Brussels Bistro — Restaurant in San Clemente

A TOUCH OF BELGIUM ! My wife and I were here on Saturday for the San Clemente Annual Car Show. To be honest we don't need much of an excuse to visit beautiful San Clemente. The car show was great as usual but at some point we intended to grab some lunch. We noticed this new Belgian eatery as we walked down Avenida Del Mar and it looked kinda classy yet laid back. I walked inside around midday and had a quick chat with Kristen at the hostess desk...the place opened just 4 months ago. And then Nicolas the owner popped over and was very welcoming ...handing me a menu to check out. I thought we both might enjoy lunch here.....it was pretty packed out so Kristen suggested a reservation in 20 minutes time which suited us perfectly. After my wife was finished looking at some vendor's booths we headed back here for lunch. The owner himself was pleased to see us and showed us to a comfortable table for 2 with a nice view of the car show action outside. The dining area is very nicely laid out against the backdrop of a long opulent bar with rows of glittering fancy beer glassware hanging upside down. Nothing but the best Belgian beers are served here....and Belgian beers are my favorite. A very friendly server named Jocelyn approached us after a couple of minutes and took our initial order for 2 hot lattes.....they use the Italian roaster Lavazza here. Nicolas the owner dropped by for a quick chat and explained he had another location in Laguna Beach. We congratulated him for opening this new one here in the main street of downtown San Clemente....a breath of fresh air ! Our lattes arrived and looked top notch.....and tasted even better. A basket of complimentary fresh warm Artisan Sourdough Bread ( totally unexpected ) was brought to our table and it tasted as good as it gets. We had a long look at the very interesting lunch options and also checked out the impressive dinner menu for another visit.......we had already decided to put this restaurant on our list. My wife ordered the Chicken Sandwich and I chose the Belgian Burger with Frites.......we had to ask Nicolas what a frite was. The place was very busy.....groups of diners were coming and going. I'm sure the car show dragged a few in here just like us. Our lunch orders arrived together and we were both very impressed with the excellent & original presentation ( so important to stand out from the rest ). Of course we had to have a taste of the hot Frites sitting in their paper cone.....very fresh & yummy ! My wife absolutely loved her Chicken Sandwich.....there was a lot more going on than just a chicken sandwich. My Belgian Burger with the huge well done beef patty and other good stuff tasted perfect. A helpful server named Mariette kindly posed under the Fritkot sign ( on top of booth ) after explaining to me what the booth was for ( storage ). We were in no hurry but as tempted as I was there would be no fabulous Belgian beers for me today. DESSERT... now that's a not negotiable option for my wife. I asked Nicolas the owner for a dessert menu and he handed me a rather cute dessert menu card with some very unique and enticing temptations. The Belgian Chocolate Lava Cake won a very close race with the Warm Sugar Tart ( a hot tip from Kristen the hostess ). Our beautiful looking dessert arrived in about 10 minutes ( it required heating up as explained by our server Jocelyn ). In the meantime another server/ runner named Carlos cleared our table to make room. The Belgian Chocolate Lava Cake came out and tasted wickedly indulgent ! My wife and I were very impressed with every single aspect of our lunch experience.... excellent clean surroundings, warm friendly service, terrific food & beverages plus reasonably priced. We shall return...

