prepared foods to-​go and an entire line of soups and broths at local grocery stores. However, not every place that bears his name is worth your money.
We headed to the Hammer for a night-​time lecture and was able to catch the café’s Happy Hour. The prices were fair, but the service was not. It took 35 minutes for us to receive a personal Marguerite pizza, two beef sliders, and an order of brownie bites and by the time we got our food (which we had to inhale because our lecture began seating shortly after we were served), our food was cold and underwhelming.
The pizza was okay, but definitely nothing special. It would be a travesty to have to pay full-​price for it as it literally tasted like someone practicing pizza making in culinary school had whipped it up. Their «kobe» beef sliders were cold when they got to our table and those were what I was most looking forward to. Aside from the fact that they tasted as though they were sitting out for a while, the beef was dry and tasteless and the lettuce accompanying them wilted. I definitely won’t be ordering those again. The best part of the meal were the brownie bites, but really, how can you screw those up?
The café’s patio is adorable and the vibe is very modern. If you want to enjoy lunch or a good happy hour priced meal however, opt for the other businesses around Westwood within walking distance to the Hammer.

I was hungrrryyy… waiting for the Hammer screening for flux to let people in… and they have koge sliders on their menu. I had to have one… or 2.
And so, I ordered 2 koge sliders, and threw in a roast beef sandwich since my hunger had started distorting my mind to think I could eat more than I can. Oh that and it was my first time here and I thought the roast beef would be the same size as the sliders. Bit bigger. They have a big window ledge that you just order from, pay, get a number, and then wait around for your food. I received my roast beef sandwich right away, but the koge sliders I had to wait for! Oh no… waiting…but at least I had my roast beef sandwich.
So I dug into that first. It came with a buncha potato chips in what looked like a container made from recycled paper. In fact… each sandwich is packaged into its own container with chips so I ended up with 3. Not sure why they can’t put 2 or 3 into a bigger container. Okay, the roast beef was so cute, but it was basically a cold cut sandwich. So tasty for what it was. Chips were kettle chip style.
They took a bit of time for the koge sliders. Maybe they were backed up because of all the people. Pretty decent actually. They use a sweet hawaiian roll as the bun, which goes along pretty well with the beef. Some toppings… and voila! Though a bit thick. It was so cute at first I just looked at it, then devoured it! Hehehehe. Hehe.
Good place for a quick bite, or a rushed dinner. Wouldn’t mind coming here on a nice quiet sunny day to sit out in the courtyard and munch on some sliders.

Great place for lunch@ Hammer Museum. the place is nice. It looks so serene.
Located in the Museum’s courtyard, the Hammer Café, by Wolfgang Puck. Staff are great serving the food. The place was designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture.
Offers freshly prepared seasonal sandwiches, paninis, soups, and salads prepared with farmer’s market produce and other locally-​supplied ingredients.
I had poached Salmon with greens and it was great. refershing and relaxing.
Good solid «HELLO» for this place.