We had a fabulous Easter afternoon dinner at Paon. Duck, Lamb, Chilean Sea Bass, Shortrib - all delicious, as usual. And, of course, excellent service on the beautiful patio. A meal at Paon is always memorable!
George
Wow what a terrible experience. This place has gone completely downhill. We used to come here all the time, but our Easter lunch was an absolute disaster. The service was painfully slow and we barely saw our waiter. The food was awful and has gone down hill terrible. The whole experience was a mess. The worst part? My 9 year old son sent back his burger because they put blue cheese instead of cheddar, and the replacement came with a nasty, coarse hair smack in the middle of the bun. Not sure if they did it on purpose, but the place was a ghost town, and it's no mystery why. Terrible food, terrible service, terrible everything. Absolutely disgusted. We won't be back.
claudia
A local favorite with quality food and ambience. It serves an updated and delicious menu, without trying too hard to be hip . Comfortable and classy.
Sandragon
Mediocre food. Scallops and Crab was bland. Tasted corn and salt more than any other flavor. Very disappointed. Recent French restaurants I have dined at were in French Polynesia, for example 2 Michelin Star Le Lotus. Don't waste your time and money at Paon. Ambiance was old and crusty.
Scott
This is a nice place, but the food was underwhelming. It was just rather bland and uninteresting...no distinction to it. For the price, we expected to have a positive reaction to it, but instead just kind of powered through the dish joylessly.
Jonathon
The rib eye was excellent. My wife was not impressed with the short rib she had. Service was perfect, however this was a Sunday evening and their were not a lot of patrons. I cannot attest to the quality of their service when they are busy. I was disappointed by the ambiance. For this style of cuisine I expect a traditional atmosphere and light classical music. I think the dance club style music being played was a very poor choice for this setting.
Debra
Such a strange place. We went with friends awhile ago and had excellent food and terrible service. Service at the time was unpleasant, unattentive and completely lacked knowledge of the extensive wine list. The bottle we chose was unavailable and shouldn't have been on the menu. Etc. Etc. We stayed away for maybe a year and decided to give it another try, remembering the food. The experience this time was better but still weird for a restaurant of this caliber. It's like they are ALMOST amazing but then just...not. Our friends started at the "wine bar" where the staff handed them a tasting menu and then advised that they were eseentially "out of all the reds". What? At 7pm on a Friday night, at a wine bar? So...open some new reds, right? They gave up and went into the restaurant. Our service was very nice and attentive and apologized for the wine bar experience. Then we chose our bottle of wine...which once again was unavailable. Manager offered us a pricier bottle at the same price-very nice-which was excellent. We had another and they honored the price again. Great service. At dinner I had a surf & turf, ate the steak first, and then found the lobster tail was the most awful thing I've ever had. Fishy and literally mushy. Explained and offered the server/kitchen to verify. They took it back, but at this point the rest of the table was largely done. They KINDA offered to credit it but then suggested they'd do another one quickly and went back to the kitchen. We sat for 20 minutes and then asked for dessert menus for the table since all plates had been cleared. It was crazy that they were cooking a lobster tail for me when the table was done. They ended up bringing out my lobster tail along with the desserts for the table. This just should not have happened. If it was going to take that long they should've just credited the lobster and called it done. Second lobster was delicious-scared to think what was up with the first-but just...what a weird experience again.
Rick
We love Paon, but they haven't changed their menu in years...yes, they do “specials”, but something that has would be nice if they would take their boring , flavorless salmon off the menu spice and flavor to it.  The sides, of puréed, sweet potatoes... Which were three swipes on the plate, and 3, 2 inch long turnips, or whatever they were, we're cold by the time they got to the table. Just not worth the money anymore, sadly.
Jennifer
Overrated. Service was fine. Food was eh - expected a lot more. French onion puree soup very bland.
Elan Kaplan
Food has been consistently great for years and good service. Owners mostly retired -not as engaged anymore so lost some long time staff but still worth the trip. We order off the bar menu. Best duck in town, very good short rib. Hamachi appetizer is great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wine Tasting, Duck Confit, Braised Beef Short Rib
Just want to say I was in Paon tonight just before sunset. The room was beautiful, the suggested tastes and wine super delicious, and my cheese plate sumptuous. Overall extra enjoyable experience - wine lovers go and enjoy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stan S
Outstanding culinary experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Curt Schalk
Scallops were excellent! Rack of lamb could use more seasoning. Our server was very friendly & helpful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Bryan Anderson
This is the most amazing place to wine and dine in North County. My Wife and I come here at least once a month. The service is on point, the food is absolutely amazing. Chilean Sea Bass, Ribeye, Filet Mignon. Everything I've ordered here is amazing. The Wine Sealection??? WOW.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pan Seared Maine Diver Scallops, Wine Tasting, Braised Beef Short Rib, Rack of Lamb, Angus Rib Eye Steak
Wendy
While the ambiance was very nice and the service was excellent, the food was mediocre, at best. The appetizer ravioli was not enjoyable as the filling was not properly cooked and not hot/melted. The scallops were ok, but nothing special. Flavor of steak was good but served as very thin ribeyes. We don't mind paying for high end food, however, the quality of this meal definitely didn't live up to the high price. We will not be visiting again.
