Bistro St Germain

We went to this place based on a friends’ recommendation. After viewing the menu online, we decided to try it.
The actual menu was quite different from their online version, so much so that my husband wanted to leave. (What he had decided to order was not on the actual menu)
We didn’t leave, but instead ordered the hamburger and the lasagne.
Both items were very tasty, well prepared and nicely presented.
Our waiter was good, not overly attentive, but he passed my own personal test: upon picking up the payment he did NOT ask «Do you need change?» but instead just brought our change back. This factor alone earned the fifth star in my rating!
The restaurant is casual, ambiance is that of a café or bistro. No booths, just tables. Live guitar music started about 7:30 pm and was a nice touch.
We will try this place again.

A quick review for a quick visit. On my way through town my group of 7 stopped in and had breakfast here. I think that the server was even surprised we stopped by, as the place was empty and I’m guessing it is because of the food.
The server didn’t know the answers to some of our regular breakfast questions. One of the questions was asking about if they had hot black tea, which he had no idea. Another, is one crêpe enough for breakfast or is two recommended. Hmm, I don’t know… I’d say skip this place and go to the crêpe place down the street with the sweet reviews. The vibe here screams, «on the verge of going out of business!»
I’m being a little extreme with that comment, because I ate my meal and was content until lunch. But truly the only people that left happy were the ones that got the waffles (not even crepes). But a breakfast place should be able to do more than waffles!

There is a good selection on the menu. Breakfast and lunch items have always been good and the dinner meals I have tried are great. The atmosphere is relaxing and a good selection of wine for the ‘bistro’ context. Staff have always been helpful and polite.

We LOVE this place! It’s a wonderful bistro and the staff are all kind and attentive. The food is always perfectly prepared and never disappointing. The duck is one of our favorite dishes and the lamb is excellent as well.

Terribly disappointed. Our first time here was 6 months ago. We had the St. Germain in crepes that were oozing with silky cheese and served with a side of crisp garden salad. It was folded in a half moon shape and was so airy and lovely. Well, we came back today and noticed different staff and the food was different too. The crepes were hard and rubbery. The slimmest shreds of cheese and the ham… it reminded me of a pack of pre-​sliced Farmer John ham. I found rounded corners everywhere. My cucumbers and tomatoes were on the soggy side. And the crêpe was now folded into some pentagon shape. Based on today’s experience I will not be returning. :’(

It’s always nice to try a new spot on Main st, sadly this wasn’t what we expected. Food is very bland and the service is poor. My husband and I had crepes and coffee, it was nothing special. With all the other amazing 4 star restaurants to choose from on Main, I hope this one makes some changes to improve very soon. If you are looking for breakfast Crema Café and Pierside Press are the places to be!

Food was OK, no wow factors nor anything French about this place, can’t beat bottomless $ 12 Mimosa on Sunday… Asian owners, looks like husband wife and a brother in law. Took 15 mins before someone took our orders. When we gave eye contacts, they actually looked at us and then looked away, but never stepped closer to address us. Consider we are also Asian, we did not get that warm welcome like other whites folks at the bar. Guess they are the regulars at this place. Crêpe was bad. so chewy and no syrup… taste like under cooked tortilla. did not use the right waffle mix, they use pancake mix which gave no crunch to the edge. absolutely under staff… owner walked by and took our empty place away without even asking if food was good… our white waiter did not smile once, he must hate the new owners or his job… would not recommend this place to anybody…

This review is only based on the wine and my server. A girlfriend and I were having a long girls night full of sushi and sake, when we switched to wine and arrived here. The waiter was awesome at understanding what we liked and recommended different wines! I did not have any food but I do remember the olive spread paired with the bread was very delicious. I can’t wait to come back!

I wish I would have spent 5 minutes reading the reviews before we went in this place. One goes into a «French» restaurant for the food. And the FOOD HERE DISAPPOINTS!
Honestly, what a HUGE LET DOWN.
We ordered two items which should be a staple. Their version of Eggs Benedict, and a chicken crêpe with bacon. The POACHED EGGS were OVERCOOKED. The yolks were as solid as a hard boiled eggs AND FLAVORLESS, the HAM appeared to be a PLAIN piece of LUNCH-​MEAT ham. That was the 1^st disappointment; the only good part about that meal was the bread it came on.
Then there was the CREPE. The CHICKEN was OLD DRY and TASTELESS. The BACON was SOGGY AND OVERLY GREASY. The only good part abut the crêpe was the crêpe, an ordinary crêpe. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was my wife’s birthday and she is breastfeeding and needed to eat ANYTHING, i would have sent it all back and gone to any other restaurant. If you like bland food and don’t care about the quality this place is for you.
Save your money, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. ANYWHERE ELSE!

Great location right on Main Street in Seal Beach, kitchen and menu development is in place, creative specials and offering dishes with French influence as well as local favorites.

Totally agree with Vivienne L. However, she is too generous, I would only give 1 star because 0 star does not exist. Way overpriced for mediocre food.

We came here because of the good reviews. They must have changed cooks (I would not categorize the food as made by real chefs) because most of what we ordered is really substandard French food:
Mussels Provencal — $ 10 for 6, the frozen type, not even worth $ 5
Country Pâté’ — $ 12, OMG tastes like chinese meatloaf
Escargot — $ 8, notable, you can’t really foul up on this one
Steak Frites — $ 25, more like a $ 15 dish, nothing special
Seafood Fettuccini — $ 18, notable, the seafood appears to be fresh
Crème Brulee — $ 6 this is the deal breaker, tastes like dim sum chinese custard
You can go to Monterey Park and find this cooking style in the many chinese cafes along Valley Blvd, only thing is, they do a much better job for a fraction of the price.

