Café Pinot

Phenomenal location with great service and awesome food. I thought I would be lucky to find a Friday’s in downtown LA but was pleasantly surprised. The lamb, wine and even bread were delicious.

I feel bad giving 3 stars. It’s not a bad review. It’s a little average … Below average. And I don’t mind prices. This is more of a you didn’t have chance to make it to a good dinner before a show, so you grab something. Nothing I have had is bad, nothing is memorable. If your eating it’s a little easier. But unless you are really early. There is not enough bar staff to grab a cocktail… And the different foods I have had are sub par

I am finally getting around to this review. Went to hear Keith Jarrett in concert at the Disney Hall in April … so, we had an early dinner and I had picked Café Pinot because I am familiar with the chef’s food.
Now, my stomach doesn’t deal with Canola oil very well because it is so highly processed and chemically treated. After having that chat with the most accommodating waiter, he tried very valiantly to serve me a couple of dishes that weren’t infiltrated with Canola oil. The food was delightful and service was obviously great. Enjoyed some great wine pairings.
However, since apparently Canola oil is all over that kitchen, I still had the usual reaction, luckily on the drive home from the concert and made it back just in time…
It is really sad that a chef like Joachim Splichal bought into the Canola oil deception, just like Mr Keller up at the French Laundry did.
Chef, you source ingredients from some of the best sources, don’t pollute them with a highly processed, artificial oil! I know the stuff is cheap, but your food can handle a bit more money spent on better oils.
Cheers!

Recently took a business lunch meeting at Café Pinot partly to impress my guest with the impeccable décor inside the restaurant and attentive service but, more important, to enjoy the quality food offerings. I had the chopped kale salad and my guest the duck sausage. Both were excellent.

My fiancé and I dined here last night and our overall experience was exceptional. From the welcome greet at the front door (I believe she was Cristina), to our server, to the event coordinator Stephanie. If I have the names wrong, I apologize! The French onion soup was delicious! That was probably my favorite of the night. Barely topped though, the rotisserie chicken and braised Swiss chard that my fiancé and I both had for dinner. The tasty milk brownie dessert was just the right portion because we were full by this point. Overall, an exceptional experience and we look forward to coming back.

Amazing food, incredible outdoor ambiance and the service was wonderful. Café Pinot has to be the most romantic, scenic and historic restaurant in LA, even more so than Il Cielo.
The arugula, artichoke, asparagus, Parmesan salad with champagne dressing is incredible. Order it along with the filet, look up at the stars and you won’t be disappointed.

Made reservation for Valentine’s day two weeks in advance and luckily they have open table. The service was excellent. The waiter came by to check on us a couple of times to ensure everything was ok. It was a set four course menu for two. The pâté, steak tartar, duck confit and steak were excellent. The duck confit and steak (medium rare) were really good in flavor, tender, and cooked perfectly. Price is reasonable for a good French restaurant, $ 200 for two, but we didn’t order any wine. The only thing from giving it a 5 star was due to the oysters, not very fresh and dessert was ok.
Valet parking was $ 7, but happy to pay so don’t have to find parking and walk to the restaurant in downtown LA. Would definitely go back again.

Ver good and inventive menu. And seriously the best cheesecake I’ve ever had: cranberry orange. Second visit.

A bit of France in LA. I came to the Café
Pinot with friends from the Museums and the
web conference, so the company is funny, the place very elegant, the California wine very good, the fish well cooked, the waiter nice.
Higly recommended.

Granted, we tried Café Pinot during Valentine’s Day and the menu was prix fixe, but every… single…course…was amazing. Each dish, whether it was a fish, steak, salad or pasta, was excellent… they all made us stare at each other and exclaim, «this is really good.» Give it a try… test it for yourself… come on a nice summer night… it the open air setting… and have a romantic dinner where every bite (for us) was amazing. Considering it’s in Downtown, there IS parking underneath the restaurant, so not much walking is necessary :) So that’s good too!

