Cafe Des Artistes

Went here for lunch this afternoon with my mom. There was about 3 other tables full when we came in around lunch. Michael, the owner, was very friendly and accomidating.
My mom ordered the tuna salad sandwhich and tomato soup. She really enjoyed the tuna salad, said that the walnuts were a nice touch and the bread was excellent.
I ordered the chicken poblano soup with a side salad. The soup was great, hearty and just the right amount of spice from the peppers. The salad was fresh, with all veggies crisp, ripe and in season. I also order blood orange iced tea, which he brought out freshly brewed in a diffuser that despinsed over ice.
The portions here are not the largest, however he uses all organic, locally sourced ingredients. So although you do pay a bit more, he is definitely not skimping on quality.

This was my first visit to this café and I plan on going back. It’s a great setting and the food was delicious. I had a turkey wrap and my friend did a half panini and cup of sweet corn soup. We both enjoyed our meals. It took a little while for our food to come because the regular cook apparently had to leave for a family emergency. But we were enjoying our time there and didn’t mind the wait. Hopefully next time will be a little quicker. The café is connected to an art center so we went and walked the art center after our meal. It help complete a nice afternoon. A great find in this little town.

Was working in Fallbrook, and decided to have lunch at this place, based on Unilocal reviews. What a mistake. The place was almost empty, even though it was lunchtime. The huge sign at the entrance said «Please wait to be seated». I did and was ignored for a couple of minutes by the server who turned out to be the owner. When he passed by me, I asked whether I should just seat myself, to which he replied, with very unfriendly attitude,“I thought the sign was pretty clear, wasn’t it?” after which he told me I could pick a table. That’s logical…
The unfriendly condescending attitude continued throughout my visit. The food wasn’t much better. Very overpriced, considering how small the portions are. I ordered an $ 11.00 panini soup combo: grilled eggplant and bell pepper panino and corn chowder. My panino wasn’t really a panino. It wasn’t pressed at all — just a very small sandwich, with tasteless pale eggplant and pepper which tasted steamed. It wasn’t seasoned well either — just a poor excuse for a panino. What you see in the photo is the wannabe panino, after I asked to press it some more. The soup was OK but had too much garlic, especially for lunch. When I complained about the panino, I got a lot more attitude. Maybe this explains why the place was empty at lunch. Too bad, as the restaurant itself is actually charming. When I told a local, at a business across the street, about my experience with the owner, the person said, «Yep, I’m not surprised. This is how he is…»

This is probably the best lunch spot in town! If you want a classic soda or an amazing tea this is your spot. The food is delicious and healthy, but not in that too many vegetable kind of way! If you want to eat well I suggest you eat here! I suggest ordering what ever the special of the day is.

Super cute place, tucked away behind main street (behind the library in Fallbrook). Staff was very nice and attentive. Nice to have option of indoor and outdoor seating. And food and drinks were good as well. I don’t eat out often, but will definitely find an opportunity to visit this place again.

Duuuuuuuude!!! Café des Artistes has the most delicious ice cream soda I’ve ever tasted!!! Espresso soda over coffee ice cream?!? Uhm, yes please!!! And Michael (the proprietor) is always very sweet. Stop by for a great snack or full meal any time
On the corner of Main and Alvarado, just FYI.
And for those of you that have special dietary needs they have plenty of gluten free and vegetarian options. My son loves the flourless chocolate cake that is a staple in their bakery offerings.

Such a cool café to go to if you are ever in the Fallbrook area! I was originally going to eat at Main Street, but got so frustrated trying to find parking. I pulled into their parking lot by accident, and saw there was a café so I decided to give it a try. The café is gorgeous! It is connected to the art gallery for lunch so you get to pop into the gallery as you wait for your food! Oh and you are surrounded by beautiful paintings as you eat! Great prices too! Only $ 7 for my delicious turkey sandwich! I also had an amazing French onion soup! Service was very nice and friendly too! I recommend anyone who is in the area to come to this café for lunch!

First time here — we thought it was great. Coffee was very tasty-​sandwiches were made with fresh products and the chowder was well prepared. We finished with a flour less chocolate cake that was very good. We are looking forward to trying dinner there!

This is my go to place to relax have fresh gourmet sandwiches or soups that I don’t worry about ordering anything cheap or unhealthy. The owners are nice and I can always kick back and chill.

I was not impressed. Although the food was tasty and the menu interesting, I thought everything was over-​priced based on the very small portions. I paid extra for prosciutto on my tiny panini and was surprised to see only 1 very thin slice. It was hard to determine if I actually received more than 1 slice of prosciutto, as it was cut paper-​thin. Regardless, it was certainly not worth the additional charge. Neither I, nor my lunch buddies ever plan to eat here again.