FLY ME TO THE MOON ! But seriously if there was a Brussels Bistro restaurant on the moon..count us in ! My wife and I were in beautiful San Clemente on Saturday to check out the South OC Cars and Coffee ( car show ) inside the carpark of the Outlets at San Clemente. There are a stack of very good restaurants, cafes & eateries on the very busy tourist strip of Avenida Del Mar but our FIRST CHOICE for lunch was Brussels Bistro. We rocked up to the host desk about 1pm and Dylon the host welcomed us in a very friendly manner. A sweet server named Kennedy showed us to a bar height counter top table at the rear of the restaurant...with a perfect view of the spectacular full bar. Of course one of the main reasons we chose to have lunch here is we have been here twice before and they delivered...BIG TIME ! A happy busser / food runner named Noah brought menus and glasses of cool water to our table promptly. Our server...a charming young lady named Devyn came by soon after to take our lunch order. My wife ordered the CHICKEN SANDWICH ( Bread chicken, Gruyere cheese, mustard espuma, mayonnaise, avocado, tomato, lettuce, on a brioche bun, mixed greens ) while I went for the BURGER ( 8 oz beef patty, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and endive, lettuce on a crispy ciabatta, mixed greens, incl BELGIAN FRIES ). The restaurant was very busy...almost full and yet they were gettin' it done with just a few staff. While we were waiting for our food a young lady wearing a facial mask popped by our table and introduced herself as Adelaide the restaurant manager. It turns out that Adelaide remembered us from our first lunch visit ( 2 weeks after they opened ) a couple of years prior and was very happy to see us again. We were very impressed with the special attention paid to us by Adelaide the manager ! Our lunch order arrived in lightning time courtesy of super talented busser / food runner Noah ( this guy had a very positive attitude ). OMG...our lunch order looked nothing short of MOUTHSATIONAL ! My wife was in raptures enjoying her fabulous Chicken Sandwich full of tender juicy chicken while my huge Burger was about AS GOOD AS IT GETS. And our hand cut Belgian Fries were so hard to resist. DESSERT DESSERT DESSERT beckoned. My wife in particular loves a decadent dessert so we asked for the DESSERT MENU. We chose the WARM THIN ALMOND TART ( served with coffee ice cream )...it used to be called Warm Sugar Tart which we shared at their Laguna Beach location not long back. We also asked for LATTES and Devyn our amazing server took care of that herself....a trained barista who has worked in Melbourne, Australia. Our beautiful looking dessert came out and tasted sensational to the very last spoonful...the rich coffee ice cream was heavenly ! Our very well made lattes in elegant glasses tasted perfectly delicious ! We value exceptional service over everything else and this classy restaurant exceeded our...

BEST RESTAURANT IN SAN CLEMENTE ! My wife and I have been here for lunch and dinner more than a few times. The food, the drinks and the service have been top notch every time. In fact we have dined at a number of very good eateries in San Clemente in recent years and agree Brussels Bistro is the best. THE WELCOME ! On Thursday we needed to grab some dinner before heading back to Irvine so we wandered over here around 5.15pm. Julia the sweet hostess gave us a big smile when we walked inside and showed us to a table. Soon after getting comfortable at our booth table a server named Sarah dropped by to help us. FIRST UP ! A couple of iced waters while we studied the dinner menu. BELGIAN BEERS ! Of course they have a huge selection of the very best Belgian beers....some on tap and even more in bottles. A friendly guy named Julian introduced himself as our server. I had a chat with him about what type of beers I liked...not a fan of the dark ones. In the end Julian brought me samples of St Bernardus Tripel - 8% abv ( a new one to me ) and Triple Karmeliet - 8.4% abv ( a very good beer ). They both tasted quite good but I wanted something else so I ordered a La Chouffe Houblon - 9% abv in a bottle. Julian brought it out soon after with the matching glass. Julian offered to pour it for me but I prefer to pour my own beer. VERY DELICIOUS ! A Belgian style hoppy fruity IPA...I loved it. FOOD ! My wife ordered the Bolognese ( Beef and pork, tomato sauce, Gruyere cheese, spaghetti ) and a side of Artisan Bread & Butter. Julian informed my wife that the Bolognese comes with a Side Salad. I selected the Hanger Steak ( 10 oz, your choice of sauce ( red wine, green peppercorn ), mixed greens, one side of your choice ). I asked for medium rare, green peppercorn sauce and a side of Fingerling Potatoes. IMPRESSIVE ! Ever since we arrived I noticed a steady stream of people filling up the tables. Before long our dinner order hit the table....and it all looked very delicious. WOW ! My wife had a humongous serve of Bolognese, a huge warmed up fresh baguette and a healthy looking side salad. My Hanger Steak was cooked to perfection and the spicy peppercorn sauce made it even better. I absolutely loved the side of fingerling potatoes. My wife was more than happy with the flavor & texture of her well made bolognese. We totally loved the warmed up fresh baked baguette & butter. THERE'S MORE ! We had to have some dessert and chose the Lava Cake ( custard ) which was beyond delicious. Adele the restaurant GM who we know well stopped by for a lovely chat. It was around 7pm when we decided to hit the road. We thanked the staff before we left....