Cafe Navarre — Restaurant in South Bend

Upon arriving at this quaint downtown restaurant we were greeted by a friendly gentleman named Nick. He escorted us upstairs to a very quiet balcony table. Very nice atmosphere , Which allowed us to view the dining room from up there and see out the large picture windows to the street. The building was quite exquisite with the architecture. It was brought to our attention by our waiter Ryan that it was a old bank building. Ryan brought us a great wine list to look over and went over some things with us and we ordered a drink order. Later Ryan came back with some of the finest rolls I’ve had. The nicely swirled light whipped butter with little bit of a pesto oil around it was absolutely delicious. We then proceeded to a small plate of homemade pasta pillows with mushrooms, browned butter etc . It literally melted in our mouths. Amazing. Ryan was very attentive and we decided to split NAVARRE Salad -baby greens, green apple, bleu cheese, candied walnut, white balsamic. Very nice refreshing salad and Ryan split it on two plates for us. My husband got the lobster risotto and that was just perfectly prepared the lobster melted in his mouth. I got the grilled Ribeye steak , which was delicious and it came with some of the most amazing potatoes that I’ve ever had -Crunchy on the outside melt in your mouth tender on the inside. For dessert we got the crème brûlée and some kind of special apple tart which was very beautifully displayed with the crust cut in thin slices. I told the waiter that this was probably the best meal We have had in years. I asked him about the chef because I needed to find out who was behind these amazing presentations and flavors. Ryan told me the chef is only 23 and his name is Chris. Chris you are a culinary genius & if I didn’t live in Rochester Hills, Michigan I would eat there everyday. Can you please open a cafe in Rochester...

This was my first visit to Cafe Navarre, which was in conjunction with Downtown South Bend's Winter Restaurant Week. The promotion was a win for all involved as I learned of a restaurant I had never tried, they got a new customer and Beacon Hospital benefited from the portion of my bill which was donated.

For my visit I ordered off the promotional menu which featured many of their signature dishes. The appetizer was Wild Mushroom Soup, This was love at first taste, seasoned to complement the mushrooms it will be one of the magnets that's will bring me back. My entree was grilled chicken and mushroom alfredo, a delicate dish subtle flavors. I prefer that the food speak to me rather than a jumble of spices or styles that treat the protein as a mere vehicle to transport the chefs inventiveness to my lips. The chicken was simply grilled, the mushrooms were perfectly cooked the parmesan added its flavor and the linguine was cooked to perfection.

Here I must mention the rolls, the baker is never really given their due. In an age of gluten free eating and the Keto religion the humble roll is terribly disrespected. Tonight I was treated to a red pepper roll which worked with butter as well as the retriever of the delicate alfredo sauce from my entree. It was second basket of rolls good.

Dessert was Apple Creme Brulee which tasted like apple pie. Even though our servers description of the Dark Chocolate Terrine sounded like the pastry chef was on loan from Heaven, I have a hard time passing up Creme Brulee.

The service was excellent even with a full house, our server was charming, attentive, well versed in the menu.

The only negative was that I waited so long before visiting Cafe Navarre the first time, that error will...

My wife and I attempted to dine here before the Harry Connick Jr. Show. We were sat promptly but everything went bad from there. We were eventually greeted by our waiter who was very nice, obviously over seated but still pleasant, and making the most of a difficult situation. He took our drink and food order. Twenty minutes later our drinks came and shortly after that our appetizer (scallops) was delivered, which we enjoyed. We then waited. About an hour had passed and with the show approaching, I asked for the bill (even though our food wasn't out yet) so we could leave as soon as we finished eating. The bill was brought promptly and paid. Five minutes before the show, I was able to flag down our waiter and inquire about the status of our food. He apologized and got with his manager. The manager came out, apologized, told us it would not be anytime soon and refunded our money without us asking and he invited us to visit again. After the show, still hungry, we rationalized they were busy before the show and we should try again. We did eat but the server forgot utensils, didn't know their cocktail list, and was generally awkward, perhaps it was her first day. My wife's Filet was charred and tough, her Lyonnaise potatoes were bland and overcooked. I had the salmon, completely uninspired. We finished with Crème brulee. This is my favorite dessert so I may be overly critical but this was less caramelized and more scorched. We walked in expecting to compare it to LaSalle Grill and left comparing it to a below average national chain. If you're impressed by a bill then this is your place. If you enjoy food and service... LaSalle Grill has never let us down. I have never written a review before this one, I was that...