Avila's El Ranchito

Trust me on this one! Order the French fries! Crazy, I know. The mussels are great (I recommend the green or yellow curry), but those fries! They are perfectly crispy on the outside, soft inside with homemade mayonnaise and ketchup on the side. I’m sure the other food is good, but these are the best fries I have ever had. The space is open to Del Mar Street. I highly recommend.

Brussels feed us the best food I've had in a while. Their escargot are to die for. We also tried their Trout almondine and Salmon and they were both delicious. Great Belgian beer selection, great service. The place is not too big, so I'd recommend to make reservations I'm advance

Really tasty and filling breakfast options. Loved the combos with Waffles covered in perfect poached eggs and a meat of choice. Also, the Mac n’ Cheese was fantastic.

We had a fantastic time here. The food was incredible, the service was top notch. I wish I remembered our servers name because he was awesome and fun! I had mussels with some Belgium beers. The brussel sprouts were so good! This is on my list the next time we make it back to Cali.

David Perry

Neat discovery. Great beer and dinner. Enjoyed our visit. Try the Belgium fries! Our waitress was great, helped us navigate the beers and food.

Anish Thakkar (Doc Thakkar)

Walked by here and decided to check it out based on the very reasonable menu and nice interior decor! I'm a big fan of Belgian beers, and had the joy of sampling 2 of them (the trippel as well as the witbier) and really enjoyed the latter - very drinkable with plenty of unfiltered wheat flavor. Cousin got the trout with spinach + garlic butter and loved it. I got the lightly-breaded fried chicken sandwich and absolutely devoured the fries - so crispy and well seasoned! All in all a delicious meal and I'd definitely come back.

Tanya Rivera

Favorite spot on Del Mar. Cocktails are always perfect. Great selection of artisan beers too. The Beef Bourguignon is a must! Start with the cone of Belgian fries. Very cozy spot!

Natalie

Such a unique menu. The vibes at night at the best. Wonderful date night spot. Candlelit. Intimate. Kinda loud but it’s okay. The food was incredible!!!!! My boyfriend and I were very happy! Also some dairy free options :)

Brian Pavsek

Great place to bring family or a date. The environment is very European inspired. They have an unlimited all you can eat Muscles offer on Tuesdays. You can order different flavors and they bring you bread and fries with it. I highly recommend the Almond Trout dish with asparagus.

Jon Savage

We walked by this place a year ago but had just eaten dinner alas. We’re back in San Clemente this week though and remembered we were really wanting to try this spot. Escargot was perfect & came with a fresh warm baguette the better to sop up the garlic butter. Very tasty indeed. We had the large mussels & frites- 2lbs of mussels. The mussels were perfectly cooked and the frites so very delicious and perfectly crisp outside and creamy inside. Fries are done in beef tallow and spectacularly good. The mussels were plump, sweet and succulent- perfection and not in the least bit overcooked. We enjoyed the beer very much as well. Service was excellent, personal and attentive without ever being overbearing. Sara our server was fantastic with recommendations that were absolutely on point. The restaurant is dog friendly too (in the semi open air part). Prices are moderate to mid; outstanding value especially considering the quality of the restaurant & food. Expect $30-40 or so per person obviously more if you have multiple apps drinks etc. We liked it so much that we’ll return again today or tomorrow- it was that good!!

Amanda Young

Very friendly. Great capuccino and latte. Lovely atmosphere. Treated us with welcome arm even though we were the last people in on a Saturday night. Service was great.

nathan greenlee

Excellent Flemish restaurant with authentic character! What a fantastic find! I love discovering places that truly focus on Flanders and its incredible beer culture. Walking by, I noticed their little marquee showcasing an impressive selection including Tripel Karmeliet, Bavik, Chimay, and St. Bernardus - clearly they know their Belgian brews. The menu features plenty of mussels alongside other wonderful traditional Flemish dishes. Everything was executed beautifully. This is exactly the kind of authentic experience you hope to find. 5/5!

Katherine Melnyk

Such a great Belgian bistro with an awesome selection of draft beers and really tasty dishes. We tried the beer flight, and the fruit beer on tap was definitely the highlight. The escargots were amazing and came with a fresh baguette. We also had the Burger and Carbonara. The Carbonara was so creamy and packed with parmesan—it was so delicious. Definitely recommend to order it!

Guillaume Bourcy

Whenever we're in the area, we make it a point to visit Brussels Bistro, a genuine Belgian restaurant. Being Belgian ourselves, it's a challenge to find authentic dishes from our homeland in Southern California, let alone those that are well-prepared. This place offers an array of typical dishes from all over Belgium, from Oostende to Gent, Brussels to Liege, ensuring each region is represented with a special dish. My wife adores the Liege meatballs, while I can't resist the cheese croquette paired with a hefty portion of fries. Their desserts are a true homage to Belgian cuisine and definitely worth trying. Additionally, they feature an impressive selection of our most famous beers on draft, rounding out the authentic Belgian dining experience.

zachary clarke

Really tasty and filling breakfast options. Loved the combos with Waffles covered in perfect poached eggs and a meat of choice. Also, the Mac n’ Cheese was fantastic.

Tommy Hullette

Trust me on this one! Order the French fries! Crazy, I know. The mussels are great (I recommend the green or yellow curry), but those fries! They are perfectly crispy on the outside, soft inside with homemade mayonnaise and ketchup on the side. I’m sure the other food is good, but these are the best fries I have ever had. The space is open to Del Mar Street. I highly recommend.

Tomas Cortijo

Brussels feed us the best food I've had in a while. Their escargot are to die for. We also tried their Trout almondine and Salmon and they were both delicious. Great Belgian beer selection, great service. The place is not too big, so I'd recommend to make reservations I'm advance

Alexandre Kral

I grew up in Brussels, Belgium, and this place is legit! Awesome Belgian food with great atmosphere and the best beers (try the Peche Lindemans if you haven't before or the golden Chimay). The pork shank is too die for, and the mussels are delicious, especially the green curry ones... The Belgian fries and the real ones you find in Belgium, much better than regular American fries. Super nice place with great food!

Kristin D

We had a fantastic time here. The food was incredible, the service was top notch. I wish I remembered our servers name because he was awesome and fun! I had mussels with some Belgium beers. The brussel sprouts were so good! This is on my list the next time we make it back to Cali.

Great experience all around: the food and service is 5 star. They even sang for our 1 year olds birthday. He was mesmerized. Mushroom soup so good! Beef Bourgeon 5 stars! Beet salad yummy! French fries holy moly! Chocolate mousse yum! Corey was our server he was wonderful.

So happy we finally tried this place and will be back. Sunday lunch- Excellent Belgian Bistro that checks all the boxes for high end tasty food and drinks in a clean and bright professional non pretentious great service. Belgian beer on tap and Beef bourguignon w fresh warm bread and butter was perfect. Partner had the salad and cocktails. Dessert Crepe w ice cream wrapped inside was unique and delicious. Been wanting to eat at the Laguna beach location for years and saw they have a San Clemente location. Wanted to try places other than favs like Nick's, Oak- LB, Bloom in SJC, Houstons and am happy that Brussels Bistro is a new fav as well. Thanks & please keep up the great work!

Bobby S

So happy we finally tried this place and will be back. Sunday lunch- Excellent Belgian Bistro that checks all the boxes for high end tasty food and drinks in a clean and bright professional non pretentious great service. Belgian beer on tap and Beef bourguignon w fresh warm bread and butter was perfect. Partner had the salad and cocktails. Dessert Crepe w ice cream wrapped inside was unique and delicious. Been wanting to eat at the Laguna beach location for years and saw they have a San Clemente location. Wanted to try places other than favs like Nick's, Oak- LB, Bloom in SJC, Houstons and am happy that Brussels Bistro is a new fav as well. Thanks & please keep up the great work!

Sara Farsani

Great experience all around: the food and service is 5 star. They even sang for our 1 year olds birthday. He was mesmerized. Mushroom soup so good! Beef Bourgeon 5 stars! Beet salad yummy! French fries holy moly! Chocolate mousse yum! Corey was our server he was wonderful.

First time having Belgian food and it won’t be my last! My favorite was the hearty boeuf bourguignon and their lamb shank off the special menu which was not gamey at all. They have a decent selections of Belgian imported beers that we enjoyed almost as much as the phenomenal service from the wonderful staff.

The restaurant is in a kind of strip with a limited number of parking spots in front. However, there is a public parking half a block away where you can park. The food is phenomenal no matter what you choose, with a good selection of non-American wines. This makes the place a little pricey, but if you can afford it, it's worth trying. The ambiance is ordinary and not like a fancy restaurant. As for service, it's not as good as you'd expect for the price; it can feel rushed. On a few occasions, a server not ours has come and just dropped the drinks on a table without saying what they are or who ordered them. In conclusion, the food is excellent, the atmosphere is casual, and it can get noisy if the place is full.

We had drinks at the bar, killer drinks by Holland - she is a great mixologist. Try her Vieux Carre and Lumiere you won't be disappointed. Julien was our server, he was excellent. He was spread pretty thin but did a good job anyway. We had hangar steak, Boeuf Bourguignon, the Ribs, Trout Almondine with the cassoulet and also the mushroom soup and escargot as apps. It all was pretty good, the Hangar Steak was cold and had to be reheated tho and because our server seemed a little overwhelmed the service was a bit off. Overall a good spot, will try again sometime to see if this visit was a one-off.

Randy

First time having Belgian food and it won’t be my last! My favorite was the hearty boeuf bourguignon and their lamb shank off the special menu which was not gamey at all. They have a decent selections of Belgian imported beers that we enjoyed almost as much as the phenomenal service from the wonderful staff.

Warren Sanders

We had drinks at the bar, killer drinks by Holland - she is a great mixologist. Try her Vieux Carre and Lumiere you won't be disappointed. Julien was our server, he was excellent. He was spread pretty thin but did a good job anyway. We had hangar steak, Boeuf Bourguignon, the Ribs, Trout Almondine with the cassoulet and also the mushroom soup and escargot as apps. It all was pretty good, the Hangar Steak was cold and had to be reheated tho and because our server seemed a little overwhelmed the service was a bit off. Overall a good spot, will try again sometime to see if this visit was a one-off.

OK, so I live part time in San Clemente and I have been t to this location many times before and always was pleased. I went there this Friday, September 26 and was extremely disappointed. I actually took my elderly mother and she’s been there many times before ,,we are both French born And usually have the mussels . And fries today we tried something different and quite frankly it was not worth the time or the value of the food. My mother had this spaghetti, Bolognese and quite frankly it was tasteless. I had the burger served on A ciabatta roll that looked like it just came from a local Big box store it came right out of the bag. The meat was good, but that was about it. the fries which obviously fried in a low quality oil and they weren’t even the French fries. By the way, In-N-Out has better french fries and they’re fresh. These were big ones that look like they came out of a bag. I have nothing against potatoes I actually left part-time in Idaho so I know my potatoes Overall I don’t think I’m gonna go back.

Jack Old Dude

OK, so I live part time in San Clemente and I have been t to this location many times before and always was pleased. I went there this Friday, September 26 and was extremely disappointed. I actually took my elderly mother and she’s been there many times before ,,we are both French born And usually have the mussels . And fries today we tried something different and quite frankly it was not worth the time or the value of the food. My mother had this spaghetti, Bolognese and quite frankly it was tasteless. I had the burger served on A ciabatta roll that looked like it just came from a local Big box store it came right out of the bag. The meat was good, but that was about it. the fries which obviously fried in a low quality oil and they weren’t even the French fries. By the way, In-N-Out has better french fries and they’re fresh. These were big ones that look like they came out of a bag. I have nothing against potatoes I actually left part-time in Idaho so I know my potatoes Overall I don’t think I’m gonna go back.