Cafe Angelica

So bummed Café Angelica closed! This was one of my favorite places in Solvang. I thought they had a great wine list and great menu. I always had great service here too. So many great memories here and so sad they are closed!

We had a very disappointing lunch at Café Angelica last week. I had the Southwestern Salad which had grilled chicken that tasted like it had been purchased, already grilled, from somewhere like Costco and then spread on the salad. It certainly had not been grilled anytime in the past week. The corn on the salad was canned corn. This is August in California — we’re at the height of sweet fresh white corn season — putting canned corn on a salad in August should be illegal, or at least frowned upon. My son’s seafood pasta was BLANDER than bland. The whole thing was one big BLAH.

ATMOSPHERE: Despite the fact that Café Angelica is in the heart of Danish-​themed Solvang, the restaurant feels more California/​Mediterranean. It offers an inside dining room, as well as plenty of space on the side and front patios allowing for some good people-​watching.
SERVICE: A family run operation with very attentive service. We came for a pre-​theater dinner and the staff got us through quickly without making us feel rushed. We didn’t quite finish our bottle of wine and they were able to wrap up the bottle so we could finish it off later.
BRUSCHETTA: A nice, California-​style take on the appetizer staple. The traditional tomato and basil was complemented by chopped artichoke hearts and served toasted but not crunchy bread, which solves the problem that arises when you bite into crunchy bruschetta and the whole thing falls apart.
RIBEYE WITH SHRIMP: The ribeye was served boneless with a heavy, gravy type sauce, large prawns and red potatoes. My problem with the dish was that I asked for medium-​rare and it came out medium to medium-​well. I normally would’ve complained but with an impending theater show there wouldn’t have been enough time for them to cook another steak.

Yum. Yes as others have said the mushrooms in marsala wine sauce are heavenly. (sorry about the pun =]) It’s a cozy little place with good food
and wine with no attitude.

Food was delicious. My wife ordered the potato gnocchi with shrimp and I ordered the top sirloin steak. Couldn’t have been happier with the food.
Will we return to this restaurant? No. Quite disappointed with the service. Not once were we asked how our meal was while the surrounding tables were. Could it be our young age? Possibly. Could it be that we asked about a coupon that one of their own employees told us to ask about? Could be a good chance. Should either of those have caused them to give selected service? No.

Excellent food. My boyfriend and I got the stuffed filet mignon and it was awesome. The waitress was extremely friendly and sat us by the window. One of the few places open after 5 and they serve Blue Moon. Win.

Not only was Café Angelica pretty much the only place open (be aware that everything closes at 5pm in Solvang), but it was close to our hotel and recommended by our hotel receptionist.
Relaxing ambiance, some dim lighting and candles made it feel very romantic and cozy. Not that it matters, because I went with my mom! haha
While we pondered over the menu, our waitress brought out complimentary garlic bread with just the right amount of butter and seasonings.
First we started with the Fresh Sauteed Mushrooms, sauteed to perfection in an olive oil, garlic and marsala wine sauce. So delicious.
Then of course we had to get the stuffed artichokes, my favorite food. These were THE BEST stuffed artichokes I’ve had to date. Baked with a creamy alfredo and topped with parmesan cheese crust, it had awesome flavor.
I was completely satisfied with just the appetizers, but our hotel had given us a coupon for a free entrée so we tried (and took home for a later midnight snack) the lemon grass atlantic salmon filet with a slightly spicy thai curry and ginger sauce. The veggies were cooked perfectly and very flavorful.
If I were to ever visit Solvang again, this would definitely be my first restaurant of choice.

Would I go back to place again, ehhhh, only if every other restaurants were closed. Went here with my gf and she was ok with it, but it’s a pricey place so I expected more.
Pros:
2 meals for the price of 1 (available at most hotels and Solvang visitor center)
Good wine (they better, Santa Ynez country), but limited selection compared to a variety of other restaurants
Service was quick, but we were there on a Thursday
Open past 7 pm (welcome to Solvang)
Nice patio (weather permitting)
Cons:
Filet w/​bleu cheese was over powering and undercooked (I asked for medium and if it’s medium rare, no problem, either is cool by me, but it was pretty darn rare in some areas)
Filet was obviously not prime and probably SELECT
Vegetables were so so
Pricey without the 2 for 1
My price rating of 30 – 60 is with a glass of wine without the 2 for 1.

10÷13÷10
Go Fatty! He was right the bolognese was more sausage instead of filet mignon (WTF) my butternut squash ravioli was so under cooked it was darn right crunchy! And my Caesar salad was not a Caesar salad is was under dressed and soggy and the crotons were crumbs only! It was crap and this restaurant and I use that term loosely it’s overpriced and lousy service. RUN DO NOT WALK to the nearest exit save your money and your time go to the Red Viking great food and service!!!

I really enjoyed this restaurant.
Highlights:
* Loved the gnocci & shrimp
* The filet mignon penne bolognese was tasty — very bold marinara
* Great portion size
* Warm garlic bread
* Fresh raspberries on the lava cake a la mode were sweet
* They’re OPEN past 6! A miracle in Solvang.
* Service is perfect for a date — not too intrusive, not too slow
On the downside:
* They ran out of the two dishes we wanted to order
* The price is quite high unless you score a two for one coupon like we did (ask your hotel concierge!)
Overall, very satisfying.

