Bistro Espresso — Restaurant in California

The first time I tried a burger from here I really liked it! I'm a sucker for a brioche bun. So when I went back for the same burger I had high expectations. It was still good! Cooked well, decent proportions, and didn't get sloppy until the last couple bites. At this visit I chose a side salad, it was one of those red oak lettuce spring mixes. Decent portion, and I didn't have to pick out any black lettuce pieces, which is a huge win in my book.

However, the salad was only tomatoes and cuke, and the ranch felt too "hidden valley" for what I expected. A slice of red onion, some actual homemade buttermilk ranch, and/or a couple of croutons would really take this up a solid notch and make it worth the $17.99 price tag. In the same visit I also tried their fries, and for me these were kind of a miss. They were overcooked to the point of being hollow and so crispy they hardened into something like Veggie Straws by the end of the meal.

One employee at the front of the house was an older guy working his butt off, short in a friendly-busy way. But the young gals at the register were lacking that real customer service, which seems to be a gen z thing not necessarily unique to this place. Don't get me wrong they were nice enough and doing the job, but the vibe was robotic.

The place wasn't overly busy but there was a pretty consistent lunch flow and they seemed to handle it well. You have to get your own sodas and bottled drinks from a cooler next to the register. They also make coffee drinks and have a beer or two on tap. You pick up your own food at a counter.

Overall I liked it but the parts that could be improved really made the price tag hard to swallow. $18 for their basic burger with a light side salad: no drink, no extras, and this is before tax and tip. I'll probably be back, it's still one of the better lunch...

My friends and I camp every year during the end of summer; this year we went to Calaveras Big Tree State Park (which was amazing btw lol) Anyways, we usually get food together on the way home at a restaurant nearby wherever we camp that year. This year we went to Bistro Espresso (which is 6 minutes driving from Calaveras) and it was one of the best post-camp meal I've had so far. The first thing we noticed was how absolutely adorable the place looked, it has such a warm vibe to it. We were also a pretty big party (11 people) and they accommodated us with no problem. We were hoping for breakfast, but arrived during lunch hours which wasn't a disappointment at all bc the food was awesome regardless. All of our food came pretty quickly especially for how many people we had, and everything tasted so good. We all ordered a bunch since we had been camping and it was our first meal of the day, and there wasn't a single bad dish. We all passed around bites of whatever we ordered and it was all good. We could not stop gushing about how tasty everything was, everything even down to the ketchup (which was made in house). The staff was super sweet and even suggested we move around our seating situation to something more comfortable. Grateful that we picked this place on a whim to end our annual camping trip, it was the perfect cherry on top. Thank you for having us...

After exploring Big Trees we wanted to grab lunch locally. Bistro Espresso seemed to have a good amount of people sitting on the patio and reviews looked good. Their menu isn't very extensive, mainly sandwiches and burgers and coffee drinks. My friend got a burger with a side salad and I got the trip tip sandwich with fries. When I got an iced tea and asked for lemon she said they didn't have any... uhh they don't have fresh lemon? At all? Ok... she told me to grab some lemonade from the soda machine. We sat in the back patio because it was quite stuffy inside and they had some music playing and guys on the bbq. You can grab some simple bbq items from their counter outback but it's VERY simple. Like plain hamburgers or hotdogs...I was expecting bbq chicken and such based on the reviews. The atmosphere is really nice though. You have to go back in and get your order when the buzzer goes, and the portions seem big. But the taste is just ok. My friend's burger was way overcooked and dry. My trip tip was sooooo pale and overcooked and it was sliced super thin like a cheesesteak. Not what I was expecting at all. No condiments. Only canned peppers and melted cheese. It was so bland. The best thing was the fries. Def hope they improve and offer more bbq or you should probably choose from the handful of other...