Rockenwagner

The 3^rd and AZ Ave. location closed. They didn’t bother to even post a sign on the door. The shop was just empty, so I had to phone their general line to be told that it isn’t relocating. It’s really too bad being that I go when doing other errands and 3^rd St. Promenade and the Pier. Oh well. I’ll have to go up to the Brentwood location or Venice.

This place charged me $ 3 extra according to my bank statement. I also checked with my sister who joined me for lunch and they did the same for her. Stealing from your customers? This is unethical! I left tip on the table so why I am I being overcharged? When I went through reviews I am not the only one this has happened to. I won’t be returning. I advise you to pay cash, and if you pay with a card make sure you get your receipt so you can dispute any discrepancies if they continue to keep ripping off their customers.

Really surprised at such mediocre reviews — but then, it is «L.A» and Santa Monica after all — home of the hypercritical self-​absorbed. Reminds me of why I left. I lived near this place for many years and always enjoyed the bakery and the restaurant. Before they moved, it was tucked away off Main street, so it was also nice and quiet. There was a Peet’s Coffee right nearby, as well as a Ben and Jerry’s. Not that you ever needed to go to those places if you were visiting Rockenwagner! But you could browse the MOCA store for fun –which was also right there.

The giant cheese and bacon pretzel is on my last supper menu! We love the cheese/​bacon pretzel twists, ham and cheese sesame croissants, and bacon and cheddar scones. I’ve always loved Hans Rockenwagner and this bakery/​café has managed to survive for decades!

Went in on a Wednesday morning, ordered a cheese stick, chocolate muffin, and pretzel croissant to go.
Cheese stick: was rock hard, definitely a day or more old. I was tempted to drive back to return it because it was so bad. Had to throw it out.
Chocolate muffin: will never know, because they packed a chocolate chip muffin instead which I’m not a huge fan of. Can’t believe they would mess that up.
Pretzel croissant: was fresh and I liked it.
One out of three, so no, I won’t be going back.

Note this review is not written for yuppies or by a yuppie. I don’t expect to be treated like the king of France wherever I go. I like good food period.
Rockenwagners is a fantastic bakery concept everyone should try it out. See of you like it. Big selection of fresh baked goods brioche pretzel that Northern European baking! The people there are nice so be nice to them!

Unfortunately repeatedly less than impressed. This is my second time here on my last few trips to Santa Monica, and I wish I remembered why I wasn’t ecstatic to go back before I did. Stumptown coffee=promising but unfortunately misleading. Both americanos with soy milk tasted more like hot water than espresso and when I asked about it I had to pay another .50 on top of the $ 4.50 I already spent! Not going back again and sticking to quality like Demitasse down the street, even if it is a little further from the farmer’s market.

This place is just really random. Unimpressed by their sandwiches.

Rockenwagner had so much promise. It’s a bright space right off the 3^rd Street Promenade, serving up amazing Stumptown coffee and the trendy Cro-​Do (cronut). I always enjoy Stumptown, and I enjoyed the Cro-​Do, but it was so small and expensive. If the food and drinks cost less, then this would be a great place to hang out. Also be aware that they don’t have a bathroom for customers, so if you come with kids you may have to dart out. And if you have sticky hands from the Cro-​Do, you’re out of luck…

