Crocodile Cafe
Categories:
Restaurants, Traditional American Restaurants, Pizza Restaurants
Details:
$, Family-Friendly Dining, Online Reservations
Message from Crocodile Cafe
The Crocodile Cafe features California cuisine, boasting a style of cooking that uses only the freshest ingredients with creative marinades, vinaigrettes and salsas. Simply prepared over an Oakwood grill, familiar favorites like pizzas, pastas, burgers and salads are transformed into dishes that are absolutely delicious. Our famous burger is cooked to your liking over our Oakwood grill and served with the works. Our homemade pasta is always served with sauces made from scratch daily. Even our lemonade is fresh-squeezed and made to order. We offer a large selection of California wine by the glass as well as micro and brewed beers on tap. Our gourmet pizzas are hand-tossed, topped with fresh ingredients and baked in our wood-fired Oakwood pizza oven.
Editorial by Citysearch
The SceneWannabe wacky décor, exposed brick walls decked with modern canvases and an open kitchen with loopy tile mosaic set the stage for high school dates, family dinners and office workers' lunch breaks.
The Food
The Croc bridges the culinary generation gap. Mom and Dad can get eclectic with dishes like oakwood-grilled salmon bathed in a guajillo sauce while the kids can wolf down their beloved burgers and curly fries. Culinary epiphanies are unlikely but the food is consistent and the prices right, with most entrees hovering around $10. If you only try one dish, chow down on the three-section pizza, a chewy wood-fired crust layered with sections from the barbecue chicken, sausage and pepperoni and four-cheese pies. Occasionally, the fusion doesn't work--like the grilled Cuban chicken breast flecked with the vaguely Indian cinnamon and raisins, but usually it's fun, fast food.
Key Points
- Two L.A. locations
- Speciality pizzas and pasta
- Microbrews and wine
Insider Pages Reviews for Crocodile Cafe
Crocodile is a great place for chic salad and tomatoe checca pasta. The warm sourdough is always a pleaser and the passionfruit icedtea is nice. Thje front patio is a nice spot to view lake blvd
Posted 08/25/09 | Report Abuse
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A great family restuarant!! great for birthdays because they sing to you!! good food and fun enviorment!! Big amounts of food and a variety of different plates.
Posted 10/05/08 | Report Abuse
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High quality food, excellent service, food a bit pricey but you get a lot for your money. Location is great, I like sitting on the patio.
Great place for lunch.
Posted 01/15/08 | Report Abuse
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my mom and i went here after i had a long day. we went early (around 5) so i guess we missed the dinner rush and we received great service. we split the steak sandwich and fries which was plenty of food for both of us. it was very tasty-- a little too much fat on it though which we had to cut off.
Posted 09/14/06 | Report Abuse
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My husband and I had a rather rotten time at Crocodile, alas! A good friend recommended this restaurant, saying food and service were great. Perhaps we hit the spot on an off night, but service was slow and uncertain. My husband's meatloaf was undercooked (truly pink in the middle); we sent it back. When the waitress returned the plate, we realized the plate had just been microwaved (thus rendering the potatoes and vegetables spongy and inedible). In addition, the meatloaf had been "pawed" through and mushed around the plate, as if the chef had been looking for evidence of our complaint. Not to be childish, but this was truly gross. On a good note, they did not charge us for the meatloaf, and the bread IS warm and delicious.
PROS: Warm, delicious bread. Good house salad.
CONS: Slow, inconsistent service; uncooked food.
Posted 07/13/06 | Report Abuse
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The food here is always good, but my favorite thing on the menu is the garlic mashed potatoes. Be prepared for service that is a little slow because the restaurant is so popular.
Posted 01/31/06 | Report Abuse
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The original croc on Lake Ave. in pasadena is my favorite of the other locations they have. A nice atmosphere, though the service is usually mediocre. The daily ravioli special is an all time fave of mine, and I usually order it. The pizzas are also good comingout of the brick oven. An overall good meal especially at lunch time sitting outside and people watching.
Posted 10/04/05 | Report Abuse
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They serve the best bread and BBQ chicken pizza. The atmosphere is great also. You sit on the patio on Lake Ave at this location. It's a nice lunch date place.
Posted 07/26/05 | Report Abuse
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This is a chain local to the area. They have excellent salads and sandwiches, and the bread they serve before your meal is always hot, with just enough butter.
The prices aren't too bad either. It costs enough to be considered a nice meal if you were treating somebody, but cheap enough to still be affordable.
Posted 06/21/05 | Report Abuse
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Latest reviews from Citysearch.
Not that Good
by GlosPolek
We decided to try Crocodile Cafe after walking past full dining tables on evening strolls. We knew it was a chain restaurant but the crowds drew our curiousity. The burgers tasted like they had been marinated in liquid smoke and the buns were cheap and fell apart. The fries were extremely salty. The meat in the BBQ pork sandwich was good but the presentation of the dish was a hot sloppy mess on a hard hoggie bun. It was very busy and took nearly 45 minutes to receive any food. Save your money eat at home.
Pros: Great Location, Nice patio
Cons: Very Busy, Food not worth the long wait
Posted 10/17/08
A place I want to like, really..
by CaliforniaT
I like the location, it's so Californian, it's what I used to watch on TV in New Jersey and think "That's what California is about, sunshine and hot chicks! I'm moving there!" Oh forgot, I'm married, ahem, "That's what California is about, sunshine and friendly people!". The food isn't bad, it's clean and healthy, very fresh California Cuisine, I get the concept, what I didn't get is being in a table that obviously didn't belong there, it was if if they placed it in the middle of a model runway, except the wait staff are the ones strutting their stuff, and we're being bumped around like airline passengers in heavy turbulence.
