Pascal

From the deli salads to the quiches, croissants, and Pascal’s fine dining experience this bistro is the best and tastiest French restaurant in OC hands down. For lunch I recommend the half chicken and fries it comes with a salad and its the best chicken I’ve ever had. For dinner I recommend the sweet breads and french onion soup and as entrees, Chef’s signature dish the Sea bass Au Thyme and the Filet. Cannot leave without having a Macaneese egg custard tart the best thing I ever ate! Thank you Pascal for bringing this GEM to SJC.

Wonderful food. Four courses, all getting high marks. The French Onion Soup comes with a glass of White Port, which you can enjoy all the way through dessert. The Chilean Sea Bass and Duck were spectacular. Chef Pascal hasn’t lost anything in his move from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano. Only 8 tables, and the wait staff is just two people, so can be a little slow during peak hours, but they are friendly and professional. Just a full bar away from being five stars.

First of all, I want to give a big «THANK YOU» to my husband, Mark for finding this restaurant. We have passed Pascal many times as we live close by, but we’ll be stopping by on a regular basis.
My husband made the reservation on
(Pascal called to confirm our reservation) for 6 pm Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016. When we arrived we were their first customers, but that didn’t last long. By the time we departed the restaurant was full and people were waiting.
The only negative comment we have is they don’t have a full bar.
Now for the pièce de résistance — the meal was a wonderful experience for our taste buds! And we can’t wait for our next visit.
Mark ordered from the 2^nd and 3^rd Course Menu. He had the Salade Lyonnaise, which is comprised of butter lettuce, Frisee, smoked bacon, croutons, poached egg and dressing. He chose Seabass au Thym, seabass baked with the thyme crust, seafood chardonnay sauce and tomato concasse for his 3^rd course. He said it was exceptional and would order this again.
I ordered from the 1^st and 3^rd Course. I had Mouelleux Escargot, escargot baked on a split veal bone with marrow. Three escargot were on top of the bone and three were in a tasty green sauce. I’ve never had escargot served this way and it was beyond fabulous. My 3^rd course was steak with greens, cauliflower and white potatoes. I apologize for not documenting the description of my entrée, but the description wasn’t available on their website. Needless to say, this was the best meal I’ve enjoyed in a long time. The steak melted in my mouth.
To top off this incredible meal, the chef visited each table. We informed him that our meal was refreshing and well worth the price. The cost of each course varied from $ 12 — $ 36. What a wonderful restaurant located in San Juan Capistrano.

I began my Pascal experience over 25 years ago at his and Mimis Tradition on North Bristol. There has been a lot of water flow under the bridge since then. It has been quite a while since I have enjoyed his Provence cuisine. I enjoyed a meal last night at the new location here in San Juan. I had wondered if he lost his tradition of being creative yet grounded in the basics of what makes food great.
WOW!
Pascal still remains one of the top chefs in the world, and number one in Orange County in so many peoples opinion.
If you are like me, and have missed the wonderful Pascal creations for a long while, make your reservations NOW. You will have your culinary senses reborn.

Surprise, surprise! The French bakery in SJ? I really didn’t expect this but it was good. The service was awful though… Why can’t they be more friendly? The real French people can be much nicer!!!

Longtime fave of myself and my family. Great neighborhood asset for salads, sandwiches, soups. Very consistent quality, good selection of cheeses, wines and other stuff, friendly people.

Wonderfully freshly prepared food and spiced perfectly. The home made french fries are spectacular!

Pascals is the BEST for catering, coffee, fresh and healthy food and salads and their cookies and desserts are amazing!!! Pascals is the first and the original in the OC! Pascal and his staff are great people too-​what a gem in San Juan!
Their café Americano is my fav anywhere!

Great French Food! The Culinary dinners are point on! Staff is so sweet and many GLUTEN FREE items. CHEF PASCAL IS AMAZING!

Omg. so good. Hidden gem. Five star service and food with casual dining. My husband hates to dress up, so I am excited for this restaurant. I had Cornish hen and hubby had the steak. The hen was good, but the steak was melt in your mouth good. French onion soup was to die for. We had the chocolate flourless cake for dessert. Best flourless chocolate cake I have ever had. There are only six tables in the back for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The bakery has to go meals, that are the same as the dinners but to go. There is also high tea on Saturday and Sunday 11 – 3. Dinner is 5 – 9. I will be back.

