El Adobe de Capistrano Reviews

El Adobe exceeded our expectations for our wedding day! Sianna and Danny were invaluable in planning our perfect celebration, expertly managing everything from venue layout to guest dietary needs. They took care of us from day one: we had a delicious food tasting session, a his & her special cocktail selection session, and table/venue layout session. The bar and catering staff were exceptional, and our guests couldn't stop raving about the delicious food. We loved using the charming Casita for preparations, which also provided a stunning backdrop for photos. El Adobe offers an unbeatable combination of quality, affordability, and attention to detail. If you're looking for a wedding venue that will make your special day truly unforgettable, look no further than El Adobe!

My husband and I had our wedding here in October 2022 and it couldn't have been more perfect! We also came back for Valentine's Day a few months later and they made us feel at home with a free bottle of champagne and a hand written card to celebrate.

Sianna was our special events manager. She went ABOVE AND BEYOND. She was accommodating, responsive and kind and made our wedding so special. Our wedding was about 110 people and the venue was perfect. Everyone raved about the food and margaritas oh and the churros! I would definitely recommend renting the bridal suite as well, they have a separate room attached to it for the guys to get ready too so it was perfect. I couldn't have imagined a better day. Thank you to the entire El Adobe staff for a night we'll never forget.

My husband and I came across this venue on WeddingWire and realized it was the same place. His parents got married. We decided to go with them to stay in the family tradition, but we got so much more value out of this venue then we ever expected. The event coordinators are absolutely on top of it. The food people can’t stop talking about and the actually venue is gorgeous and barely needs to be decorated. It was an absolute dream come true.

Whether you have a big wedding or intimate wedding this place is just perfect! The best service and incredible support from the staff. The general manager is a wonderful woman & I truly cannot have imagined my wedding anywhere else. It was a magical night & the venue was spectacular! Also their FOOD is to die for! Some of my favorite Mexican food which is what we had at the reception. You cannot go wrong with this venue. All around amazing time, amazing experience & amazing people!

El Adobe was the dream I didn't even know I had! Janette and her entire team took care of everything, linens, catering, flatware, an amazing bar, killer food, and AMAZING staff! If I could go back and do it all over again, there is no doubt in my mind that we would choose El Adobe all over again! Our top 2 most important items for our wedding was the food and the drink...and El Adobe DELIVERED! Our wedding was 3 months ago and guests are still telling me how amazing the food was AND how beautiful and totally us the venue was! In addition to this, the staff was prompt, courteous, and SO MUCH FUN! It was clear that they were having a good time, which made it an AMAZING time for us and our guests. My only complaint is that I can't have their cocktail hour apps every day!

I loved working with this venue. Herlinda (the events coordinator) was very communicative, organized, helpful, and professional. She even coordinated with the florist directly. The entire process was smooth and the event was pulled off wonderfully. The food is delicious, the venue is gorgeous, and the staff is amazing. I took advantage of the casita behind the venue. It was incredibly useful for getting ready and getting away for a moment during the cocktail hour. I highly recommend El Adobe de Capistrano for any event.

Amazing food! The space is beautiful on its own, but flexible to make it exactly what you want. The staff was very helpful. They helped make the wedding day amazing even when it rained all day. Love!

Although an Orange County native, I had never been to El Adobe prior to this weekend. We hosted our rehearsal dinner here on Friday (with around 60 guests) and I am absolutely impressed with the food, service, and overall decor of the restaurant. We had a set menu where guests had appetizers and could choose their entrees/drinks. The chefs/servers worked so hard to make sure everything came out warm and timely. The drinks were SO GOOD and management was excellent to work with. All of our guests raved about how great the food/drinks/service were! I am so so happy with our experience. If you're looking for an amazing restaurant to host your rehearsal dinner (or a reception), you need to come here!!! Love love LOVED our experience!

This venue has character and great space...we booked it for both our ceremony and reception. So far the service has been outstanding and very accommodating with requests. We had our first meeting and stayed for taco Tuesday - food was delicious, can't wait for our actual tasting. I will continue to update my reviews as we move through the process...but so far I'm very excited to have my wedding here!

