Cafe Del Rey

Great café great food! My husband and I came here for some food and they did not let us out. Sevice was good too. Thank you guys!

We returned yesterday for lunch. This place keeps getting better!

Wow! The feeling we left with after dining here for the first time last night for a friend’s birthday dinner. After living in the Marina for over 5 years, we had never been there and have we been missing out!
Excellent dining experience all around — warm, attentive and knowledgable service. Marina views. Fantastic food– I actually really loved the charcuterie plate and I have never been impressed by it anywhere else so starting dinner with this really got me excited to see what else was in store.
Being a bday dinner we went all out! Fresh jumbo shrimp, truffle flatbread, and tomato soup as appetizers in perfect portion sizes really hit the spot!
Main courses — duck, albacore, lamb and scallops — again were delicious and perfectly portioned.
Be sure to get Chris’s wine pairing recommendations! We learned they have live music on Friday nights and monthly wine events — super excited to become regulars here! Better late than never!
If you live in the area or are visiting be sure to come for a casually elegant dining experience! Well done Café del Rey!

I can’t say enough positive things about this restaurant! First of all the wine connoisseur is a very versed and what tastes best with what food you order. They also have incredible lamb shank as well as scallops. And risotto. The view is unmatched and the atmosphere is perfect for any date or group gathering. I was in front of the presidential campaign into a week prior to my visit I recommend this place to anybody coming if you do make sure you see Chris, he really knows his stuff! Swill be back soon!!!

Came here for a Sunday night dinner. Made a reservation, but it wasn’t busy. Friendly service, nice atmosphere. Parking is valet only ($ 5). Order the scallops and the white sangria! The food is good but the view is really what makes this place stand out.

We had a lovely brunch. Great service. Good food. Loved that could select your brunch instead of Buffett. No rush. Complimentary parking. Brought half home. Bottomless drinks. Wonderful view. We’ll go back

Brunch was pretty good here, and have no complaints whatever. Our waitress was professional, and polite. Nice Harbor view restaurant…

Bravo… From start to finish our experience was amazing. Hubby and I decided to to have our anniversary dinner here last night. We did not have a reservation but we were seated right away and able to see sunset from our table. We started with basic classic cocktails (old fashioned with cranberry and oranges. Yummy! We were brought fresh bread and a homemade olive tapenade. I really wanted more but did not want to ask because we ordered the Frito Misto appetizer and did not want to spoil appetite but. here comes the ultra observant manager Manuel with more in hand. I told him how good everything was so far and we were celebrating. Excellent manager. He was all over dining room without hovering. Service was exceptional. We never waited for anything .
About the food … Fritto Misto was a flavorful combination of calamari and baby scallops lightly battered and fried. Dipping sauce was pretty good too.
Husband had the shrimp bucatini. Jumbo shrimp with a rich cream sauce, peas and cherry tomatoes. It was so good.
I had the jumbo scallops with pancetta and green peas. Sautéed to perfection.
We were stuffed but as I write this I want it again. Manuel brought us a beautifully decorated plate with chocolate cake and fresh berries.
We have lived in this area forever, why is this the first time we tried it? So good. Give it a try..

Came here for brunch with a gf. The view is spectacular. So calming to see the boats and the marina. We ordered salmon bruschetta and poached eggs on an English muffin with bacon and potatoes. Also had some mimosas on the side. Food was not bad. We also ordered some carrot cake for dessert. They originally served us the wrong cake but they quickly got us the right one. The atmosphere was an older feel inside. Not quite what I was expecting but the view definitely made up for it.

I came on a Sunday night for a friend’s bday. They were very courteous and sitting in our group upon arrival. When they realized our group was bigger than the area beside us and they probably moved us to a larger area that also happened to be inside the happy hour area. Apparently you can’t eat from the happy hour menu without being in that area. They also printed menus signifying my friends birthday with her name on it — what a special touch! The waitress who served us was extremely nice and the manager on duty came around us frequently to make sure we were well taken care of. On the customer service and I can’t complain because they did everything they could to accommodate and make us happy. The drinks here are amazing and they have an excellent wine list. Our food didn’t take long to come out however it isn’t the most flavorful or best tasting food. The food itself is 5 stars at best and the drinks are 5 star. The happy hour menu food was OK but nothing rand, but $ 6 wines with excellent options is amazing. I would definitely come back for wines and drinks during their happy hour but not for food. If it were just the food this will be 3 stars but taking into account their excellent wine list and great service when I was there makes it 4 stars.

