Sol Agave — Restaurant in San Clemente

Loved Sol Agave-San Clemente! We met some friends here when they opened at 10a.m., on 3/12/22. It was a Saturday morning, & I think a good time to go, as the restaurant wasn't too crowded.

Our server was attentive to our needs, which weren't too demanding- just a few refills of Mexican Coffee, for my friends, & iced tea, for myself. Such a bright sunny day in San Clemente, though a bit chilly outside, so we decided to eat in.

Sol Agave is nicely decorated, with seating areas comfortably spaced, both inside, and out, on their large rectangular patio. The bar area was impressive, with bottles arranged on glass shelves, with mirrored backs, plus the dark trim border they used, set off the space quite nicely.

After a quick scan of the menu, I decided to give the Jumbo Prawn Taquitos a try, as this item looked both enticing, & decadent. Each one is filled with succulent Dungeness Crab, inside a huge shrimp-wrapped taquito. The presentation was beautiful, with red salsa & micro greens, drizzled with delicious creme sauce, resting atop each one. Shrimp tails protruded from an end of each taquito. My wife & I split this dish of three appetizers. We polished them off pretty quickly, because they were so good, with great flavor from the seafood, & a slight hit of pepper in each bite.

My wife's entree was the Tres Leches French Toast, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

I ordered the Sol Agave Salad, & added Wagyu Steak. This salad without anything added on is $18, but with delicious steak, it cost $25, which is pretty pricey for a salad. The Sol Agave chef was generous with plenty of nice size strips of tender, flavor-packed steak. I liked the dressing, which had a nice flavor, without overpowering the dish. Corn, grilled bell peppers, jicama and several types of greens, combined with my steak, to create a wonderful meal. I loved this!

My buddy ordered Juevos Rancheros, that looked so decorative on the plate, and tasted really good too, he said.

His wife had the Tres Leches French Toast, seconding my wife's brunch choice. This place is a new favorite of ours, and although the food was a tad more than we're used to paying, the food & service...

Day trip down to san clemente to escape the OC heat wave. Came here for lunch because we weren't that hungry after our clam chowder at the pier. So we ordered three of their popular appetizers just to get a sense of their cuisine. My girlfriend ordered a virgin Frozen Coco, it was deliciously refreshing! She was just surprised it wasn't any cheaper without the alcohol which probably wouldn't have mattered since they would still need to substitute it with something to maintain the flavor and yes it was still great!

We ordered the shrimp taquitos, pork belly bites, and the taquiza. My favorite was the pork belly bites with their unique dipping sauces and kind of a build your own taco style serving style. The shrimp taquitos were really really good too, wish there was a little more crab in there, but it was still good. Shrimp was fresh and cooked well!

Funny incident/whoops moment was went I went into the restaurant from the patio and a staff asked me what I was looking for, at that moment, I blurted out, ¿donde esta el bano? which he responded in spanish and I totally 1/3 understood it because of my high school spanish classes lol. But I got there just fine and yes I was looking for the restroom, but what I did not intend was walk in on someone... yes, lock your doors after yourself good sir. I can read the vacant sign on the door lock... no wonder the other lady waiting at the other restroom didn't try this "vacant" restroom lol... Yes it's gender...

Excellent all-around service, quality of food, and price. I was immediately seated at the bar on a Friday night. I ordered the fish ceviche and a carnitas taco. Salsa, bean dip and chips are served at no charge. The prices are very fair considering the quality of food and large portion size. The owner, Jim arrived to oversee operations and chat with guests. It's refreshing to observe a restaurant owner put so much care and attention into his business when he could be doing so many other things on a Friday night. This guy knows how to run a business!

Also the corn tortilla on the taco had to have been homemade. They are thick and soft, unlike the corn tortillas at most restaurants that are dried out and unappetizing. The ceviche was tender with a wonderful lime, avocado sauce--the perfect amount of sour, salt, fat and crunch.

I recommend sitting at the bar. The bar includes a few televisions for viewing sports with laid-back vibes that also feels upscale.

I'll definitely be back. Can't wait to have another meal...