Ramona Lisa’s Fab Food

Ramona Lisa’s is no more — «Kate’s» now occupies the building, and we absolutely love it. Ramona Lisa made a great start on cleaning up the place but, wow, Kate took it to the next level. The building is positively pristine, and so cozy — a very nice paint color, dark espresso colored tables & chairs, with music playing very softly in the background.
And oh, the pastries! My husband had the cinnamon roll, which he loved, and I also loved it, after snagging a bite from him. I had a blackberry croissant and, OMG, I just hated for it to end — it was so good. Kate’s has now become our regular Thursday morning coffee stop before grocery shopping.
Get the word out — «Kate’s» is a great place to stop in for pastry & coffee!!! (Lunch menu soon to come)

I wanted to like this place because Stanwood is lacking in restaurants to begin with and since this is such a CUTE place, complete with wi-​fi access and everything just «looked» so YUM, I thought for sure I would want to go back.
Such is not the case. First, from the busy road which begins off the freeway in Stanwood and ends in Camano Island Ramona Lisas ‘feels’ like its on the wrong side traffic wise and keeping pace trying to turn into the driveway from either direction is awkward.
Next, each time you drive by there’s just nothing to pull you in. It looks like it has plenty of parking but few cars are ever there. The café/​restaurant sometimes has a very cool looking old car out front and at night the windows which appear tinted have sparkly mini lights which I think they DO need since the place appears empty. But what I found out is… that is an illusion… there are actually people in there working and eating.
We went around 6:00 pm, entered and was surprised and delighted by the mix of style which was cozy, homey and a tiny bit mid-​century vintage. At the counter, were scones and other baked goods and there were plenty of tables. A huge plus were outlets for laptops as the place claims it offers free wi-​fi. We looked around and found a spot near the side window. I noticed all the cool memorabilia tucked onto shelves and hoped the food was as good as the feeling upon entering. Note: the front area window seats should convey a more busy appearance from the street but unfortunately at night most patrons preferred to sit on the other side where it was more comfortable and not right next to the counter.
Now, once we got our menus we noticed a couple people come in and pick up to-​go orders and then a few more parties came in and took tables. Again, being inside activity wise our impression changed; they do get business!
Unfortunately, it all went down hill from there. The hostess/​server/​owner was friendly and made a big deal about their food; kept using the words; fresh and best and that we would like everything. OK, so recently I had been seeing a sign near the street that said «big Italian suppers’ and while I am a natural skeptic I wanted to see what the special was all about. So I asked and she answered talking about her Italian roots and the fabulous cook she had in the kitchen. From her description something told me I would be disappointed and since I wasn’t overwhelmingly in the mood for pasta opted for a sandwich instead. My friend decided on the „$ 13.00“ Sandwich which was like a Reuben or corn beef. He got it because he was hungry and thought it would satisfy him, both flavor and sizewise.
My sandwich was considered part of the Italian dinner thingwhich came w/​‘muffaletta w/​bread» which I really did want to try since I love this stuff. Once again she boasted on about how their muffaletta was all handmade and the best in the PNW. OK, I was sold!
When the Muff and bread came I almost laughed. I actually thought it was a mistake, like maybe another table ordered a sample of the appetizer — just a taste and realized, no, this was it. TheMuffa was literally a tablespoon in size, pushed into a salad dressing cup. The bread… looked like the kind you baked in your easy-​bake oven as a kid. If you know what a demi-​loaf is this is a micro-​loaf cut into 4 thin 1 ½ inch slices. Picture that now — a teeny tiny spoonful of olive spread and the tiniest bread load I’ve ever seen in my life.
Now i didn’t expect a giant appetizer but this was ridiculous. I was perplexed and thought it was a mistake and called her over asking if that was it and she said, yes, that we had received the larger size. I mean, I guess the smaller size was what, a THIMBLE?!!
The muff’s portion was one thing but the taste wasn’t anything special and I felt disappointed entirely. I hoped at that point things would get better. Meanwhile as we were waiting she went to the next table to take orders and we overheard what sounded like the owner saying that since she bought the place it was hard to keep the regulars happy — and that the Stanwood residents didn’t really like the changes. We couldn’t believe she was talking to customers (who were likely Stanwood residents) about other customers complaining about the change in the restaurant. The way she said it, it was as if SHE were complaining about patrons ‘not getting with it’…
Finally, our food came. Remember that 13 dollar sandwich? Well, shouldn’t a sandwich named after its price tag reflect that price tag? What came was an ordinary sandwich thin on meat, lacking in flavor and as for mine, not much better. Our overall impression of the place: portions on some of the meals are very small, not worth the price tag and lacking in flavor. Talking about the community not liking the changes is a surefire way to lose future customers especially when everything else isn’t lining up. Make your customers WANT to stay and come back and they will.

Finally a cute and fun place in Stanwood! All natural and local foods which are healthy. The atmosphere is fun and funky. Lots to look at while you’re dining. The staff is friendly and helpful.

It gets one star because you are forced to give one by Unilocal.This place deserves a minus at best. The owner spends more time defending her crappy food then putting any effort into getting to the bottom of why it is crap! You can’t do normal food and now trying to do Italian and gluten free? Oh boy at some point she/​they will close and all will be right again in the world. The worst waitstaff and the food is not suitable for my dog. If you get tricked into trying it I’m sorry for you hopefully the person who takes you there will pay the overpriced check that you will be faced with. And please spare me your line of fresh… you only have a fresh excuse. When I spoke to another friend who is not a foodie and thinks a tv frozen diner is edible she even stated «those people are coming up with new versions of really bad food! «How is it the doors are still open at this crap hole?

