Vie De France

I would give this place no star if Unilocal would let me. I am planning a lunch for 9 people next week and I called to request a menu with prices. The person who answered the phone, Pam, didn’t know where the menu’s were located that had the prices nor how to help me. She said that her manager could call me tomorrow, at 7:00 am, with this information. Then she went on and on about how she hasn’t work there very long, she doesn’t know where everything is and the menu on line doesn’t show the prices because «Corp» decided it wasn’t what they wanted to do. I’m so confused… I just wanted to see a to go menu with prices. That’s it. You would have thought that I was asking for something special! My advice to the location and to «Corp», please allow transparency and make simple information, like your to go menu and prices readily available. This allows your potential clients to make informed choices and will help your employees, like Pam, who seem overwhelmed by the thought of sharing any information that helps you gain business, give basic customer service to possible clients. Thank you.

Terrible Service! I was waiting in line with my mother and they skipped right over us and took the order of the people behind us. When we said something, they still grabbed the people behind us, brought them in front of us, and rang them up. It wasn’t till I complained a second time, they took our order. No apology. Incredibly rude group of girls! Very sour people working there.

This place was really packed when we went there for lunch and didn’t want to wait for a table. I had the french dip sandwich and a really awesome dessert (can’t remember the name). It was good and pretty good price considering they’re in the South Coast Plaza Mall (a super expensive mall with many high-​end stores). Four stars for service and four for the food (and price). The pastries looked amazing and I’ll be coming back for them. The one I had was great and the others looked fantastic as well.

My boyfriend brought me here for an early Valentine’s lunch and it was wonderful! I ordered the omelette du jour which was spinach and cheese for myself, and he ordered a croque-​monsieur. He’s been dying to try French cuisine so this was perfect. We also shared the French onion soup as an appetizer and I convinced him to get us the crème brûlée for dessert. Everything was delicious!
The portions are very European, but for me this was a good thing because I don’t eat huge amounts of food to begin with. Our waitress, Mey, was also amazing. I’ve never had better service anywhere else and she was so kind, attentive, and helpful the entire time we were there.
Definitely hope to come here again!

Great lunch place after hours of shopping. Super cute café in front of Macy’s men’s department. They also have a delicious bakery connected as well. Lines can get long so plan ahead of time.
My order:
VDF chicken, mushroom, and spinach Alfredo! Also comes with garlic bread. Super filling and fulfills my Italian cravings. 3.5÷5
French cheesesteak with fries is ⁴⁄₅

This is why I don’t go to poorly rated restaurants on Unilocal.I’m sitting here at the very restaurant regretting my decision to give this a try. We had to wait15 minutes for the waitress to come take our drink orders and it’s been another 10 and our drinks are nowhere to be seen. I think we’re done.

I’ve had some items at this place a few times! I got their game and cheese croissant, which is pretty good but a little pricey. I wanna say it’s about $ 4. I’m glad that when I ordered it, the guy got me a fresh one from the back because if he didn’t, I was gonna say to get it for me anyways because there were a few skies in the food case. Other than that, all their other food items look Delish. Great place for a quick bite so you can have food in one hand and shop with the other! Multitasking.

I can’t complain about anything here. The pastry is delicious and fresh. Sometimes I’ve even been lucky enough to stop by right when stuff has come out of the oven. The food is also incredible. Really decadent. Don’t go here if ur on a diet. They also have wonderful tasting drinks. I’ve only ever ordered from the bakery and never sat down inside so I don’t know what they offer in there. I reaaaaaally like spinach n cheese croissant. It’s big n poufy and just tastes so dang good. Tucked away over by Saks on the first floor, you might miss Vie if u don’t normally venture to that side of the mall. However I highly recommend you check them out.
Unilocal 100 Challenge: ⁶⁄₁₀₀

Always have to stop by here when shopping at South Coast Plaza.
The croissants are delectable and the baguettes are so fluffy. If you’re going to indulge in carbs, this baguette is fantastic. The service is good, nothing to really complain about. Food has been the same with the occasional updated menus. I seriously have been going here since I was kid. I’m so glad it has remained in the mall.

No trip to South Coast Plaza is truly complete until I’ve stopped by this place for a sweet treat.
You may see a line for the bakery section, to order some pastries and breads to go, but the service is fast. Don’t let the line prevent you from stopping by.
I have been here more times than I can count, seriously. The best items I find myself getting again and again are …
*Croissants, any kind is good! Savory or sweet. I recently had the raspberry cream cheese and I wish I ordered an extra one. I’ll need to go back and get another to fill my craving.
*Almond palmiers, that have an almond paste sweetness that is just the right amount of almond and not overwhelming at all. So crispy too!
*Onion and cheese mini challah, for a more tender bread, a little sweet and a little savory.
*Sourdough bread rolls, that are not too tangy, with a crunchy crust.
There you have it. My «go to» pastries and breads at Vie de France. Give them a try. I’m certain they will become your favorites too!

