Mini Foodventure #63: 3 Square Café + Bakery (Venice)

Had a nice 10K run in Santa Monica (followed by another mile walk) -- so I thought it fitting to have a filling brunch to pile the pounds back on "recover my carbs" as those real athletes like to say. But this runner-in-training ain't gonna blow a meal on whole wheat toasts and egg white veggie omelets. So off to 3 Square Cafe I went with a friend, having heard good words about the place all around.

With the atmosphere a little more upscale and artsy than your average cafe (very Abbot Kinney), it caters to a mix of bohos-who-brunch, surfers who maybe a tad bit too casual for the likes of Joe's, Lilly's or Jin Patisserie nearby and other folks in their sweats look for a quick carb and protein fix after their runs, yogas or spins.

The menu is Californian with a good dose of German influence, with burgers served in pretzel rolls, bowls of muesli and schnitzel and weisswurst served alongside more familiar fare like tuna-avocado sandwiches and huevos rancheros.

Starch-starved but not feeling like two full entree dishes, we opted to split two small plates and an entree, starting with -
Avocado Fries with Fire-Roasted Salsa-- a fare I fondly remember from LA County Fair. The fries here are light and crispy, quickly giving way to what I call "avocal dente" -- the right combo of firm yet flavorful and buttery. The salsa is pretty good too, but at six fries, about half a fruit, for $7 we felt it was a bit too steep to be worth ordering again. I recall the prices being even better @ the fair!
Next up came the German pile 'o carbs, also known as their bread & pastry basket with raspberry preserve and Plugra butter, which contained an assortment of pretzel rolls, wheaty toasts and croissants -- all of them delicious and wonderful with the spreads. I am not a butter aficionado (and hardly use any at home outside of the occasional baking project), so didn't really appreciate the difference of this European-style version, but my dining companion liked the richer, creamier taste this offered. Regardless, there was hardly a crumb left by the meal's end.
Not having had German food in a long time, we went for the Weisswurst (veal/pork sausage) served with another pretzel roll, sweet Bavarian-style mustard, German-style potato fries bratkartoffeln, two eggs and what I can best interpret as pickled sweet onions. The sausage itself was plump and juicy but also kind of bland on its own, but wonderful with the mustard. The pretzel roll with its hardy crust was perfect for scooping up the liquidy over-easy yolks, and we couldn't get enough of the pickled onions.

Overall, a wonderful meal in a nice space (dog lovers will definitely like it here); a little bit splurgy by breakfast standards, but definitely well worth it should the opportunity arise. Next time I may even get a glass or proessco or their sparkling elderflower cocktail.

3 Square Café + Bakery
1121 Abbot Kinney Rd.
Venice, CA 90291
(310)399-6504