One of my favorite brunch spots. It’s right in the water so you can sit there and watch the sailboats. The food is outstanding and not to mention the bottomless Mimosas. I’ve been here for dinner several times and it’s equally spectacular. The bar area has a great fireplace and has the full menu. It would be even better if they had an outdoor area but I’m still very happy with it.

Came to this place by recommendation. And I loved it, such a great vibe. Very peaceful. I really enjoyed the grilled cheese with tomato soup. Definitely gave me that «home made» taste. Will come back whenever I’m in town

Third experience here and usually not disappointed but brunch was Meh., what i thought i ordered was so not what the menu described. I got a huge plate of sliced asparagus with crab meat mixed in with a drizzle of sauce on the plate and 4 tiny mini pbutter cup style pieces of polenta. Huge disappointment. My boyfriend ate most of it. We were entertaining his brother who was here in town for a convention so i didn’t want to be the table complainer. We drove down to Anaheim & brought him HERE because the food has always been great. I should have had the salmon.
The boyfriend had the Benedict & the soon to be bro. In law had the hamburger both of which they were happy with.
We had the calamari appetizer and the tiny bay scallops were fishy tasting. Didn’t care for that either.
The goods, 4 star for service & because the server charged my brunch on the all inclusive since we had the appetizer but didn’t tell us till we asked for the check so only had two Bloody Mary’s (i wasn’t driving) and would have had another those were terrific and supposedly bottomless.
The expediter that day the Tall man in the white shirt was a doppleganger for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
One last thing. There was a table of 5 ladies drinking champagne & getting louder & louder (drunk) and they almost hit two pedestrians who were walking past the driveway when leaving. They were considerably drunk. Why does management not cut people off who are clearly intoxicated?

Well based on the pictures of the food here on Unilocal that place looks amazing and tasty… My review is just based on my experience tonight, Valentine’s Day and their $ 110 per person 4 course Valentine’s menu.
Pros: decoration was so nice, red rose petals and candles everywhere… very romantic. Hostess very friendly, waitress very friendly.
Cons: the courses were very small and I dine is nice places and did not see the $ 110 value at all!!! And for $ 110 per person (not including tip) I would expect to eat my meal without looking at waiters folding napkins, organizing tables and basically moving tables and chairs around and getting ready to close the place at 10.30pm while at least 7 tables are still occupied with eating guests.
I would understand if it’s on a Tuesday night at midnight but not on Valentine’s Day and a Sunday. Total mood killer!!!
Anyhow I will return on a regular day to enjoy their regular menu as it looks very nice in the Unilocal pix.

Upon entering the restaurant there was a nasty stench, which, as I discovered, came from the restroom. In the bathroom there was a sign apologizing for the smell that explained they are attempting to find where it is coming from and that they’ve had the pipes and plumbing looked at but they’re waiting to hear back from the marina about the smell. Yuck! They did have an air diffuser to try to cover up the stench. I almost walked out of the restaurant at that point and probably should have, but decided to give it a chance since I had walked all the way there from my hotel…
Hostess wasn’t very friendly but the server and another gentlemen who I believe was the manager were quite nice and did their very best to accommodate my infant and I for lunch. This is another reason I stuck around and gave the food a chance.
The server highly recommended the tomato soup and grilled cheese. He even said the customer before me said it was the best she’d ever had — so, of course, I had to give it a try! Unfortunately, it really wasn’t that good. They provided bread and some sort of pickled oil to start. Now I’m a sucker for bread, but this bread was dry and the sauce just didn’t do it for me. The tomato soup was descent but nothing to write home about. Grilled cheese was supposed to be excellent bc of their home baked bread — it was eh. Too much bread and not enough cheese. Overall I was unimpressed, especially since it was supposed to be the «best grilled cheese and tomato soup ever!»
I don’t write many negative reviews but personally, I’d skip this place. I’m visiting the area from out of town and I’m kind of bummed I spent a meal here. There seems to be an abundance of other nice restaurants to check out in the area.

