Madera Kitchen Reviews
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4.2 out of 5 rating
10 Reviews
4.2 Good
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Quality of service 4.2 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 4.1 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 4 out of 5 rating
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Value 4.6 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 4 out of 5 rating
90%
Recommended by couples
Awards
10
+5
User photos
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Featured
Patricia C. Sent on 10/28/20205 out of 5 rating-
Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
Madera perfection
I cannot begin to express my gratitude towards Madera. My wedding, like many others, was ruined by COVID. We were postponed from April 19, 2020 to October 11, 2020. We lost our original reception venue. We lost deposits. We were truly broken hearted and ready to give up. We accepted that a big wedding celebration just wasn’t it the cards. We at least thought maybe we could still just elope with family at the chapel, we hadn’t lost that yet. Well the chapels restrictions changed. We paid for a private ceremony with 40 guests…it was now dropped to 4 from the same household. Basically, we couldn’t have anyone. We almost settled for the chapel anyway with the option to invite everyone to watch over zoom which is what I absolutely did not want. We were just going to try to find a restaurant with outdoor seating to meet our family at, just eat & celebrate after.
Well, yelp lead me to Madera’s website in an attempt to make a reservation for brunch and the first thing I saw was a pop up that said they were taking micro event and had special pricing for couple’s who’s weddings have been ruined by Covid. Talk about a SIGN. Everything moved very fast from that post. I immediately emailed event director Jenn Laskey to get more info. I didn’t have much hope tbh because we didn’t have much left to spend. Well, Jenn being the angel that she is really made every effort to work with me. I was sold from the customer service alone and that platinum service didn’t disappear after we signed the contract and paid the deposit. Jenn stayed on top of everything from start to finish, even after! We had 6 weeks to pull Plan C together- an intimate 37 guest (All family) micro-wedding. We moved everything to Madera completely including the ceremony. Me and Jenn were emailing literally every single day.
Our tasting was scheduled quickly. The food was fantastic from start to finish and bartender AJ worked with us to create two killer featured cocktails that could be ordered virgin as well! Green dolphin and Rosemary Jane were our cocktail winners! We met the owner Milton who was nice as ever and our future site manager for the day of- Marco (also so nice!). They were all so detailed when it came to creating the layout of our big day which was set to take up the entire covered patio. The venue itself IS STUNNING AND NEEDS MINIMAL ADDITIONAL DÉCOR. They own their own beautiful wood tables and chivari chairs plus a bunch of mix and match eclectic lounge furniture! All of that would’ve been a massive extra expense if I had to rent that separately! The venue is dripping in greenery and romantic lights, a true modern boho dream! Both my fiancé and I fell in love during our first walk through!
Our big day couldn’t have gone smoother, then venue took extra safety precautions in regards to COVID. The guest tables were generously spaced out and limited to less than 8 per table all seated with household members. Party dancing was unfortunately not allowed for safety reasons but Jenn and Milton allowed us to keep all our ceremonial milestone dances (first dance, mother-son, father-daughter). Servers were all in masks during the duration of the event, temp checks were done, and all food was served rather than presented buffet style. Both Jenn and Marco were present as our site reps and were fully involved and hands on the whole night ensuring our day was running smoothly. I had such a STRESS FREE WEDDING DAY it almost seemed unreal! The venue was ready when I arrived and so photogenic! My wedding photos are CINEMATIC because the venue. Everything was where it should be. We got married against the vine wall and dined at a head table with wine barrels as our back drop. Our guests were fed non-stop the entire night. Welcome champagne then tray passes during cocktail hour, opening course, main entrée, then multiple desserts and after dinner coffee/tea! EVERYONE WAS SOOO FULL THEY PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE EVEN DANCED IF THEY COULD! LOL Our guests are STILL talking about how INSANE the food and drinks were! We had a couple of picky foodies on our guest list, all gave Madera their seal of approval. Our guests were so impressed by the excellent servers and their top notch service. Jenn checked on us constantly throughout the night and made sure we were fed and happy with how the night was going. Our wedding was intimate, stunning, love filled, and I don’t feel like I missed out on anything by choosing to have a micro-wedding at Madera instead of our original plan for a big party. It truly allowed us to see the truth in Quality over Quantity. We were able to spoil our smaller guestlist and have a more magical and memorable night than we ever imagined. I’m so thankful I found Madera. I’m so grateful for Jenn and the entire MADERA TEAM! If you’re considering Madera for your big day, don’t hesitate. You’re making a great choice!
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Quality of service
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Seth V. Sent on 05/19/20215 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
I had a great experience working with Madera Kitchen!
I DJ'd for a wedding at Madera Kitchen earlier this year (on 04/30/2021). I've performed for many venues throughout Southern California, but Madera Kitchen stood out as one of my favorites!
