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Caffe Panini

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stvchin
stvchin
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
4
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Editor Pick

Caffe Panini

  • January 9, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by stvchin from Tustin, California
Caffe Panini

Caffe Panini is located on MacArthur Blvd. just south of Birch Street, near John Wayne Airport. I went with a friend during a weekday lunch, and there was parking, but it took a little while to locate. There is valet parking available.

The restaurant was quite busy, but we lucked out and we were seated outside on one of the two covered patios. This is a very popular lunch spot. Our server, Kerry, brought us our drink orders and gave us a few menu suggestions.

The menu is Italian/Mediterranean influenced, with all sorts of salads, pizzas, and appetizers, such as Babaganooj, Dolmita, and Tatziki. Of course, there are the paninis (hence the name Caffe Panini.) A panini is an Italian sandwich served on focaccia bread and pressed in a panini grill, which compresses it and leaves grill marks on the surface of the bread. It's similar to a grilled cheese sandwich or tuna melt, but the compressing action seems to fuse the flavors together. There are also grill items, such as chicken and steak kabobs. The back of the menu had breakfast items, but they stopped serving that at 11am.

My friend ordered the Deli-Style California Roast Beef "Panini" Sandwich and I ordered the Roast Beef Panini Melt. Both of us chose the bow-tie pasta as side dishes. We also chose the traditional bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, and garlic as an appetizer.

Our appetizer arrived a few moments later. While the presentation was very nice, I was a little underwhelmed by the size of the bruschetta. It was quite good, which left me wishing there was more if it. There is a mixed green salad heavily infused with balsamic vinegar with the bruschetta appetizer. That was quite tangy and hit the spot.

Our lunch entrées arrived a few minutes later. The presentation on both were quite nice as well. My friend's Deli-Style California Roast Beef "Panini" Sandwich is not actually a panini sandwich. It's a sandwich served on a baguette. It's sliced roast beef with mixed greens, Roma tomatoes, red onions, cheese, mayo, and Dijon mustard. My friend liked it a lot.

My Roast Beef Panini Melt is an actual panini and has grilled roast beef, grilled onions, provologne cheese on focaccia bread and grilled in the panini press. I liked the panini, the beef was tender and the cheese was gooey. The side of bow-tie pasta was okay, it didn't have too much flavor to it though.

We opted for dessert. The dessert items aren't on the menu, but Kerry, our server, told us there was cheesecake, tiramisu, and banana bread pudding. We chose the banana bread pudding. The warm pudding came out topped with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry sauce. It was very "springy" and delicious.

Our total bill was $45.90 before tip. That includes the appetizer, two lunch entrées, dessert, 2 soft drinks and 2 coffees. It was a bit more than what we were used to for lunch, but worth it.

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