Arte Cafe

Arte Café puts on wines dinner every so often. I have been to several wine events and a Vodka event before deciding to leave my review.

The food has progressively declined but the servers have remained attentive and friendly.

The venue is small inside, with a spacious outdoor seating area. There are only two restrooms, one for men and one for women.

The menu line up sounded amazing. I enjoyed the pear and gorgonzola salad, but I could have done without the pumpkin seeds that were left in their very hard to chew shell.

The appetizer of hot smoked salmon on rye crostini with crème fraiche and capers on the side was delightful.

The sweet potato gnocchi with pork and mushroom ragu was just ok. I loved the gnocchi but found the sauce runny and the pork very chewy.

I originally decided to give this place one more try when the menu listed traditional osso bucco as the main dish. Sadly, I received a pile of something. Once I dissected it, I had one bite of osso bucco and a pile of grizzle. The saffron infused risotto that accompanied it was not properly cooked. I would have gladly paid double the $75 dinner price tag for traditional osso bucco.

The pumpkin crème brulee with ginger spice whipped cream was just ok. I did not detect any ginger spice in the whipped cream.

This past wine dinner paired with Hess Persson Estates wine was a deep disappointment.

The wine was just ok. I did enjoy a few sips of the Lion Tamer Napa Red Blend 2018 with the crème brulee but I did not think it was appropriately paired.

The wine line up was:
Panthera Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2017
Panthera Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2019Mount Veeder Estate Grown Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Iron Corral Estate Grown Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Lion Tamer Napa Red Blend 2018

I found the wines too harsh and way too young to enjoy. The food would need to be a lot heavier to cover up the high alcohol content. Don't get me wrong, I love a heavy cab, these just missed the mark for my taste.

I do hope this place can up their game. It's a great venue when they offer wine dinners. I would suggest they market them as wine pairing tastings rather than wine dinners. The plus side is it's a nice setting for friends to get together and have great conversation.

We ended up at Arte from a referral of my wifes uncle. They've been coming here for years and thought it would be good for our party of fourteen.

They're located in the town square center. Kind of an outdoor mall or shopping center. Lots of parking available.

We started off with some appts of spare ribs, calimari and pot stickers or dumplings if you will. The appetizers were awesome. The calimari was fresh and the ribs were very tender to tender and tasty!

Since I'm the wine aficionado I got honors of ordering wine. After looking the wine list over I noticed a Hope Winery 2017 Cabernet. Great wine and I've actually visited this winery in Paseo Robles twice now (one of my faves). The waitress did the appropriate etiquette and brought the bottle over for review, removed the cork for my inspection and poured a splash for taste for me. But here is where they lose a star....I ordered a second bottle and the waitress pre opened it and started pouring without my approval. I did mention this to her for her knowledge that every bottle needs to be approved.

For my main I went with the New York strip. The steak came out as requested med rare and was quite tender. However there was an absence of flavor. No seasoning detected whatsoever. A little disappointing since I don't eat steak often and was really had high expectations. In addition the green veggies of cauliflower and brussel sprouts were undercooked and pretty close to being raw. Lose another star....sadly.

No dessert for us as we were all quite full.

Arte Cafe has been in this plaza forever (over 20 years) and now I know why. High quality dishes that border on fine dining at a fraction of the cost of other restaurants without sacrificing any quality or taste.

We came with a party of about 25 on a weeknight and they arranged for us to have our own area on the outside patio. We all picked out different dishes and submitted our choices the night before. I don't know how they did it, but all the dishes came out within a five minute time period. When I cook I can barely get two dishes at home to come out ready within five minutes of each other but they were able to get 20 different dishes all prepped and ready at the same time.

Cocktails & Wine - Arte has one of the best top shelfs around. You will 18 year scotches from Scotland mixed in with Yamazaki and Hibiki 12 year whiskey bottles along with choice rums, tequilas and vodkas. They also know their wines.

Bread Rolls - Complimentary

Grilled 8 oz Filet Mignon ($24) - I ordered mine medium rare and it came out perfectly. Pink on the inside with no excess blood and it cut through tender like I was working my way through a room temperature butter stick. Served with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes. My filet was a first rate cut, melt-in-my-mouth tender and seasoned well but not over salted.

Looking over the menu, I noticed that there were some great values on it. For example, the "Surf and Turf" is a Petite Filet, Lobster Tail and Shrimp for $32. That dish at other fine dining establishments would be $45. Slow braised short ribs were $22 which often go for $28-$35 at other spots.

If you are in the mood for a nicer dining experience before a Cerritos Center for Performing Arts show without high prices or pretentiousness, Arte would be a great place to hit up. The staff here was very approachable and personable. Richard (head chef and owner), Joel (associate) and Sherman (floor manager) checked on us many times throughout the night to make sure we had everything we needed. Since we were celebrating birthdays, they sent out a round of birthday shots for the whole group!

Thanks Arte Cafe for giving us a great dinner and a memorable night!

My friend reserved the whole restaurant to celebrate her birthday.
The restaurant is a little dark inside but the patio area is really cozy and nice.
I had the salmon which I found really tasty, better than I expected. However I found the size of the portion quite small.
Staff was very friendly and helpful.
If you want to have a celebration and live in this area , Arte cafe is a good option.
My friend even hired a band!! And decorate the whole restaurant.

