Café Bistro

This place is inside nordstrom’s. I don’t know why I never noticed a restaurant inside of this store but it’s real. When my friend told me about it, I kept thinking it was the e-​bar. I was kinda laughing when she said she tried to get reservations to the e-​bar.
Little did I know about this place. It’s a full blown restaurant. I liked it because their menu is quite large. I was impressed with the service.
I ordered the steak and arugula salad. It was good but the sun dried tomatoes made it a bit salty. I also wish they gave larger portions especially for a salad.
I would come again because I like that it’s inside a store. Makes it very convenient. I can browse while waiting. I also would like to try other items on their menu.

Tucked into a cozy corner on the 2^nd floor of Nordstrom’s is a hidden gem called Café Bistro. I ordered the warm asian glazed chicken salad. It was a delightful blend of fresh greens, glazed chicken, wontons, mandarins and almonds with a sesame ginger dressing. Our other plate was the black forest ham and cheese sandwich. The bonus was sitting at the bar as we could watch the chefs work together in creating these tasty dishes.

Yum. I love this place… its the perfect little place to dive in and take a shopping break. Great food. My only complaint is that you have to order something at the table to tip on a credit card and I dont always carry cash. Other than that its great :-)

This place is a hidden jem– the atmosphere is romantic and the food is honestly some of the best in Austin. The food is fresh are fresh and portions are generous, plus the staff is always great!

I love this café. I’ve been to it in many cities and it is always fantastic. My favorites are the Caesar salad and the roasted chicken with fries. The best part is the chicken on the Caesar is actually moist and clearly cooked to order. Not your typical quick service café. Outstanding every time!

Absolutely love the food at this restaurant. Every time we go (at least 10), the food is terrific and the service is very attentive and friendly. Besides the food (which is great), the atmosphere and ease of dining is the best part. It’s very easy to shop with the kids and stop in for a quick lunch which is delicious. BTW, the grilled shrimp with asparagus risotto should not be missed

Delicious food. Salads are delicious and refreshing. Be sure to ask for bread and butter. Also, if you’re going for lunch get there by 11:15 or you will probably have to wait. I was there on a Friday and by 11:30 there was a line to be seated. If you want a booth, get there by 11:00. Not too noisy and perfect place for a good meal during your shopping trip. It’s located on the second floor behind women’s lingerie. I ordered the shrimp cilantro salad. It had really nice meaty sizes of shrimp and crisp mesclun style lettuce with yummy dressing and those super thin onion crispy strips. There’s plenty of great choices here too. Looking forward to going back. Not crazy about having to order at the front like a cafeteria and paying at that time and then sitting down and having food delivered. To me, you’re either a cafeteria style or you’re a full service restaurant. But the food makes up for this minor bump in the road.

I’ll go to Nordstroms just to eat here. Love it. Fresh. Fast. Delicious. Can’t go wrong here.

I really appreciate the variety and the quality of consistency of foods here. The staff are friendly and quick as well.
The dishes I really enjoy here:
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad. The shrimp don’t taste ‘shrimpy’ if you know what I mean. The dressing is great, and I love the crunchy tortilla strips.
Salmon and mushroom herbed Risotto is also wonderful. The salmon, again, perfect. Not fishy at all. (Main reason I won’t eat seafood!) Not overpowering herb flavor, not too saucy either. Just right.
The house wine is great. Usually a great middle of the road variety that goes with most food and I think most people would enjoy.
My real favorite thing to eat here: The bread and butter. Yes, I know. But I LOVE good butter. Theirs is great. I usually get at least one refill of that while here.

I never thought to visit this café, but a friend recommended it, and we popped in to check out the menu. It’s counter service in the sense that you pay up front, then someone delivers the food to you. I had a glass of wine for about $ 9, and a salmon salad nicoise for about $ 14. Yes, it was a $ 25 lunch, but it was well worth it. The food was certainly closer to restaurant quality, and less like the food court options you’d have at a mall. Same goes for ambiance. I don’t like that they have literally one bathroom for the entire restaurant, which kept me waiting at an awkward point, but apart from that it was nice enough. We did tip as if it was a restaurant, so it may have been nice for them to offer refills or something to that affect. That’s really minor though, through and through it was a great experience, and a delicious salad, with a pretty decent wine list.