I went there mid-​week for lunch with my father. I had the special, a broiled chicken dish with a funny name that a can’t remember. But I do remember it was delicious. Also, the atmosphere was great, sitting outside on a perfect sunny February Los Angeles day.
I’ve seen web pictures of the place at night. I’ll be back to try a couple of things from their dinner menu.

We had a simply wonderful time at Café Pinot on Wednesday. We sat out on the terrace and enjoyed wonderful service from Jorge. He was so warm, professional and friendly. The other staff from the lovely hostess, to the food runner and busboy were all excellent. We have remarked several times since then of what a great evening it was.
The Cream of Cauliflower soup was so creamy and delicious, and we ordered the Fois Gras recommended by Jorge, and found it so delightful. The Potato Gnocci and Scallops were divine, and we finished with the Cranberry Cheesecake. Need I say more.
Café Pinot and Jorge’s impeccable service made our evening a one to remember! Bravo!

If you’re familiar with the LA Library, you’ll know (or be surprised to know) that there’s a cute little French restaurant right along the outside of it.
The food here was good. We came for Dine LA and ordered off the Dine LA menu. The portion was just right. I ordered the Burrata Salad with roasted vell peppers, basil pistou and fried panko. The burrata was very good. I’ve always liked burrata and I think the serving complemented it pretty well.
For the main dish, I ordered the Hanger Steak with creamed swiss chard and black currant bordelaise. The steak was cooked to medium rare perfectly with a bit of blood still. Just the way I liked it. It was also very tender. The sauce was not bad and added good flavor to the steak.
For the dessert, I ordered the Cranberry Orange Cheesecake with cranberry compound citrus segments, cilantro coulis, and sesame coconut feuilletine. Don’t ask me what all those words mean, but I do know that it was not bad. The cheesecake was a bit sweet in the end, but something I wouldn’t mind having to share.
The thing that was a bit weird to me was that for such a nice restaurant in the heart of DTLA, there was no real option for vegetarians. I mean, besides the abundance of bread in the beginning, and a bowl of soup or dessert. The waiter told us he could just take out the meat. So… that leaves a chunk of salad on the side. It was odd.

We fell in the biggest trap of all! The Valentines dinner. We had no idea it was a pre fix menu. The choices were poor. We ordered a Bordeaux from the menu but got a different one! We had very limited options but were able to find something… salad (blah) and fish that was dry, salty with a carrot-​y mashed potato that clearly had been sitting on that plate too long (it was sooo dark) and burnt carrots (see photo). Service was pleasant and dessert was good. The price was very high for the fast food quality we got.

Located in downtown LA, with a beautiful patio and nice seating area, this restaurant was a nice place for a date. Came here for Valentine’s Day and we enjoyed the nice service and atmosphere.
We each got a 4-​course menu, which started off okay with our Kusshi Oysters and Lady Apple Salad. Both were nice but nothing to talk to your co-​workers about the next day. The second course got a little better with the Celery Root Agnoloti and the Foie Gras Terrine.
Our main courses were where the restaurant amazed me. The Crispy Duck Confit was flavorful and well cooked. The surf and turf (mostly Turf, since the «surf» was only as some lobster in the mashed potatoes) was also very well done– the beef tenderloin melted in my mouth and had a very nice flavor.
We finished with a Basil Strawberry and Passion mousse and Ghana Chocolate Cake filled with coffee cream. Both were a nice way to end the meal.
Overall enjoyed my experience here. A bit expensive, but with their amazing main entrees and nice ambiance, I would recommend coming here for a special date!