I was really satisfied with my experience at this restaurant. It’s a small restaurant and it had a cozy and romantic feel to it.
Before our meal came out they gave us garlic bread. I liked the bread because it wasn’t too greasy like some places make it. It had just the right amount of seasonings and butter on it.
I had the filet of sole with pasta and vegetables and it was delicious. The dish came with a big serving of the fish with piccata sauce, mushroom, and small pieces of crab on top. The fish was cooked perfectly and the combination of the sauce, mushrooms, and crab was very tasty. The side of pasta was penne pasta tossed in a tomato pesto. It had just the right amount of sauce on it.
My boyfriend had the pasta with filet mignon and he liked it.
If I ever go back to Solvang, I’ll definitely eat here again.

I enjoyed this little place. Everything we had was tasty. I sampled all of the dishes at my table [4 total] and was very pleased with all of them. I had a lobster fettuccine that was great. Serving sizes were plentiful and of course the wine was good [local].
The décor was older and the patio seating was, well, patio seating.
Service was nothing to complain about.
Solid enough for a second visit.

Pros:
One of the few places open for dinner during the week
Friendly service
Cozy atmosphere
Decent Food
Allow dogs on the patio
Cons:
Just decent food, nothing to be wow about

My husband and I went here after it was recommended by the front desk clerk at the Wine Valley Inn. They gave us a few options but said this was good and probably still open. There is one thing going for this place and that it is open late when EVERYONE has shut down for th night.
Their food while a bit pricey was very good. I sat on the patio and didn’t have much room to move around. I was kinda squeezed to the chair of the table next to us so that took away from some of the romance.
The food was really good. I found myself looking over at other tables to see what others were having. Their Caesar salad was good without too much dressing. We also had angel hair and ravioli. Their portion sizes are pretty big.
The service isn’t great but I’m hoping that was just because it was later on at night. I’m not saying they weren’t friendly just a little bit slow.

OK, so the strangest thing about Solvang is how they practically roll up the sidewalks after 6 p.m. It doesn’t matter how many tourists are begging for food… they just flip the sign to ‘Closed’ and go home.
After finding our two first-​choice restaurants closed, we decided on Café Angelica. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars… I rounded up because they were kind enough to be open! It’s definitely cute. Service was friendly. We ordered the stuffed artichokes… a little difficult to eat and light on actual substance, but excellent flavor. The sea bass special was bursting with taste and the fish was cooked well.
So, when you are searching for a place to have dinner and you find nothing but Café Angelica open… don’t worry, it’s worthy.

This was a quaint little restaurant that would be cute for a romantic date. There were candles on the tables which made for great ambiance, but it was almost too dark — my parents could barely read the menus. ;)
The garlic bread was tasty and bottomless, warm from the oven. My Chicken Marsala was sweet, tender, and yummy, but my dad’s Chicken Angelica was bordering on tasteless and quite dry. My mom’s Cioppino stole the prize for the amount of seafood swimming in the garlicky sauce. Overall, not too shabby, especially if you get the buy one entrée get one free coupon from your concierge. :D

Had a very nice dinner here on Valentine’s Day with the boy. They had a wonderful atmosphere set up and a ton of great choices on their menu.
I was disappointed to learn that they were out of their artichoke appetizer, but settled on the mushrooms instead. It was very sweet for me, but the mushrooms were nice and tender. The boy had their soup special: a corn and crab bisque (DELICIOUS!). Then we each ordered pasta – the Gnocci and Shrimp for me and vegetable angel hair pasta dish for him. Both were fantastic. We ordered the gnocci and shrimp because of previous reviews and would eat it again. It was a very generous portion size as well.
The wine menu was also very nice – we enjoyed two local white wines from wineries we didn’t get the chance to go to yet.
The only reason I held back a star is because of the way the restaurant is set up, you can hear all the noise in the kitchen. It’s kind of distracting and noisy and definitely hinders a super romantic evening, but that was the only bad thing about this place.

Best Hummus combo (some butter bean preparation) I have ever had. I ordered it twice :). There was something about the combination of spices and lemon juice they had added that just made it perfect!
The quesadillas were as good as I have had anywhere.
The mediterranean wrap was also excellent.
The pasta was just average.
The service was amazing
Great food, good value and super service made it a lovely experience. I don’t know when I will go back to Solvang, but if I do, I will definitely go back to Café Angelica

We enjoyed a lovely lunch on the patio. Monday afternoon, not busy, great weather. We had the the raviolli, spinich salad and, appetizer and wine. They also offered us warm cheese bread which was great. The service was very attentive — they allowed me to make some changes to my order — and we were really pleased with everything. I didn’t notice slow service, as we handn’t finished our appetizer by the time the lunch was served. Everything was quite nice and I would highly recommend as a casual, upscale but not snotty place to eat in Solvang — especially if you aren’t into the usual Solvang menu offering, which can be a little heavy, IMO.

We were roaming around Solvang for a quick lunch before wine tasting and this place popped out of no where. Its right across the park so it makes it convenient after you are full to take a nap. Enjoyed this place a lot, its small but nice ambience. The waitress was very attentive, at first I was hesistant ’cause the food seemed too healthy for me. I usually into greasy heavy foods that are not good.
My friend ordered a appetizer which was quite delicious, but the best was the cheese bread. It was served warm and fresh, you can tell it was just taken out of the oven from the smell. Then the entrée was better, never had I had a club sandwich with real fresh bread. I’ll be definitely going back next time I’m in Solvang, best spot ever.
Overall the cost for there was about 40 bucks for the both of us. End result pefect lunch for a good day of wine tasting.