It's light, bright, and airy here, not cluttered, dark, and foreboding. (So many old school…read moreantiques malls have the ambience of a Victorian funeral parlor, for f*ck's sake.)
Friendly, helpful proprietress and employees. (What's with the handful of moaners and groaners here in Yelpland? Geez almighty. Some folks would bitch if ya hanged 'em with a new rope, I'm sure.)
Janice in particular is always personable and helpful, and the rest of the staff I've met here just, well, couldn't be friendlier.
Now, this IS a vendor mall, so expect changing styles from one area to another.
Should you expect a flea market environment?
NO.
(If you want haggling and super cheap plastic trinkets, honey, I suggest that you go to a damn garage sale already. Yes, then you'll feel right at home if higgledy-haggledy is your game. You might also try Old Mary's Flea Market while you're at it, and that way you could score some Mexican-made switchblades, a couple of flea-bitten goats, and maybe even two or three grams of bathtub meth.)
Is Mockingbird Manor EXPENSIVE?
Not necessarily, no.
(I for one find a lot of great buys here.)
To wit, I just purchased a fantastic Steuben crystal paperweight for a whopping forty-eight bucks, and a wonderful Muranese vase for the princely sum of (!!!) thirty-two dollars. (Hardly what I'd call prohibitive prices!)
I'm going back soon to buy some Sango dinnerware (yes, not necessarily "vintage," by any means, but cute as hell) in the hard to find "Retro Red" glaze. (It's all reasonably priced by the way, especially compared to both eBay and other online venues.)
Parking along Western can be a bear -- that much is indisputable. (In other words, you might want to be prepared to park along an adjacent street.)
Musashi is just steps away, as is Freeman's Liquor Store.
VZD's is just down the street to the south, and Sushi Neko (one of my personal favorites) and The Drum Room (try the Brussels Sprout Salad!) are, as well.
The awful construction mess on Western Avenue? It's mostly gone now, so don't expect the headaches you might have encountered on this stretch of Western just a year or two ago.
Five solid stars for Mockingbird Manor!