The Flinderstreet Cafe

I came here a month ago and finally am writing this review! I ordered the Chicken Pesto Panini and it was delicious as everything tasted freshly made. Chicken was juicy and not dry, the pesto was not strong and the panini had a nice crunch. The owner Tony was really nice and made sure I was well taken care of, offered me cookies while waiting. The atmosphere was calm and pretty mellow, definitely would come back if i was ever in the area again for a yummy sandwich. Keep up the good work Tony!

I LOVE THIS PLACE. The service is the best, better than any places I’ve ever been to at least, and the sandwiches are amazing. Their tea is a must, and splurge on that brownie. They usually come by and offer a fresh baked cookie as well, so eat slowly!

Okay, let’s start by talking about the great customer service! The guy helped me out and was really kind and genuine. The food was equally amazing! I ordered out and it didn’t even take 10 minutes, quick, friendly and good!

Great place! All the food was amazing! Cute mom n pop place, great service and food was great! We even got free cream puffs! Def be back!

Food was good, exactly what I was craving. I got chicken pesto panini with choice of salad with a free iced tea and they offered me a free cookie. Very friendly staff :)

Searched for salads and this is what popped out on Unilocal.Seen the reviews so I decided to give it a try. I decided to go with the grilled chicken salad and the quality is just great. The service is beyond expectation they treat you very well and they make sure the customer is happy. If want fresh salads or sandwiches this is the spot to come.

Positive word of mouth brought us to The Flinderstreet Café, and we had to find out if the hype was true. The café is located on the north side of Chino in the Chino Town Square. As you drive into the shopping center, head toward the Burlington Coat Factory, and pay attention because you might miss it.
The interior is well-​organized with standard tables, bar-​style tables, and a couch. You can kind of tell what ambiance they are going for (coffee house/​sandwich shop). With that being said, I still enjoyed the interior space, which is much larger than it appears from the exterior.
Upon being greeted by the cashier/​server, I was very impressed. The staff member was well-​versed with the menu, options, and answered all of our questions. It was clear from that moment, customer service would be a big part of the experience.
We ordered an Original Italian grinder, which came with fresh bread, ham, salami, capacola, and mortadella, and a Turkey Basilo panini, which came with cheese, basil, and garlic. Each of the sandwiches came with a side salad or chips, or you have the option to upgrade to antipasto salad. The grinder was $ 8.50, and the panini was $ 8.90.
In regards to the meat on both sandwiches, it was very fresh and tasty. I thought the portions were a little on the small side for the price. While eating our food, the server offered us a free peanut butter cookie, and we quickly accepted. The cookie was very good. The server checked on us several times to ensure we were enjoying our meals.
Overall, the experience was excellent. The food was fresh, and the staff was great. This is the type of establishment the Chino Town Square needs, so I plan on supporting it from time to time.

This place is AWESOME! I have lived in the area for over a decade, but I didn’t realize there was even a café in that parking lot. It truly is a hidden gem.
The food is delicious, fresh, and a perfect portion.
While we were there, we were offered to try free cookies, and ended up buying 16 of the peanut butter and jelly cookies for $ 5 and were given 4 extras!
The staff were all very friendly which really makes or breaks my experience anywhere.
I will be a repeat customer.

Went here the other day for lunch with my parents. I can see why this place has 5 stars.
The food is affordable and delicious. I had the chicken pesto panini, my dad had the turkey pesto panini, and my mom got the spaghetti.
For our sandwiches, you get a choice of salad, chips, or upgrade to their soup of the day. My dad and I decided to upgrade to the soup (which was potato soup with bacon). My mom’s spaghetti came with a side of garlic bread.
The food tasted amazing across the board. The portion sizes were most definitely worth the price spent in our perspective.
The cashier/​server (whom I believe another customer called him by the name of Jamie) was super friendly and polite. It was busy when we went and he apologized for the wait, even though we hadn’t been waiting that long. He went around during the time we were there and gave out samples of their cookies to all the customers… which by the way were amazing…
Overall we had a wonderful experience and this place definitely deserves the five stars it has. I’d most definitely keep coming back… because there is plenty more food I want to try. I wasn’t able to try out any of their other desserts aside from the cookie samples so I’d love to try some the next time I go.

I found this cute bakery on Unilocal and decided to try it out with my boyfriend. It ended up being one of the BEST cafes in the area! The service is incredible from start to finish, the ambiance is casual with jazz music and a very clean environment.
On top of that, the food was delicious! I had the Italian Mozzarella Panini with the potato soup and my boyfriend had the Original Italian Grinder with chicken noodle soup and they are both a must try! The food came out quick, they served free cookies while we waited, free green tea for checking in, and they have free wifi! Overall, two thumbs up!

