I thought the quality of the food was truly 5/5, and our server, who was handling every table on the patio, was knowledgable about good entrees. My only small nitpick is that the outdoor patio doesn't give a good view of downtown Pasadena. The restaurant is located kind of near the back off the main drag, so that's why there isn't a downtown view. I would return here again if I'm ever in Pasadena again!
Jude
Everything was first rate. Service, food and ambience. Did not like a kitchen surcharge added to the end of my bill, though. Prices are robust to begin with. I see this “surcharge “ as a money grab.
PATTYZ
We have been coming to Cafe Santorini for 20 years all this time. Great food and service Yesterday April the 20th we got a reservation for 3:30 . We were seated right away We were welcome by a very nice gentleman who took our orders. This person was very attentive Sadly, his shift ended. A lady came to make to replace him the story short She never checked with us to see if we needed anything else While having a conversation, my glass of wine that I didn't finish was gone I wanted food to take home and order another glass of wine. Because of her attitude, we decided not to order anything else To complete her unwillingness to help, she left the tablet for payment on the table I had to swip my credit card and end the transaction myself I did let the manager know what I had a bad experience we had This leaves even though the food was amazing, a bad experience I don't want to say the waitress was discriminating against us, but it surely felt that way . Hopefully, next time we come back, we will enjoy the experiences we used to have before
GretchenR
Enjoyed the outdoor patio. The food was delicious and presented to the table nice and hot. The waiters were extremely quick and helpful. The orders were perfect and the food was beautifully presented and prepared. For whatever reason, the restaurant is very loud when full.
EugeniaA
Cafe Santorini is my go-to-place! It offers a wonderful ambiance, especially their patio, delicious food, and excellent selection of wines and cocktails. I highly recommend their calamari salad! Despite the decrease in calamari portion size since i before COVID times, it remains very delicious. There iare plenty of healthy options on the menu as well. The prices are also quite reasonable. I highly recommend this place to all!
Maybe because I'm from New York City I have different expectations when I'm in a restaurant. I had difficulty with the quality of service, the restaurant offers. A salad was almost thrown on my table. I had to ask for pepper. I had to ask about bread I thought the whole experience was very lackluster. But I had the most wonderful dessert. An apple tart with gelato and it gets four stars from me.
AndrewK
Cafe Santorini is my go-to spot for amazing food and a chill atmosphere. The dishes are always on point, and the vibe is just right for a great time out. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a tasty meal in a laid-back setting!
Gabriel Landivar
Great atmosphere and location. Service was outstanding. Very friendly and helpful staff. Food is excellent. Best calamari and octopus I have had. Highly recommended.
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was our first time going to Cafe Santorini. I reserved a table in advance for my birthday on the patio. When we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly hostess and did not have to wait. Our table was in an excellent location. We immediately had attentive service from a waiter and waters were placed on the table within 2 minutes. We ordered the vegetarian Mezza plate for an appetizer and they allowed substitutions for 1 item I was allergic to. The soup of the day was tomato. Both appetizers were outstanding. My party ordered the steak which was grilled exactly as requested, I had the special sea bass fish with an excellent crust. My sister had the atlantic salmon; she said it was the best she'd had in years. Even the pasta was done well with very tasty olive oil. We finished the meal with the chocolate gelato ice cream. We all agreed the price point was a little less than our usual celebration restaurant and the food was superior. My only qualm was the amount of noise. There's really nothing they could do because of the hardscape patio brickwall but it is a little loud. Overall, my family will be going back for celebrations in the future.
Went for a girls lunch out. Made reservations ahead of time. Promptly seated, food and service were exceptional. Been coming here for 20 years. While some menu things have obviously changed, it was a great experience.
Amore! The food and atmosphere of Cafe Santorini – perched on a charming rooftop in Old Town Pasadena – will whisk you away to the vibrant coastline of the Mediterranean.We started off the night with the Mezze Vegetarian Appetizer. Not only is this dish beautiful to look at with all its vibrant colors, but it’s also bursting with flavor – tangy hummus, zesty tabbouleh, marinated grape leaves, and crispy Borak (to name a few) will excite you with different tastes.For the main course, we each got the Chicken Kebab. What an indulgent dish! The chicken was succulent and perfectly seasoned. It came with rice pilaf, tzatziki, hummus, and a colorful assortment of roasted vegetables.Unlike other restaurants that give you insanely small portion sizes for a ridiculous price, Cafe Santorini serves up very filling meals that leave you feeling perfectly satisfied. We were delighted by our dinner and thrilled that we got to sample different exotic dishes from the Mediterranean. Thankfully, this restaurant does NOT limit itself to just pasta and pizza.The only downsides were that it took a long time for our food to arrive (around 30 minutes) and that our waiter was not very communicative. For example, our appetizer came with pita bread but we had no idea because it was tucked away under several layers of napkins! Wish our waiter told us, since we unknowingly ordered extra pita bread. Moreover, the tables on the balcony are arranged very close together, which did not provide us with much room for intimate conversation, but I guess that’s ok …we were focused on savoring our delicious food anyways!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chicken Kebab
stan nelsen
Always great food and superior service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Trisha
Went here to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary and what a beautiful place. It was a little weird getting to the actual restaurant because it was a small door which lead to going upstairs. They do have an elevator but I think it was on the other side where the alley was. We were unfamiliar so just chose the stairs. Also parking is across the street and you have to pay for parking. There's a nice size patio or you can eat inside. I think it was definitely nice to eat outside and since it was on the chilly side, they have heat lamps which kept us warm. The calamari salad and the Branzino were standouts for sure. And their martinis were delicious. I loved all 3 flavor choices so I decided to get all 3 but the best was the Santorini one, not too strong and the flavor was perfection. I would definitely recommend this place and to make reservations. This place was fully packed when we were there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Julio V.
This popular place certainly lived up to the hype! We got a reservation for a birthday lunch. Got sat right away on a nice balcony. The service was excellent. Attentive and accommodating. The food we got was delicious. Every single plate had something special to it. The only disappointments were that they forgot our grape leaves in the appetizer (pictured) and one pair of our utensils was pretty dirty. Otherwise a great place and I recommend it!
Abish S.
Came with my family for an early dinner. Food is outstanding. Rooftop is beautiful. Workers are polite. Food came out pretty fast considering we had a large party. Attire isn't super fancy but still nice and neat.
I thought the quality of the food was truly 5/5, and our server, who was handling every table on the patio, was knowledgable about good entrees. My only small nitpick is that the outdoor patio doesn't give a good view of downtown Pasadena. The restaurant is located kind of near the back off the main drag, so that's why there isn't a downtown view. I would return here again if I'm ever in Pasadena again!
Everything was first rate. Service, food and ambience. Did not like a kitchen surcharge added to the end of my bill, though. Prices are robust to begin with. I see this “surcharge “ as a money grab.
We have been coming to Cafe Santorini for 20 years all this time. Great food and service Yesterday April the 20th we got a reservation for 3:30 . We were seated right away We were welcome by a very nice gentleman who took our orders. This person was very attentive Sadly, his shift ended. A lady came to make to replace him the story short She never checked with us to see if we needed anything else While having a conversation, my glass of wine that I didn't finish was gone I wanted food to take home and order another glass of wine. Because of her attitude, we decided not to order anything else To complete her unwillingness to help, she left the tablet for payment on the table I had to swip my credit card and end the transaction myself I did let the manager know what I had a bad experience we had This leaves even though the food was amazing, a bad experience I don't want to say the waitress was discriminating against us, but it surely felt that way . Hopefully, next time we come back, we will enjoy the experiences we used to have before
Enjoyed the outdoor patio. The food was delicious and presented to the table nice and hot. The waiters were extremely quick and helpful. The orders were perfect and the food was beautifully presented and prepared. For whatever reason, the restaurant is very loud when full.
Cafe Santorini is my go-to-place! It offers a wonderful ambiance, especially their patio, delicious food, and excellent selection of wines and cocktails. I highly recommend their calamari salad! Despite the decrease in calamari portion size since i before COVID times, it remains very delicious. There iare plenty of healthy options on the menu as well. The prices are also quite reasonable. I highly recommend this place to all!
Maybe because I'm from New York City I have different expectations when I'm in a restaurant. I had difficulty with the quality of service, the restaurant offers. A salad was almost thrown on my table. I had to ask for pepper. I had to ask about bread I thought the whole experience was very lackluster. But I had the most wonderful dessert. An apple tart with gelato and it gets four stars from me.
