Bistro Espresso - Arnold, California

Crystal Ćalić

Great atmosphere, coffee and food.
Options for indoor and outdoor seating are available so if you want to bring a pet plenty of covered outdoor seating. My first time being an Arnold and my first time visiting Bistro Espresso.

I'm excited to make this our regular stop on our way back home after visiting.

T V

The first time I tried a burger from here I really liked it! I'm a sucker for a brioche bun. So when I went back for the same burger I had high expectations. It was still good! Cooked well, decent proportions, and didn't get sloppy until the last couple bites.
At this visit I chose a side salad, it was one of those red oak lettuce spring mixes. Decent portion, and I didn't have to pick out any black lettuce pieces, which is a huge win in my book.

However, the salad was only tomatoes and cuke, and the ranch felt too "hidden valley" for what I expected. A slice of red onion, some actual homemade buttermilk ranch, and/or a couple of croutons would really take this up a solid notch and make it worth the $17.99 price tag.
In the same visit I also tried their fries, and for me these were kind of a miss. They were overcooked to the point of being hollow and so crispy they hardened into something like Veggie Straws by the end of the meal.

One employee at the front of the house was an older guy working his butt off, short in a friendly-busy way. But the young gals at the register were lacking that real customer service, which seems to be a gen z thing not necessarily unique to this place. Don't get me wrong they were nice enough and doing the job, but the vibe was robotic.

The place wasn't overly busy but there was a pretty consistent lunch flow and they seemed to handle it well. You have to get your own sodas and bottled drinks from a cooler next to the register. They also make coffee drinks and have a beer or two on tap. You pick up your own food at a counter.

Overall I liked it but the parts that could be improved really made the price tag hard to swallow. $18 for their basic burger with a light side salad: no drink, no extras, and this is before tax and tip. I'll probably be back, it's still one of the better lunch spots in town.

Nancy Friedlander Hosken

I was so pleasantly surprised to find such a wonderful coffee /breakfast place in the small town of Arnold, Ca.
Delicious, robust coffee, excellent French toast and eggs. Friendly service.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights they serve bistro dinners.
Outside seating is available.

Thaoブロング

Came here twice, for brunch and for lunch. Can’t go wrong with breakfast. Portion sizes are on the larger side, so a plus.
It’s nice and cozy here. All the workers are young and the owner usually hangs out in the corner.

Amber M

After exploring Big Trees we wanted to grab lunch locally. Bistro Espresso seemed to have a good amount of people sitting on the patio and reviews looked good. Their menu isn't very extensive, mainly sandwiches and burgers and coffee drinks. My friend got a burger with a side salad and I got the trip tip sandwich with fries. When I got an iced tea and asked for lemon she said they didn't have any... uhh they don't have fresh lemon? At all? Ok... she told me to grab some lemonade from the soda machine.
We sat in the back patio because it was quite stuffy inside and they had some music playing and guys on the bbq. You can grab some simple bbq items from their counter outback but it's VERY simple. Like plain hamburgers or hotdogs...I was expecting bbq chicken and such based on the reviews. The atmosphere is really nice though.
You have to go back in and get your order when the buzzer goes, and the portions seem big. But the taste is just ok. My friend's burger was way overcooked and dry. My trip tip was sooooo pale and overcooked and it was sliced super thin like a cheesesteak. Not what I was expecting at all. No condiments. Only canned peppers and melted cheese. It was so bland. The best thing was the fries. Def hope they improve and offer more bbq or you should probably choose from the handful of other places around.

Arutselvan PJ

A cozy place in downtown Arnold. They have good mix of food with drinks.
Hot Chocolate was a savior for a cold day.
Service could have been better
Chicken pesto sandwich was very filling, don't let the photo fool you. All their items were very well cooked and filing.

Hannah Pashan

Good local place for coffee. However if you choose to order food, probably best to keep it simple. There were 4 people ahead of us in line to order at the counter, but it took us a full 20 minutes to finally get up to order. The girl taking orders seemed new so we totally understood, having worked in the service industry for years so we were patient. The food was pretty disappointing though. I ordered the omelet, and the eggs seemed like they had been prepped before hand, cooked long before we ordered. Half cooked, half chopped veggies just thrown in the middle. My onion was completely raw and not chopped at all. Hash browns were pretty much all white, no crisp at all. The breakfast sandwiches looked ok. But I guess an omelet was kinda pushing it.

Bill McClendon

We’ve been coming here since the place opened. In the beginning everything about lunch was excellent. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. Over the past 2 years the quality of their output has continued to decline. We came in a year ago and our sandwiches were dry and over cooked, so we shied away from coming back. Yesterday we came in to give it another try. It was worse and one of our orders was missing a key element. I’m sorry to say we’re done giving this joint the benefit of the doubt. It’s really unfortunate because the location and vibe outside are wonderful. Sadly, management has taken their of the off the ball. Get the food right !