Cafe Kevah

I love the view from here and the staff is friendly. Birds hang round to keep you company. I liked the cappuccino. Got the breakfast burrito, was greasy, filling enough for two people. Again the food and coffee are not great but it’s worth the view! Again you really can beat the view not windy and you get to see amazing lookdowns to the ocean. Dogs are not allowed of the parking lot level

With a name like "Nepenthe" (neh-pen-they), which is a Greek word meaning "house of no sorrows" -- it's easy to see why the name here fits. 🥰 There seem to be several businesses on site here, so let me explain how it appears to work: Nepenthe is the restaurant at the top area. Due to price-point, we didn't eat here and just went down a level to what we felt was less-crowded, more open views anyway. Seemed to have a full coffee/wine bar and perhaps a limited menu. Didn't have much interaction with the host, but she didn't seem very friendly/happy. People seemed to be waiting awhile and getting stuck in corners without as many views, but it's meant to appear as an "upscale" restaurant. It's not, just has the view. Cafe Kevah is the mid-level cafe with viewssss 🌊 💍If I could get married all over, I'd choose this balcony corner. Perhaps renewing of vows.💡 Our whole family LOVES this spot and will now be an every-time stop for us.🥰 We like to split cookies or danishes for the kids and we'll sip on a coffee or something...makes it more affordable. Staffing at Cafe Kevah has always been super inviting and friendly in an authentic, honest way. Just a simple job serving food in a delicious place! (The top restaurant and the lower store can have a feel of arrogance which I'm not about, but the mid-level Cafe Kevah is just down-to-earth enjoyment of beautiful things! The price value for Nepenthe AND Cafe Kevah comes from the architecture allowing you to meld into the ambiance of the natural area. Go split something and enjoy the views, but don't expect anything super delicious. It's good, but not what the price-point will make you think it will taste like. Phoenix Shop is down below...the bottom 2 levels. There are bathrooms located to the right immediately when walking in the double doors down and paintings on the bathroom walls (awkward for my kids ages 8 & 9 😆🙃🙈). The store has many things to look at -- very eclectic shop, but out favorite is the porch on non-rainy days on the top level of the shop. Staffing downstairs in the lowest level has always been friendly and helpful, but staffing at the jewelry counter is more-often quite "uppity." When I misplaced my wedding ring (at home, not at Nepenthe), I was looking around and the young girl barely seemed interested in answering any questions. Definitely won't spend $1,700 with that kind of customer service! Other staff throughout the store were thankfully more friendly and made the browsing experience enjoyable. ⚠️FYI, while I did not see any signs in the parking lot notifying anyone, dogs are not dog friendly. A dog-friendly lookout point would be the staircases up from the parking lots. (We don't have a dog yet, but my kids have been asking so we've been noticing where dogs are and are not welcomed.) Parking gets very tight, especially with a truck camper, so plan accordingly. Entering back onto Hwy 1 is right at an inclined curve so cars going north will have momentum built going up and traffic going south will be coasting quickly around the curve.

We intended to go to nepenthe but this is just below and less crowded. We got some coffee and smoothies and enjoyed the views. The gift shop below is worth checking out. Parking is tough but we got lucky.

Staff were great, ordered food and they brought to table and bussed it when we left. I got the Brioche French Toast w fruit compote, and my Mom got the breakfast burrito. The FT was pretty good, personally I think it needed more butter it felt a little dry but still yummy. The salsa was fresh and great with the burrito which my Mom loved. I got a Cafe Mocha and it tasted perfect. We came because I wanted to see the amazing views of the ocean, buy unfortunately the marine layer had other plans. The trees and other plants and flowers add to the beauty, so peaceful. We loved it. There is also a gift shop that opens at 10:30.