I got married here over the weekend--and it was everything I could have hoped for and more! Look no further if you want a spectacular, affordable venue. The historic building added to the character of our wedding (whimsical and rustic); the wait staff was out of this world and went above and beyond to help out my guests with dietary restrictions, and the set up was beautiful. The events management was easy to work with (for me and my coordinator), available to meet in person or talk on the phone, and flexible. I also go ready in the Casita out back and it was GORGEOUS and made for great pictures! It was also close enough to Mission San Juan that we had our first look at the Casita and took our photos INSIDE the Mission. They went above and beyond. I HIGHLY recommend the El Adobe!

We could not be more happy with this venue!!! They were so incredibly flexible through this whole experience with them. Aileen was wonderful and always took her time with us at every meeting never making us feel rushed. The service was impeccable at our actual wedding from the bartender to the wait staff and our decor assistant Nirvana. Everyone of our guests absolutely raved about the food and drinks and everything was on point. Food came out hot and perfectly cooked and no one had to wait for drinks. They really hd our best interests at heart through this whole process. Trust me, it is really nice having someone calm and collected around like Aileen amidst the wedding weekend craziness!!! Thanks guys!!!

Our wedding isn't until next year, but we have already booked this location. The service we have received for all of our planning so far, has been fantastic. The staff is very friendly and has gone out of their way to make sure we get exactly what we want. The food is great. I am very happy that we have chosen this location for our reception.

My husband and I had both our ceremony and reception here and are so glad we did. It was beautiful!!!! The courtyard and streaming lights just made it look so nice and all of the plants around it was amazing! We had a rustic theme wedding there and everyone had a blast! The wedding planners there Lauren and her sister corinn did an amazing job. they were easy to get a hold of and never had to stress with them around, they made sure everything ran smoothly! I did not stress one bit on the wedding day! Besides the fact they are awesome at their jobs they are great time and just awesome people! We had so much fun with them! I sincerely reccomend having your wedding their solely on the wedding coordinators... Their food is amazing as well as their margaritas. I definitely reccomend having that at your wedding or party.

El Adobe provided us with an amazing space to host our rehearsal dinner. The food, atmosphere, and service was top notch.

Libby, the event director, helped me put together a great reception in a matter of months at a great value for the money.

The el Adobe was amazing!! Stacey was awesome in helping with every step of the way. Thank you for all your help Stacey. They worked with us on so many little things. The seating chart was changed a few times. When my now husband and I went for the tasting they were so accommodating. Allowed us to try almost everything we wanted and at a last minute request. We had the ceremony outside in the garden. It was very pretty at 6:30 PM with all the lights lit up. Yes, it was very dark on November 6th ... first day of day lights savings. I did not know that until it was to late. But frankly it was so pretty because i had candles lighting everything up plus the lights in the trees. I had 145 guest, room for the cake, name tag and gift tables, the DJ, a table with the chocolate fountain, photo booth and a cartoonist all inside with room to dance and move!!! I did not feel crowded at all. Im glad everything fit so nicely because it was a little chilly on a fun November night. :) And when the roof opened that was amazing!!! It was a very cool first dance!!! :)

I am so happy we chose this location for our ceremony and reception. It turned out beautiful and we plan to dine here every year for anniversary. The El Adobe staff was so nice and friendly and made sure my hubby and I were taken care of on our special day. As far as decor, we had a lot of little extras we wanted to incorporate, and El Adobe was very accommodating with everything. Stacey, the events manager, was great to work with and was always very responsive. The roof opening up during our first dance was the icing on the cake and I have seriously lost count of the amount of people that have told us how much they loved that detail. A lot of our guests have also told us how much they loved the food. We were a little worried because we only served one choice (top sirloin a la tu with chimichurri sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables), instead of letting our guests choose, but we've heard nothing but rave reviews, even from picky eaters! We also opted for a sangria fountain which was a big hit with everyone. I highly recommend El Adobe; we would not have changed a thing!

