Le Saint Raphael

Wishing the owners best of luck.
The food and atmosphere (inside) were great!!! Sad to see this go.

I have been to dinner here twice and I absolutely loved each visit. The service is wonderful, felt very comfortable and relaxed. The older French gentleman is such a delight. I think he is the server and bartender. He pours great big glasses of wine :) The food is tasty, even the bread is TDF. Not the place to go if you are looking to get in and out quickly. The service is… like I said… relaxed.
The only reason I am not giving this place 5 stars is because the sausage dish my BF ordered the first time dined here was a bit of a let down. Everything else was well worth the money we paid, and it wasn’t much because the prices are crazy reasonable. Definitely will try and make it back here soon.

We went for dinner on a Sunday night and our meal was great.
There were plenty of menu options to choose from, everything we ordered was delicious, and even the bread was top notch.
The room is exquisite; elegant in a simple way, but not too simple, and very tasteful. Other patrons were dressed casually, but we «dressed for dinner» and did not feel self-​conscious because the room is so nice.
The wine list is not over-​priced, which in itself is a pleasant surprise in the 21^st century in LA. It’s not extensive, but fairly priced trumps overwhelming options in my book any day.
Now, on the night we went, there were surprisingly few tables occupied. I would chalk that up to 1) location (if this restaurant were in Santa Monica or Culver City or near The Grove, it would be packed even on a Sunday) and 2) the economy (many of our favorite restaurants seem to be less populated lately).
Believe what other reviewers say about the parking lot; tiny tiny tiny. It only worked for us because it was only ¹⁄₃ full (which means maybe 3 cars.) But it looked as though there would be street parking nearby.
I loved this restaurant. Where can you get reasonably priced French food, and wine, in a beautiful dining room? Here — that’s where. (The lounge area was also cute cute cute so even just stop for a drink.) I would guess that Saturday nights are very busy, but I don’t know that for a fact. And you can get a coupon at
.

Color me black and unimpressed.
The French femme fetalehttp://static1.px.yelp.com/photo/bDKxP_sYiTS_etp643xWtA/l
gave this place her stamp of approval and actually wanted to work here before she went back to France and I can see why.
The décor resembles a nicely remodeled living room and lanai. The inside has dark cherry hardwood floors and earth tones. The outside has marble floors and very quaint tables and chairs. The best part of my dining experience at Le Saint Raphael.
The food was uninspiring. The La Marie Antoinette (any omelet with a glass of mimosa or champagne served with sauteed potatoes and mixed greens for $ 14.95) was simply average. My La Strasbourg omelet, that consisted of chicken sausages, red peppers, and Swiss cheese, was no better than an IHOP’s omelets. I was expecting much more than this. Far more than this…
The potatoes were great. Seasoned perfectly. Ditto the mixed greens.
FYI: There is a
coupon for $ 10 off for Le Saint Raphael.

Went to brunch here. Great strawberry lemonade. awesome, friendly service. Nice ambiance and not as expensive as it looks. I will go back for sure.

Nice european-​style café that’s less expensive than it looks.
I was surprised how reasonable the prices were considering the décor and ambiance suggested it would be more expensive. My french toast ($ 8 see pic) was delicious and the cinnamon butter they serve with it was a nice flair. The strawberries and banana was fresh and flavorful.
The coffee is also excellent. They have LaVazza coffee and are very generous with refills. The service was also very friendly and attentive. The owner even came out and asked us about our breakfast.
The only downside is the parking. Their lot is really tiny and just off PCH so it may be more convenient to park in a side street when it gets busy.
My wife was also happy that they could make their french onion soup even though it was before 9am.
We’ll definitely be back!

Do not let the outside of this place fool you in anyway!
It is simply A Fabulous Place to go and to have an amazingly & perfectly well cooked meal. I have had the pleasure of taking a lot of my good friends to this restaurant and they all said the exact same thing «That was such an amazing meal» and TRUST! My friends are very honest people and don’t B.S. When it comes to food.
The service can be a little on the slow side, however it is still worth the wait. Their peppercorn crusted seared auhi tuna is one of my favorite items on their menu, as well as their New York Steak with the parsley cream sauce is heavenly.
Even their chicken Cesar salad was fantastic… you can not go wrong with anything at this place and I can’t say that about many restaurants.

Awesome place for breakfast. Went there with the wife and the baby, sat down right away. Started with two of the best Mimosas ever. Food was great, everyone was super nice. My wife is French, so she chatted up her fellow Frenchies while we were there. Love this place, can’t wait to try them for dinner.

