California Cuisine Catering

Amazing cuisine and great to work with! Dominic and his team made such delicious appetizers and unique entrees to keep a super diverse and picky crowd happy & well fed at my wedding!!! My groom is South Indian Vegetarian and his family are vegetarian for religious purposes. My family likes to keep it healthy, low carb, lean proteins and gleutan free options. So basically everyone was going to be super picky!!! Somehow they all enjoyed dinner and no one complained. Dominic's menu helped bring my family and wedding together. Bar was well staffed and drinks were flowing all night. Wine was served table side at temperature. The staff was superb and I was so happy that I'm chose California Cuisine for my wedding at The Darlington House. Dominic and his team also really saved the day at my wedding when the florist messed up my wedding cake. I can't even get into it but thanks you guys!!!

Last Saturday we had my sisters wedding. Dominic did an amazing job. The service was excellent the staff from the bartenders to the servers were very friendly, attentive. The food was delicious. I will definitely have him cater our next event.

Our whole family agreed that this was by far the best meal we had ever had! Chris worked with me very patiently as this was my first time hiring a private chef for a meal. We were celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary and we couldn't have dreamed of having this quality of a meal. Chris worked with us for the perfect menu and he went above and beyond. His Menu was top notch and creative. The flavors were out of this world.We all felt the cost of the meal was extremely reasonable before we ate. We felt like we got a bargain after the meal was complete. The portions were the right size for everyone.If there was anything I could say they could have done better......well, I'd say it. There was nothing I can think of or anyone at dinner could think of that could have gone better. Everything was perfect for the occasion.The professionalism Chris showed was top notch as well. They left the kitchen cleaner than when they showed up. They were polite and patient.You couldn't do better than hiring Chris!

Trips to California Cuisine with friends are always hard to explain. We have this lovely restaurant in the middle of Hillcrest with other nicer restaurants around the area but it always seem unbusy. Maybe they all hide in the patio which was recently changed to CC Lounge. I don't drink as heavily as I used to so going to the lounge will have to be on some special occassions when I want to get someone cute drunk!However, the food and service are always as good as the first time we came 4 years ago. I have only one problem with service, sometimes they do forget what you ordered. Just ate here 2 nights ago and I order chowder and it never came. Of course it didn't matter since I enjoyed the rib steak and it was just enough to fill me up and have room for dessert.California Cuisine is always a reliable alternative when my partner and I can not decide on where to take friends. Its close, comfortable and actually not being busy helps because you have attention and conversation.How it survives is beyond me but I don't know much about the restaurant business so I am just lucky its there when I need it.

***GOING TO CLOSE SOMETIME AT END OF MONTH (AUG 2009)***I've been here a couple times, and finally brought my husband. The corn soup and the shrimp linguine was amazing. I almost licked the creme brulee clean. I can't believe they will close. How aweful!! Evidently, they have been here for ~25 years, and are ready to retire. It will turn into an italian restaurant (per the server). Boo Hoo!!!!

I must have passed by this place a dozen of times without noticing it ever existed. Seriously, what was I thinking? Perhaps it is because of its quiet and modest exterior, it pales next to the flamboyant and extravagant-looking eateries that surround it. A closer look at this place reveals an intimate setting that draws in a steady flow of mellow fine diners daily. Their selection of entrees is varied and moderately priced. Of the one time I have visited, I have enjoyed the cheese platter appetizer, free range chicken, and a portion of their sole. The appetizer platter is well portioned to share among a group of four or five while I find that the chicken was well seasoned, albeit on the dry side. The sole was flaky and somewhat bland. The entree size is good for an individual. Lastly, service is prompt and professional. Overall, it is a great restaurant with solid service and cuisine. I would recommend it to others that are interested.