Came here on a quick lunch break when I kinda sorta shopped and forgot that I needed to eat! Grabbed a super quick bite to take back with me to the office! Ordered the ready made quinoa salad that comes with a choice of roll so I got the wheat one. It’s a one scoop size and roll for $ 4.85… kinda hefty, but I guess not when you consider where you at. The quinoa salad itself has no dressing, but the sweet lady ringing me up offered to give me some but I didn’t need it. Sadly, the quinoa salad is SO salty! I didn’t wanna waste my money so I decided to eat it up and drink a BUNCH of water after! haha One thing, they offer free samples of whatever baked good… people come and go and sample… but ONE lady used her FINGERS to sift through the samples to select choice pieces for herself!!! YES, fingers and ate multiple pieces of the free samples! I guess it’s free, but c’mon! Anyway, their croissants and bread pudding looked good… I’ll return and try that next if I am on lunch there!

Their chicken salad. That’s all you need to know. SO GOOD my family has been coming back for it almost every time we go to south coast :) There’s something about their non-​dry chicken, fresh crispy celery, slightly sweet mayo (from the raisins they add) that tastes so freaking good. Get the one on the croissant because it’s so buttery and soft YUMMM. My aunt and I got the croissant chicken salad and the box of chicken salad (that comes with a dinner roll or a baguette) to share. More than enough for the two of us to be happy :) Don’t be turned off by the raisins! I like raisins so I don’t mind eating them because it adds that slight sweetness that pairs well with savory things. If you don’t think this is your cup of tea, I also recommend their chocolate croissant (LOTS of chocolate bits!)

Get your French fix at South Coast Plaza.
Vie De France is a small café located next to Allen Edmonds in SCP that offers coffee along with all of the empty carbohydrates you could ask for. Almost all of their lunch options feature their signature baguette, which is a damn good one. Crusty outside, a soft mie within… a completely credible representation of my favorite carb bomb on earth.
I tried the chicken salad baguette sandwich and I was pleasantly surprised that this is to be had in a mall setting. The chicken salad keeps the mayo ration in check and the chicken is detectable in every bite. Being I was at SCP, I probably should have known it would be a righteous sandwich in afterthought. Mind blowing? Well, no but you could do a hell of a lot worse.
Vie De France is the mother of all 3 star reviews.

Cute café located in SCP.
Sandwich and Bowl of Soup (9.95)
Choose half of any cold classic sandwich and either a bowl of French
onion soup or soup du jour.
Classic Chicken Club
Chicken breast, crispy bacon, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, ham,
lettuce, tomato, nestled between three slices of toasted sourdough
bread.
This sandwich was like a finger sandwich to me, that’s how small it was. But, I actually really liked this sandwich. Flavors were good and croissant was well made.
The Californian
Breast of turkey, Swiss cheese, avocado and alfalfa sprouts, topped
with lettuce, tomato and our homemade sour cream dill dressing.
Best served on a freshly baked French Baguette.
French Onion Soup
We both got the french onion soup instead of the soup of the day. I thought it lacked flavor, but my dad really enjoyed it. He finished his while I drank about half.
One good thing is complimentary bread!
The only thing french about this place is the size of their entrees. Small portions & pricy? No thanks.

I really just wanted to stop at a casual place for lunch so we ended up at Vie de France. There was a long line but they actually do have a four bar seating so we bypassed the line.
I was starving and was looking forward to the bread basket, for a French restaurant the bread is pretty medicore. It’s cold and didn’t taste fresh made or maybe made somewhere else. I got the Manhattan clam chowder to start. It was more vegetable soup with a few pieces of clam and overly salty. For entrée it was the brie and steak sandwich with roasted peppers. The brie adds good flavor, I asked for extra side of dijionaise which made the sandwich exponentially better. We also got a cold sandwich, that was even more in need of the dijionaise and even with that slathered on the flavor was lackluster.
For how hungry I was I was pretty disappointed in the taste of the food here. Maybe the pastries are better, and if the entrée and soup were better I probably would have tried their dessert but since the entrée didn’t wow me decided to save my money.