Cafe Santorini is my go-to spot for amazing food and a chill atmosphere. The dishes are always on point, and the vibe is just right for a great time out. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a tasty meal in a laid-back setting!
Great atmosphere and location. Service was outstanding. Very friendly and helpful staff. Food is excellent. Best calamari and octopus I have had. Highly recommended.
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was our first time going to Cafe Santorini. I reserved a table in advance for my birthday on the patio. When we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly hostess and did not have to wait. Our table was in an excellent location. We immediately had attentive service from a waiter and waters were placed on the table within 2 minutes. We ordered the vegetarian Mezza plate for an appetizer and they allowed substitutions for 1 item I was allergic to. The soup of the day was tomato. Both appetizers were outstanding. My party ordered the steak which was grilled exactly as requested, I had the special sea bass fish with an excellent crust. My sister had the atlantic salmon; she said it was the best she'd had in years. Even the pasta was done well with very tasty olive oil. We finished the meal with the chocolate gelato ice cream. We all agreed the price point was a little less than our usual celebration restaurant and the food was superior. My only qualm was the amount of noise. There's really nothing they could do because of the hardscape patio brickwall but it is a little loud. Overall, my family will be going back for celebrations in the future.
Went for a girls lunch out. Made reservations ahead of time. Promptly seated, food and service were exceptional. Been coming here for 20 years. While some menu things have obviously changed, it was a great experience.
Restaurantji Recommends
Amore! The food and atmosphere of Cafe Santorini – perched on a charming rooftop in Old Town Pasadena – will whisk you away to the vibrant coastline of the Mediterranean.We started off the night with the Mezze Vegetarian Appetizer. Not only is this dish beautiful to look at with all its vibrant colors, but it’s also bursting with flavor – tangy hummus, zesty tabbouleh, marinated grape leaves, and crispy Borak (to name a few) will excite you with different tastes.For the main course, we each got the Chicken Kebab. What an indulgent dish! The chicken was succulent and perfectly seasoned. It came with rice pilaf, tzatziki, hummus, and a colorful assortment of roasted vegetables.Unlike other restaurants that give you insanely small portion sizes for a ridiculous price, Cafe Santorini serves up very filling meals that leave you feeling perfectly satisfied. We were delighted by our dinner and thrilled that we got to sample different exotic dishes from the Mediterranean. Thankfully, this restaurant does NOT limit itself to just pasta and pizza.The only downsides were that it took a long time for our food to arrive (around 30 minutes) and that our waiter was not very communicative. For example, our appetizer came with pita bread but we had no idea because it was tucked away under several layers of napkins! Wish our waiter told us, since we unknowingly ordered extra pita bread. Moreover, the tables on the balcony are arranged very close together, which did not provide us with much room for intimate conversation, but I guess that’s ok …we were focused on savoring our delicious food anyways!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chicken Kebab
Always great food and superior service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went here to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary and what a beautiful place. It was a little weird getting to the actual restaurant because it was a small door which lead to going upstairs. They do have an elevator but I think it was on the other side where the alley was. We were unfamiliar so just chose the stairs. Also parking is across the street and you have to pay for parking. There's a nice size patio or you can eat inside. I think it was definitely nice to eat outside and since it was on the chilly side, they have heat lamps which kept us warm. The calamari salad and the Branzino were standouts for sure. And their martinis were delicious. I loved all 3 flavor choices so I decided to get all 3 but the best was the Santorini one, not too strong and the flavor was perfection. I would definitely recommend this place and to make reservations. This place was fully packed when we were there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This popular place certainly lived up to the hype! We got a reservation for a birthday lunch. Got sat right away on a nice balcony. The service was excellent. Attentive and accommodating. The food we got was delicious. Every single plate had something special to it. The only disappointments were that they forgot our grape leaves in the appetizer (pictured) and one pair of our utensils was pretty dirty. Otherwise a great place and I recommend it!
Came with my family for an early dinner. Food is outstanding. Rooftop is beautiful. Workers are polite. Food came out pretty fast considering we had a large party. Attire isn't super fancy but still nice and neat.