Isabelle Brien’s French Pastry Cafe

The food is excellent here. Pastries are light, fluffy, and crispy, with excellent flavor. My first visit was amazing — everything from service to experience was on par. This time though… Not so much. The Brioche French Toast is amazing, however, it should not have taken 45 minutes to prepare!
It was not busy in the least bit while I was there. The owner, a nice French woman, and a new employee were working. I placed my order at 9:06am, and at 9:36, had to get up and ask the girl at the counter if my French toast was coming out anytime soon. She looked confused, but asked the kitchen anyway, and told the owner.
The owner made sure the order went through. I received my French toast at 9:46.
All I received was a meek «sorry about that» from the new girl, and absolutely nothing from the owner… who seemed to engrossed in conversation with another native Frenchman.
At least listening to their conversation was pleasant.

Best sandwiches around, best pastries around – once, they were swamped and made too much food, and instead of throwing the food out Isabelle gave it away to other customers (the savory crêpe we got for free was delicious). Try the coffee, too!

They have the best crepes. They were the caterer at a party I recently went to and I had both a dinner crêpe and a strawberry dessert crêpe and they were both amazing. I can’ wait to go to their café to try more!

yummm. addicted to the almond cookies. we have had an amazing lemon cake and chocolate cream type cake as well. but the cookies remain my favorite good service. and clean.

Have been visiting this bakery for over ten years. Actually closer to twenty years. Always to go in the early morning. Baguettes and Battard are great, as are the Jesuits and croissants. Cookies are a treat too. Wish they opened earler. 6:30 am would be great.
Casual small bakery with a few tables inside and out. Located in a local strip mall. Cvs, Ralphs supermarket and trader joes in the same strip mall.

This place has the best croissants in the area (and may be in the entire SoCal). The quality of food and service has been consistently high over all the years we ate here. I now live on the East Coast, but every time I come to town, I stop by this place. It is a true gem!

The only thing I wanted for my birthday was a real french Opera cake. Not the Americanized version with lady fingers in it and whipped cream. Not just a chocolate cake with opera written on it, but a real French one.
My wife called Isabelle and she knew immediately what I wanted, and made it overnight. The cake was stellar, and made the party so much fun.

I’ve been here 4 times already, and each time you get great service. Food is yummy, I love getting the crepes and various pastries.

Isabelle’sFrench Pastry Café is my favorite local coffee place in Southern California! I can enjoy their wonderful pastries outside with my four legged companions! Yep, they are very dog friendly! Not only does the place make you feel like you’ve stepped into a Paris café with the french music and family photos tastefully positioned on the wall, but I use their portable crêpe services to offer their delicious savory crepes and dessert crepes for my special local clients’ house warming events! A few of the staff are french so it makes the occasions extra special.

They have one gluten free dessert item here and that is the almond cookie which is really more of a dense muffin. It’s delicious. You can also get GF crepes, savory and dessert. An authentic French café run by French speakers. Would you consider making GF croissants please oh please?

We love coming here for cappuccinos and sometimes a snack while in the middle of our Saturday grocery shopping trip. The girls are always friendly and make lovely cappuccinos. Last Saturday we decided to try a crêpe for the first time. We ordered a ham & cheese one to share along with our 2 cappuccinos. It was very light and sweet but delicious all the way through. Everything here is so reasonably priced and made so well that it has become one of our favorite stops on a Saturday.

This place has the best croissants that I have ever tasted! If I lived in California I would be here every day :)

The coffee and pastries were delicious!!! You could sit inside a homey feeling café or outside on the beautiful patio by a fountain!

I got the best croissant I’ve had since my last visit to France. Bakeries have a hard time getting the combination of crunchy exterior and moist chewy interior that is common all over France. Isabelle Brien got it right.
I have been wanting to check out the French Pastry Café for some time. I dropped in today to grab coffee and a pastry. I am disappointed I haven’t stopped in sooner. The coffee and croissant were excellent. The proprietor was working the front counter and she provided excellent help with a lovely french accent. Looking through the pastry cases, there are many delicacies I have yet to try so I am sure I will be back.

I love this place! I usually get the paninis, and they’ve been tasty. There’s one with prosciutto and cheese that is the bomb diggity. The beverages are yummy too… Try the Indian spice chai latte with an extra shot or two of espresso for a little kick to get your energy surging. And do yourself a solid and get one of their desserts on one of your splurge days!