Pita turkey with clam chowder soup! Trying this place for the first time ! After lunch its off to Main Attraction salon! MY soup was barely warm, Enjoyed my lunch though !

Panini’s! I had the Salmon panini yesterday and it was fresh & delicious. My colleague’s had the Pesto Panini (as usual) and they were happy too. Take a look at the extensive tea list and the dessert counter. The art changes frequently so always something new to enjoy.

This is a great place for lunch if you are in Fallbrook. Everything is fresh and very high quality. Service was perfect, atmosphere arty. There were four in our party and we all had an excellent lunch. Prices are moderate for the quality of the food.

My husband and I ate at Café des Artistes a couple of days ago. We planned to be in Fallbrook around lunchtime, so my husband did a little internet research since we didn’t know any restaurants there.
The café itself is cute, displaying paintings by local artists, and we got a table with no problem. The menu was okay, nothing new or innovative, but they had several different panini and I decided to try the eggplant and roasted red pepper – I love that combo, and even make it myself sometimes. My husband ordered the salmon panino. We both ordered a cup of French onion soup and coffee. The coffee is good, but I asked for cream (or half and half) and was told that they had found out the day before that the cream they had ordered was spoiled. Well, okay, I thought, so why not go out and get some more? I am sure I am not the only person in the world who does not like lowfat milk in their coffee. STRIKE ONE!
The French onion soup came – the broth was weak, the onions scarce, and a few chintzy croutons with perhaps ½ tsp. cheese thrown in. STRIKE TWO!
The panini came, along with the final insult. I’ve never had a worse one. A few undergrilled and chewy slices of japanese eggplant, one ½″ slice of red pepper, not roasted, mind you, just a grilled slice, a bit of mayo, on some kind of bread which tasted strongly of sage. I like sage okay, but didn’t like it on that particular sandwich, but it was the only thing about the sandwich which had any taste at all. A little cheese would have been a welcome addition to that sandwich, along with a really gutsy garlic aioli, and please, put some real roasted red pepper in there since you feature it in the name of the sandwich,
not one chintzy, undergrilled slice! And it had not been prepared in a panini press, so what made it «panino» rather than just a tasteless sandwich? I was starved, so I ate half of it and left hungry. STRIKE THREE!
My husband said his salmon panino was better – he said it was «okay». It was grilled salmon slices on the same strange bread, with mayo (which they describe as «aioli», but seemed like plain old mayo to me), and a few capers. On a scale of one to ten, he gave it a five since he didn’t care for the bread either and the salmon was a bit overcooked.
We were disappointed enough in our lunch that we opted not to try any of the desserts.

Well else can I say, I just love the environment because the name gives it away. It’s a café with paintings of local artist. The first thing that caught my eye was a horse that was made for art. The menu they have is interesting because they have sandwiches that have common bread for sandwiches and they had homemade bread. I ordered the chicken grilled Panini (homemade bread) and added a fruit bowl. It didn’t take long to get my meal because it was a medium portion (My opinion). The sandwich was nice with the grilled chicken and homemade bread. The fruit bowl had strawberry, pineapple and grapefruit, which was a perfect combination. After finishing it all, I decided to get desert and it was very tasty. The desert was the reason for the five stars.

This is a little gem of a restaurant for lunch. Everything about the food is top-​notch, bespeaking the French touch of the owner & hostess/​manager. From the perfect coffee, to sandwiches on home-​made bread to die for, to the expresso brownie and other exceedingly delicious French deserts.
The café is nestled alongside an expansive art gallery. When we were there it was setting up for a wonderful American Watercolor exhibit. The infusion of the artistic element really heightens the dining experience.

To day I had lunch with two friends. It was a last minute plan, I didn’t have cash on me at the time. Our food was good service slow. When it came time to pay the bill, we all had separate checks. Two ladies paid cash, I put out my debit card. I don’t know if the man that came to the register is the owner or not. He said they did not accept cards for less than 10.00. I was in an embarrassing spot. I just stood there stunned. My friend quickly pulled out a 20.00 and paid for my lunch. Even though the food was good I will not return to the restaurant and I live only two miles from Café Des Artistes. I will also tell others about this. On the Unilocal page for Fallbrook it says that they will accept credit cards. Nothing is said about a limit.

Café Des Artistese is a great place to eat in Fallbrook. We have been coming to this place for the last five years.
The homemade soups are always delicious. I’ve tried all of their sandwiches over the years and enjoyed them all. The chicken salad sandwich is the best I’ve ever had.
I’m not a big eater, so the half sandwich and a cup of soup offerings work great for me.
The owner, Michael, and his staff are always pleasant and professional.
If you happen to find yourself in Fallbrook, give this place a try.