Caterina's — Restaurant in San Clemente

I went to this place Caterina's in San Clemente. Three stars. That's right in the middle: not terrible, not amazing. Just... there. Like my high school GPA.

So about the service... yeah, I get what everyone's saying about it. It's not great. The waitress looked at me like I was speaking a different language, and I was just asking where the bathroom was. I mean, I do mumble sometimes. My girlfriend says I sound like I'm talking through a broken speaker to at a drive-thru. Just kidding. I don’t have a girlfriend. But anyway back to Caterina’s whose name reminds me of a Russian chick that married the guy who first owned the place when it was called “Sal’s”…

The thing is, they're in this perfect location in San Clemente, so they don't really need to improve. It's like when you're the only gas station for 50 miles. You can be rude to everybody because what are they gonna do push their car home?

The outdoor seating though, that was really nice. I sat out there for a while just watching people walk by. Some guy walked past with a parrot on his shoulder. Just a regular Tuesday in San Clemente I guess. In Mexico, I’m pretty sure that would make him a drug dealer.

They have this selection of mochas that's pretty impressive. I tried one with some kind of hazelnut thing in it. It was good. Not "text your mom about it" good, but definitely "nod your head while you're drinking it" good.

The big issue is they don't have Wi-Fi. In 2025. I asked the waiter about it, and he looked at me like I'd asked if I could borrow his teleportation booth. He said, "No, we want people to connect with each other." Which is a nice thought, but I was alone, so I just connected with my phone data plan instead. Burned through like half my monthly allowance looking at pictures of men wearing parrots.

So yeah, three stars. Would I go back? Probably. Would I remember I've been there before until I saw the man with the parrot? Probably...

“Not a food court!”

Met some buddies for coffee at Bear Coast and then went to Caterina’s for breakfast. Ordered the breakfast burrito with bacon, two smoked salmon avocado toasts, and one gluten free avocado toast, along with a coffee, four bottles of water, and a mocha for a grand total of $70.67 Since I didn’t see a trash can I carried my empty bear coast coffee cup over and placed it on the table while we ate our breakfast. My wife also carried her Matcha tea latte over (I’ll note that Caterina’s doesn’t sell Matcha). Food quality and taste was good...no complaints until we were told we couldn’t sit at the table with a bear coast coffee cup. The lady was a bit rude noting a sign that said only Caterina purchased beverages and food could be consumed there. I let her know that we purchased food and coffee from her and my cup was empty when I sat down and she stated that they “aren’t a food court for bear coast and they sold coffee too.” I let her know we purchased her coffee and $70 worth of food and she stated that we had to get the bear coast cups off the table as they weren’t a food court. When asked if it was ok if we finished eating she said no. So we left and won’t be back.

Don’t think Caterina’s knows what SC is all about....community. Who treats their customers like this and their neighboring business? We won’t be back.

(Update to owners response...my wife attempted to order matcha and was told they didn’t have any. Who kicks out customers for empty “competitor” cups on a table?! Kind of dumb to lose your customer base over this but based on your other responses to negative reviews, it’s clear you...

I visited San Clemente for the first time today. Before looking at the reviews, I seen the Catrina’s and decided to go there because they had more food options than the coffee shop next to them, despite the coffee shops line being by exceptionally longer. Upon entering Caterina’s, the old lady did not great us nor say hi. She had an attitude when we were ordering the whole time and didn’t even say thank you after we purchased our food and as were we trying to pay did not except the hundred dollar bill we had despite there being no sign saying they did not take hundreds. No big deal maybe she was having a rough day. The Sammy’s breakfast sandwich was really good, along with the coffee I ordered. However, although my food was good the old lady was rude. Before leaving San Clemente, my family and I decided to get gelato, so we headed back because they had some. When entering the building again the old lady that was there that morning, again did not say hi not greet us as we entered. Two young ladies who were super sweet took our order, but since my mom was purchasing alcohol she had to take over, with the same attitude, so overall she’s just rude. It was only after I looked at the reviews I realize this is her M.O., so I will not be returning until this behavior is changed because that’s not right. Just because you’re business is at tourists place does not grant her or anyone the right to treat their paying customers like this. Sad because it’s nice scenery. I am willing to give it another chance if...