I can’t believe I’ve never been here! This is a great little (7 tables inside) French bakery/​café at the El Camino Real/​Encinitas Blvd intersection. The cashiers are perky, friendly, and very efficient. The Versailles omelet with spinach and brie was delicious, and the brioche French toast was so yummy! Best cappuccino I’ve had in a while.
The pastries all looked so fresh and tasty, and the list of paninis and other menu items looked pretty good.
I’m definitely going to be back soon!

Isabel Brien’s has both delicious and authentic french pastries. My family orders specialty cakes and desserts for anniversaries, weddings, and birthdays. Isabelle has some amazing savory crepes all of which are available gluten free. The Monaco omelet is my favorite. The gruyère cheese complements the ham while the eggs are cooked just right (not over cooked nor runny).
I adore the small shop’s aesthetics, parisian music and décor. I am in love with the almond cookies. They are an inch and a half high, crunchy outside with a soft chewy middle. The crème brûlée is so yummy and beautiful! They decorate their desserts and dishes like a fancy hotel.
My friends frequent this bakery and order the traditional and chocolate chip croissants.

JB and I came here following our Pilates class. Small cute hole in the wall with several tables inside and nice patio seating outside.
We stepped in and it smelled wonderful! The menu was limited, but adequate if you are in a hurry or just need something simple. They do serve omelets, crepes, paninis, pastries, coffee, and other sweet stuff.
We decided that after a workout that we wanted eggs. We both opted for the Biarritz Omelet (JB = Bacon, MC = Sausage). The omelet is simple — eggs, cheese, and sausage. I wish it came with more ingredients, but it’s all about simplicity here. The omelet came with a couple pieces of fresh fruit and a couple tiny bread pieces. FYI –Not a hearty breakfast!!! ($ 8) I ordered a mocha which capped off our healthy breakfast nicely. ($ 3)
We did save our calories for a sweet dessert after our brunch. We opted to split the Chocolate Mousse. SO BAD, but SO delicious…
$ 25 with tip for the brunch; $ 5 for dessert.
Note: This place is located in the CVS shopping center. There’s also a Trader Joes in the shopping center as well as other healthy eateries/​stores.

My family and my sister who was visiting from out of town came here after the day at the beach. We were starving and wanted some good sandwiches and saw that this place served some good ones. We got there around 3pm on a Sunday and they said that the kitchen was closed and weren’t making anymore sandwiches. We were sad about it, but decided to get some pastries to go because they looked so good. My husband had the cannoli, my sister got the strawberry cheesecake, I got the fruit tart and we got the strawberry mousse to share. We took it in a box to go and went to Native Foods next door to get some linner before digging into our desserts.
We had the desserts once we got home and my, were they good! My husband’s cannoli tasted like Florentine with ricotta cheese, phenomenal! The strawberry mousse was to die for, though I didn’t care too much for the strawberry cheesecake. My fruit tart had a tough crust, but it was still really good.
We liked this place and we’ll have to come back another day to try the sandwiches. I’ll also have to order some of their bigger cakes!

I visited the place and left with mixed feelings regarding the food preparation, but I liked the place and the people who work here. I tried the Gerard Depardieu a roast beef panini with crème de blue and romaine, (
) and one of their scrumptious cranberry walnut house baked cookies.
The panini was not a true panini in that it did not have the traditional grill marks nor was it properly pressed. I felt the sandwich was haphazardly put together. For instance, the crème de blue was not evenly spread on the two pieces of bread, rather it was just piled near the centers; as a result, when I would bite into it, I would get either, no blue cheese or an overwhelming amount in one bit. In addition, the roast beef was not only limited in quantity, but it was also dry which lowered it flavor profile. (
) The Gerard Depardieu was no doubt a two star event at best, but where the panini flopped, the cookie shined.
The cranberry walnut cookie to my full enjoyment was quite large, and it was packed with sweet chewy cranberries and tender walnuts. (
) The cookie portion was moist and crumbly with a great flavor. (
) I could eaten several of these babies with my iced coffee. The cookie was a four star event for sure, so using the law of averages, I am settling for a three star event.

Yummy… love everything, chocolate croissants are delicious!