My friend and I came here for a belated holiday lunch during DineLA Restaurant Week. We were looking for a nice lunch and given Café Pinot’s excellent reputation, we were really excited. I had made a reservation and we were quickly seated on the patio… it was the perfect day for outdoor seating. I appreciate that they match your napkin to your clothes (they will swap out a white napkin for a dark one if you are wearing dark clothes so as not to get lint on your lap). I wish the initial impression had matched the rest of the experience.
The DineLA menu had two courses for lunch. For the first course, I selected the kale salad, which was comprised of purple and green kale, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese and squash in a pomegranate vinaigrette. The salad was nice, but it literally had one tiny cube of squash. One (really).
My friend had the carrot and coconut soup, which was amazing… I wish I would have ordered that.
Sadly, the starters were the best part of our meal. I opted for the duck confit, which seemed more like a duck leg… it didn’t have the signature melty tender consistency I’m used to with a confit preparation… in fact, I was fighting to get the little bit of meat off the leg bone. The accompaniments (polenta and grilled root vegetables… parsnips, I think) were great. My friend had the hangar steak, which she said was tough.
Why didn’t we say anything? Our wait staff had completely disappeared. We had contemplated ordering dessert (not included), but sat around waiting so long we both had to get back to work for meetings. One of our drinks was taken off the bill to apologize for the long delay in service.
Candidly, this was a disappointing experience overall. The food was OK, and the service just wasn’t there. I wish we had picked one of the other options for our special lunch… thankfully, the company was excellent.

having lunch for a dine LA, the choices are ok for $ 20.i got their little gem lettuce which was okey and their hanger steak with black currant bordelaise. i think the sauce makes it more tasty but i don’t like the quality of the meat. the service are perfect and very nice. theyre fast and makes sure you got everything.

Meh I’ve experienced better. Came here as a wedding guest a several months back. For the money that you’d pay, what you get, is not worth it.
Café Pinot is primarily a restaurant so if they did anything right at the wedding, I expected the food to be good. Wrong!
My main and biggest complaint is that the staff and restaurant are incredibly stingy with the food and drink. I’m sure my friends have paid an exorbitant amount to keep an open bar and for our meals but my fish entrée was SO tiny I laughed out loud. It was literally 2 ounces if not smaller. I don’t know what minimum qualifications Café Pinot requires before hiring on chefs or kitchen staff but if they have any common sense about portions for each course that is clearly not required. My friends had bought appetizers but I didn’t want to spoil my dinner so I stopped myself at one, and because of that I was starving the ENTIRE night. My husband shared his beef option with me which was normal sized.
More about food and drink, I was also really disappointed by their service at the bar. There was an open bar but I’m a wine drinker, and they were serving wine with dinner. After literally one glass of white, the waiter NEVER ever came back and disappeared for the rest of the night.
Moving on, the flow of the wedding was very good because it basically was a circle from ceremony to cocktail hour area and then the reception and there wasn’t anywhere to get lost or anything. It’s pretty and has got a «big city» vibe if that is what you are going for with your wedding theme. One inadequacy were restrooms, you have to go inside to use restrooms and it was really small to accommodate all the people in the restaurant and the wedding. Not sure about parking because we über-​ed but friends hosted parking which I’m sure cost again, a pretty penny. Overall if I were looking for a wedding venue, I would look at other options than Café Pinot.

Its Wonderful Wed (new catch phrase for 2016)!!!
I used to work across the street, and I would come to Café Pinot all the time for b’ness lunches. It is located near the corner of 5^th & Flower in DTLA, right next door to the library. However, on the most recent occasion, I met a woman at a b’ness event that had no food: We were hungry!
To start, we ordered the oysters ($ 12 for 4 | apple mignonette). For my entrée, I had the porchetta ($ 24 | braised swiss chard, maitake mushroom corn cake, pork jus, and roasted shallots), while she had the mussels w/​chorizo ($ 20 — sorry, no pic). Additonally, we shared garlic fries ($ 6).
First of all, the oysters were OK. One of them was not that fresh, and the mignonette didn’t do anything for me. I would have preferred lemon or lime & hot sauce: 3 Stars. On the other hand, the porchetta was outstanding. It was crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside. The Roman Army marched on its stomach, and porchetta was a large reason why: 5 Stars. Lastly, my new friend really liked her mussels. I didn’t have any but it looked like the traditional Portuguese dish is supposed to: 4 Stars.
Regarding the ambiance, it open air. There are indoor tables as well as outdoor ones. Café Pinot is a good place to host large events like Holiday parties, et al: 4 Stars. The service from the bartender Samantha was excellent. She was super attentive, ordered the fries off the menu for us, and a real nice person. She has great customer service skills: 5 Stars.
Café Pinot is a Patina Group restaurant that owns restaurants in multiple states, including several I have been to in So CA. Its is also one of the older restaurants in the Financial District that have stood the test of time, like Engine Co and Water Grill. I have met the founder Joachim Spichal, and in addition to being a good chef, he is also a good businessman.