We decided to try this restaurant because they had a paella night. It was wonderful! Their sangria was the best I ever had. We lucked out and got most of the fruit is the sangria. The appetizers, paella, and desserts were fabulous! The service is good. I didn’t mind that our food was served at a slower rate (like in France) because it made you eat slower and savor the different tastes and aroma and great conversations. I don’t like being rushed when I’m eating anyway.
We recognized the waiter from Coccole (no longer in existence) in Redondo Beach. Glad to see him. Miss Coccole though.
I checked their website and learned that they serve breakfast and lunch, too. We went to breakfast on Sunday and, again, had great food. Lots of selection for breakfast. I wish we knew about this restaurant last year!
I just loved hearing French being spoken in the restaurant. Sent me back to France.
We recommend this restaurant. We are going back for dinner and try more food! Glad to see new restaurants popping back in South Bay.

Went with my GF. Food was delicious. Everything was good. I was happy because they had a lot of options of carpaccio. Start with the traditional onion and cheese soup! Service is slow, but it actually helped us taking it easy, eating and drinking slow and enjoying the time.
Highly recommended.

Warning — the parking lot is small! if you have a big car, or if the lot is full, you might have trouble maneuvering… But I think there’s street parking as well.
I was a bit hesitant about this place. I had read that the food was great, but I was expecting some pretty exorbitant prices. But I was happy to find that the lunch menu was quite reasonable. We both enjoyed superb sandwiches (I had the Paradis, he had the Gabin), which came with a side of fries AND salad. Awesome! The salad was excellent — mixed greens with just the right amount of dressing. I liked the spices on the fries, but didn’t eat too many since they seemed a bit cold. But D polished them off for me, so they can’t have been bad. And I really liked the bread! They brought out a multigrain baguette with flax seeds to start. My wheat bread was perfectly toasted, and it had a hint of sweetness, and D’s ciabatta was good too.
We will be back! But next time, we’ll walk.
Oh! And they really do speak French!

Very good French-​inspired place. Good place to hang out and relatively reasonable prices. And the bread is awesome… they have a baguette and a whole grain, they’re both awesome. We had the veal peppercorn, duck confit and also tried the bacon-​wrapped scallops. Everything was tasty. The bordeaux wine wasn’t the best I’ve ever had though, but overall no complaints. And be aware– the service is good but at European speed so if you’re in a hurry this is not the place to go.

Saw this restaurant on
and decided to give it a try based on the positive reviews on Unilocal.I had the French onion soup and the baker sandwich. Food was decent, but not really a must-​have.
The ambiance was quite nice and beautifully set up. But overall, the place gets an OK rating.

This is one of our standbys for brunch. Great little French spot and there’s never a wait. I love that serve you toasted baguette, French (real) butter, and homemade jam right after you sit down.
We usually get the eggs benny, which comes with a small portion of tasty potatoes and a small salad. Speaking of salads, their endive salad with fried roquefort balls, candied walnuts and grapes is easily the best salad you will find in the South Bay. Be sure to ask for it as a mixed greens salad.

Great French Onion Soup and Quiche
What more can I say?
I don’t know much about French food, but I know one thing for certain. French Onion Soup. Just like I always order hot and sour soup to rate Chinese restaurants, I use French Onion Soup as my guide. Some places make it salty and I usually don’t go back to places that make salty ones. This place had a perfectly balanced French Onion Soup that was a pure delight: good cheese, awesome presentation, and great flavor.
Another thing I commonly get is Quiche. I got a Quiche Lorraine here and was blown away by how light and fluffy, yet hearty it was. You can taste lots of eggs for sure. The crust was actually pretty durable and did not crumble, but I liked it that way.
Great coffee. I love Lavazza. Their French Baguette was awesome and everyone gets it, I think. Great outdoor patio. You do get a view of Walgreens, tho =P but it’s all good. Great service. They came to check on us a bunch of times =)
I saw them putting up lights for the holidays. I gotta check this place out again for dinner one day.

My daughter and i love this spot — partly because we can walk there, but also for the good food and friendly service.
It’s a great breakfast place but the lunch and dinner menus are fun too. We love the chorizo and basil omelette, French Onion Soup, wonderfully fresh salads, tasty fries. Flavourful coffee, nice wines.
And a great martini.
Only complaint… they rarely make their mushroom ravioli– which is exquisite… replete with toasted basil.
This location was prevously Beaujolais, then Bella Blue.

