Aldo's is a great place to grab a quick bite for lunch. They have lots of lunch specials ~ $5 Paninis and $9 Pasta + Soup Combo. I got the Guilia Panini - Salami, basil, roasted tomatoes, balsamic vinegrette on a baguette. It was the perfect size for a light lunch. Service was warm and friendly and food was great, I would love to come back for lunch anytime.
Review Source:Great, fresh panini sandwiches here. Â Nothing was overly salty and ingredients were fresh and full of flavor. Â The owner was a charming Italian gentleman who made such a wonderful effort to serve the customers. Â We bought three panini sandwiches including the eggplant and chicken, eggplant and mushroom, and turkey, all of which were exceptional quality. Â
There were several $5 panini sandwiches and a soup + sandwich combination for $9. Â The prices are along the lines of Panera if not cheaper and the quality is so much better. Â
Interestingly, this place is right next to a Subway. Â I'll take the $5 panini specials over any of that foot-long crap any day. Â
I'd definitely come back to try their dinner menu.
The sandwiches are good and are a relative bargain. We came here for lunch and were pleased with the cozy little place. There are only a handful of tables inside as well as several outside.
There are some bargain $5 paninis and also a deal for a 1/2 salad or soup and pasta for lunch. My husband and I split the spicy chicken and avocado panini and a panini with three different meats (forgot what it was called). These were not on the $5 panini list, by the way. It was actually a lot of food and we took the meat panini home for dinner that evening. The spicy chicken and avocado panini had a great spicy kick. The bread itself was very tasty. Yummy!
My kids shared the fettucini alfredo and loved it. My cousin had the pasta bolognese and said the meat sauce was great as well. Overall, this was a very nice find.
I LOVE Aldo's Sidewalk Cafe! I have been eating here since he first opened! Â
Maybe 18-20 yrs?
A quaint cozy little place in the heart of San Juan that smells like fresh Italian herbs and garlic as soon as you step in the door! Aldo is the greatest! The most hardworking man i have ever had the pleasure to know. He keeps his food authentic. I love his panini bread he serves w your entree and have never experienced any other italian restaurant w bread like it.
His baby Lamb chops are the best i have ever had! - I have been eating less meat so I don't order them as much but they melt in your mouth, and the sauce is INCREDIBLE!
My favorite is the seafood cappellini with extra sauce - It may not be on the menu
But be sure that Aldo prepares it or oversee's the preparation of it - Amazing!
Chicken Marsala - Tasty!
If you love garlic - try his garlic shrimp salad - FRESH!
There is truly something for everyone that enjoys Italian food there!
And you must try his Home-Made Tiramasu - I have NEVER had anything like it
  - Delicioso!
What a cute little Italian place in the heart of downtown San Juan Capistrano! The owner greets you front and center and the food is top notch. I always get the gnocchi because it is the BEST I've had outside of Italy. (The owner is from the region of Italy that specializes in gnocchi making, so you know it's legit!) They're a little heavy handed with the sauces, but overall the food is great. Good wine selection, and they also have bottled Italian beers.
It's a casual atmosphere with about 5 tables inside and about 3 more tables outside.
This place is a nice little Italian Cafe. The food is really good. Very authentic Italian food. Â I had a turkey panini and it was delicious! Â I would rate the sandwich a 5 star. Â Unfortunately the service was horrible! To start the wait was ridiculous! The customer service was not very good at all. Â I felt as if we were invisible. We sat before two other tables who received their food before we did. It took over 35 minutes for our food to come out. I understand if they are busy for lunch but they need to prioritize the order of the tables and take orders as the customers come in. We were ignored several times and it was very frustrating. Â I rate the service a 1 star. Â Treating all customers equally is not hard to do.
Review Source:I wanted this night to end well therefore I canceled my date and went alone...and surprise surprise I had the time of my life! Â I had pasta and it was goooood. Â I also ordered a fruit smoothie and it was delicious! I had their ice cream and it was out of this world!!!! Â I dont remember the gal that helped me out but she was Straight up from Italy and was friendly. Â Prices are a tad high but Im liking them. Cute spot especially for weekends or ordering take out. Â Ill be coming back...sooon.
Review Source:ALDOS IS SOOOOO GOOD! They make the best ceasar salads and their dressing tastes great! The resturant is always clean and waiters are great with customers. Aldo always walks around to make sure that everyone eating is have a good time and that their food is perfect. Although slightly pricey, you get what you pay for and it is good food! Good lunch specials is a plus!
Review Source:Panini is good not great. It has freshly made and vibrant brushchetta in it, my favorite part. Â The bread is nice, traditional panini style bread. The panini itself is also pretty big - had to eat it over two meals. Recommend the salami or turkey. I got the "godfather" one (it wasn't called that) and the deli meats in it weren't that flavorful and reminded me of bologna that you get in lunchables.
Service is a little slow. Definitely authentic Italian ;)
Great place for a Saturday afternoon lunch! The breeze you get when sitting outside is so refreshing. Although no ocean view, it's super close to the Pacific ocean & you can feel the breeze.
I had the spicy chicken panini with avocado. It was one of the best sandwiches I've had in a long time! And we were lucky to have Aldo himself take our order & serve the food. Not only was he friendly but I loved his Italian & accent!
I also had the cappuccino and it was delicious. If you are on the San Juan Capaistrano area or even on your way down the 5 to San Diego, stop by Aldo's Sidewalk Caffe. Â Not a lot of restaurants can pull off a sidewalk cafe but Aldo's can!
Prego!
Came with a group of 6. Sat on the patio. Waited 10 minutes for the waiter to come over (after asking repeatedly). He took our order and walked away. He never brought the drinks. 30 minutes later we asked him if he could please get our drinks. He mumbled something about having no clean cups. After 45 minutes of waiting and still no food or drink, we got up and went to Panera down the way. I was a server for 3 years and I would have been fired if I had given that kind of service, but the funny thing is no one seemed to care at all.
Review Source:Aldo runs a good joint, and you have to ignore the strip mall location, small tables, whatever. I'm here for the FOOD, and the food tastes *very* good, is reasonably priced, and the service is friendly. The numerous $5 lunch special paninis are always a much better choice than the chain sandwich place next door, and the huge servings of italian soda (with pellegrino sparkling water and some cream) are light-years ahead of the corn syrup peddled by most other establishments in this price range.
What I appreciate is that when I order pasta to go, it takes him and his staff about half an hour to actually get it to me...this is not a bad thing! I bring the boxes home and when my family digs in they look at me and say "where did this come from? It's freakin' amazing!" Good food takes time, and Aldo doesn't run a fast food joint. If speed is one of your primary concerns when it comes to obtaining food, then go to the aforementioned chain sandwich shop next door and stop complaining.
He gets five stars because I will eat here over Ruth's Chris, Roy's, McCormick and Schmick's, or Mortons any day of the week.
Great little spot for lunch (or dinner). Â Great food, good value ~ Aldo, you da man!
Not many tables but his panini's are the bomb for lunch ~ not sure how the Subway next door stays in business. Â Our Panini favs are the Melanzane (eggplant) and Capri ~ add on cup of Aldo's lentil soup and you have the perfect lunch.
Dinners are also excellent ~ the Chicken Marsala is simply superb ~ one of the best this side of Florence ...
One of my new favorites! Â We ordered the lunch specials: Fettucine Alfredo and Spaghetti Bolognese with salads for less than $8. They brought warm, fresh bread first. Then our salads. By the time we got to our food, we were almost full. Great portions and delicious food for the low lunch cost. They have lunch special deals, too, on weekends!
Review Source:I'm going to preface this review by saying there have only been a handful of times in my life where I found myself especially critical of a restaurant. I'm usually very understanding of those working in the restaurant business, more so with smaller family-owned places, as I know how hard it is to make it in the industry.
With that being said, I have to say that this was one of the most disappointing and unenjoyable dining experiences I've had in a long time.
Granted, that my coworker and I were on our lunch break and only had less than an hour until we had to go back to work, I wanted to try somewhere new and decided on  Aldo's based on all the high reviews. In retrospect, one of the red flags we should've considered when first peeking in were all the seemingly retired people eating or those who looked like they had their day off. Despite having 6 or 7 tables full, there was only one server and a person I assumed to be the owner who were serving food (I wanted to say that the owner was also cooking the food).
Having such a horrible overall experience just makes me want to point out every single thing that went wrong while eating here:
- I asked about the lunch special which was posted on the sandwich board in front since it wasn't given on the menu. The waiter was very nonchalant about answering ("uuhm, yeah, it's ...."). He mentioned that I could get change any of the pastas he mentioned with any kind of noodle. So I ordered one of the pastas with linguine and my coworker ordered the full sized pesto. I assumed he knew I was ordering the lunch special since I asked him about it right before I ordered it - it came out to be full sized, and was angel hair, not linguine like I asked for.
- My coworker's pesto was one of the worst she'd had in a while. The sauce was like eating a plate full of grated parmesan cheese with green food coloring in it.
- My pasta was rather bland, just olive oil with about 3 cloves of diced garlic sprinkled with parsley. Definitely not worth the price.
- My iced tea tasted funny, almost like there was pepper or tabasco sauce in it (!)
- Coworker's water tasted like it came out of the garden hose.
- Entrees took about 30 mins to come out. Waiter first gave our food to the wrong table. No salad or bread served until then, which was supposed to come with.
- Waiter had no sense of urgency whatsoever with anything. Even after we politely asked him if we could get the check early since we didn't have much time left to eat. He acted as if he really didn't care about his job. Only got to scarf down half of the food. I've seen servers at Denny's with as many tables to wait and move twice as fast as he did, with twice the quality of service.
- After finally getting the entree, I asked if we were supposed to get salad and bread too: "oooh... uhm, you guys didn't get salad and bread?" -- I wanted to say: uhmm, do you see any salad plates or bread baskets on our table?? You're the only one serving us!
- Waited too long for our check... Asked if we could get our salad and bread to go, only brought out the bread - waiter said it would be a little longer for the salad. We eventually just left and said, screw the salad, we're gonna be late.
How this place has gotten such great reviews, I have no idea. My only guess is that the customers are SJC locals who have just gotten used to the quality of the food, or lack thereof. And they would have to have a lot of time on their hands.. give yourself about 1.5 to 2 hours if you eat here. Wouldn't have made such a bad review if all the others weren't so misleading. Definitely not coming back here again.
I am so stoked that I found this place. I went on a recommendation from a friend. Looked at some of the Yelp reviews and thought I would give it a shot. It is pretty unassuming from the parking lot. It almost looks more like a bakery or coffee shop. However, once you get within 20 feet of this place, you will start to smell the magic.
We started with the bruschetta. Off the chain. Everything was fresh. The olive oil was of great quality and the bread was light yet crunchy. Amazing. Â Next we had the lentil soup based on some of the reading that I did earlier. Bottom line: Best lentil soup that I have ever had. It was thick, hearty and the seasoning was perfect. I wanted to grab the bowl and run into the nearest bush and growl at anyone that came near me.
The chicken marsala was amazing as well. Aldo uses a very thick demi glace as a base. He does not believe in using butter and flour etc. This was amazing. The sauce was so thick and tasty that I wanted to roll around in it. He takes great pride in this sauce as he should. Demi Glace takes a long time to make properly. He nails it.
The Penne Veneziane was awesome as well! Slightly creamy, spicy and elegant.
