Pain Du Monde-PDM Cafe

I’m hoping this email makes it to the manager, or owner, or someone who cares.
I’m very disappointed!
I’ve been going to Rose Bakery Café for about 10 years now (I drive through CDM on my way to work each morning). Well, today, RBC’s credit card machines were down, and they were only accepting cash, and I didn’t happen to have cash on me, so I thought to myself, «No worries! It’s just a sign — time to explore around a little bit!» And, lo and behold — I realized that Pain du Monde (PDM) was almost next door, and I’ve been driving past it for years, and only went in once for a coffee. «Now’s the time to try them for breakfast!» I thought to myself!
Thus, this morning, I ordered the Mexican Burrito.
I’m disappointed on a few different levels:
1. It’s more like an «omlette in a tortilla.» Seriously, everything is baked together — it’s not the style of a burrito. I wasn’t expecting what I got — in fact, I’ve never had a «burrito» like that before. (And yes, I do realize that they don’t really eat burritos in Mexico, lol — I eat tons of authentic Mexican food all the time, and am clued in).
2. There were no jalepenos in the burrito, as promised on the menu — instead, GREEN BELL PEPPERS. Yuck. Sorry, but I don’t like them. Anyways, I know it’s irrelevant (what I like or don’t), but I’m confused as to why an establishment, like yours, who claims to be above-​average will use green bell peppers instead of jalepenos?
As of now, I’m not planning to return.
Just FYI — I gave you guys a try, and am disappointed. BTW — I don’t mind paying premium $$ for great food — which is what I’ve been doing at Rose Bakery Café pretty regularly.
I hope these comments will help you improve for the future.

Came here for some coffee and a croissant and loved neither of them.
The mocha slightly burnt, horrible flavor.
The croissant slightly stale, on the small side and overly pricey, especially for the fact that it was just not good.
Easy parking and plenty of indoor as well as outdoor seating, not worth returning, you are much better off at Moulin across the parking lot.

Good food, ok customer service, I come here for the people. But coffee sucks I rather go to Portola coffee lab, or KEAN coffee for the coffee, and go here for the pastries

Stopped in for a couple of iced coffees on a Wednesday. Very quiet, not busy.
Girl who helped us was nice, and our coffees were made quickly.
They have heavy cream by the half/​half containers— definitely put some of that in your coffee for some decadence!

I haven’t tried many items here, but the items that I’ve tried are very good. I absolutely love their blueberry muffins, which always run out… But not to worry because I think they bake them throughout the day.
The entrée that I usually order is their Dawn salad… You can choose a protein to add, so I typically do salmon with it. The salad comes with mixed greens, julienned squash, beets, peanuts, and some other yummy stuff. Finished with a delicious guava vinaigrette dressing. (I think it’s guava). I feel that the portion of this salad is perfect, especially when you throw in the salmon. And folks, don’t worry… The salmon doesn’t taste rotten whatsoever. And to top it all off, they USUALLY give you a free chocolate chip cookie with your meal!
The only other thing I’ve tried is their Americano coffee, and it’s good but just like any other Americano.
Bön appetit!
Service is decent enough. The girls that work there are not particularly friendly, but they have a job to do and they do it.

Typical corporate meeting spot. Pretentious
Good bakery items, decent coffee (just don’t say GRANDE anything or they will correct you)
Been here twice to get baked goods and a latte. Always greeted with a «ugh it’s early and what do you want» look from the employees. Always get the vibe like I am doing THEM a favor by being there. Employees need a pep talk on customer service and attitude. I won’t return to this place. Funny how Starbucks will have line out the door and this place has none. I wonder why?