Delicious food — slow service for lunch. The hanger steak was cooked to perfection, but be prepared for very small portions. This is not an all you can eat buffet of food, instead it is a fine dining small plate café with everything served a la Carte. The orange cheesecake was good and the apple tart rounded out my snack. I understand that fine dining is meant to be small and full of flavor, but a little larger portion would be well worth the cost…

I came here with a friend over the Christmas Holiday. The ambience is what I expect in downtown, with the added bonus of a beautiful patio. We came on a cold winter weeknight, so we sat inside. The restaurant was mostly empty, as you might expect. The service was acceptable, given the light load.
I had two appetizers, followed by a dessert, while my friend had an entrée and a dessert. Their bread and butter was good, but that is to be expected at a $$$ restaurant.
My first appetizer was some type of grilled octopus tentacles with soft carby/​grain balls [similar to, but softer than, the lentil balls I am familiar with from Indian cooking] in an unidentifiable, unappetizing sour yellow sauce. I don’t see it in their online menu, so I can’t offer any more detail than that which I remember.
I asked for a substitute, and made the mistake of allowing the chef to send his recommendation. They brought out another unappetizingly sour sauce, this time with some kind of Moroccan, yogurt-​y, spicy twist. Another unfortunate mix, and made the «appetizer» borderline inedible.
My second app was better.
French onion soup with a delicious melted cheese [gruyère, according to the menu]. Unfortunately, I had filled up on bread during the time I was forced to abandon the octopus disaster. Packed it up to enjoy at home later.
My friend’s entrée was the rotisserie chicken, I believe. He seemed to enjoy it.
Our desserts were a mixed bag. He did not the enjoy the overly sour [there’s that flavor again] crème fraiche that came with his butterscotch pudding, but I did enjoy the selection of ice creams I ordered. Again, too full to truly enjoy it, natch.
Overall conclusion: satisfactory for the price, but not to the point of choosing over the many other DTLA restaurants with more to offer, particularly in the flavor department.

DISCLAIMER: Both times I came to this restaurant I didn’t have to pay.
I came here two different times for business recruiting lunches. This place is right next to the Los Angeles Public Library in the heart of the Financial District in LA. In terms of location and atmosphere, this place has got it down pat. I love the view of the Library in the courtyard seating area right behind you and it’s definitely a spot that you can visit once you’ve finished your meal.
The first time I came, I got a chicken breast, and the second time I got fried scallops. The chicken breast was pretty dry in my opinion and definitely could have been cooked slightly less. The fried scallops were a little on the overdone side as well. I’m not sure if that’s a hallmark of French cuisine (and I’m by no means an expert) but I would think with the price that you (or in my case, the company) is paying, that the food would be prepared well especially with how much money you are spending here.
4 stars for the atmosphere, 2.5 stars for the food.

Café Pinot is located right next to the downtown library, which is a funny place to have such an upscale restaurant, but it’s truly something! We came here to try some interesting dishes (their black cod dish is heavenly). Overall, very good service and just a quiet, upscale environment. For the price, the food didn’t totally blow me away. One thing would I recommend staying away from is their sashimi appetizer. It’s very bitter tasting and the fish was unthawed, so it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth afterwards.