The venue has a beautiful, welcoming atmosphere. It also has the perfect location in the heart of Hollywood. After their wedding ceremony at a nearby church, the couple was able to fit in wedding photos at Griffith Park and throughout Hollywood, all before cocktail hour started at Madera Kitchen.
Madera's staff was professional, friendly, and helpful as well. They were very conscious of all the details that make a wedding perfect for a couple and their guests. Jennifer in particular was great with her communication, and she made the planning process way easier for me as a wedding vendor. The couple was very happy with their wedding as well!
I recommend Madera Kitchen to anyone who's looking for a great atmosphere, location, and service for their wedding!
-DJ Seth Vitál -
Quality of service
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Kyan Sent on 09/11/20195 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
Kyan & Amer
Absolutely love this venue and the staff that comes with it! It’s not only delicious food, but the vibe and decor here transform beautifully. This was the best venue we could have ever hoped for! -
Quality of service
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Leslie O. Sent on 09/02/20195 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
Beautiful Wedding & Venue!!
Planning a wedding can be very stressful and overwhelming so it definitely helps to have someone with experience to help. After searching around for a venue, my wife and I came across Madera Kitchen. We decided to have dinner there one night and shortly after, we decided that this is where we wanted to get married. We fell in love with the whole vibe.. the rustic, winery setting with an outdoor patio. It was perfect for us. We immediately contacted Jennifer Laskey who is the director of special events for Madera. She answered all our questions, offered suggestions & advice, recommended vendors based on our likes/dislikes and style, and kept everything within our budget. Jennifer is a busy lady but she gets the job done! We started communicating with her 1 year prior to our wedding and after all the late night emails, text messages, and meetings...it was all well worth it! Jennifer a is very organized coordinator and will have your timeline on point! On the day of our wedding, everything ran so smoothly and we had no worries. Our family and friends still compliment us on how beautiful the venue was, the décor, the delicious food, and of course the open bar with the amazing bartenders! We even got up and started dancing a bit earlier than planned but Jennifer was cool about it and still kept us on track lol. We had non-stop fun that evening and our guest did not want the night to end! They told us that our wedding was the MOST FUN ever!! My lovely wife and I will always have wonderful memories to talk ,laugh, and get teary-eyed from our special day. Thank you sooo much Jennifer!! You truly are the BEST in what you do!! Leslie & Madai -
Quality of service
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Kelly Sent on 07/30/20195 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
June Wedding at Madera Kitchen
We had our wedding at Madera Kitchen this past June. From the time we toured the location and tasted the food for the first time we knew Madera was the perfect venue for us! We received so many compliments from guests about how beautiful the venue was and how wonderful the food and drinks were. The food and drink presentation was out of this world, it felt like foodie heaven! They re-designed their vine wall this past spring which made for an amazing backdrop for our ceremony. The venue is so versatile and flexible, the staff at Madera were incredible and the coordinating services provided by Jennifer Laskey were amazing! We couldn't have imagined our special day going any better. -
Quality of service
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Michelle Sent on 06/10/20195 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
Such a dreamy place to celebrate love!
Madera Kitchen was the best find! We absolutely loved our wedding and everything went so perfectly smooth thanks to Madera + team! Our guests LOVED the food and drinks and so did we! Staff was so friendly and helpful. Couldn’t have dreamed of anything better! -
Quality of service
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Kirsten J. Sent on 12/05/20185 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 5.0 out of 5 rating
Goal accomplished: guests full and happy
Our goal for the wedding was to have A) guests full, B) (if applicable) as tipsy as they wanted, and C) surrounded by awesome decor. This venue accomplished all. Affordable, an amazing coordinator that comes with the package (Jen Laskey- Hire her as coordinator!!), and the other staff were so amazing. We only did florals and a few personalized touches, otherwise, you don't need to touch the space. Everyone was accommodating, and we actually ENJOYED ourselves. No nightmare story about how we had to troubleshoot and keep a smile on our face. The food is also delicious. No after-party fast food runs required. -
Quality of service
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Nikko S. Sent on 01/01/20212.8 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 3.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 3.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 2.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 4.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 2.0 out of 5 rating
Beautiful Venue but please BEWARE
First off, had a wonderful wedding day! The atmosphere was beautiful and our guests, for the most part, enjoyed everything and we only paid $7,000 for 30 guests with a 4 course dinner, due to Covid -19. WOW!
However, for those of you looking at this place when Covid is over, you should know our concerns for the amount this venue generally charges ($16k). We have concerns...
VENUE COORDINATOR CONCERNS:
For the most part, worked with the woman in charge of the venue for events. Her name is Jennifer.