I love coming to eat here when I am at Barton Creek Mall. Café Bistro always has great soups and salads and you stand in line to order but then you go sit at your table and they bring your food out (you also have a server, so if you decide you want something else they can bring it to you).

My mother in law was in town the weekend before Christmas and wanted to go to the mall. We went here right before closing, but that didn’t faze the exhausted waitress. She was super friendly and helpful. My hubby and I had never been here before so were relying on the server’s suggestions. I ordered the roasted brussel sprouts and a cup of the potato soup. Both were excellent. The hubby had the chicken Caesar salad, which was huge. Everything tasted great and we did not feel rushed.

I always order a cup of the Bistro Crab Bisque & Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad. Both are cooked to perfection and delicious.
The special today was Brussels sprouts and a crab mac-​n-​cheese. Both were fantastic.

Update: If you are pre-​diabetic or diabetic, the salad dressings are very sweet here. Opt for the delicious balsamic and olive oil. Also, they no longer substitute soup for the fries. The only sub is a salad!
—
Husband is feeling fancy! Husband knows that I can only eat soups and soft things because of wisdom teeth! Husband loves me and suggests crab bisque! I jump up and down, I’m not kidding here — I’m a big child.
When we get there, it’s nicely empty which means that this restaurant is ours for a little while. Very romantic! We order our soup and take out seats. How posh! The sweet waitress brings our soup, apologizes that our crostini are still in the salamander, and brings us a nice, sliced baguette with my favorite butter, plugra butter! Unfortunately, but fortunately, the bread was perfectly/​sadly crusty, but on this day, I discovered how delicious the butter and bread were after they soaked in the bisque for a few minutes! Oh man!
Long story short! Go. Order cheese platter and crab bisque. Come back here and mark my rating as cool or helpful, because you’re gonna love it! Enjoy!

Wow, this place is a hidden gem!
Unfortunately I’ve only had two items in the 10 or so times I’ve eaten here. The reason is that the cilantro lime shrimp salad is so good that I’ve never ordered anything else (except the crab bisque a few times).
This salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, grilled corn, tortilla strips, grilled shrimps and a great light dressing is THE BEST SALAD I’ve ever eaten. So whenever I go to this fabulous little café, I crave this salad so much that I don’t even look at the menu.
In typical Nordstrom style the place is chic and clean with service that’d you would expect of a 5 star restaurant. They will give you a nice plate of fresh baked bread and butter on request as well.
Although not cheap, the salad is $ 14 or so, there are times that top quality food is worth every penny. This is one of those times.

The food here never fails. My family enjoys everything. The servers are all nice esp. Morgan. He gets a special mention just because my daughter is named Morgan, too. He was fast and very friendly. My daughter enjoyed talking to him.
Anyway, I ordered the round steak sans the pomme frite. I asked for asparagus spears instead and it was perfect! My sister ordered the mushroom pizza, cheese pizza for my daughter, crab bisque and asian salad for my hubs. There were no complaints. Like what I said, the food here never disappoint!

I was really surprised to arrive there be a line out the door. However, the hostess was on it and had it moving quickly.
It’s that Austin protocol were you order at the counter and the waiter brings it to your table with the corresponding number. My friend and I both ordered sandwiches and fries. I thought it was okay. Nothing memorable. I like that they served alcohol because I like a little wine when I’m lunching.
All in all, I think it’s waaaay better than the food court, so I’ll most likely be back again.

The best restaurant in Barton Creek Mall. I have yet to have a bad meal at the Café Bistro and I have dined there multiple times. Try the Cilantro Lime Salad, the Roasted Chicken, or the Onion Soup.
The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful with gluten free items. The menu has numerous items that are cooked gluten free or can be modified to be gluten free. Note that even some of the items that are not marked this way in some cases can be adjusted to be gluten free, like the Cilantro Lime Salad.
The set up is a little odd cause you stand in line to order, you pay at a check out, then you are waited on at a table after you are seated. The line can get pretty long on the weekend. Despite this odd configuration, the seating and atmosphere are comfortable and definitely a respite from the mall.