I’d give Ramona Lisa’s zero stars if Unilocal would let me. It’s hard to know where to begin. I’ve been in 6 or 7 times and each time just gets worse. I’d really LIKE to like this place – there are so few breakfast choices in Stanwood – but I give up. I’ll travel 30+ minutes north or south for breakfast rather than frequent Ramona Lisa’s again. When this place first opened, it looked promising. Large, fresh scones and other pastries, quiche, reasonably decent (not great) coffee, and a few more breakfast choices on weekends. But it didn’t last long. Prices remained the same (on the high side) as scones got smaller and smaller, Then scones weren’t available, even 30 minutes after opening. Then other breakfast items (on a very small menu) weren’t available, even at opening time. Service was poor at best and surly at worst. ⁴⁄₇ times they got our order wrong or forgot to bring part of the meal, even with reminders. Last time we were in, the server was downright rude. We were seated, but then saw the servers turn away 6 couples, saying «We’re closing early» (this was 30 minutes after they opened!). I can only conclude that the owner is clueless or simply doesn’t care. This place deserves to fail.

Very disappointed. This place used to be Skandia. Was somewhat OK.
Been there twice since change of owners. Barely any descent choice options in pastries. Sandwiches are over-​priced, and my wife had a «half» portion that was bigger than my full size.
Service inconsistent and confused.
Why cant they offer a decent range of cakes and pastries such as cheesecake, almond croissants, etc?
Even the coffee is not as smooth any more. Previous owners made the best latte in town.

We stopped in this cute little café on the suggestion of a local friend and we were so thankful we did! We had great, attentive service as soon as we stepped in the door. Our food arrived very quickly – fresh and with great flavor. The owner even came over and talked to us for awhile about the menu, the locally sourced ingredients and her plans to expand the menu to bring in some traditional family recipes. We will definitely stop at Ramona Lisa’s the next time we are in Stanwood!

UPDATE ¹²⁄₂₀₁₂: I WAS RIGHT IN MY FIRST REVIEW BELOW… THIS IS TRYING TO TURN INTO SOME ITALIAN PLACE! I was dragged to this joke of a place on friday with my girlfriend who was «dyyyyyiing» to try the food for their new dinners. I told her to run far far away but she wouldn’t listen to me and did it so I got dragged along. We tried calling a few times but no answered the phone… big fat surprise. Yep, the menu was sauce with noodles. Whoopi…$ 10 for soggy bland noodles, over sweet and SALTY, odd tasting marinara sauce. My friends alfredo sauce was so thick it looked like cement. I noticed the owner has made the rest of the menu all italian spelling and lettering. That’s annoying as all hell. I don’t speak italian and can’t pronounce the crap on the menu. I hope this joke of a place closes soon and a regular new café can open up. RUN RUN away from this drain on your wallet. Jimmys across the street can do greasy italian better than this place. The saving grace for the hellish food was I didn’t have to pay for it. My girlfriend lost some good money on crap food, no she listens to me! Lesson learned…
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Sigh, this is painful to do. Stanwood is one of the coolest and neatest little towns in WA state, hands down. It’s not the food mecca capital of the world and that’s ok. This place just opened. For those of you who don’t know, this is the former and greatly missed Scandia Coffeehouse. I really enjoyed eating at Scandia a couple of times and they had a kick ass French Dip, Reuben sandwich and Veggie Sand that was out of this world. I finally got a chance to check this joint out.
The new name is Ramona Lisa’s Fab Food. When I saw the new sign I thought it was a new Italian Joint and was eager to try it out since I can’t stand the food at Jimmy’s across the street. See my review there. I thought it was weird having two Italian places right next to each other.
I walked into the place and was shocked to see it looked just the same as the old Scandia. I looked at the counter and didn’t see any menu boards so I looked around and didn’t see any menus so I sat down at a table and waited. I saw a few people milling around behind the counter. I waited for almost 10 mins and then went up to the counter. I asked a woman with short dark hair how to order food. She handed me a menu. Ummmm… ok. So do I sit down and you come see me and take the order or do I order here and get it to go? She said the place was a sit down and order or order at the counter and eat. Well that’s confusing as all hell. Ugh. I’m already getting that BAAADDD VIBE… you know the one.
So I go sit down and I open the menu and I’m shocked to see it’s NOT ITALIAN! Could have fooled me. It was café/​diner/​pub fare. Almost like Scandia’s. The prices were a lot higher than Scandias. They had a «bagel with cream cheese» listed for $ 3.95. A $ 4 BAGEL??? They had a pastrami sandwhich at almost $ 12 and (r u ready for this??) a reuben on the new menu AND IT’S $ 13!!! WTF??? Really??? It’s a sandwich for f’s sake. I can get a great steak for the same price in this town. .
No one ever came over to take my order so I ordered a salmon bagel and Albacore Singapore to go. I wasn’t hoping for much and I was right. It wasn’t worth $ 8. The tuna salad was bland, had tons of mayo in it and the bread was so thin that it fell apart in my lap as I tried to eat it. It really needed a better bread and more flavoring. I can make a lot better one myself. If thee is one good thing about this place is that the good in the bakery rack looked really yummy. That might be your best bet here.
So, check out this new joint if you want. That’s the experience I had. I told a friend about my visit and she said that the new owner was the previous owner of the Blackbird bistro that closed in town. I ate there once and it sucked. The food was horribly over priced and badly cooked and the worst slow service ever. Not surprised it closed. Seems like this might be the case all over again. Same place, different location.
I’m still mourning the loss of Scandia Coffeehouse. R.I.P.