Literally just ordered to go and halfway through my food, but I have to review. There are so many good things to say about this place: the customer service, chicken pesto panini, mac salad, and desserts.
The cheesecake is awesome, but the flan cake would be better if chocolate. I think the macarons are good, but Enjoyed them the first time I got them better than the second.
As good as the food is, the customer service is supreme, which is really what sets places apart. Bad customer service ruins food no matter how good it is.

It’s not often I’m in this part of Chino where Flinderstreet Café is located, so when I was in the area the other day, I decided to make a stop since my wife sent me an article on this place some time ago.
The Steak and Cheese grinder I had was excellent! The french bread was baked to perfection as well. It was a very tasty sandwich. I had a side of chips with my sandwich along with a Mexican Coke. Overall, it was a great meal. I ended with a variety of macarons that could be addicting here! I even ordered some to go.
Service was excellent and staff was very friendly. I just personally thought the prices were a bit high; especially, for this part of Chino. It seems like this «Café» is misplaced given the area and with many businesses closing. Given the quality and what they provide, I’d think they’d be located in one of the newer shopping centers off the 71 like in the Lowe’s area in Chino Hills or even in the Spectrum in Chino.
When in the area, I will definitely visit again. Although misplaced, this is the best thing this part of Chino has going it for it right now in regards to high quality good food IMHO.

This is one of those places that just blows your mind away, and makes you rue the day that you chose to buy a home that wasn’t closer to here.
The food served by The Flinderstreet Café is of conspicuously high quality, yet affordably priced and of a filling portion size. Win, win, and win.
I tried the Turkey Basil Panini (with tomatoes and lettuce), with macaroni salad as my side option. People, if this wasn’t the best sandwich I’ve ever had, it was definitely up there. Even the mac salad was spectacularly a cut above the rest, which contained olives, purple onions, huge chunks of cheese, etc.
My buddy sliced me off a piece of his Steak & Cheese grinder, and I found his sandwich to be no less as impressive as my panini. You can’t go wrong with either of these choices.
We ordered a Sweet Iced Green Tea and Americano, and were both pleased with our respective beverages. Serving them in jars was a nice touch, and in keeping with the quaint, whimsical ambiance of the restaurant.
The service here was phenomenal. Jamie (I suspect he’s the owner — or at least, one of them) took great care of us. He was extremely friendly (and not in a fake way, either), I could tell that he was sincerely interested in ensuring that we enjoyed our dining experience at his restaurant. He even came to our table and offered each of us a complimentary walnut cookie (which proved quite the marvelous morsel).
Most of the seating here consists of horribly uncomfortable metal chairs, and I would normally ding a restaurant for that. However, this place is so amazing in every other respect, that I feel it would be abhorrently contrary to the principles of justice to award it anything less than 5 stars (plus, I believe their volume of customers is so high during peak hours that uncomfortable seating may be somewhat defensible here).
The restroom was clean, and plenty of parking was available out front (granted, we came early right at opening time).

Great place with great food and awesome service! Definitely recommend this place!
My friend and I both got the steak and cheese grinder. The grinder came with the option of salad or soup… There were many soup options to choose from! ^_​^ I think there were more side dish options but I don’t remember what they were ^^; We also got some unsweetened green tea.
The steak and cheese sandwich was sooooooooo delicious! I’m still having dreams about it~ There was so much steak in the sandwich and it was so juicy and mouthwatering! The salad with thousand island dressing was a great complement to the sandwich. My friend got the lemon chicken soup I believe and she loved it!
The green tea we got was super refreshing! I usually think green tea is a hit or miss because it can be overly sweet or just taste weird, but this place had really good green tea! The cups/​jars used for the green tea was really cute too ^_​^
Last but not least, the service was great! They are some of the friendliest people I have ever met! I’ll definitely be back to try out their other sandwiches :)

First time I tried this place, went in the morning and it was a very relaxed environment. Ordered the motzerella sandwhich with salad which i recommend if you can’t decide. Not a bad place, will likely return here soon.
Recommend

Absolutely loved this place! The place is very clean and the service is amazing. On top of that, the food was delicious.
We had the pesto chicken panini and the Philly cheese grinder. Both were really tasty, but my fav was def the Philly cheese grinder. It was a perfect size and didn’t feel heavy at all. We got the tortilla soup as a side and it was quite unique. It was more broth-​y than creamy but the broth was amazing with a perfect hint of spice.
For dessert, they have a wide selection of macarons with unique flavors. We got the taro, lychee, and salted caramel. The macaron flavors were good but I wished they were a bit more crunchy.
I must say that the service here was amazing. The food came out real quick and the staff checked on us often to make sure everything was great. They even gave us a raspberry macaron and cream puffs on the house.
Definitely would love to come back and try their other sandwiches!

