Matisse Bistro

Always fresh always clean always ready — great staff — excellent environment given its location and frankly I can’t think of more you could ask for save for a Nice broiled rib eye or similar…
Also not a bad place to have a quite drink after a long day before heading home.

Matisse is convenient for Newport Gateway employees. It is open for your morning coffee plus pastry and for your quick work lunch. But theres a reason why so many of your colleagues are brown baggin it!
Matisse is very fairly priced for your coffee and offers some convenient staples such as chips and so. But the food is alright.
It is just alright. They have the lunch staples such as salads, snacks, soups and sandwiches. The 4 S’s.
It does its job but not with flying colors. If it were my choice, I would cheer for a new replacement. But Matisse does its job.
Try to avoid heavily trafficked hours. They will get your order wrong.

Matisse is super convenient as they are located on the ground floor of an office building, but that convenience will cost you a pretty penny to just ride the elevator down and order food.
The foodies that they have are that of a typical café/​bistro with breakfast pastries, salads, sandwiches, soup, burgers, pasta… They have a specials chalkboard to the side as well. Everything that I’ve tried has been decent so I don’t think you can go wrong! Their french fries and veggie burger has to be one of my favorites. But they recently switched distributors so it’s s bit different, I’ve spoken to the staff and they’re thinking about going back.
In the back, they also have a full bar, which is one of the perks of working here. #winewednesday and Matisse Martinis are where it’s at!
Service has always been great, the workers are all friendly. Dining area is always clean and usually they will play music to lighten the mood.
Since I work here, parking isn’t an issue. But I know they have free 2 hr parking out front. Not sure if people who don’t work here will have an easy time finding it though.

This «restaurant» is more like a fast food counter with worse customer service. They now offer online ordering to alleviate waiting a half hour for food to be prepared. I placed my order online and paid but due to a register not being on (not my fault) my order was never made. The girls working there were unconcerned that i would have to wait another 20 – 30 minutes!
The food is pricey but adequate. The only reason it is always busy is because this part of Irvine is landlocked with very few other dining options without driving. Im done trying to maneuver through the long lines and crappy service! I would rather lose my parking spot than spend my whole lunch hour trying to get an overpriced standard lunch.

My office staff and I often come down for our morning espresso drinks or lunch and I’m definitely satisfied with the service they provide.
I don’t often eat here myself, but I do order a quad espresso almost every morning and boy does the girl who works the counter know how to pull espresso! The coffee is great — it’s smooth, buttery, and non-​acidic. I add a little half & half and it definitely completes the coffee. AND at $ 2.40, it’s definitely cheaper than any Starbucks/​Coffee Bean/Pete’s I’ve ever visited.
If you’re in the area and looking for a quick bite to eat or in need of a quick coffee break, this is a great place to go.

I only come here when I forget to pack my lunch and I don’t have enough time to drive anywhere for lunch (damn those pesky afternoon meetings). Matisse is an easy backup plan as it is walking distance, and I can generally get my food to-​go pretty fast.
They have a lunch special: a soup and salad combo that I normally get. The soup is pretty decent and they offer a few selections of soups that rotate daily.
Oh, there is a bar area around the corner if you want to get a drink with a little more kick ;)

For me, this is a great place to stop by for a quick coffee break or grab a sandwich for lunch during a regular working day since it is located in the company building. The food is average but what i like the most is they got a flat screen tv in the bar area! Yeah!

Glad this is at my office building. They are located on the lower level. They have a full bar, too including a full service restaurant/​bistro! I met the manager/​owner today, nice guy. I’ll be back here for sure!
I had their mushroom bisque and that was so divine — totally bursting with flavor!
Their single mocha’s pretty bomb too!

I was getting bored with Matisse but they recently revitalized their menu with some flavor and some of the new items like the quinoa, mahi mahi tacos and fusilli pasta salads are very good. Their daily selection of soups and panini sandwiches are very appetizing and fresh. Service is always fast, friendly and courteous. Try the mediterranean quinoa and chicken pesto panini. This is my quick lunch spot when my day is booked with meetings and I only have a few minutes to grab something to go.

I have lunched here a few times.
I can recommend
–the soups which are served with bread and butter:
–Italian wedding soup — nice consistency, clear broth with vegies and small meat balls
–the potato bacon soup — naughty and nice goodness! (go on, just do it.)
— the lasagna was surprisingly good (served with side salad.).
The items are all slightly overpriced, but one pays for the convenience of it being in an office building, so that kind of is to be expected.

Meh…
The food is delicious, it’s super convenient (for people who work in the office buildings nearby as it’s located within one of the black towers)…but the food is a bit pricey (not outrageously priced though) & the customer service kinda sucks. I’ll prob end up coming back here merely cause of the taste + convenience.
Every time I come here, I’ve always left feeling as if I should’ve gone elsewhere just cause of their lack of service.

Train your staff to either check to see if food from the kitchen is ready to be served, or have someone expedite, or have the cook announce to staff that food is ready.
Two times already I have waited unnecessarily for 15 – 20 minutes to have my burger or sandwich come out. I see something 15 minutes ago through the kitchen window something that resembles my order sitting on the counter for the past 10 minutes or so I hope it is not mine, and when I ask where is my order, they go back there and get that I suspected was mine and give it to me a little cold.
Quit it. Im paying 10+ dollars for it. Serve food correctly or you will lose this customer.

Far better than going to Subway or Panera Bread, etc. but nothing epic. Just your basic sandwiches and wraps and some daily soups /​pastas. It’s a little café in the basement of our office building. Who would get an entrée here I have no idea. They should replace the entrées on their menu with something more take out friendly like pizzas or calzones.

They never have french fries

I work in the building, & the owner, Othman is always very friendly & pleasant and custom-​makes everything to my liking. The food is ok but the desserts & soups are exceptional! My favorites are the avocado & cherry tomato salad, the breakfast ham & swiss cheese on croissant, the red roasted pepper soup (AWESOME), and their cookies & brownies for dessert! They also make a really good iced mocha (but I always add a little extra chocolate which kicks it up a notch!)
The food is well-​made with quality ingredients, but a little monotonous for my taste (pre-​made sandwiches and quiches). I’d love to see a little variety and spice amidst their offerings. All in all, it’s a convenient, good place to visit for lunch when ‘were busy at work.

Had the caprese sandwich. It was enjoyble but nothing too special. I’m not a fan of pre-​made sandwiches. The lettuce was slightly wilted. Quick, convenient, and good and so I would go back.

This place opened up recently by my wife’s office and it’s great!
They have pastries, soups, salads, wraps, and sandwiches… excellent for any time of the day.
Haven’t tried everything yet but here are my favorites so far:
— Mushroom quiche
— Lobster bisque
— Chocolate chip cookie (oh man it’s good)
They have their own dedicated parking right outside (look for the signs) so you don’t have to get into the adjacent structure, so even if you don’t work in the office buildings you can easily try it out. If you do work by the bistro, go now!!!
Check out their menu: