I will not be returning to this place, EVER! The waiter looked around at the table once everyone had received their food and asked if we needed anything else... he must have overlooked the fact that half of us had been our of water for the past 15min. I asked for water and it wasn't a big deal... fine. I am not a fan of red sauce so I asked if they had any other options and apparently they don't so I ordered the steak salad cooked well, it was medium at most and cut very fine so I didn't understand what was confusing about well done and medium. I would have preferred to not have blood on my salad. Then we realized that our steaks were supposed to be served with creamy horse radish.... WRONG AGAIN. Our steak salads were topped with whipped cream, seriously?!? Overall just a poor and overpriced experience.
Review Source:Could have been a great dinner, but the hostess (2 different nights) was rude and obnoxious. Â Our waiter was nice, the food fair, tried it twice, both times not worth the money. Â To bad because the one in Laguna is great, with a great wait staff.
Terrible Experience! Â Don't waste your money.
Horrible experience on Thanksgiving.  HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE.  Wish zero stars was an option.  I made reservations over two weeks ago for 6pm seating for Thanksgiving meal.  Table of four - including my elderly parents.  The restaurant called back a few days later to change it to 6:30pm, saying their "reserved seating" wasn't going to start until 6:30pm, so needed to move us.  Ok.  Our first time having to do Thanksgiving in a restaurant - as we flew in at 2am from a vacation, and we usually host.  My elderly mother is three weeks post knee replacement and this is her first day out of the  house.  The fact that we're going to a restaurant, as opposed to our 22 member extended family day is a big deal in itself.
Drum roll please..... at 5:45pm as we're ready to leave, Â I get a call from the restaurant saying "We're sorry, but we ran out of turkey". Â What the!?!?! Â It's a pre-set Thanksgiving menu and you ran out of turkey? Â At 5:45pm? Â With people with RESERVATIONS coming in? Â "We had more people than we expected". Â But we have a RESERVATION! Â That means = Â you turn away "walk-ins" who came earlier because you have to save four meals for the party with RESERVATIONS. Â Now they are telling us we had the "last reservation time". Â What!?! Â YOU called US and changed our time saying that was the "first reservation time". Â Greedy, greedy, couldn't turn away walk-ins.
They offer to make a different entree - no go. Â It's Thanksgiving and we reserved for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Â Hang up and now have to scramble.
No food in the house - as we'd been gone for two weeks. Â Parents sitting in my house, and now we have to scramble to find Thanksgiving Dinner at 6:30pm on Thanksgiving night. Â I jump on Open Table and found Rocco's Italilan on El Camino Real (not to be confused with Rocco's Pizza also on El Camino Real). Â Hadn't tried it yet. Â They heard my sobbing pleas and accommodated our group. Â Had an AMAZING Thanksgiving meal that included salad, pumpking ravioli, full Thanksgiving plate (generous servings), and desert for $25 a person. Â Better deal and better food than Sundried. Â Awesome ambiance - husband cooking and wife serving. Â Treated us like family.
So I guess I need to thank Sundried for turning me onto a better establishment who knows how to treat customers right. Â But seriously - horrible, horrible, decision-making by the management that night. Â Lost a customer for life.
EAT AT ROCCO's people!!
We have been going to Sundried for the past few years and have had very good luck.
Our usual routine is to sit at the bar for dinner and  some wine while watching sports on TV. The service has been consistently very good as has been the case with the food so all in all we would highly recommend it.
We went in after 2 PM and stumbled upon the amazing happy hour. Â We had the grilled artichoke with cheese, chicken egg rolls, and the pesto goat chesse sundried tomato appetizer. Â Everything was excellent but the pesto goat cheese appetizer was spectacular. Â The pesto was perfect and the crackers they served were excellent.
Our waitress was pleasant and very attentive. Â We can't wait to go back. Please open a restaraunt in Huntington Beach !
Great addition to Talega. Â Great service, friendly staff. Â Food is very good and consistent. Â Bar is the best, good selection of drinks with "mixogists" who know their craft. Â Excellent service, you will like everyone behind the bar. Â Mike, DJ Frankie, Paul, Aaron, and let's not forget the bar back extraordinaire ... Jordan!
Review Source:Based on my earlier review, and my belief that second chances are central to a civilized society, Â my wife and I decided it was time to give Sundried Tomato another chance. I'm glad we did. Perhaps coming on a Sunday on a nice, warm, sunny day was part of the enjoyable experience, but we really enjoyed our visit this time. I'm glad for having an opportunity to try their menu, and the service was far and away better than our first time here.
We shared the poke appetizer, my wife had the blackened ahi sandwich and I had the lamb cheeseburger. Everything was excellent. And the fact that they had a Yelp check in offer for an espresso brownie sundae just topped it all off.
I can say that we will be coming back in the future.
Pasta-less vegetarian lasagna. Â I like lasagna so I had to give this a whirl. Â It ended up as something I may not want to consider again. Â It just missed the flavor at all levels. Â The cheese and the vegetable layers just didn't mesh with one another. Â There are other items on the menu which probably would have yielded better results.
Review Source:I have been to SDT Cafe in San Juan Capistrano but I prefer the San Clemente location. It is a larger restaurant and the bar is great. We usually sit at the bar for dinner and get our drinks from Paul the bartender. Best Margaritas and Chocolatetinis anywhere. Oh YUM!!! Â He is super nice and very professional. Everyone seems to know him and like him. The appetizers are very good and they have some good daily specials. We recently went there for a friends birthday party. They treated use with great service, great food, great everything. We were all impressed. Oh yeah...and Paul made our drinks. YUM!!
Review Source:Great restaurant! My partner & I eat there at least once a week and the Food is always Good. The staff is friendly & the service is excellent. The decor is also very nice, I really like the layout of the place it offers more private tables on one hand and on the other hand a nice long bar with comfortable stools and more causal tables. They also have a nice outside patio area with heater & low riders with a nice fire place to relax too. I recommend this Sundried Tomato Cafe to anyone who's looking for a great dining experience. All food items are good so go & Enjoy!
Review Source:We love Sundried Tomato. It was my wife and I's first date spot, and they always have great service, food and atmosphere. The SC location is much better than SJC or Laguna for sure.
The Sundried Tomato soup is to die for, we get it everytime. Also really enjoy their burger and any fish that has been on the menu. Well prepared, fair prices and just the right portions.
Went here when it was slower and had slow service. Took ten minutes for server to come over. Wine was good but overpriced. Tomato butter with bread was disgusting, in our opinion. Bread itself was delicious!
Entrees were good but not great--got one of their signature pastas, and it was nothing special. For prices, expected much better. On bright side, server was very friendly. Nice decor. Wouldn't go back.
We stopped by for lunch for the first time. I've avoided this place like the plague, assuming it was just a fancy TGIF.
I was wrong. Very nice atmosphere. Reminded me of Wildfire in Chicago. Park yourself outside on the patio. Very comfortable. The seating was nicely arranged. Lots of room and comfortable. I had the chicken pesto sandwich with clam chowder. The soup was good, not the best I ever had, but still above average. The sandwich was very good. Chicken smothered in a sweet pesto sauce with a thin layer of melted cheese. I had to grant the 4th star based on the bread though. Very good for a bistro. Fresh, warm but crusty on the outside. The service was a bit slow, but pleasant enough.
This place is a bit pricey for lunch. Don't expect to escape under $40 for two people. Add cocktails, and it's gonna cost ya even more.
Ahh, what the hell, the food was good. I'll go back.
AMAZING!!!
The food was to die for!!
I usually go to the one in San Juan Capistrano on my way to and from LA from san diego.
Worth the stop!!
this time our GPS took us to the one in san Clemente!!! This was exceptional.
The watermelon martini was to die for!!!
THe service by Kamy was warm and friendly made us feel at home even though we had no idea where we were!!!
Even the manager gave us a warm welcome!!!
Hopefully will definitely be back soon, even though its so far out of the way!! WELL WORTH IT!
I have no idea why there are two separate Yelp entries for this restaurant. I'm not sure which one to review under, but the reviews under this one seem more recent, so...
I came here with a regular customer who had accumulated enough points on his Sundried Tomato rewards card that he was able to pay tonight's bill ($130 for four people) entirely in points! :O
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the layout of the restaurant. The fact that it is at a corner really stood out, especially because the tables near the entrance were arranged in a triangular space (you have to see it to understand).
I ordered the salad sampler, a cup of the soup of the day (Creamy Lemon, Chicken, and Risotto), and the sweet potato pommes frites. I really liked how I could sample three salads as a meal! I've never seen that on a menu before. I also liked how each of the salads had some form of cheese and nuts (two salad requirements in my book). Overall, I thought the food was excellent!
Our waitress was a bit forgetful and we had to ask twice for bread, i.e. service tonight was less than stellar, but by no means bad. Everyone in my party seemed to enjoy the atmosphere and food. Prices were intermediate ($$) and I definitely agree that this restaurant is appropriately deemed a bistro cafe.
I came here with my fiance to test it out for our rehearsal dinner in March. Â I was not really sure what to expect because the reviews were great but the restaurant was in a brand new shopping center with a bunch of other yuppy cafes/restaurants near by. Â
Let's start with the ambience.... OMG... AMAZING... It's a very hipster/modern/urban vibe... I love that the bar area is sort of the fun sporty area where you can watch sports and be loud/rowdy; but the dining area is just so damn cool. Â The lights are that down low that makes it seem hip/romantic in a weird way, and the noise level is not ultra high so it definitely makes for good conversation.
The service is also equally amazing. Â Our food/drink orders were taken within the first few minutes and my water/wine glass was always full!!! Â I also like that they didn't ask every ten seconds, "CAN I GET YO MORE...." I hate when servers/staff do that... It can be really distracting; at Sundried Tomato, they just knew! HA!
The food is PHENOMENAL. Â I would definitely recommend the "not your kids" mini turkey corndogs. Â They are PERFECT... Perfectly crispy/warm mini turkey corndogs wrapped in bacon... Are you drooling yet? Â The corndogs also come with two dipping sauces that pretty much taste like happiness in a ramekin. Â My fiance and I both went with burgers... Ahhhhh DROOL.... DROOL... They burgers were perfectly cooked and super juicy.... But perfect juicy in that the burger didn't drip all over my hands and plate. Â The avocado/secret sauce were also some very nice touches as well... And the truffle fries... OH THE TRUFFLE FRIES. Â
Pros:
-AMBIENCE is amazing (good for just hanging out in the bar or a classy dinner in the dining area)
-Servers/Wait staff are nice and not pushy at all
-Clean bathrooms
-BOMB food
Cons:
-Food is a little bit on the pricer end (but you get what you pay for!)
The decorations and layout of the restaurant are very cool. They have a nice outdoor patio area with comfy chairs.
We went there tonight with a group of 7 for happy hour. Our group was occupying a set of tables and some of the sofas they have on the patio. We ordered our first round of drinks while waited for another member of our party.
In the meantime, the hostess came out and told us that we needed to pick either the table or the couches, that we couldn't occupy both. Mind you, the set of tables was not enough for our group and neither would have been the sofas. Â She was incredibly off putting and rude about it, stating that when they had more clients come in, they wouldn't have a place to sit. Â
Now if the place had been busy I could see that we should move and try to consolidate, grab an extra chair from another table, but despite 2 other people, we were the only ones out on the patio. The place was not busy, no reason for the rudeness from the hostess.
We were ready to let it go, until our waiter came to our table and expressed the same concern. At that point we promptly paid our drink tab and left.
We will not be back.
We love this place - they have decent kids meals with yummy skinny fries, and butcher paper on the tables so we can color! ;)
But that is only important because the grown up food is SO good. Their cilantro honey sandwich with Brie is amazing. I can't figure out how they make it so delicious, but they do. They also have a cilantro-caper salad dressing that is just perfect. And I don't LOVE cilantro - I tolerate it and it has its place in Mexican food. But in these sauces, it is mild and flavorful. Like you want to lick your plate clean flavorful! My husband ordered the spicy gorgonzola fries with sriracha sauce. So good! The breads bread basket they bring you is tasty, too.
The servers here have always been great. Attentive and friendly, they know to earn their tips. I would recommend Sundried Tomato Cafe to anyone!
I knew there was a reason why I never bookmarked this place.
Although the decor was nice and the service decent, the food was pedestrian. There really was no wow factor in the food.
We ordered a couple cocktails that were way too sweet. I couldn't even tell you if there was any alcohol in them.
For lunch we decided on the humus duo, the scallops and the angus burger. The only redeeming quality of the humus duo was the humus' partner; goat cheese. I could've made a better humus plate. The scallops were on the rubbery side. I must say though, the burger wasn't bad. It's just not enough to bring me back. Â Our $80 would've been better spent elsewhere.
After reading the reviews on this place I was excited to try it, but came away very disappointed! Â I'm a huge fan of pulled pork and tried their new pulled pork sandwich. Â It wasn't horrible, but just mediocre and the shoestring fries were soggy instead of crispy.
The service was friendly, but extremely slow!!!! Â I can't remember the last time I had to wait 15 min. for an iced tea refill. Â Unfortunately, we were a party of 6 so there was an automatic 20% tip added. Â I usually tip about 20% for good service, but I don't feel it was deserved last night!!!
We met our Daughter and SIL for lunch. We meet in San Clemente as it's halfway for us. My Daughter said this place looked great so we tried it. There were 2 gentlemen in the front and one greeted us very warmly and seated us. Our waitress arrived shortly there after and took our drink order. We started with the Brie appetizer. I would have preferred to pay more and get more than a tablespoon of brie. I'm not kidding, there were about 15 slices of bread and hardly any brie or pesto. Very disappointing. Our daughter order the spicy fries with her meal. They brought them out as an appetizer. We asked that they be served with her meal. They were, they brought out the same fries, now cold. Yuck.
Our waitress was about as friendly as a rock, but our busboy was awesome. He kept our waters and ice teas filled the entire time. 3 of us ordered the soup and salad. The soup was way too little tomato and way too much heavy cream, none of us were fans. The Chicken, apple and pecan salad was awesome. Most places make this salad with all greens and very little chicken, apples and pecans. That was not the case here, this salad had plenty of fresh chicken, green apple slices and candied pecans. Very good.
We had now asked our waitress for more butter 2 times to no avail (They serve an awesome tomato butter with the bread basket) Luckily again, our busboy came thru for us. My Son in Law ordered the fillet Mignon and said he could hardly taste his steak because of all the bacon. He said it was ok, not great.
When i drop over $100.00 for a casual lunch I want to be impressed. I wasn't. And since our busboy was basically our waiter, I was kinda ticked the waitress got the tip, she didn't deserve it, he did.
Nice, new restaurant, but a little cookie cutter for me. Nothing inviting or creative. One of the few positives about this place is the bar staff. Can be very pleasant and quick if the right guys are working. Food leans toward the overcooked. We've had overcooked $28 steak, super dry overcooked $13 grilled shrimp (4 small shrimp....really?), overcooked rack of lamb... seeing a trend here?
As I write this I'm not quite sure why I have actually returned to this place the few times that I have. Hmmmmm
Only thing I've ever ordered that I would order again is the chopped salad. Light and refreshing.
If you want to go hang out in the bar and get a drink I give this place an unenthusiastic thumbs up. Some good weeknight specials. Otherwise... get the heck out of Talega because there doesn't seem to be any worthwhile spots to hit up in the area.
2.5 stars. Â This place looks very fancy and the food is good, but nothing amazing. Â After I ate there I figured we'd be back all of the time, but never end up going. Â The happy hour deals get the prices down to manageable, $5 drinks instead of $7-$10. Â $5-7 apps instead of $10.
I would give it a shot but you can find better. Â I think they are missing a signature item or reason to go there over somewhere else.
Mediocre at best. Met a good friend here and the restaurant has a nice vibe and excellent presentation. But the food! Bleh.
I got a tuna burger that was rare, but not sushi grade and barely seared. I took a bite into a big strip of muscle or tendon or something like that - asked the busboy (because the waiter ignored us entirely since we were not ordering drinks) to lightly sear it, it came back overdone.
the gorgonzola hot fries were confusing. slimy with something that tasted like tabasco with gorgonzola hidden in it. I want to scrape my tongue clean!
Waiter was really bad. hasty and forgetful.
On a more positive note, the frozen yogurt Swirls next door made it all better!
Went there for a birthday dinner. The place is very nice. The ambiance is very chic.
The wait staff were nice but they weren't as attentive as I would I have thought they'd be. (maybe because it was busy?) Also, my party was annoyed that they didn't follow the instructions regarding multiple charge/debit cards (we had name on card with its respective amounts written on the back of the bill and when we got the bill back he split it evenly among the cards)
The bread that came out was warm and delicious.
The food was alright. I wasn't a fan of the pasta (they use a lot of Gorgonzola cheese), the burger is pretty good (juicy), their fries were the best thing I ate there.
Just went here for lunch today. Solid spot. Seems like people have skewed higher than the reality of the restaurant - in my opinion.
We actually tried to go here once before, but the host was so terrible we turned around and left. So today was really my second time here.
Service turned out to be delightful. The host and server were friendly and attentive - the restaurant was very quiet (only like four other parties because we went around 2PM).
The bread arrived immediately, along with the ice water we requested. The great thing about the bread is that the rolls were half serrated so they could be broken apart into smaller bits. This is SO important! It helps bread-lovers minimize bread intake before the actual meal. The bread was actually very warm and fresh, I was truly surprised from the moment it was placed on the table.
We then each ordered the half and half - he the half thai chicken sandwich and chicken and apple salad - me the half honey cilantro chicken sandwich and the butternut squash soup with caramelized onions.
Pros - food was very tasty, different fare than a lot of the rest of San Clemente. It also came out very quickly, and the presentation was clean and practical, yet not boring.
Cons - tiny sandwiches! My boyfriend's thai chicken sandwich was a kid's meal size - thank goodness his salad was large. Prices were also high for the portions that were delivered. Two half and halfs plus one Chimay (on draft, which was great) was 36 dollars and change, before tip. Â
Overall, would I go back? Yeah. But I wouldn't get the half and half again, it's just not enough food for thirteen dollars. Some of the appetizers sounded amazing though. This place doesn't wow me enough to put it up there with Hapa J's, Nick's, or Beachfire. You seem to pay for overhead - when you aren't really eating in that nice/scenic of a location. The decor is a little chilly too - it seems more like an upscale Yard House than a "cafe".
I'm happy we ventured back to actually try - it was a fine experience.
First off, this place looks gorgeous. Â The decor is just right.
The food...really really good! Â And the prices are good for what you get. Â The sirloin burger was to die for...and I don't usually say that about burgers. Â The fries were good also, haha. Â But my favorite is the damn sun dried tomato butter! Â It. Is. Good. Â And the service was amazing, even for to-go orders! Â
Go try this place if you have yet to go. Â The happy hour is awesome and you cant beat it!
This review is for their take out only. I haven't actually eaten inside the restaurant.
My company I work for provided us dinner last night from Sundried Tomatos, surprisingly, considering they haven't done anything nice the last 3 months I've worked here (hence why I'm quiting and tomorrow is my last day, amen!)
They brought the whole house individual Ceaser Salads, angel haired pasta and a piece of chocolate cake. Ceaser Salad is like any other salad that I've tasted. But the pasta and the cake is to die for! The pasta had just the right amount of flavor to it, and the pasta was cooked just right. I'm drooling right now just thinking about it! The chocolate cake was soooo tasty and rich! I could only eat about half of the cake because it was so rich...now that is one good cake!!!
I really want to go visit the actual restaurant (now that I know where it's located) and see how nice the inside of the restaurant and how the service is. Their food is tasty enough, I can imagine how good the restaurant is.
I've been to all three Sundried Tomatoes and the Talega location is by far the best. Â The building was obviously designed to be much more elegant than the other two, and the view from the patio is outstanding.
Unlike the other two locations, the Talega location has a huge bar, and a variety of seating options. Â We go often after work and grab a bite during their happy hour. Â Being in the restaurant industry ourselves, we're rather discerning (read: picky) and have yet to be disappointed.
The food here is great, and the variety works well as we are able to choose from something simple or more upscale. Â The SDT soup (what the place is named for?) is amazing. Â It's a cream soup and is barely red. Â One of my co-workers tried to explain the soup to me before I had it, and was trying to tell me it's a tomato soup that's not red.. Â What!? Â The first time I had it, the waiter tried to tell me "it's tomato soup for people that don't really like tomato soup." Â That fit me to a T, so I had a cup. Â Amazing. Â It truly is, as my co-worker tried to explain, an item that you crave.
When this place first opened, the wait was ridiculous, and the bar was almost impossible to navigate. Â Now that the newness has worn off, it's much easier to get in and enjoy. Â One of the things they've started doing is having an "Iron Chef" type contest between the chefs.. Â The two chefs create specials, and then post the results on a board. Â So far we've had some pretty great things, although some of them sound a bit too adventurous for me.
I was amazed at the 2 negative comments posted on here, as everyone at my office loves it, and my friends in the area have been going since they opened. Â Of course, Talega is known for being home to the snobs who don't consider themselves part of San Clemente, so I can't say I'm surprised.
I can't imagine anyone making a special trip to the Talega location, since it's out of the way for everyone but the locals, but if you are a fan of the SDT restaurants, it's worth the drive...
Ventured over here with my mother-in-law for a Friday lunch. We had a grrreat experience.
The restaurant has upscale, casual decor. I wouldn't mind coming back for dinner because it has a nice ambiance. The lighting is fun and swank. They have a beautiful patio with a good combination of lounge seating and dining tables. The bathrooms are very Restoration Hardware with the heavy, dark wood wainscoting and louvered doors.
We enjoyed the chopped salad and the basil pesto chicken baguette. Their half and half combos for salad, soup and sandwiches are perfect. The bacon-wrapped scallops are a must try. Didn't think I would be a fan of teriyaki on my seafood but it passed with flying colors.
They also have a decent selection of wines by the glass. Albarino with lunch? I think I shall...
Service was excellent. The hickey on the side of his neck was a distraction but very friendly.
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