I have been here for dinner about 5 times and the food and service has always been great.

The menu is pretty simple, but there is a decent variety of meats and fish, veggies, pasta, and appetizers.

I've tried the IPA slow cooked braised beef short ribs, New Zealand blackened lamb chops, and the penne pasta with blackened chicken. The meat was cooked correctly and food has always come out in a timely manner. I've also tried the ahi tuna tartar, steamed clams, and crispy pot stickers for appetizers and they were all pretty good.

Prices are decent and would be what you should expect to pay for a semi fancy dinner setting. The waitresses are always friendly and constantly come by with the bread and to refill your drinks. The chef and owner, Richard, will also check in on tables if he isn't too busy.

I have no complaints about this restaurant and would come back if I'm in the area.

Arte Café is in the shopping center from Cerritos Performing Arts Center. Across from the movie theater, there is ample parking and reservations guarantee you a seat.

The restaurant is long and skinny. They make at attempt at upscale with white linen tablecloths, but the flatware and glassware is not very clean. There is a full bar and a decent wine selection. The service is very friendly, albeit not super professional, but their enthusiasm makes up for it. The restaurant does not have enough bathrooms - two single stalls for a restaurant that seats about 70.

The food was okay - not remarkable but edible. I started with Seared Foie Gras appetizer, which is grossly overpriced at $22. For $22, I expected more than one tablespoon of seared duck liver divided between two crostini and topped with a dried fruit compote and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was absolutely the best bite of the night - surprisingly almost had a peanut butter flavor but that could have been because of the raisin and fig compote. It was just ridiculously overpriced for the product.

For dinner, I ordered the Spinach Salad ($7), which has baby spinach tossed in a vinaigrette and topped with shaved carrot ribbons, two cherry tomatoes and two medallions of deep fried goat cheese. It was good -- underseasoned, but I added pepper. I also had the fried cauliflower ($5), which was just a plate of cauliflower that had been dropped into the fryer with no seasoning. There were some woody bites, but I added salt and ate it.

DM had the lamb chops ($22), which purportedly had a ginger honey sauce and were served with sautéed vegetables and mashed potatoes. The lamb chops tasted like nothing - not even lamb. They were not flavorful and there was no sauce. The veggies were good, but the potatoes were a waste.

DB ordered the salmon entrée ($18) and ordered it rare. Instead, she received a rather generous piece of overcooked fish that was covered in a mushroom-caper-cream sauce with a shrimp on top and served with sticky rice and vegetables. She is not as picky as I am, and she ate it all. I would have send it back and was relieved that I had not ordered it.

Conundrum at $8 per glass is a good value and we enjoyed it.

For dessert, we had the "lemon cake" which is sponge cake with lemon filling on a plate drizzled with chocolate. It was pretty bland and not worth the calories. DD ate it, but he lives for sweets.

Overall, it is a serviceable choice, but I would not make a special trip and I would stick with salad. It was the only thing that was prepared well that was not overpriced.

Arte Cafe has been a staple of the Cerritos Towne Center for many years. I've dined here about fifteen times over the years.

Business seems to be a little slow recently. We came on a Sunday night and there was one server - Dani (sp?). Since she was by herself we were more patient with certain wait times. There were a few other parties in the restaurant. Thank you to Dani for good service. She handled my kids well with various drink refills.

Most of the food was very good. The butternut squash risotto was cooked to perfection, maintaining an al dente chew. The butternut squash flavor was prevalent, and my wife devoured the dish easily because it was so tasty.

My new york steak special wasn't the most tender cut, but I know that going in when I order new york. The flavors were spot on - slightly smoky, natural meatiness, and good salt levels.

The lobster bisque was creamy despite it's darker color. It appeared to be more of a tomato soup, but the brininess and creaminess were there when I tasted it.

The caprese had large chunks of mozzarella cheese, and the basil was super fresh and delicious.

The uni noodles were al dente and wonderful. There was a small piece of uni, and egg yolk that we mixed into the pasta. The smoked salmon was great. The soft salmon paired well atop the crunchy crostini.

Our server nicely handled my dad's request to send back his lobster tail. It was fragmented, small, and sad looking. I don't know that much about lobster, but my dad has eaten them his whole life. It should have been a cohesive piece, more robust, with more flavor. (maybe it was dead before it was cooked?) Dani sent it back, and the kitchen sent out a beautiful, much better looking lobster tail without hesitation.

I'll be back in the future to try different menu items.

Great and delicious fusion dishes for very reasonable prices

Chef is very friendly and experienced
Nice place to meet the chef and feel personal

We tried both NY steak and fillet mignon
They were done perfectly as median rare

Will go back for dinner menu
Friend recommended lobster
Hmmm can't wait

hahahahah! you closed! hahahaaahaha finally. about 10 years too late.

Our favorite place to eat and hang out with our friends . We get our food family style snd let the Chef prepare us whatever he likes . We are always pleasantly surprised by the quality and taste of the food . The serving staff goes far beyond to make our meal memorable . So happy a restaurant of this caliber is so close home .