Delicious café deserving of 5 stars. The reviews are all true — the service is stellar! Owners gave multiple complimentary desserts to guests.
I tried the Chicken Pesto panini (chicken, cheese, mayo, pesto). The bread was not too thick, thus easy to bite into, unlike a lot of panini breads out there. The sandwich was overall delicious, with melted cheese oozing out of each bite. The pesto was light yet flavorful, you could even see the individual garlic bits.
The free iced green tea (sweetened or unsweetened) was a good-​sized portion for a free Unilocal check-​in!
Service is spectacular! I was treated like family. The owner (I presume) went by each table and offered each guest a choice of a chocolate chip walnut cookie or peanut butter and jelly cookie. Both tasted nice and chewy, and not too sweet. Later, he gave us free cream puffs, too! We were wondering what in the world we did to deserve such kind gestures. He also constantly checked up on us to know how we were doing.
For doing work: Wifi is fast. Outlets are scattered around the place. The only thing I didn’t like was the music and the choice to use Top 40s, especially for a chill café. It was playing a bit louder than I would’ve liked to pair with my work.
Restroom was dimly lit but clean and smelled nice. Mirror is outside.
Parking is not a problem at all. There was lot of space around the area; in fact, there does not seem to be many businesses nearby.

**EXCELLENT CHICKEN PESTO AND CHEESECAKE**
After visiting the aviation museum, we were
hungry and drove here.
PARKING
========
Strip mall lot.
AMBIANCE
=========
It’s not much to look at.
Pretty sparse, no warmth of a bistro or café.
Scattered tables and chairs, a couch against the wall.
Needs better décor.
RATING: ³⁄₅
FOOD
=====
CHICKEN PESTO PANINI — $ 8.50
Nice texture and grilled chicken perfection.
Not too garlicky or oily.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
CLAM CHOWDER (upgrade from salad or chips)
Hearty and unique.
Nice, delicious flavors.
Not your typical Manhattan chowder.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
SERVICE
=======
Friendly staff who was always smiling.
Checked to see if we liked our food.
Gave us complimentary cookies and cheesecake (both 5 stars).
PRO TIP
=======
Check-​in on Unilocal for the FREE iced green tea!
OVERALL
========
Didn’t care much for the ambiance.
The sandwiches are reasonably-​priced and good.
Greatly enjoyed the baked goods and service.
RECOMMEND for lunch and baked snacks in Chino.

First time here and had a bit of a tough time finding this place… It’s close to laser quest FYI. Inside is pretty big and there are plenty of seats. I was just getting food to go for our office. The gentleman working at the counter was very friendly, gave me some complimentary cookies and even helped me carry the orders to the car. Everyone liked their food, the steak and cheese grinders, chicken pesto and veggie panini and even spaghetti. The sandwiches come with salad or chips and you can upgrade to soup. I only wish that they whole wheat bread as an option and the side salad wasn’t iceberg which has no nutritional value (not sure if it’s cheaper and helps keep their price down). It’s nice to have some good food options around chino.
P. S. Those cookies were so damn good! Couldn’t just have one… So soft and chewy! Also the Unilocal offer iced tea was so refreshing in the socal 76 degree «winter».

Found out about this spot from a coworker and a long time Chino resident. Nestled way back in a slightly underused shopping center. You will find it in the back past the Marie C’s.
When you walk in there are several tables for 2, 3 larger tables, and a couch with a coffee table. Looks small from outside but plenty of room inside. It was busy for a Monday afternoon. Plenty of customers coming in and out. The music was great too. The sound system was bumping with some soothing sounds of 90s and 2000s R&B. Wife and I were sitting there reminiscing and the kids like the music too.
Menu was on the wall divided into 4 sections, grinders, paninis, coffee and teas, and pasta dishes. Ordered plain spaghettis for the kids, no kids menu, so requested noodles with butter and Parmesan. Regular spaghetti comes with a meatball. Came with side of garlic bread. No self serve soft drinks. Got one drink for kids to split. Kids enjoyed the noodles, they were fettuccine not spaghetti but kids didn’t complain so I was happy.
Wife went with a grilled bacon club, with turkey and had plenty of fresh avocado. Meal came with a small spring salad and a free tea. They had a special going for a free tea or espresso with purchase of a grinder. I went with the steak and cheese grinder and upgraded to get it with a side of potato soup. Now, for the grinders. OMG, they are delicious! The bread is perfect for the pairing. I have not had any bread/​grinder combo like this since I lived in Heidelberg back in the day from this small imbiss stand. The taste brought back a lot of memories. Funny how that happens. The potato soup was perfect for the chilly SoCal day we had.
They do have several desserts to choose from as well. French macaroons, brownies, and cookies. I went with 3 macaroons to test them out at $ 2 a pop. They have my seal of approval. My daughter loved the strawberry and I thought the Thai tea was good.
The service was great. I think it was a small family running the place. A young man and a distinguished lady. They were so kind and caring for the customers. The young man walked around and offered cookies to everyone. We tried the ginger cookies and the snicker doodles. They were both great.
I’m glad we tried this spot out. I will definitely return and not hesitate to go out of my way to return. Happy eating!
FYI, total was $ 45 + tip.