Giddden gem! They have the best Americano I’ve ever tasted. Their waffle is amazing definitely authentic French food or as close as it can get…

Foods really great and they always have new yummy items coming out. They also have an awesome cashier named Elle.

Lunch with a dear friend… she had quiche and corn and potato salad sides, I had braised beef sliders with fries. She said all really good, me too. The afternoon had a flaw, but was corrected graciously. They have a wine vending machine which dispenses vino, probably eight varieties, upon insertion of a house pre-​loaded debit card unique to that machine. Well, the wine first selected was waaaaay past prime. Asked for replacement, some resistance until we noted friend is in wine and food business. Anyway, they made good with a smile, and we found the experience worthy. We are anxious to try the formal option, based on our visit for lunch.

The initial atmosphere is great, there is plenty of room for your group and the service is very polite and helpful! We went here for a casual meal which worked perfect for us! The food and drinks are better then we expected! The appetizers also match for a great overall meal! I suggest trying some of the dessert because it’s worth it, if you have room! Whether it’s alcoholic drinks or regular drinks everything is cold and refreshing and you will not be disappointed!

I originally fell in love with Pascals restaurants after enjoying a meal at their restaurant on Bristol in Newport which has since been closed (miss this place!). I have to say this location doesn’t live up to the name or to my previous experiences at pascal’s restaurants. Every time I visit it’s like my meal has been composed by a different chef and I haven’t yet found a consistent dish to enjoy, pâté sandwich was delicious last week and was terrible this week. How can you make it so vastly different that the same menu item goes from delectable to nearly inedible? I went back a few times expecting something different but don’t think I’ll return again unless it’s for a pastry.

This place is almost invisible but now that I have found it, it is a favorite. More than your typical deli by a mile with superb wines available by the half glass, glass or bottle. Vegan and vegetarian options plus salmon, fresh fish of the day and unusual paninis. Very reasonable prices and both indoor and outdoor seating so pet friendly!

We abso luuuv this spot. Great quality everything. The Nicoise salad is impecable. We really luv it here. The best green olives and cheese selection. They even have amazing gf quiche! Merci Pascal, u are fab!

Came here for breakfast with the parents. This is the perfect spot for a nice quiet breakfast, with good coffee and a fresh and simple menu. Their options are easy and low maintenance. Granted, they come with San Juan Capistrano prices, but I think it’s a fair trade for a quiet breakfast with good coffee.
I’ve noticed their restaurant appears to be constantly changing, with the addition of a cool little wine selection.
I’m looking forward to trying their lunch/​dinner options! Closest to France you’ll get from San Juan Capistrano!

J’adore…no really. The food was wholesome, yummy, and reasonably priced. I will definitely be going back. The cute girl gave me a sample of their soup-​I think it was cream of broccoli?- it was amazing. However, it was too hot for soup so I got the veggie sandwich. Bread was crunchy and the sandwich itself was full of Mediterranean flavor. So glad to have this place around, staff was really friendly and sincere. Nobody using the whole «HI! How ARE YOU?!!» annoying voice that I had to do at Beach Hut Deli when I use to work there. Hate that bullcrap! The atmosphere was relaxing, sometimes when your eating alone you feel ostracized or just like a weirdo but this place really brought be back to France where people would sit for hours just enjoying the beautiful food served to them. Also their macaroons looked like perfection, defiantly saving room for those puppies next time. ;)
Merci Beaucoup!

Well South County — this is your lucky day. A little slice of France just landed in your lap. Pascal’s was a Newport area favorite for 30 years that had to move because they lost their lease. Central OC’s loss is your gain big time.
Thew new place is even nicer than the old with great sunlight coming through the windows. They kept the art from the old place.
They have the best croissants and chocolate croissants in OC (wonderfully buttery) and the best chocolate eclairs — just a hint of bitterness in the chocolate cream. These are addictive so be warned.
Beautiful salads like celery remoulade, carrot raisin, and beet.
Likely the best French fries in OC — little shoestring fries perfectly salted with delicious, perfectly salted potato flavor. My dad always buys these when he comes to the West Coast.
Awesome sandwiches made to order (I love the saucison with cornichons). Nice panini too. Awesome quiches.
They also have a nice selection of house made pates, French cheeses, mustards, oils and vinegars and (new) beautiful local vegetables.
They also have takeout for folks that don’t feel like cooking dinner at home.
Dinner service is coming soon as well as a small wine store.
I’m bummed that Pascal’s had to leave Newport but glad that he’s landed a nice new cheery spot. He’s an OC treasure.