Here is a link to their menu: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdineries.com%2Fca%2Fsanjuancapistrano%2Faldossidewalkcafe%2F31882delobispost1&s=59763cf6679a053035fe167337f307d67d6b1007cb25de50824a4b4389b47137" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://dineries.com/ca/s…</a>
Aldo himself is a super guy. He spends a lot of time with his customers with the utmost willingness to please. I absolutely loved his personality.
This is one of those dinners for us where we walked out extremely happy and excited about coming back. I find this rare these days. I cannot wait to go back to Aldo's again.
Dwight
I ate here just before Christmas before going to a concert nearby. Â The food was awesome! Â I had a small side salad, everything on it was just good. Â Nothing super special about it, but it was tasty, and the vegetables were fresh. Â I LOVED the bread, it's not a foccacia, and it's not a loaf of sliced bread or a roll, but it was slightly flat, very crunchy outside and soft and chewy inside, and they give you plenty of butter that you just spread on top. Â I could have eaten just the bread all night!
For my main course I ordered the Linguine with Pesto sauce. Â When it came it was so vibrantly green! Â It was gorgeous, and it tasted better than it looked! Â You could taste the Oil, the nuts, the cheese, the garlic, and the basil all very clearly, but none of them were overpowering anything else. Â Everything was delicious.
If you are in the area, go check this place out it is worth every penny, and the owner, he's a crack up!
Best Italian place I've been to in a long time. Â I had the primavera with alfredo and the sauce was buttery deliciousness, veggies were fresh and cooked perfectly. Â We ordered a kids portion of penne with marinara and it was equally delicious - the marinara had just the right amount of kick. Â
Service was friendly and fast; restaurant was clean and cozy. Â We will definitely be back!
First I'd like to note that I am not from this community so my rating is genuine, in case you are a sceptic.
My husband and I happened upon this little gem as a pit stop to avoid holiday traffic. With a little help from my Yelp, we chose Aldo's.
Went late Sat. afternoon, it was empty but just as I began to worry I hear a thick accented "Prego!" I can assume this is the owner as he joyfully showed his hospitality. We sat outside since we had our two pups and he quickly offered a bowl of water for them. He managed us and another couple who just arrived quickly. I am quick to notice slow service and this was acceptable by all means. Even when two more tables arrived.
Bruchetta was heaven.
Antipasto de misto, together with the Bruchetta and a glass of wine, perfect lunch.
Tasty homemade chicken veg. Soup, delish.
Hubby's meatball sandwich was good, cheesy.
It was a delightful quiet (holiday?) experience.
The owner's hospitality makes you want to be a regular, the food will make you fight your spouse for the last bite. Maybe I'm a tad more generous with the 5th star, but I'm a sucker for a small business making an exceptional effort. I left in my happy place.
The food at Aldo's is tremendous. Â We've been several times, and it's great for a semi-casual bite out when you have the urge for Italian pasta or a pannini. Â There's actually not very many places to get a pannini in SJC, and Aldo's probably has the tastiest.
I noticed there are several reviews regarding the service. Â The place is definitely small, and from what I've seen, they can go from a single couple dining to having every single seat filled in a 15-minute span, so I give them some leeway here since it'd be quite challenging to staff for such swings in patronage. Â Typically we only head to Aldo's when we're not in a rush. Â There's times we've gone where every seat is filled (they have maybe 25 seats inside?) - so definitely head when you feel like you can take your time, or go at an off-time when you can be treated like a king (or queen).
The owner has served us directly several times. Â Right now I believe the tables are all decorated with flowers from his own personal garden, which is a great touch.
I highly recommend the spicy creamy tomato sauce on your pasta dish - I haven't seen very many places serve this kind of sauce (it's not a fra diavolo, its creamy).
At times it seems some places on Yelp have unreasonably high ratings for what they are, and I can only assume that all the locals give it 5 stars to prop up their neighborhood image.
Such is the case with Aldo's I think.
I saw that this place had a average of 4.5 stars, so I had to try it when I was in SJC. But what I didn't notice is that only 18 people (probably mostly locals) had written reviews so far.
Walking up to this tiny cafe in a strip mall I knew this was going to be wrong. There were two huge grease boards outside with the menus on them. One had about 8 kinds of salads, all between $10 and $12 each. Wow, that better be some good salads. The other board was panini sandwiches, again all $10-$12 each without any side dishes. Geez, kinda pricy for just a sandwich. Then I walked in and I was the only one there. Uh-oh.
I ordered a panini and immediately I was worried as I heard him fire up the microwave. A microwave is being used to make a sandwich? Turns out he melted the cheese in the microwave before putting it on the bread. Why? Doesn't the panini press melt the cheese?
I decided to tell him I'd get it to go as I didn't want to sit alone here, so he put in it a container and I left. As I looked inside, the bread was flat as a pancake and cheese was all over the container, and almost none was still in the bread. I honestly had to re-load the cheese on the bread myself, or it would have just been toast and cheese soup.
So why didn't I give it 1 star. Well, the same reason the locals probably give this place 5 stars... the owner Aldo. He is from northeast Italy and is super charming and friendly. He is a joy to speak with and very funny.
Also, despite the poor execution, the sandwichdid taste good. I think he uses good ingredients, and he's obviously full blood Italian, so I assume it's all authentic. But I wished he make some pasta dishes instead of the paninis, because that just didn't work.
If I ever come back, I will try the salad instead. If you give this place a shot, I'd suggest the same, and avoid the paninis.
If you are in the mood for a Panini as opposed to the Subway next door, you will like this place. Â If you are in a mood for a subway and go for the Panini you will wish you had just gone to Subway. Â Cheese Panini with Brie, mozzarella was tasty but the cheese inside was cold. Â Their Panini machine grills the bread but is not good enough to warm the inside? Â Same for the ham and cheese Panini. Â Ham is thin sliced sandwich ham straight from the fridge and was cold. Â Everyone raved about the lentil soup so we tried that too. Â It was hot, hearty and filling, but there was a lot of oil floating on top. Â No bread was offered with the soup. Â I'd rate it an 8 out of 10. Â Total bill for 2 lunch special paninis, one soup and one ice tea was $20 including tax and tip. Â Our lunch at Subway is usually $8. Â
I mean it is really unfair to compare this to Subway as Aldo is a restaurant with some nice wine selections (not necessarily on the menu). Â But the food is average and the presentation is 1 star. Â The Panini comes on a stark white plate with no garnish. Â It just looks wrong with waiter service. Â I think I am just expecting too much from non-Mexican food in San Juan. Â Besides the Mexican places, Bad to the Bone BBQ is the best place for lunch in San Juan. Â If you want something gourmet then Savoy's Faire in Laguna Niguel is the place.
I can't believe this place only has 18 reviews!
This past Saturday I was on Yelp searching for a place for dinner and came across Aldo's. I was hesitant to try it because of the low number of reviews but still curious to try it out anyways because all the ratings were 4+ stars. Thank goodness I did!
The restaurant is small but comfy with Italian music playing throughout. They serve bread and butter - a definite +1 at any restaurant. Waters come in huge colorful tall cups. The 4 of us each ordered a different panini and we all LOVED our grilled sandwiches and are planning to come back soon for more! I had the Italian Sub. The panini bread was so soft. The salami was so juicy and tender. The basil leaves were so flavorful. There was the perfect amount of provolone cheese. Each bite was heavenly. Next time I'll have to try the lentil soup that all the other yelpers raved about.
When we got the bill, some of our paninis came out to be only $5. Then we realized that Aldo's has daily specials, even on weekends! This made our tummies happy and our wallets even happier! I definitely feel sorry for the Subway that's right next door to Aldo's!
We found this quaint little place tucked away in a shopping complex, and what a great find! It's hard to live up to 5-star Yelp ratings, but Aldo's certainly does. I felt like we were visiting Italy and eating homemade food. And my husband said hi to Aldo who looks as charming as his restaurant.
I loved my panini -- salami and provolone plus a scrumptious chunky tomato topping with spicy mustard and flavored mayo. To die for. The caesar salad was good and you have to try the homemade lentil soup. Sooo hearty and delicious. If you are near San Juan Capistrano, stop by Aldo's for a wonderful treat!
I don't know how to not love this place. Â It's a small cafe with delicious food and a homey atmosphere. Â I had the lentil soup. Â It is homemade and is a savory treat on an unusually chilly, rainy, southern California day. Â I also enjoyed the Del Obispo sandwich, the Bishop of his sandwiches so to speak. Â Michelle had a pasta salad that was also a treat. Â We ended our meal with cappuccinos. Â They were good cappuccinos by the way.
Aldo was out in the dinning talking to people. Â He stopped to talk to us for a minute. Â Anyplace that has the owner and namesake out in the dinning room gets an extra star from the get go.
He's also got outside seating that probably adds 50% to the restaurant capacity. Â I recon that also means the outside seating is dog friendly.
I wish I had noticed this place years ago. Â I can't imagine how we won't become regulars.
Aldo's is very special to my heart. I meet my Argentinian Italian Grandparents to eat here about once a month. It is very casual yet the food is excellent. My Grandparents are very picky about their Italian yet they come to Aldo's three times a week or more. That is saying a lot.
Aldo. the owner is very friendly and cooks most of the dishes himself. My favorite dish is the lamb chops. I swear to you, I do not like lamb at all, but I love Aldo's lamb. It is not gamy and his mustard sauce his the secret.
On Wednesdays, Aldo's puts on an all you can eat pasta night. I recommend the pesto. If you are looking for a casual place to dine out and eat great Italian, Aldo's is the place for you.
This is a great neighborhood restaurant. It looks like a tiny cafe but don't let that fool you. There's some really great authentic pasta dishes served here. We tried these dishes:
Bruschetta: awesome, crunchy toast topped with fresh chopped tomatoes, capers, basil & olives
Angel hair pasta with roasted eggplant and marinara sauce: awsome
Gnocchi with bolognese sauce: the gnocchi was really soft and silky and the sauce was full of flavor
We met the owner/chef. He's from Venice, Italy, a really friendly guy. I'm definitely going back for more.
I work a lot in the San Juan Capistrano area and the apparent state of local gastronomy is depressing. My apologies to the spoilt locals if I'm simply uninformed. But the only two restaurants I've liked in SJC are El Adobe and Rendezvous. And I can't walk into these places in the state I'm often in. The work I'm doing in SJC is dirty so I want a place that is casual enough for me to show up smelling a bit gamey and smeared with invasive frog intestines. Please forgive this mention of such unpleasantries and don't let my review diminish your appetite for Aldo's is  truly a sparkling jewel in a dung heap of local dining.
It's a very small, unassuming cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. It's kept clean and the decor is basic so the clientele can range from the filthy field person (seated outside) to a gaggle of local soccer moms to suited formal business lunchers. The food is authentic Italian served up by an authentic Italian with accent. Aldo is indeed the owner and likes serving up his delicious dishes to diners as much as spending time in the kitchen. When it's slow he likes to chat with the patrons. He listened attentively as I droned on about the plight of the arroyo toad.
Now to the food. So far I've had the lentil soup, chicken & spinach panini with pommodoro sauce, gnocchi in alfredo sauce, chicken masala, and crepes al mare. All were delicious. And it's obvious he's using all fresh ingredients and the bread is baked onsite. Two people can get stuffed to the gills and have a proper cappuccino afterward for less than $35. And in an area where I had previously been reduced to eating at Jack in the Box, I'm ecstatic to have found this place!
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