- Very unprofessional who talked down to us when we pointed out what was wrong (my husband is a well trained cook). She called us “perfectionists”, which we found strange because we were just calling the venue out on some food items that didn’t seem quite right for the price...
- She texted us twice on our honeymoon about feedback. The first text came THE MORNING AFTER OUR WEDDING.
- She sent very unclear and unprofessional emails filled with speak text that was hard to decipher, also emails that came in bright colors and odd fonts.
- She never got back to us after we reached out to her with our concerns a few weeks after our honeymoon.
COVID AND SAFETY CONCERNS:
-No temperature checks that we were promised. No host. A VERY HIGH PROFILE GUEST WE HAD HAD TO LEAVE BECAUSE THRY FELT UNCOMFORTABLE.
-No one guarding the door, so anyone could have just walked in. We saw hosts at another persons event when we had our tasting, and were told it would be the same for ours, but no one showed.
-We had an unwelcoming, poorly timed, disorganized and rush tasting. We didn’t even get to try some of the items we chose days before. Jennifer, barely came to speak with us. We felt rushed and they weren’t being as timely with the food... it took forever. Our tasting was from 1:30-3. But I was there till 4:30... We also received FULL portions for each item we tasted, which we found strange.
FOOD CONCERNS:
- Our VEGAN guests were given EGG noodles!! Our guests said they had to eat around them in their “vegan pasta”. Unacceptable. This comes even after we specified to Jennifer and the chef that the noodles we tried at our tasting for the vegan items looked and tasted like egg noodles... We asked them how they make the vegan noodles, since they apparently make them in house. We were never given a clear answer as to how the vegan noodles were made. Very disappointed!
- Weeks before our tasting, we informed Jennifer of a HUGE nut allergy we had. We arrived at the tasting, and was served not only a flatbread we didn’t choose to taste, but a flatbread that had NUTS ON IT. ABSOLUTELY NOT. Jennifer was apologetic about this, however, it did leave us concerned about how the kitchen deals with cross contamination as it relates to allergies... very concerning.
- ZIP LOCK BAGS were used at our wedding to box up our guests food... we were told they were out of Togo bags! Who does this????
- Served Poor oysters With some small shells still in them
- Served a Poor cut of steak (very fatty) and they charge $33 for this on their menu!
- Jennifer and the chef at first DIDNT want to work with us on steak temps for our 30 guests, 13 of which, ordered steak. Very strange that the kitchen was unwilling to cook 13 steaks to temp. Understandable for a party of 100+, but not for 13...
All this to say, just be AWARE of these things going into your event. Overall, this space is gorgeous, the location is amazing (right in Hollywood), the photo booth was to die for, basically, we enjoyed our event, but unfortunately we did not enjoy working with Jennifer. Whoever was there facilitating our wedding on the day of our event was amazing! I don’t remember his name, but he was on top of EVERYTHING since Jennifer had another event to attend...
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Quality of service
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Paris Sent on 10/19/20212.2 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 2.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 2.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 2.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 3.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 2.0 out of 5 rating
Kind of a mess
Venue coordinator is disorganized. Had to chase her down for responses. Served us the wrong dish. She sent in the wrong photobooth logo and the day-of manager almost refused to fix it. Staff cut the drink menu sign that we made without telling us. Who knows if we were really served top shelf (that's what they cut off). Servers looked like they didn't even want to be there. Our wedding coordinators left some of our personal items and Madera staff tossed them before we could even come pick them up. -
Quality of service
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Brittany Sent on 11/08/20211.8 out of 5 rating
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Quality of service 2.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time 1.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism 1.0 out of 5 rating
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Value 4.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility 1.0 out of 5 rating
Cannot Recommend Due to Poor Management
Unfortunately, I can't recommend Madera for a wedding venue. Despite it being a charming location with good drinks and food, the event management soured the planning experience for us.
We hired the restaurant's in-house planner, Jenn, but had to fire her and hire someone else a month before the wedding because we weren't satisfied with her planning services. We paid her her whole fee anyway without argument. Nonetheless, she still showed up at our wedding, despite saying she would not. It was awkward to say the least.
Additionally, the photo booth that we paid extra for, which was central to our guest party favor, did not function properly for most of the night.
We also paid a mandatory 20% service charge (over $3K) that was supposed to go toward gratuity according to our contract, but we were told the day before our wedding that if we didn't allow tip jars on the bar, the bartenders (who were wonderful) would not get any tip. It put us and our guests in an awkward position.
Finally, we also rented the house owned by the restaurant owner to get ready in. While nice, the day after our wedding we got a call asking for more money to clean, despite paying a cleaning fee already, because we left two boxes by the garbage can.
It was just one thing after another. There are lots of beautiful venues in LA. Just make sure the management is up to the task of not ruining your experience. -
Quality of service
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