.I like the food, I want to go there again, I'd just wish they'd either expand it , or give more space for the patrons.
Posted 07/26/08
good selection. great for families
by wam08
This restaurant is one of the better family dining chains. The food is probably the best of all its competitors(better than applebees, olive garden, sizzler, etc) and has more of an interesting selection of choices without over doing it. Great portions and decent prices. I would even choose this restaurant over its "nicer" neighbors smittys and green st because I think the food is better for what you pay - - I will go somewhere not a chain if i actually want fine dining.
Pros: good food, choices, good environment
Cons: some dishes are a little spendy
Posted 07/01/08
Kinda bleah
by organickali
Upon arriving & being seated, it took over 30 minutes to get any service, let alone drinks. When the food arrived, it didn't compensate for the lost time. To be honest, if I want to get pizza & American dining, I'd much rather go to CPK or D&B
Pros: Alcohol
Cons: Slow service, kinda crowded indoors
Posted 11/06/07
Decent food, for a chain
by dmenkes
I was invited here with a group as I normally don't eat at chain restaurants. For the money, the quality was pretty decent and I particularly liked our waitress as she was very friendly and checked in on us often. I had an iced tea and it was pretty good. My chicken was cooked well and flavorful. I'd come back.
Posted 11/21/06
Great Standby
by mommaduck5
I alway enjoy the Crocodile. You can enjoy a large variety of items and the service is always great. I especially like their iced-tea.
Pros: variety, parking
Posted 11/12/06
Good lunch spot
by netter1
This Croc is like all the others, which is good when you only have 45 minutes for lunch. You can get in, order your favorite salad or entree knowing it will be the same every time. During lunch, the waitstaff are able to be speedy and friendly at the same time. Somthing not accomplished at other local restaurants. It's a great place to stop for lunch during the week, and it's a nice place to relax after shopping on South Lake.
Posted 03/24/05
The Croc Rocks!
by mrbiscuit
Excellent everything. The atmosphere is fun and lively, though the design is circa 1980's. The food is consistently fresh and delicious and remains constant from location to location. The pizzas are incredible as are the salads. Actually, I've never had anything that wasn't amazing. The burger and fries are suprisingly good and don't miss the fresh-baked bread that is gratis (sometimes you have to ask for it.) Run by the same people who own Smitty's, Parkway Grill and Arroyo Chop House so quality is a given.
Pros: Food, Service, Consistency
Cons: Parking, Decor
Posted 08/25/02
GOOD FOOD
by Maux
Casuel, AWESOME food, good service & good for larger parties. They have outdoor seating which is nice on a hot day. It is a good place to take clients or just with some friends.
Posted 07/09/02
Good food
by gvasquez
I came here and the food was good.
The atmosphere was not so great.
Its always to crowded.
The service was pretty good.
Posted 06/27/02
Wood fired delight
by taysolo
Would you believe getting a good burger at a quasi california cuisine restaurant. It's all we ever get there, it's just that good. Their soda products are too syrupy but the service is good and the price is reasonable.
The Seared Tuna sandwich is a tasty lunch treat if you are looking for a unique change.
Pros: Tasty food
Cons: syrupy sodas
Posted 06/27/02
Choices, choices........
by yokoromo
I can't make up my mind, I like it all. The salads, the bread, the entrees, the dessert. The only thing I don't like is the wait so I try to make reservations. The place is always busy which just goes to prove how good the food is. The service is good too.
I especially like sitting outside, even when it's chilly the patio heaters keep you warm. Sipping wine and munching on their delicious hot bread while you wait for your meal makes for an enjoyable relaxing evening.
I like the ambience at the Lake St. restaurant the best. I've tried the one on Colorado and the Media Center in Burbank. The food is still good but the service and the ambience doesn't compare.
Posted 06/27/02
Bread = awesome.
by Kazam
I love the bread and service here. The menu is limited, but standart with most Crocodile Cafe's across the board. This is a great place for lunch if you're not in a hurry, and definitly quiet enough for a one on one business meeting.
Posted 05/20/02
Hot bread covers a multitude of sins
by DavidStansbury
Crocodile is neither the best or the worst in town--and in the category that includes Cheesecake Factory, Houstons, Shaker's, etc., it has a lot of advantages. A menu with a little more elan, very good service (generally) and reasonably sized portions that don't insult the mass of developing nations. Be forewarned. There's a definite curve to the stress level: The busier the night, the more frenetic the staff. Best bets: The Ahi sandwich, the Cuban chicken, the barbecue duck quesadilla (when it's on the menu) and the warm steak-and-mushroom salad.
Pros: varied menu, hot fresh bread
Cons: crowded, uninventive
Posted 05/20/02
Side-by-Side Soup
by BObermiller_Citysearch
The side-by-side soup is amazing. Like so many other franchise/chain restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, for example), Crocodile serves gargantuan portions. My girlfriend and I can split an appetizer and entree and be completely stuffed. The great thing about this location, by the way, is the sunken patio and numerous windows facing the adjacent courtyard. There's a lot of light and energy in this location, though it is a bit crampt, noisy and chaotic.
Pros: great appetizers, patio dining
Cons: noisy dining room
Posted 05/16/02