On this most gorgeous Sunday, we decided to make a trek to Santa Monica to enjoy three wonders of L.A.: the sun, the traffic, the eccentricities. Each was out en masse, and since we decided to use non-​English English phrases like ‘en masse,’ we figured why not keep with the theme of foreign words and visit Röckenwagner Bakery, a highly toted spot on the Westside.
After spending the greater part of an hour looking for parking (most of this was spent climbing the TEN levels within the 3^rd Street parking), we walked right past the Promenade, greatly awaiting a Euro-​café.
Instead, we entered a world of décor seemingly taken directly from Pinkberry, with a bit of Jamba Juice influence mied in. This confused, Über-​modern, wannabe-​sleek, pastel-​colored setup immediately make us want to reconsider our choice, but since the register arrow was so narrow that we couldn’t even move (pic below), we decided to make the best of our trek.
Noting a menu bereft of much aside from typical coffee preparations and some ‘premade sandwiches,’ my disappointment reached a crescendo, seriously an impetus to opt-​out and head somewhere else. That said, the absolutely wonderful Julius Meinl coffee was tasty, strong (in the good way) and quite unique — sourced in Austria, and distributed only there and Chicago. Assuaged by the coffee, we decided to give the sandwiches a shot.. .
And we were extremely glad we did. At $ 3.25/pop, these mini-​sandwiches — squished way over to the side in the (again) obnoxiously laid out interior, almost enough so that they were forgotten, because they surely were not easy to spot upon walk’in — were clearly artisanal. Taken straight from the menu, we had the Tuna on brioche (avocado, tomato, mayo and red onions) as well as Salami on pretzel roll (parmesan, tomato, arugula and mustard), both of which were fresh, delicious and craftsman-​worthy.
Now to say that I was impressed by Röckenwagner would be an extreme overstatement. In fact, I’d be surprised to see this particular location succeed as the ‘hey come in, we’re a modern ice cream shop’ vibe really isn’t conducive to what they’re trying to sell (I hear the Mar Vista one is tolerable, though). That said, I would DEFINITELY grab those mini-​sandwiches whenever I happen to be on or around 3^rd Street, and in fact would highly recommend grabbing a dozen or two to bring to the office, the classroom, or to the family. Super delicious, and here’s hoping that they come to their senses and refine the aesthetic so as not to mislead and drive off all hungrily interested consumers.

I love their cookies — they are so good! And, they now have cronuts. They were small — which I liked. They taste really bad for you (super fried)…but taste so good! I had a raspberry one (I got the last one on Sat at about 10am) — it had jelly in it and a pink tart icing.
The pretzels are pretty good.

Sometimes I visit this place when I go to the Farmers market in Santa Monica.
I like their small sandwiches. Do not miss the turkey :)
I did not try any Sweet stuff, but they look so good, so I am going to give them 4 stars as well ;)

Meh. Meh. Meh.
I keep wanting to like this place, I’ve been about three times, but it’s just subpar. I love pretzels. I love bakeries. I love overpriced European imports. I love Santa Monica. But I just am not a fan of this place. Bad service, overpriced, some of the pastries are decent, the sandwiches are terrible in my opinion, and the service is mediocre at best. Save your money.

Everything is pretzels here!
This had the potential to be one of the greatest places ever, but sadly is a little bit disappointing.
I read about it on Serious Eats as supposedly having really good Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m starting to learn not to believe everything I read. The cookies were ok, but nothing worth writing home, or on a blog, about.
It was everything else here that really intrigued me though — they have several different kinda of pretzels, as well as any type of sandwich you can think of, all on pretzel rolls. The pretzel roll is one of my favorite foods, so I was psyched to see it so prevalent here, compared to most other places I’ve seen it offered, where it is usually just on one menu item.
They also have pretzel croissants, which is one of the foods I like even more than pretzel rolls. This one was pretty good, but not nearly as good as the one I had earlier at Joan’s On Third, and miles away from the ones at City Bakery in NYC.
Great concept here, and very friendly service in a nice, little shop, but I just wish some of the stuff tasted better.

Maybe it’s just me, but I tend to judge a bakery by its almond croissant (can they do a good laminated dough?). As titillating as all the other choices are on display, it’s the almond croissant that sets the benchmark, in my eyes.
That said, Rockenwagner’s almond croissant sucked. First of all, it was dried out and crispy — over-​baked. There was none of the buttery delicate flakiness, not much flavor (I was hard-​pressed to find any almond taste). Just too bad.