This is my second time here and I decided to give it another try (after a first bad experience) only because I had an appt. in the area and I arrived early. My latte was… again… so bitter and bad that after a few sips (tried to improve it by adding extra sugar and milk) I threw it in the garbage. The place gets busy during lunch time and therefore they do not have to make an effort to provide quality. The young women behind the counter have an attitude and there is no hello or thank you, or smiling other than when they turn the tablet screen to you to tip and sign.
Full me once…

Good location, have a lot of business breakfast meetings here. Brought my dad this weekend, total fail. I’ve been telling him how much I love the oatmeal here, they somehow managed to screw that up, both of us clearly got the dust from the bottom of the bag of slivered almonds; took them 3 times to get our drinks right (one latte, one decaf pumpkin spice latte) and I saw another woman bring her egg sandwich back to the counter, not sure for what but they were definitely struggling. They also had to apologize to someone for not having a pastry they had already charged them for.
When you finally get your food, it’s good (except of course when you bring someone that you’ve been talking up the place to), but the people behind the counter always seem more interested in projects they have going on in the back of house or talking to each other.
Probably need to do some more staff training here, and I never see a supervisor step in when there are problems.

This location is off Bristol on the way from Jamboree to the 73 freeway entrance.
Great for their pastries and hot drinks. Love the vanilla Chai latte, apple tart, and almond or pecan twists. You can only get the pastries early on the morning so go before they’re out!
Lunch is great here too, except everything is a bit pricey. Nice meeting spot in this area.

Mediterranean chicken salad is delicious. I highly recommend! Also their coconut chocolate chip cookie is to die for.

As good as it gets for coffee shops. My networking group has started to meet here once a month. We met here once and so many good looking men walked in that we HAD to come back. Seriously, if I was single I would hang out here. Amazing eye candy.
Today was my third visit and second time getting breakfast. I get the French omelette with egg whites and it is perfect. Enough to fill you up with no carbs! I get a coffee too. This is not an inexpensive breakfast. My bill today was $ 13, but it tastes great with fresh ingredients.
But here is the kicker! I LOVE cream in my coffee. Today I realized that along with half and half and almond milk (both great options) they actually have heavy whipping cream in a carafe for cream. That is BA-​NAN-​AS. So good! Super bad for you but, hey, I just had a big workout at Equinox and an egg white omelette. I am having heavy whipping cream in my coffee!
I’ll keep coming back for the eggs, eye candy and creamer!

The staff always does a great job!!! Extremely helpful with togo food. The prices reflect the quality in food and drinks. If you want cheap food and drink got to a fast food spot. The best iced tea around. The sandwiches are amazing as well, they come with a fresh salad. Best lunch deal around, always to much food on my plate.

PDM is a great spot for a quick and easy lunch. The salads are not the cheapest but are delicious my favorite is their Mango Salad and the portion is Very big I also add chicken and it definitely worth every penny!
I have some diet restrictions so I get the Mango without the noodles and without its dressing which is substituted for olive oil and balsamic — yummm. (GF, sugar free, DF)
The staff is always sweet and gives great service.

We came in and the place was poppin’! We ordered a Scott’s Benedict and a regular eggs Benedict! Both were delicious and didn’t feel like too much. We also ordered two coffee blends and they tasted really good! The only problem we encountered was when we ordered the croissant with strawberries and had to wait a bit until we asked and they handed us a croissant that had been sitting only to see them bring out new powdered croissants a minute after. It was still enjoyable but the powdered croissants look much more tasty! :-p overall a nice experience and will definitely come back for something different!

Favorite work lunch spot hands down.
I’m a die hard fan of their mango chicken salad. They recently changed the menu so you can order it with or without meat so the new prices reflect that. But dude, that dressing, that jicama, those noodles, that dry rubbed chicken! Thank you!
Tuscan chicken is also killer. and GOOD LORD the cream they give you for the coffee is crack cocaine. I don’t even want to know where I could potentially buy that stuff because I’d blow up faster than the blueberry girl in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Everything in moderation right?

A breakfast place definitely delicious! a sweet bread spectacular! Eggs Benedict recommend! The eggs with salmon and eggs in all its forms! orange juice is very good and natural! I highly recommend!

You’ll get a sticker shock when you see the prices on the menu, but when you see and taste the food you’ve ordered, you’ll realize it was worth it. Large portions, high-​quality ingredients, and so tasty. Everything on the menu looked so good that I decided to order something from each section and save leftovers. The fish and meats are fresh, not processed. The breads used for sandwiches are wholesome. Salads are crisp and have the perfect blend of toppings. And I couldn’t leave without getting a pastry. The almond croissant is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Cookies are good too.
My favorite dish (though it’s hard to pick because everything tastes so good) is the specialty salmon. Fresh and grilled to PERFECTION.