Just had a business lunch there. The food was very good but gee overpriced for the portion. Service was good and the place seems to be well appointed.
The patio is very nice. today was rainy so we couldnt sit outside

Los Angeles Public Library on 5^th Street in Downtown Los Angeles is one of my favorite spots in this city and Café Pinot happens to be right next to it. I am not a fan of the restaurant’s interior; however, I love its patio area surrounded by lush trees of Maguire Gardens. Let’s be honest… It can be somewhat disturbing to be eating out on the patio when there are homeless gathered inside the park, but! It isn’t like they approach you or stare at you while you are eating.
The service at the restaurant is impeccable to say the least. They are friendly, attentive, knowledgeable about the menu and accommodating to special requests. So why only three stars? The food! It is inconsistent… Last time I was here, I had their Diver Scallops and they were salty. I felt like I was drowning in salt. Scallops were cooked to perfection, but the seasoning… Ugh! You can have some delicious food here… Sometimes, the worst. It is a bit of gamble, but the payoff is well worth it.
Nearest Metro Station: Red and Purple Lines at Pershing Square Station

I’m writing a five star review simply to try to offset the 3 ½ star rating?! This is absolutely in the top three most charming places to eat downtown. The service is great as well, so that’s two of three things that this place nails. As for the third, the food, it’s probably above average. The burger and the chicken are both really good. The fries were pretty awful and soggy, that was the only disappointment. The waiter even asked how was everything and I said the fries were soggy, he didn’t seem sympathetic or offer to fix it. Oh well.
Six dollar validated parking at the library.
Great spot for a biz lunch

soooo exquisite. the food is divine. i love french food, but this place just took me to another level.
REALLY great spot to come for dinner before a show at the AHMANSON. after dinner across the street you can get a convenient shuttle to the theatre.
we went on a weeknight and the outside was deserted. we had such a good time with the courtyard to ourselves and had wonderful meals. great date spot for someone you really care about.

This place was a little confusing. It is beautifully decorated and has a lovely outdoor patio. and is right next to a bunch of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk and sleeping in the park. I was in a party of 8 and we were sat on the outdoor patio. It was a little cold and we were a little cramped, but overall it was ok. The food prices were either reasonable or astronomical. There didn’t seem to be much in between. Also, the portion sizes of the different entrees was equally confusing– some were tiny, but some, like my chicken dish, were huge! Speaking of, my chicken was not cooked all the way through. Since my brother and his finance had just gotten engaged that day, I decided not to say anything.
The service was confusing too– they gave us some champagne as part of a congratulations to my brother and his finance, but we could not flag down a server to order an appetizer to save our lives. The same for the entrees. Or for a glass of wine (some of us don’t like champagne and would have preferred wine).
I think the price and the service was meh. However, it is gorgeous and with a little fine tuning, this place could be something special.

I am always happy to see CAFE PINOT on the DineLA Restaurant week list. Their lunch reservations usually gets filled pretty quickly during DineLA Week (especially the weekends), so please make sure you make reservations well in advance.
= RESTAURANT =
Café Pinot is situated in Downtown Los Angeles near Fifth and Flower. It is in the courtyard next to the LA Library. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. I would highly recommend outdoor seating if the weather is nice outside. They also have an small area with patio seating. It is always so relaxing to be enjoying lunch outdoors. However, the downside to sitting outdoors is that there might be some ignorant fool smoking in the courtyard and you are stuck with the second hand smoke while you are trying to enjoy your lunch.
= FOOD =
I have been here for 2 DineLA occasions, and food has been great here. Keep in mind that they tend to change the menu. If you are coming here for lunch, try to come at an earlier time because the kitchen gets really slow when the crowd comes. The best part about dining at Café Pinot is definitely the dessert. It’s always awesome.
= SERVICE =
They have courteous and well-​trained staff, but sometimes hard to locate your waiter/​waitress during peak lunch hours. Expect to be here for approximately 1.5 hours if you are doing a 3 course luncheon.

Express review.
Moules frites
Fluke almandine avec sliced cauliflower.
Scallops dish.
Ordered special spaghetti au beurre for the kid.
Good food, Nice setting ambiance. In downtown.
Cool kitchen display.
Attendants were french; tried to converse but got lost :)
3.5 stars out of 5.