Maybe Via De France is praised more for their baked goods, but I was not a fan of their entrée choices. I was shopping around with the boyfriend and before leaving we decided to grab a quick dinner here. Located near Macy’s on the lower level, this place has a to-​go line on the side for all the baked goods and then an area on the other side for a sit down meal with waiter service.
We started off with some complimentary baguette and butter– it was pretty good, not too hard of tough with a good, chewy texture. Their menu has a decent variety with lots of sandwiches, salads, and entrees to choose from. We both ordered pasta dishes– I got their Scallop & Shrimp Pesto Pasta and the boyfriend got the Shrimp & Spinach Capellini. I love pesto pasta, but this one was too salty and saucy for my liking– it made me feel sick and I could only get through half of it. The noodles were too mushy and not cooked al dente and the garlic bread that comes with it was very mediocre. My boyfriend’s pasta was better, it had a nice, light white wine sauce with a kick to it, but I still wouldn’t deem it as an especially ‘great’ pasta. Lastly, this place is not a cheap meal– both our dishes were around $ 17 each. MEH.
I don’t plan on coming back here– maybe just to grab a pastry and coffee in the to-​go line.

I was walking around South Coast with my siblings and we came across this place. The starbucks was going through some renovations and wasn’t open to fix our hot beverage cravings so we made the stop here. We each picked up a hot cocoa as well as some chocolate treats (brownies).
The hot cocoa was really delicious. It wasn’t too sweet and was the perfect amount. I thought it was very flavorful. My siblings disagree. They thought the drink was a bit bland and lacked flavor. However, they thought the brownie was pretty good so they were conflicted but said that they would return. I agree. The brownie btw was pretty good and quite fulfilling as a snack.
I didn’t get the opportunity to try their other items but they all looked absolutely amazing. The service was really really friendly. They had a smile on the whole time we were ordering. I can really appreciate that. The ambiance was like any typical bakery type of place. They do have a restaurant area too but I just wanted a quick snack and drink to go.
PS service was super quick
Was gonna give them a 3 star but they were just too friendly

What a nice place to stop in and eat! The dining room is cozy, with nice French music playing. The staff is friendly, polite and attentive.
I ordered a soup and sandwich combo. I got the Californian and requested it on a croissant instead of baguette with no problems, and French onion soup. They give you bread while you wait, I passed since I was having a sandwich and didn’t want to be wasteful.
My sandwich came out on an adorable little baby croissant. It was very tasty and the French onion soup is the best I’ve ever had. When it was time to pay, he asked if I wanted an iced tea to go. Fabulous! Now I am full, hydrated, happy, and ready to finish my work day!

The moment we were seated, we could hear a beautiful instrumental rendition of the famous La Vie en Rose playing in the background. French bistro. French music. Paris is in the air. The scene has been set. I am ready to visit Paris in South Coast Plaza.
First impression: As far as service is concerned, it is definitely authentic — authentically slow as in Paris slow. It took us a while to be able to find our server to place our order, and after she brought us our coffee we had to hunt her down to get sugar. No problem… we’ll just slow down the pace and pretend that we are in Paris.
Second impression: I am sorry… but this kind of «French» menu bothers me. I am not going to write an essay about it, but a menu needs to be correct and understandable in either French OR English.
Just one example: Salad Maison. People who don’t speak French won’t know maison means house/​home and this means house salad. So why don’t you just say house salad?
If they want to write this item in French, then it should be Salade (with an «e“in the end) Maison.
Food: Onion soup was really only ok. It definitely lacked flavor and richness. I’ll tell you that Mimi’s Café has a much better French onion soup. I had a chicken salad sandwich in a baguette. Baguette was ok, but again, not impressive. Paris Baguette sells a much better baguette. Chicken salad was mediocre at best. The dessert crêpe, again, was barely ok. You can taste that the crêpe was pre-​made and not freshly made. The fresh fruits, especially the strawberries were good though.

We almost always drop by Vie de France when we shop at South Coast Plaza. It’s very convenient to grab a sandwich and/​or pastry. Handheld food is always ideal when trying to power shop.
Since they bake onsite it is always fresh and tasty. The ham & Swiss baguettes are the best choice for a quick inexpensive meal. That’s important because you know you’re going to drop a bunch of money shopping the rest of the day.
Sometimes I just stop by for a treat and can’t resist the crescent bread pudding loaf. Here again they are geniuses creating a dish that normally requires a spoon or fork into one that can be held in your hand.
If you have some time, take a seat in the attached full restaurant and order a bowl of French onion soup and you won’t be disappointed.
You can’t go wrong here and it will add to the whole South Coast experience since they’ve been around since the mall opened.

Croissant –5 coffee –3.
Get coffee somewhere…