We had a fabulous Easter afternoon dinner at Paon. Duck, Lamb, Chilean Sea Bass, Shortrib - all delicious, as usual. And, of course, excellent service on the beautiful patio. A meal at Paon is always memorable!
Wow what a terrible experience. This place has gone completely downhill. We used to come here all the time, but our Easter lunch was an absolute disaster. The service was painfully slow and we barely saw our waiter. The food was awful and has gone down hill terrible. The whole experience was a mess. The worst part? My 9 year old son sent back his burger because they put blue cheese instead of cheddar, and the replacement came with a nasty, coarse hair smack in the middle of the bun. Not sure if they did it on purpose, but the place was a ghost town, and it's no mystery why. Terrible food, terrible service, terrible everything. Absolutely disgusted. We won't be back.
A local favorite with quality food and ambience. It serves an updated and delicious menu, without trying too hard to be hip . Comfortable and classy.
Mediocre food. Scallops and Crab was bland. Tasted corn and salt more than any other flavor. Very disappointed. Recent French restaurants I have dined at were in French Polynesia, for example 2 Michelin Star Le Lotus. Don't waste your time and money at Paon. Ambiance was old and crusty.
This is a nice place, but the food was underwhelming. It was just rather bland and uninteresting...no distinction to it. For the price, we expected to have a positive reaction to it, but instead just kind of powered through the dish joylessly.
The rib eye was excellent. My wife was not impressed with the short rib she had. Service was perfect, however this was a Sunday evening and their were not a lot of patrons. I cannot attest to the quality of their service when they are busy. I was disappointed by the ambiance. For this style of cuisine I expect a traditional atmosphere and light classical music. I think the dance club style music being played was a very poor choice for this setting.
Such a strange place. We went with friends awhile ago and had excellent food and terrible service. Service at the time was unpleasant, unattentive and completely lacked knowledge of the extensive wine list. The bottle we chose was unavailable and shouldn't have been on the menu. Etc. Etc. We stayed away for maybe a year and decided to give it another try, remembering the food. The experience this time was better but still weird for a restaurant of this caliber. It's like they are ALMOST amazing but then just...not. Our friends started at the "wine bar" where the staff handed them a tasting menu and then advised that they were eseentially "out of all the reds". What? At 7pm on a Friday night, at a wine bar? So...open some new reds, right? They gave up and went into the restaurant. Our service was very nice and attentive and apologized for the wine bar experience. Then we chose our bottle of wine...which once again was unavailable. Manager offered us a pricier bottle at the same price-very nice-which was excellent. We had another and they honored the price again. Great service. At dinner I had a surf & turf, ate the steak first, and then found the lobster tail was the most awful thing I've ever had. Fishy and literally mushy. Explained and offered the server/kitchen to verify. They took it back, but at this point the rest of the table was largely done. They KINDA offered to credit it but then suggested they'd do another one quickly and went back to the kitchen. We sat for 20 minutes and then asked for dessert menus for the table since all plates had been cleared. It was crazy that they were cooking a lobster tail for me when the table was done. They ended up bringing out my lobster tail along with the desserts for the table. This just should not have happened. If it was going to take that long they should've just credited the lobster and called it done. Second lobster was delicious-scared to think what was up with the first-but just...what a weird experience again.
We love Paon, but they haven't changed their menu in years...yes, they do “specials”, but something that has would be nice if they would take their boring , flavorless salmon off the menu spice and flavor to it.  The sides, of puréed, sweet potatoes... Which were three swipes on the plate, and 3, 2 inch long turnips, or whatever they were, we're cold by the time they got to the table. Just not worth the money anymore, sadly.
Overrated. Service was fine. Food was eh - expected a lot more. French onion puree soup very bland.
Food has been consistently great for years and good service. Owners mostly retired -not as engaged anymore so lost some long time staff but still worth the trip. We order off the bar menu. Best duck in town, very good short rib. Hamachi appetizer is great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wine Tasting, Duck Confit, Braised Beef Short Rib
Restaurantji Recommends
Just want to say I was in Paon tonight just before sunset. The room was beautiful, the suggested
tastes and wine super delicious, and my cheese plate sumptuous.
Overall extra enjoyable experience - wine lovers go and enjoy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Outstanding culinary experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Scallops were excellent! Rack of lamb could use more seasoning. Our server was very friendly & helpful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
This is the most amazing place to wine and dine in North County. My Wife and I come here at least once a month. The service is on point, the food is absolutely amazing. Chilean Sea Bass, Ribeye, Filet Mignon. Everything I've ordered here is amazing. The Wine Sealection??? WOW.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pan Seared Maine Diver Scallops, Wine Tasting, Braised Beef Short Rib, Rack of Lamb, Angus Rib Eye Steak
While the ambiance was very nice and the service was excellent, the food was mediocre, at best. The appetizer ravioli was not enjoyable as the filling was not properly cooked and not hot/melted. The scallops were ok, but nothing special. Flavor of steak was good but served as very thin ribeyes. We don't mind paying for high end food, however, the quality of this meal definitely didn't live up to the high price. We will not be visiting again.
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