After reviewing the menu online and reading the Unilocal reviews, we decided to give this place a try. We’ve enjoyed the owners’ Crème de la Crêpe in Hermosa for a casual meal, so thought we’d see how he transitioned to a more upscale restaurant. Good food remains hard to find in the South Bay, so time to try something new!
Four of us arrived Saturday evening and were seated almost immediately. There were several empty tables inside and we noted that there were only two servers, who also had to serve as bartender as well as bussing tables themselves. We always love the charming Robaire at previous local restaurants, but with virtually no staff, service was very very slow! We brought our wines, which they saw, and we waited 15 minutes for wine glasses, and then had to ask for water another 10 minutes later.
Four of us ordered our meals when the first wine, a Pouilly Fuisse (7 miles from Robaire’s home!), was open, looking forward to enjoying it with the salmon carpaccio, tartare trio, seafood gratin. It was over 30 minutes before these dishes were served, by which time the wine was almost gone. Of course the tartares and carpaccio had to be prepared fresh, but 30 minutes? Like the front room, an indication that the kitchen is understaffed. Meanwhile, staff was completely inattentive, no mention ever being made that we could expect a long wait.
Ultimately, the appetizers were all very good. Entrees were a bit mixed. Husband ordered the New York steak au poivre. It was overcooked a bit (medium rare became medium), and the quality of the meat was just not good. It was tough, not a characteristic of an NYC. My seabass was very good, if a bit oversalted. Our friends had two different preparations of scallopine, which they enjoyed very much. Again, I thought both were oversalted.
Will we return? Sure, it’s a mile from home. Good appetizers. I’ll stick with fish options for the main course.

I went in for an anniversary dinner with a most handsome chap. Nice atmosphere, the interior is welcoming and refined, like you’re in your own formal dining room without the stuffiness. The food was charmingly flavorful, especially when your in good company. Although my server was a darling fellow, he was a bit absent-​minded and forgot us in the mad rush of Friday patrons. But once we caught his attention he was engaged and entertaining.
I look forward to breakfast here since they bragged about their menu as well as all the reviews… until then.

Only minor downside is on busy PCH, but the place is charming with med feel and outdoor seating as well. Normally not into French food, but this place is awesome. Serves up a mix of meats, pastas, tapas, and even seafood. The shrimp I had was excellent served with 2 nice sides. Food was really fresh, nice portions but not too heavy. Tough to make a choice. Great service, amazing coffee and desserts. Will def return again, and reasonably priced. Avg dish $ 20, with plenty options cheaper. Small tough to navigate parking lot, if busy consider parking in street.
Went a second time and it was not as good. Cute waitress was gone, I ordered same dish and they would not let me choose the same side dishes. I heard breakfast is grub so maybe I will give that a shot next time.

I am so excited to have this wonderful new restaurant, open just one month, located only a few blocks from my house. I can walk there, and that will help burn up some of the calories I am bound to accumulate eating my way through their menu… because this place is great. I have no doubt I will be a frequent visitor, a regular.
I’ve been there twice so far.
On my first visit I had a late lunch. There are 3 menus, by the way: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served until 11:30 on weekdays, 2:30pm on weekends. The restaurant is open continuously, 7 days, from 8am to 10pm… very ambitious of this family-​owned place to keep such long hours, and lucky for the convenience of all its patrons.
And yes, take out is available.
And there is a nice wine list.
And even a kids menu.
So…for my late weekday lunch, a couple weeks ago, I chose sauteed scallops on fresh spinach with garlic-​parsley butter jus. $ 16, lunch price, with 2 sides included. Side choices included mashed potatoes & asparagus.
Yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds. (See photos.)
And I started with French onion soup. It came in a covered ramekin just the way my mother used to serve it when I was a kid. I thought that was very cool back then, and I still do.
The meal was delicious from start to finish. It was more than I could eat, and the leftovers were my dinner that night.
That’s the day I met Jessica (hope I spelled the name correctly), my server. She’s the owner’s daughter and has a smile that lights up the room (see photo).
Service at Le Saint Raphael is as wonderful as the food. These are very very nice people. In fact, today I learned that the owner of the popular 2 locations of Crème de la Crêpe… is Jessica’s brother! Wow, this family certainly knows the restaurant biz. I have no doubt whatsoever that Le Saint Raphael will be a huge hit in Redondo Beach… and I am making history as the first to review!
The interior of this new restaurant is stunning. My photos do not do justice to the beautiful setting. I have chosen to sit on the outdoor front patio on both my visits, and it’s lovely. Although right on PCH, it’s peaceful, due to good design.
Today I had breakfast at Le Saint Raphael. I had the menu selection called La Guillotine, haha…
Pancakes are available, although not yet on the printed menu… so I had the combo of scrambled eggs, chicken-​apple sausage, and 3 pancakes. $ 10, including a basket of assorted breads with jam.
I think those pancakes may have been the best ever of my pancake-​eating life! Perfect! Fluffy but not too much so. Melt-​in-​your-​mouth tender delicious. (See photo.)
The syrup was served warm. Oh I am getting so spoiled.
I am ashamed to say that I drove the short distance to Le Saint Raphael to eat those pancakes… oh dear…
leaving now for the gym…
July 6:
I was back for breakfast… two days in a row, haha…
Scrambled eggs with salad & sauteed potatoes was delicious (see pic). And, today was the first time I have had their great coffee… LavAzza Italian coffee, need I say more?