Marketplace Café

Market Place aka Nordstrom Café is one of those cool spots to hit up if someone is taking way too long to shop inside Nordstroms lol and you’re hungry. This café has a lot to offer and most of the dishes I’ve tried have usually been on point. You can come here for a whole dinner, a snack, or some dessert. They make sandwiches, pizzas, soups, crème brûlée, pastas, and steaks. They have a broad selection of entrees to choose from. Even bringing a kid here to eat wouldn’t be a problem for them to find something that they would like unlike some restaurants. Their tomato Basil soup is really nice to start off with and if you go there for dinner don’t forget to end it with the bomb crème brûlée lol. You won’t regret it! This place is tucked in the side of the third story of Nordstroms. If you come here to shop, then you should definitely give this place a try if you’re hungry.

We love Nordie’s café. It’s the place to stop after you shop. Not too crowded. A chance to rejuvenate with a food and a glass of wine.
I always order Caesar salad with salmon or chicken and tomato basil soup. The Nordie servers are awesome and they always take care of you. Overall, CS friendly, nice atmosphere. Price is fair. They offer pastries too don’t forget the crème brûlée. Yum ! Highly recommended.

2 words: TOMATO SOUP!!! Aaaaaah it’s delicious!!!
So this was my very first time inside the café and I was pleasantly surprised with how it looks inside. So you get a tray and go down the line to place your order. Someone takes your order and gives you soup if you order any (and please do so!!) And you then walk through the line but before you get to the cashier, you can see exactly what every plate look like as they have a real demo of each dish behind the glass. I loveeee garlic so I opted for the Rosemary chicken which read «with garlic» in the description. My gf got the chimichurri skirt steak which I was happy about because that’s the other dish I wanted to try. So anyway, we then paid (I ordered a glass of wine as well. forgot the name but one of the 2 chardonnay options they had) and sat in a table with our number. A server came right over with my wine and took our number and paper with our order written down on it, and said he would be back with our food when it was ready. 10 minutes later our food came out. It looked just as it did on the demos behind the glass and this made me really happy as it is unusual the food looks like the pictures/​advertisements they show of it. My chicken was really good, with less of a garlic flavor than what I was expecting but nonetheless, great. My gf’s skirt steak was really good as well. The green chimichurri sauce was not as good as I have had before in Argentinian restaurants but it was still good, tasted a lot like lime. The soup was of course phenomenal! The wine was so so as it was a grocery store brand, but I still enjoyed it with my food. Overall a good place to have lunch at. definetely will be returning here on my next Nordstroms shopping trip.

Love coming to Nordstrom Café and have been to numerous locations nationwide! However, the Fashion Valley location specifically today was just absolutely below expectations and Nordstrom standards.
Got questioned numerous times on our order and simply just wanted to ADD salmon to one salad and NO cherries on another. The line chef said that they usually don’t do that and I was confused by the fact that when did customers preference get thrown out the window.
I don’t blame the line staff at all because it’s not their fault. It’s their leadership and management team for not properly training their personnel on how to handle customized orders. The icing on the cake was when they brought both out our orders WRONG. Clearly a lack of communication between the entire team.

Awesome place to hang out for some quick grubs while shopping. My favorite is the Boston cream pie and coffee while I’m here waiting for everyone!

The food is always so delicious. I recommend the tomato soup and the angel hair shrimp pasta! The Crème brûlée is literally the best thing in the world and you won’t regret getting this unless something crazy happens like you find hair in it but that would never happen with this beautiful slice of heaven
Thanks Francisco for great service twice!

This Nordstrom Café is the absolute best one I’ve tried so far in comparison to all the LA and SD locations. Here they have the best selection of everything, the salads, soups, entrees and desserts and actually feels like a real restaurant located inside the Fashion Valley mall on the 2^nd floor of Nordy’s.
I usually come here for the salads and the tomato basil soup but last time I was here I decided to try the Tagliatelle with Bolognese (Chef Daily Special) and was very glad I did. So far, this entrée has been the best one I’ve had at any Nordstrom Café EVER. The pasta was impeccably cooked al dente and the meat and mushroom combo was wonderfully savory and hearty. We also ordered a side of «Parmesan crisp» which is essentially a baked cheese chip that pairs nicely with the soup and is a superior alternative to croutons or plain sourdough bread. The tomato soup is also a million times better here than at the other NC’s, most of them pale in comparison to this delicious cup of creamy tomato joy.
It seems that the Marketplace Café at Fashion Valley offers a greater variety of food and is not as high end as some of the others but yet offers a gourmet collection of entrees with the same or better quality than other NC Cafes. At other locations, I’ve felt like the high prices don’t match the portions and taste of food but at this Café, I’ve always been pleased at everything they have to offer. MC also has a nice environment, it’s not dimly lit like some of the other Nordstrom branch restaurants and I have never experienced a crazy wait time. Overall, I would love to return and is one of my favorite places for lunch in the Fashion Valley area.

