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| - Layers used to be next to Trader Joes on Sunset and Green Valley, I went a couple of times and was blown away by their pastries and the wonderful atmosphere in the place, so I was very excited to learn that they were relocating their store down the street from us. Unfortunately since the new location has been open there have been many minor disappointments adding up. For starters they've expanded their menu to include sandwiches, salads and soups. The atmosphere is now that of an eatery, cold and uninviting and the savory food is overpriced and deeply mediocre.
They are clearly brilliant at preparing baked goods, and perhaps they should have stuck with what they are good at. I've had several of the sandwiches, all are greasy and overly heavy. I have a very adventurous palette and I always appreciate more experimental cooking, when it's done right. Unfortunately, the flavor and texture combinations here are bizzare and inappropriate at best.
There is a chicken sandwich with smoked cheddar served on heavily buttered oatmeal molasses bread with bacon, caramelized apple and overly sweet caramelized onions. The description claimed that it would be served with bbq sauce, which could have alleviated the bland heavy sameness of the flavors, but what we got instead was something closer to mole, with definite hints of cinnamon and cocoa. The sauce by itself was interesting but it had no business on that sandwich. I've also had their meatloaf the flavor of which is good in itself, but is again, served on overly buttered bread with nothing to give the palette a rest from all that heaviness.
The truth is that their baked goods are still fantastic and they have what I think is the best coffee in town. I could just not have lunch there and focus on the positive, right? Well... the customer service is chaotic and disorganized, and borders on rude, orders get forgotten and no thought is given to little things like if you get your coffee and your pastry first, and the pastry is heated up and sits on the table while you get through lunch it's going to be hard as a rock by the time you get to it. At any given time there are 4 or 5 people behind the counter at what is a fairly small establishment, so being overwhelmed is not an excuse. Also, for the price, you would think that the food could at least be brought to your table. This place is not cheap. All minor things that make it a less than stellar experience.
It pains me to write this review, I am always very excited about mom and pop places, and I want them to succeed. I wanted to like this place.
The last straw came this past week when Layers posted a discussion on Facebook about a customer that complained about the taste of an order and expected an exchange or refund. It seems that they feel that their food is above reproach and that the basic rules of customer service don't apply to them. Blaming the customer for having bad taste when they don't like your product is not a smart approach, and in this case it succeeded in turning off at least two additional customers (my BF and myself) that were trying very hard to give this place a chance.
I won't be returning any time soon.
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