My salad and sandwich combo was pretty good but I felt like I walked out of this place breaking the bank just for lunch. Two of these combos and a full on salad was about +$ 40. Expect to wait about 15 minutes for your food.
The parking lot seems like a nightmare around lunch time so that is already deterring me from returning again.
All in all, just A-​OK for me; I’d prefer to bring my own lunch just to save the money and splurge here once every few months.

If I was a gold-​digger looking for a sugar daddy… this would be my heaven. It’s filled with businessmen who drive expensive cars and can afford expensive breakfasts.
I only come in the morning for a cup of tea because it’s the closest café to my work that’s not Starbucks. I’ve had their London Fog (Earl grey tea bag steeped in milk) and their supposedly «amazing chai.» I like the London Fog more because the Chai was just way too sweet for my palette.
I’ve had nibbles of their pastries and nothing really stood out to me as tasting really great. Their pastry selection is about as impressive as what you could find in the bakery section of a grocery store. Their menu is less fancy than Panera but like double the price.
The service is always really good though with the girls that work in the morning.

I have been to this location (Bristol in NB) primarily for coffee and pastries, but on the most recent visit I decided to have real breakfast. PDM also has locations in Fashion Island, CDM and Dana Point.
I ordered the crustless quiche that contains goat cheese, zucchini, leeks and organic eggs ($ 8.95 — w/​fresh fruit and toast), and freshly squeezed OJ ($ 3.25 — 12 oz; one size). PDM also offers pastries and oatmeal.
The quiche was excellent. It came out piping hot and stayed warm all the way through. Although the portion looked small, I was full after eating everything on my plate. The excellent goat cheese really stood out: 5 Stars. The OJ was also very good. There was no pulp or seeds, and the price was fair for the portion: 4 Stars.
The ambiance is basic café, but at least there are separate restrooms: 3 Stars. The service was very good. The woman at the counter was nice and friendly. The food was served quickly and efficiently: 4 Stars.
PDM is a nice alternative to the chain places. The food is fresh, hearty and the workers and atmosphere is very pleasant. My go to place for a breakfast meeting by John Wayne Airport and Newport Beach.

Are you rolling in the dough? Do you want to be like Richie Rich? Then Pain du Monde is your spot. They have 4 locations, all in very nice areas and clearly serving a «higher» clientele. I say this because the drinks and food are pricey and when I was told my bill was over $ 8.00 for a mocha and cinnamon twist I was shocked! I had to ask how much each was and as I paid, my thoughts went «geez, that is a lot of money for a frigging cinnamon twist»!
Mocha: 3 stars = fine, not bad, not great. I think part of the problem is they use chocolate powder, and there was just nothing special about the chocolate and the actual expresso shots were nothing to crow over either.
Cinnamon Twist: 5 stars = absolutely fantastic and I was quite skeptical due to price. Large, flakey, cinnamon-​y, with a dusting of powdered sugar, this was seriously delicious.
I interrupt this review for some humor:
Q: What do chocolate, men, and coffee have in common?
A: They are all better rich!
Extras & Tidbits: Clean, spacious, both indoor & outdoor seating, dark woods, nice atmosphere overall, the aroma of freshly baking cookies permeates, a delicious smell! This PDM Café location is in a small strip mall off of Bristol Street and I must say that whoever does the landscaping for this little center is doing a fabulous job, very well manicured. A decent amount of parking is to be found, but I imagine that during the mid-​day parking can be a bit crowded as PDM Café shares space with numerous small businesses.
Unilocaler Laura R. stated it best and I quote «For the price of this place it needed more wow factor for me.»

Pain du Monde — this mommy like!
I discovered this new Pain du Monde after lunching at Pascal’s, which is in the same plaza as Pain du Monde. This new PDM moved from it’s Fashion Island home to this new location. I have to admit, I like having options and thoroughly enjoy the bakery items PDM sells. My fave, the cinnamon twist with a cup of coffee.