Rendezvous

Business is CLOSED.
URL goes nowhere.
Why does Unilocal staff not remove this?

Delicious food served in a Pullman train car. A great place to take a date. My Alaskan king salmon dish was very tasty, and prepared just right. My wonderful girlfriend also enjoyed her tournedos of beef.
I think this is, or was, the most expensive restaurant in SJC. Truth be told, a just-​as-​good-​if-​not-​better meal can be had for much less right next door at Sarducci’s.
The restaurant has had a «Closed for Remodeling» sign in its front door for several months now, and rumor has it that they will not be back. That’s unfortunate if that’s the case, because the restaurant’s charm cannot be denied.
I thank the owners and staff for a great dining experience, and wish them well in their future endeavors.

According to
, this place has closed. The URL on here leads to a 1&1 page. Too bad because I was going to try it one of these days.
«Rendezvous, a family-​owned New American cuisine restaurant at the train depot in downtown San Juan Capistrano, has closed. We will miss chef Peter Arachovitis’ sumptuous cuisine, especially his goat cheese cheesecake, as well as the restaurant’s delightful Art Deco décor and charming hospitality by mother-​father duo Char and Yanni Ikonomou. Rendezvous, San Juan Capistrano Train Depot, 26 701-​B Verdugo St., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92 675, no phone.»
Edit — This place is now home to Vintage Steakhouse.

It’s been a long time since a restaurant has so perplexed me. Rendezvous clearly takes seriously its mission to please diners, providing a varied and spectacularly tasty menu, a well-​priced and diverse wine list, and train car décor that successfully toes the line between uniquely funky and over-​the-​top kitschy.
My grilled peach salad with caramelized shallots and flaming saganaki cheese, dressed with a lemony brown sugar vinaigrette, was incredible. I could not get enough of it…
Dinner was chipotle-​rubbed scallops for me, ginormous BBQ shrimp for my husband. Both extremely good. And the wine, a Tobin James Reserve Zin, was eyes-​rolling-​back-​in-​your-​head great.
But it’s not a restaurant without service. And it’s not a five-​star review with service like ours. That was the perplexing thing at such a nice restaurant: I felt like I had to ask for everything: dinner menus, water, more water, dessert menu… When our waiter did come by, we received none of the personality, charm, or attention I heard other tables getting. I felt like we could have had our order taken by a robot and it would have had the same effect.
I’m sure this waiter is an anomaly. After all, when we had a drink and dessert in the lounge afterward, the bartender was super friendly. But an anomaly like that with prices like these is inexcusable, at least when it comes to earning five stars.

Unique Setting, Fantastic Food
We’ve been here at least four times, for either appetizers & drinks or a full meal. Each time the food was fresh, the service excellent, and the ambience very nice. My husband loves the Kobe sliders with his cocktail– where else can you knock down an 5-​star burger with a stiff drink in hand… The sliders are of course on the small side– each one is only a few bites, but very good quality. The bartender is always very friendly and chatty with us, even if we weren’t an SJC local. My favorite drink is the Chocolate Martini with Nutter Butter– liquid dessert!
We hosted a formal dinner there (our wedding pre-​rehearsal dinner). The owner arranged for a prix-​fixe menu and included a few specialty items just for that evening. They were very accomodating and made the evening feel very special.
Stop by this place in the cute downtown SJC for drinks or ??

My husband took me to this fantastic place after he proposed to me. The place has it all: Original décor, classic music, Extensive wine list, and delectable entrees. We had our favorite Chardonnay (Rombauer Vineyards) and enjoyed every bite of our food. It’s one of the more unique restaurants in Southern California. Who would have thought to open a restaurant in a traincar?

Hubby, my father in law and I had fantastic food at Rendezvous recently. Props to Stewie B for turning us on this really cool place located in historic San Juan Capistrano in an old train car.
The food itself was outstanding. Of course we each gorged ourselves on a starter, entrée and dessert, not to mention a bottle of wine, plus some. The cuisine is New American and offers a limited but well balanced menu. Although one note, a lot of dishes seemed to contain blue cheese, which is great for blue cheese lovers, but not everyone is a fan.
Hubby started with the special salad offered that evening with butter lettuce, blue cheese, red onions (which seem to have been pickled) and candied caramel apple balls coated in walnuts with a sweet vinaigrette. The flavors were perfect and I enjoyed his starter more than my own. I ordered the chilled avocado soup. The presentation was beautiful, but I wasn’t crazy about the soup. It was topped with a dollop of crab meat with caviar and dots of chili oil. The soup was light green in color, but I wasn’t tasting the avocado. It had a much more lemony tart flavor. My father in law had the cucumber carpacio salad which looked delicious, but I didn’t get an opportunity to try it.
For the entrée both my father in law and I had the filet which was served with a blue cheese potato gratin, pinot noir reduction and another sauce (which I believe was hollandaise). The gratin was out of this world… very thin slices of perfectly cut potato circles layered with blue cheese and coated in crispy bread crumbs (panko?) and deep fried… mmmm. The filet was cooked to perfection, had excellent flavor and was melt in your mouth good! Hubby was jealous! He order a special for the night, beef stroganoff, which I tasted and was happy I ordered what I ordered!
Finally it was capped off by a perfect chocolate soufflé. My father in law had the strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Both were delicious and a nice sweet cap to the meal.
Rendezvous gets minus a star for not offering us bread at the start, not asking which ice cream I wanted served with my soufflé and just bringing it, bringing the soufflé out seconds after our dinner plates were cleared and before asking the rest of the party if they wanted dessert (so we ate dessert in two phases), not refilling water glasses on a regular basis (and us having to ask each time) and for having to ask for the check twice and them taking eons to bring it. Despite all that, our server was very charming and attentive when she was with us. I just wish the attention would have been paid to all the other details as well. For the price, the service was lacking. Based on all that it should really be minus 2 stars for service, but the food was so good it made up for it.

I just had valentines dinner here last night, referred to this place by my Unilocal friend Stewart (review below), and I must say that I was impressed! I was diggin’ the ambiance, with the low lit lighting for a romantic setting, narrow long rooms each with its own personality…
Upon arrival, we drank a few drinks, try the Caramel Apple Martini, a fun cocktail to drink. Because it was a special valentines menu, I’m not sure if they typically offer what we had, but there was this amazing appetizer; avocado with fish on a biscuit. Awesome!..
All of the food is gourmet and wonderful. Certainly a great place for a nice dinner date, or just to have a high quality dining experience. The staff is top notch…
Looking for a place to meet? Go to the Rendezvous!
–RR