Café Bistro is an amalgamation of EVERYTHING America.
We are a consumeristic society based on the melting pot ideals of our ancestors. You may have come here by Mayflower or more recently by plane or you may have been born to people who did or did not, but guess what, the answers are endless but you and I are here to stay. And this place, without knowing it, like America, blends all of the foods from the old continents together in a commercial setting. Go ‘Murica!!!
After roaming around Nordstroms I finally came to the realization that what I like, I can’t afford and what I don’t like, I can afford (cheap crap I can get elsewhere If I really wanted it).
Also, I’m a drive-​by shopper. I only go shopping when I know what I want. After 20 minutes of trying on jeans I gave up and walked into Café Bistro. I had been here before but for some reason, today was different. And TODAY, I had the following epiphanies.
How did Italians make pasta before the New World was discovered? Because tomatoes come from America. How did the Irish survive without potatoes before the Great Famine when potatoes actually come from Peru and this part of the world wasn’t discovered until later? And what would the world be like without the spices that come from India and the Middle East? Too deep, okay, I’ll stop… let’s move on…
NOTHING in the world is more satisfying than digging into a medium rare flat iron steak with pommes frites while being able to turn your head and glaze at a bunch of size 0 – 2 dresses in a multitude of colors and designs. I could fit in those dresses with anorexia. Instead, I’ll chow down on my steak and be perfectly satisfied with the next size up.
Crab bisque review ²⁄₅: It’s good but they put WAAAAY too much butter and crème freche than needed. Also, for the price, they should be using fresh crab, but the chef confirmed they use canned crab. Not cool, they need to shave down the price for that simple revelation.
Bistro Flat Iron Steak Frites review ⁵⁄₅: Very few places will cook a steak exactly to your request and for this, I give Café Bistro a perfect score. I asked for medium rare, and I GOT a perfectly medium rare steak. I’m afraid that if I asked for rare next time, they might walk a cow through Versace and the over-​priced jeans section (seriously, who pays $ 299 for a pair of jeans?) !
Finally, let me just say that if I was trapped in the mall and was in dire need of food, this is the place I would go to. Forget the Food Court and forget California Pizza Kitchen, or Auntie Anne’s pretzels… come here. Choose your food accordingly and I promise you will walk away happy. You may not fit that size 0 dress as you exit, but HEY! it’s good food for the moment and a moment on the lip is well worth a lifetime savings from the pocket wallet on your hip.

If you’re not sure about Café Bistro at Nordstrom’s, take this mini-​test and see if you can answer «Yes» to any three of the following statements:
1. For some reason, you absolutely, positively, have to eat somewhere inside Barton Creek Mall.
2. You think mall food courts generally suck.
3. You think mall food courts generally suck, but the Sarku line today is a little too long. (Okay, I like Sarku.)
4. You think Nordstrom’s is pretty cool, if perhaps on the pricey side. But probably anything they do is going to be okay.
5. You have an odd affectation for all things Seattle.
6. You just won’t let go of those old Nirvana & Pearl Jam Cd’s.
7. You’re curious where all the Women from Westlake might be.
8. You like cloth napkins.
9. You can take or leave Starbucks, but really enjoy good coffee, preferably in a real cup not made of paper or Styrofoam.
10. You’re pals with Melissa A, who texts you on a lazy Friday afternoon with, «Want to eat at Nordstrom’s?»
The Hybrid Ordering System:
You’re handed a menu in line, you order and pay at the register, and you’re seated by a host and meet your server like any other restaurant. I get how your order is probably being fired before you’re even seated, and this results in a quick and efficient service. On the other hand, if I’m waiting in a line while I’m looking at empty tables, I start getting antsy. You’ll either like this system or not.
Venue:
It sure doesn’t feel like you’re inside a mall.
Service:
Once you’re seated, it sure doesn’t feel like you’re inside a mall.
Food:
They don’t do French-​fries here. They do Frites.
Nitpicks:
The risotto was a tad salty for me and the shortcake biscuit too firm. But then again, I’m in a mall having risotto, strawberry shortcake, and really great coffee on a lazy Friday afternoon. I thought that was pretty cool and had a marvelous time.
Best Time for Café Bistro:
Let’s see, that would be pretty much whenever this place is open. And if you don’t get a special invitation from Melissa A, then hey, shoot me a text — I’ll come hang with you.