This was our first Six Taste food tour stop and it was a great start!
We had:
Viennese Coffee
Pretzel Croissant
Tri-​Berry Scone
Pretzel Twist w/​Back & Cheddar
Pic:
My favorites were the Pretzel croissant (not greasy, very flaky) and the Tri-​Berry scone (cake-​like, not too sweet).
I’m not too big a coffee person but was surprised that the Viennese coffee didn’t need any extra cream or sugar.
Great breakfast or snack spot!
Thanks for being a part of Six Taste!

I checked out this place through the Six Taste Food tour of Santa Monica. I tried the following:
1. Viennese coffee = had a nice flavor that didn’t require adding any milk or sugar to it.
2. Mint lemonade = it was refreshing and the mint was a nice touch.
3. Pretzel croissant = awesome, probably the best croissant I’ve had
4. Tri-​berry scone = on the moist side, for a scone, I’m not typically a fan of scones, but this wasn’t bad to me
5. Pretzel Twist w/​bacon & cheddar = good flavor, but a little tough to chew
Overall the quality of the food here was excellent. I would definitely return. Definitely check out their pretzel croissant.

I have become a regular at this bakery as of late. How come? Well, it’s delicious, for one, and it’s in my neighborhood.
So far, I’ve tried:
The walnut-​chocolate chip cookie: delicious.
The plum muffin — AMAZING!
The vegan carrot cake — a bit oily but quite good for a vegan cake.
Pro-​tip: stop here and pick up two walnut-​chocolate chip cookies. Take them to-​go and walk down the street to the N’Ice Cream. Order two scoops of Vanilla or Peanut Butter Ice Cream.
Proceed to make a delicious N’Ice Cream Sandwich and revel in the satisfaction of your «unique» (and delicious item).
I can’t wait to order a custom cake from them.

Came here looking for a casual café with outdoor seating so we could let our dog sit down with us.
My mom got a chinese chicken salad, but it was pretty different from what you’d expect in a regular chinese chicken salad — it had bell peppers, grapefruit, and mushrooms. She seemed to like it, but I would have been disappointed. My dad got a cobb salad and thought it was OK.
I got 2 of the mini sandwiches. The turkey was alright — it had cranberry spread and was served on an über-​cute, thin pretzel bread baguette. The cranberry spread was a little too tart, in my opinion. Seemed like something else was in it. The bread was alright, but could have been a bit fresher. I also tried the egg salad on challah. The egg salad had a nice kick to it, but the challah was a little stale.
I also tried a bacon scone — very stale. We did come at about 2:30, so perhaps that explains it.
I love the idea of the mini sandwiches — for $ 3.50, they make for a nice hearty snack when you’re shopping on 3^rd street and don’t want to sit down to a full meal.
I’ll give this place another shot, especially if I come earlier in the day when the bread is likely to be fresher.

First time when I came here was with Six Taste Food tour. We arrived around 10am. and was able to sample couple of their breads and coffee. I loved their cheese twist and pretzels. Very fresh and came just out of the oven. It was heavenly.
HOWEVER, when I went back this weekend around 3pm., the same breads/​pretzels were very stale, cold and extremely disappointing. Each item costs around $ 4. I don’t know about you but if I pay $ 4 for something, I would expect freshness.
It was not only stale and cold but quite hard to chew. I’m guessing it’s because they only bake it in the morning and leave it out in the display all day. This isn’t a bakery item that can be left and forgotten inside a display case all day because it WILL become stale if you leave it sitting around for couple hours.
What a waste of money! If you’re going to try this place, go when they first open and when everything is fresh. Don’t bother going in the middle of the afternoon or else you’ll be left with stale, cold and hard breads!
You used to be on my A list Rockenwagner but now you’re on my F for FAIL list! Lesson learned.
I see why they are rated on the average of only 3 stars on Unilocal.
Following photo’s were taken on my first visit with Six Taste tour.