Came here on a Saturday night and did not sit at the bar for once. That was our first mistake. Service at the bar is better than at the tables.
My husband got what we think was food poisoning from the bacon wrapped shrimp.
I had the $ 10 Saint Tropez salad and the mozzarella tasted like plastic. The salad had onions, mozzarella, tomato slices & artichoke hearts. Way overpriced.
The men at the bar were creepy & wasted. I guess that’s typical of Seal Beach, but still. They stared down every woman that came in the door in addition to being loud and obnoxious. Service was attentive but with an attitude. Honestly the food was so bad we won’t be back.

Service was bad. Bartender (Arman?) was more interested in TV and chit chat with a particular group and forgot he was bartending. At least the Nutella banana crêpe was delicious!

Delicious!!!

We have been wanting to come here for breakfast after walking by several times. The restaurant is very nice inside and has a wonderful outdoor indoor feel with all the open windows.
However, the breakfast was awful. We ordered the classic American breakfast. The eggs were dry and pretty much worse then a Denny’s egg. Your given about 6 small pieces of potatoes that tastes like frozen potatoes with no seasoning. And the sausage was greasy I couldn’t even stomach taking more then a few bites. The bacon was awful, barely any good meat. The breakfast was $ 12 and wasn’t worth $ 2. We will not be coming back again. There is excellent breakfast spots down the street such as Café Lafayette and La Crema.

Cozy ambiance, nice bartenders, and a good banana-​Nutella crêpe. I haven’t yet had the food, but I’d be back based on the dessert. Stay away from the Roth Sauvignon Blanc and go for the Four Sisters! However, maybe it’s more an issue with my palate than the wine, but that’s my two cents.

Cozy, romantic, fancily lit but with a casual feel, with fine service, including an Asian speaking French (Jean-​Guc?). My wife didn’t like her beet salad or the added chicken. My seafood fettuccine with two firm shrimp was fine, but the mussels ranged from sickly bubble boy small to unappetizingly large, and the sauce was subtle to bland. I didn’t think the value was that great, but the rose wine is excellent and everyone seemed to be happy. I could see coming back for drinks, or maybe if we had another Groupon maybe, but it kinda sacre’ blew.

The food is mediocre. Nothing to write home about. I think I would walk past it and keep going. We wanted to go to the other place crème something but the wait was 2 hours. Came here with my family. It looks cute image. Decorations are nice. TVs playing soccer.
We ordered. The menu is small. Not a variety. We got basic bacon and eggs. The ingredients were nothing special. The potatoes are unseasoned. All you taste is oil. You know the feeling when people try too hard to show off their menu and use fancy smanshy names for food but it’s like a boring ham and cheese sandwich? That’s the feeling here. The coffee here is weak beyond belief. Tasting instant. We also got a crêpe *dessert that was good.
The service was not good. Waited forever. Our waitress kept rushing us. Even with the check.
Yeah… I’ll keep walking.

This is where you go to get your French on in Orange County! I’m talking the Frenchiest of Frenchness; the wine, the cheese, and the well-​groomed beards of your tasteful, most sophisticated friends in attendance. Just don’t show up wearing a beret, please. How gauche.
I took my distinctly un-​French, bougeoise self to the Bistro St Germain last night to meet with some much more hip acquaintances… not just Yoga practitioners, but Yoga teachers. So I’m out of my depth on two counts, no, three; food, wine, *and* conversation! Cue the sitcom-​y, social awkwardness. Thankfully, I was saved from embarrassment when someone ordered a couple of bottles of red wine for the table, so all I had to do was sip and nod knowingly. I think one was from the Rhone valley, and one had an awesome bear in aggression mode illustrated on the label. They both tasted like red wine, but I’ll pick the bear as the winner because, well, bears. See, my palate is already 50% educated!
The menu has a wonderful range of appetizers, featuring all the usual, popular selections you’ll find at hip restaurants, as well as tapas — olive tapenade, cheese plate, risotto, etcetera, and hmmm, yes, escargot. (it’s probably inescapable — there’s got to be a requirement bylaw somewhere, that all French restaurants must offer escargot. I’ll pass.) My roasted goat cheese with honey was pleasing, and the sautéed mushrooms were very flavorful and hearty. Against my expectations, however, the apple crêpe was only so-​so (walk up the street to La Crema Café if you want a great crêpe). The true star of the night was the French Onion Soup; it had a fantastic burgundy taste, a toasty/​chewy Gruyère topping, and it inspired a few copycat orders in our group after it made the rounds. You really need to get that soup even if you snub everything else on the menu — who needs entrees?
It’s so very gastropubbish in there. Sitting at the long common table in the center of the room, you are made aware of just how social an experience this place is meant to be. You share your tapas, wine, and conversation with a bunch of people and maybe rub elbows with the group at the other end. One yoga teacher friend was pimping out her seafood risotto and an olive tapenade, someone else ordered table oysters, and everybody was tasting everything back and forth while making agreeable noises and laughing and swirling the wine around — it was like being in a Gallo commercial. Lord, I felt impossibly chic. Maybe the three glasses of wine had something to do with that — well, they kept pouring and I kept sipping, and before I knew it.. don’t judge.
The service was good, casual, and very Not Snooty (another stereotype disemboweled). I do believe our server was actually French, so maybe this is a family owned, authentic establishment? Regardless, everybody was made to feel welcomed and attended to. Waters were refilled, empty plates cleared, food served, all unobtrusively. The décor and the atmosphere was casual but elegant, with little nods to French culture here and there, but not over the top. I liked our entertainment for the evening, a single guitarist on a mic, playing cover songs. Bob Seger goes surprisingly well with cheese.
I’d come back again for that soup, and who knows what else, the next time I needed a venue for lots of people who can appreciate wine (and some decent beer, too).