This is a staple for my family. For a quick, easy and reasonably healthy (hey, they use organic ingredients!) dinner, we love the Marketplace Café.
This place is KID FRIENDLY, has a great kids menu, they offer crayons and coloring booklet and raisins to hold your little one over while they wait for food. My boy loves mac and cheese and theirs is some of the best! Spiral pasta in a cheesy cream sauce always makes me «test» it to make sure it’s not too hot. Sometimes it’s delivered ridiculously hot and sometimes it’s just right, so make sure to test all through. I love that the mac and cheese comes with grapes and strawberries (depending on what fruit is available) for days when my guy is particularly hungry.
My husband and I usually get a bowl of soup to share (it’s huge and serves two full cups). We like the pizzas, the chimichurri steak meal, the chicken and veggies, the chicken cilantro lime salad, the pasta dishes – just to name a few. What can I say – we’re fans!
Check out the bottled soda selection as they sometimes have gems in there (can we say sasparila?!).
Want dessert? The Boston cream cake, the carrot cake and the lemon coconut cake are all tasty and taste as described. The crème brûlée is good, but does taste cold and like it’s been waiting in a cold case.
Overall, I’m sorry that I’ve told you it’s so good, because I know you’ll come, you’ll love it, and you’ll make the place busier.

The food was good, but for the price that I spent on it… I was expecting my portion to be more. The showcase that they had of the meal I opted for was much bigger than what was given to me once it was cooked. So that is my only disappointment.

The gentleman working the salad bar (John?) definitely knows what excellent service is. Great food, great staff.
Get the apple chicken salad and ½ turkey cranberry

We’ve been to the café here at Nordstrom a few times. We love getting the tomato basil soup that comes with the delicious side of bread. It is cafeteria style and there are good selections from pastas and sandwiches and pizzas. I love getting the margarita pizza.
Service here is good and it’s not hard flagging someone down when we need something. Today the the pizzas came out very late and the margarita pizza was really salty…
Otherwise it was a fine snack today.

I love Nordie’s Café! It has become one of mine and my coworker’s «go to» places for lunch before work. Not only is the location convenient since I work at the mall, but the food is tasty.
My first time coming here was with my best friend a few years back, but I have made a recent reconnection with this café a few months ago – the best decision of my life. My favorite thing here is their tomato basil soup, and to be honest, I don’t think anyone else’s tomato basil soup could compare. How could a simple soup be so addicting?
I have tried almost everything – from their soup to their sandwiches, and even their pasta. I’m a big fan. It’s a little pricey ($ 10 – 17 for a sandwich or pasta), but I think it’s worth it. The portions are pretty filling!
You wait in line and order your food as you look at the options they have, then you pay. After, you seat yourself, or someone seats you, and you wait for your food. The service here is so-​so. Some days it’s good, some days it’s alright. For the most part, it has never been busy for me. There are a few exceptions, though. Come lunch time, it can get super packed.
Regardless, I love Nordie’s Café!

It was my second time with my daughter. I love the place, and the food. The staff are very accommodating, polite, helpful and respectful. I ordered spicy shrimp and angel hair pasta and my daughter ordered chicken tomato alfredo. We also tried the soup du jour: «tomato basil soup», i love it. Tasty! Our server Leasa always make sure she refill our coffee. My 5 star rating is all due to the staff especially Leasa. We will frequent this café because it’s my favorite place to eat when I’m in Fashion Valley.

This is a great place to have lunch or dinner with friends and family. It’s low key, great food and great prices. The servers are great!
I love their soups, pasta and desserts.
My family loves coming here and my kids love the pizza and desserts as well. Great choices for all ages and all types of eaters

Went here on a rainy shopping day with the gf. It was one of those rare gloomy, rainy days in San Diego and we were in the mood for some soup and grilled sandwiches. Went upstairs in Nordstrom and ordered the tomato basil soup and grilled cheese and a chicken pesto sandwich. Everything was amazing and was the perfect meal for a rainy evening! The staff was really attentive and even got us a table to sit in. Café is really clean and the service is efficient. Go here instead of the rat race of the food court. Will be back to try the salads and other sandwiches.
Also finished the meal off with a freshly baked snicker doodle cookie. AMAZING!