OMG. What a disastrous experience. My wife and I have been going to Café Del Rey for 20 years. Usually a great experience — the food and the ambiance are worth the ticket. However tonight I touted the restaurant to my mom and my 85 year old dad who were in for the holidays.
We arrived and ordered a bottle of wine and dinner. After an hour, we ordered a second bottle of wine and the other courses had not arrived. I spoke to the GM Brian and told him to expedite (fire everything) because the shelf life of the 80 year olds was expiring. After another 40 minutes nothing had come to the table. We cancelled one of the courses and opted only for a truffle pizza. After another 20 minutes or so it came. We ate and grabbed the $ 240 check, and tipped the waitress well ($ 40).
On exiting I pulled Brian aside and said that the experience was a little embarrassing because the service was off. Instead of apologizing, Brian was completely argumentative and dismissive and blamed ME for expediting the order. REALLY? As a locals and somebody who runs companies I tried to explain that the service was not up to par because I was trying to help him improve the experience. Brian then got angry and asked me to leave. In fact he got so agitated that my wife started taking a video of the conversation for fear he would get violent. In the end, Brain said that Café Del Mar was doing well and he didn’t care about our business.
Wow. Way to go Brian. Not exactly Ritz Carlton training. Maybe you should have listened to our concerns, taken the feedback and promised to do better in the future. You know the way that most managers in quality restaurants would do?
Furthermore, most places have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that will recognize repeat customers. That way you can understand the value of customers like my wife and I who have been supportive of the restaurant for years.
At least the valet people recognized us and treated us well.
This place is a dinosaur run by a narcissistic manager who, according to information he himself posted online, has bounced from one restaurant to another in the last few years. I would avoid it until the restaurant’s ownership recognizes his lack of skills or he ends up punching somebody out.

Café Del Rey is such a gorgeous restaurant with a beautiful view of the water. I went here for Sunday brunch for my birthday and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I ordered the chicken and waffles sandwich which actually was a fried chicken sandwich with waffle cut fries. The fried chicken was omnomnom delicious — very crispy, juicy, and well-​seasoned. Although I’m not a huge fan of onions, the accompanying slaw on the sandwich was so good despite having the onions, I still enjoyed it! The fries were also delicious (I am a huge sucker for waffle cut fries) — perfectly cooked and seasoned. And, to make things even better, the portion was huge. I am a huge fan of large portions!!!
What puts this restaurant over the top is the gorgeous view. It is so pretty and the restaurant itself is very elegant. The service here is top notch — everyone is super friendly and helpful. I cannot wait to come back!

Excellent service! Our server was great, chatty (in a good way) and very informative.
The Pacific Seabass was delicious the veggies were ok. The Caesar salad was tasty and the cheesy bread and olive oil with a delicious awesome complement to the meal.
We will definitely return for the great service, good food, & cool romantic ambience.
Enjoy!

War hier mit einem group dinner nach langem Arbeitstag. Etwas einfache Einrichtung, wohl in Anlehnung an echte Strandlokale. Essen war gut, aber nicht outstanding. Cocktails hatten wir im Stehen, danach war recht enges Sitzen angesagt. Vom Strand und dem Meer war kaum was sichtbar, da schon recht dunkel. Insgesamt hat es allen doch recht gut gefallen.

Came here for my anniversary with the wife and kids. My first visit here was way before Unilocal,Facebook or Google. Café Del Rey printed a special anniversary menu for their prix fix $ 40 4 course dinner. Overall, food was excellent. Service was great. Our waiter accommodated all the «special» requests. thank you for making this special occasion as special as our first visit many many years ago.
My 4 course included:
Octopus pan seared with some awesome tomatoe purée sauce
Truffle risotto
Perfectly cooked NY prime med rare
Finished off with bread pudding with ginger sorbet and special made chocolate cake with white choco shavings and fresh fruit.
Will definitely be back again!

The view is impeccable! The ambiance is modern white table cloth fancy– beautiful!
They recently changed their wine list– they discontinued Bianci and Woodridge– my two favorite of their wines. I was unable to navigate the wine list to find something comparable.
They start with bread and olive tempanade. It’s amazing!
My mom got the fish and chips– they are beer battered with shock top, giving them a hint of citrus. Phenomenal!
The chicken pesto sandwich had much room for improvement. The sandwich was squished and lopsided when served– poor presentation.
The salad had very little dressing and it was not at all mixed. Most leaves had nothing. I love salad and ate none of it. The sandwich was warm and placed on top of good amount of salad– making it warm. Not a good salad taste. The chicken was chewy, very chewy. It was not at all moist and had large chunks I had to remove from my mouth– inedibly chewy.
Also, the music was terrible! It was a loud airy jazz sound. It made me feel like I was floating on a terrible date inside a cloud of the 90s. I couldn’t focus.
The service was exceptional! Very knowledgeable about fish and the menu. I would be back and hope my next dish would exceed my sub-​par chicken sandwich.