Dominic and California Cuisine were a great choice for our wedding at Darlington House! Dominic was the first caterer we met with, and he impressed us with his passion for the food, not to mention his experience with weddings and other big events. Even as we met with more caterers, he stood out, and we couldn't have been happier with our decision. He provided great suggestions on how to keep the event within our budget without feeling like we were skimping on the details, as well as on other aspects of planning the reception. The chef was very open to our requests to substitute ingredients and the food was delicious, both at our tasting and on the day of! Dominic took great care of us, making sure we had some appetizers (and champagne!) delivered to us while we were doing post-ceremony photos, so that we had a chance to enjoy the delicious food we had picked out. Overall, I would use California Cuisine again in a heartbeat for any nice, catered event!

I had CC (thanks Thea for the abbreviation) cater my wedding last Oct. We met their event coordinator at a Bridal Show in Escondido and fell in love with him. He was on top of everything and was quick to visualize what I had in my mind for the wedding. There was never really much of a question whether or not we were going to hire him. We went in for a tasting and it was fabulous. We got crab cakes, Humbolt Fog w/ toasts and caramelized figs, pear salad, and other stuff, but man o man was it goooooooood! I met with my coordinator at Classic Party Rentals to help pick out dishes and flatware. He was a huge help with many many things. So you could imagine my disappointment when a couple months after we hired him, I couldn't get a hold of him. I was eventually contacted by a person who was standing in for him. Still to this day i don't know what happened to him. At first I was very upset and so was my husband. We finally met with the new person and discussed the wedding. The problem was that the original caterer had agreed to help me set up and take down my tables because they weren't traditional floral arrangements. The new person was hesitant to agree to such responsibility, but eventually all was worked out. After a brief moment of stress, everything went back to running smoothly with the new caterer. He was very helpful and always in contact with me. He was there the day of the wedding to oversee everything and from the moment we met him till the end of our wedding he was very hands on.The food was absolutely AMAZING! However, this is where I begin to describe why there's only 4 stars and not 5.The spread was gorgeous and colorful, everything was presently great! I couldn't wait to eat, because I hadn't eaten all day. I had told myself over and over again "you have to eat." This wasn't any ordinary wedding food! Everyone was served and I ate, and ate. I went up for seconds of the steak and other veggies. When i got to the person serving the steak, with attitude he says, "you're only supposed to have one serving." I was like WTF...I'm the bride and I'm paying for it. So I said to him "I'm the bride, I want more steak." So he gave it to me reluctantly.Now, if I'm paying for the food, I expect to get however much I want especially if everyone has already eaten. There were other incidents like this that happened to the guests as well.Also, from what my mom said, after the wedding was over and they were packing up the food, there was tons of it left. The servers were all taking it home, my mom overheard them talking about how good it was going to be. No food was every offered to me or my family to take home, I also never requested the left-overs. However, I still think this was a bit shady.To the caterers credit, he had left shortly before this happened, because everything was running so smoothly. So I would recommend CC to cater a wedding. The food is fabulous and your guests will remember eating at your wedding after years to come. However, I would suggest asking for your left-overs or at least making sure to tell whoever your caterer is that you want your guests to be able to eat however much they want until the food is gone.I hope this helps...PS. I didn't use names because I don't want to get personal. I really enjoyed working with the two caterers, just because the servers where sketchy doesn't mean that I need to bash the people who were very helpful to me.

I came here last year, for my boyfriends birthday. We had reservations for the night, and sat at the last table inside, next to the doors to the patio. Bad choice.Being so close to the open doors, the wind gave me chills, and I could hardly hear over the outside music and everyone talking. The table is also right next to where the kitchen ends, and your server comes out.The menu is pricey and there was about two things to choose from if you're a vegetarian. The server didnt even know what to suggest for me.Overall, I'm not impressed by anything at California Cuisine.

We hired California cuisine catering to cater my parents 50th wedding anniversary party. We had around 65 guests. California cuisine caterers were very professional, the food was amazing, and the party went off without a hitch. We got so many compliments on the food and set up all thanks to the caterers. After the party they cleaned up everything so it looked better than when they arrived. I would hire them again for any party large or small any time. I highly recommend California cuisine caterers. Thanks Dominic!!!