Yumyumyum.
Who knew you could use your Nordstrom rewards here?! I have so many and now I know where it’ll all go.
In. My. Tummy.
The tomato bisque with the crustini… nomnomnomnomnom. I always ask for more crustini cuz my bf steals em from me and they jus bring it to you, however many you want.
I like the grilled shrimp salad and the steak with chimichurri sauce (always ask for more sauce). The bf and I get one of each with extra chimichurri and I dip the shrimp in there. Sooo gooodddd.
The Chinese chicken salad isn’t bad either. The angel hair pasta is whatevers. I think the chicken got me sick the first time i had it so I never got it again, but it could have been something else I had that day, no one knows.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a sandwich or dessert here.
They have bottles drinks and fountain drinks, I’d stick with water. everything’s so expensive. Hahaha. But they do give you mint chocolate at the end when they leave you their card for tip…

Ok, fine. I had lunch in a department store. This wasn’t as alien to me as when in Geneva, I will eat at Manor, a large department store with an affordable restaurant that serves rather gourmet food.
The food is five stars — absolutely. I wish the restaurant was not setup cafeteria style though — when you pay about $ 40 for lunch for two, the cafeteria style takes a bit away. Hence the four stars. But we did have a lovely waiter who did refill our glasses after we had originally filled them ourselves and once seated, the décor is absolutely lovely and classy.
The roma tomato basil soup with garlic crostinis was sublime, especially when using the crostinis as spoons. The velvety texture delivers a smooth flavour with a slight kick that is even made better when combined with the crunchy toasted bread.
The grilled Santa Fe chicken sandwich has jack cheese, roasted red peppers, caramelized onion, avocado, and aïoli on crisp country bread. It had fantastic flavours, but was a tad small. The aïoli added a great zest, the chicken was moist, the red pepper popped, and the bread was toasted perfectly with a touch of butter. So good!!!
The Tuscan roasted salmon is served with Yukon gold potatoes and rustic vegetables and is cooked with Rosemary and garlic. This was incredible! The salmon was foodgasmic and the veggies out of this world! Huge pieces of veggies kissed with herbs and olive oil and grilled to perfection! Absolutely loved it!
Definitely one of my favorite «mall» restaurant.

The good things about the Café are: conveniently located, tastefully decorated, and the food for the most part is quite. They make very good soups and sandwiches. The Pizzas are also good as are the salads. Breakfast is also good, really like their fried potatoes. The seating is comfortable and the service is very good.
The bad things are the long lines and the noise. The ceiling seems to be made of metal and it reverberates the noise. This has to be on of the noisiest restaurants in San Diego. Also the portions are small, especially breakfast. The worst thing is that I have gotten sick three times from eating there, twice by salad and once by Pizza.
I should say that this occurred over a period of fifteen years. Why do I go back? Because it’s the only decent place to eat in the mall. I don’t do Sbarro or Rubio’s and much less the ultra-​high calorie food at the Cheesecake Factory. I will say to Nordstrom’s credit that they reimbursed me twice by sending me a check that arrived months later.
I still deduct two stars, one for the incredible noise (do yourself a favor and go there at off peak times) and one for making me ill three times.

This was my first time here so I really wasn’t sure what to expect and what to pay. I came here with my extended family about 8 of us and my Aunt LOVES food. So she ended up ordering about almost everything that was displayed.
The guy behind the counter was not friendly nor attentive. He seemed irritated and was not paying attention to what we were ordering.
We walk up to the counter, my aunt purchases all the food. We sit and are immediately greeted by Krista (I think that was her name) she was wonderful! The food is brought out and WHOA… our order was missing some entrees and half were wrong! The guy behind the counter obviously was NOT paying attention.
We ended up talking to Krista about our orders and she managed to straighten everything out.
I would come here again, since Krista was so nice and the food was pretty good!

4.5
Been coming here for many years, never disappoints. Most waiters/​waitress remember you and are always very courteous and cheerful. Love the tomato soup, has a tangy flavor that I Love. Blackened Salmon Cesar Salad, Chinese Chicken Salad, and California Panini… so flavorful. Doesn’t take much to make me happy. I know it’s not a luxurious restaurant but it deff does fulfill in a pleasant way.

From their spicy tomato based penne pasta with chicken to their salmon caesar salad… everything is delicious.
Being a hater of tomato soup, I love theirs.
I have had just about every item on their menu from my Nordstrom working days. They’re always very kind and generous when it comes to service and food. Theyb have great kid menu deals that adults can feel satisfied from and their salads are always my favorite with this delicious baked cheese crustini thing. Their cheese toast that they pair with soup is also really yummy.
One odd thing is that they make my favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Kind of weird to actually see myself typing that.
Second odd thing, you get surprisingly good pizza here.