I can't say enough wonderful things about working with El Adobe! Wow! I felt so comfortable with their wedding planner, Stacey, who has done countless weddings. She is super helpful if you want help in making decisions and getting advice and is very personable. The staff was wonderful on the day of the wedding, I had complements from my guests! One of the things that stood out was that appetizers came out immediately and promptly following the ceremony for all the hungry guests to feel at home. I had the ceremony there which was very intimate and beautiful. There is not room for the bride to wait is, is the only downer, but I just rented a limo anyway and waited in there with my friends before I walked in. There was a convenient door for me to sneak into. The food was over the top wonderful and everyone seemed to enjoy it, the variety left something for everyone! The glass ceiling literally opens up during the first dance to the open night sky which was so romantic! Overall I am so pleased I chose El Adobe and I would do it again!

Stacey and the team at El Adobe were spectacular! I cannot say enough positive things about our experience with El Adobe. Stacey made the entire planning process so enjoyable and accommodated our many requests. She was extremely organized, flexible and helpful in every way possible. She worked hard along side our vendors to create our dream wedding. She and her staff were very attentive and went above and beyond to make sure everyone at the wedding was well taken care of. Our guests cannot stop raving about the beautiful setting, amazing staff and delicious food. Many of them have already gone back for dinner since they had such a great experience at our wedding. We cannot thank Stacey, Luis and the rest of the amazing El Adobe team enough for such an incredible night! They truly are the best!

We had our reception at El Adobe and could not be happier with the way our wedding turned out. Everyone who attended raved about how much fun they had and it was just perfect. Stacey is very responsive and very professional. The food and service were great. We didn't have any major hiccups and the night went just as planned. I highly recommend this venue to anyone planning a wedding.

We worked with Stacey at El Adobe to plan our wedding. She was very easy-going and flexible with us from the beginning. Stacey made us feel very confident that we would be pleased with our big night and we really were. We had a wonderful wedding there. I loved our ceremony with twinkle lights and candles outside in the garden. It was very beautiful, with the stained glass all lit up. The food was amazing, we opted to go with mexican food, the most expensive buffet package and open bar. Our guests had a great time and we got lots of compliments on the experience, food and how intimate the wedding was. I wouldn't change a thing about our Wedding and Reception at the El Adobe. Thanks again to Stacey!

We could not have chosen a better place to have our Wedding Reception! The food was definitely a hit (we got the deluxe fajitas option with choice of tamale....delicious!! and it was served with two salads of your choice plus guacomole/salsa/chips/sour cream bar...and our cocktail hour food was phenomenal as well....mexican cheese sticks with crunched up red and green mexican tortilla chips around them!!, chichen empanadas and authentic taquitos!!, and one of the last two was served with the best mole sauce we have ever tried!!!)! Thankfully it wasn't raining, and during our dance together, we were able to have the ceiling slide open .... dancing under the stars.....some guests didn't know about it so it was cool that it brought them excitement! We also made a video and used El Adobe's LCD Projector )which rolls back up when you are done using it for the evening). Dancing also worked out more than perfect...I think we approximately had 130 people show up and there was plenty of room to dance and our band had more than plenty of room to work with for setting up their equipment too!! Our day would not have been more perfect if it wasn't for the help and service of El Adobe! El Adobe thank you so much for all you did to make our day so perfect and special!!

We knew this was our site when we walked in together! El Adobe is elegent, but not pricey. Beautiful and rustic and everything I had dreamed of in a wedding location!

I feel in love with this place as soon as I walked in. Everything about it is just wonderful, the food tastes great. They are very nice and welcoming, Stacey is awesome and works around your budget as much as she can. The area it's self is also great. The only one thing - I would have to say (if you need to know the cons) is the location and drive. You tend to hit traffic going this way but who cares :)

I am really glad I chose this venue for both ceremony and reception because everything turned out just perfect. The team at El Adobe are very easy to work with and they are willing to accommodate your every need. Also, great food and service!

The event could not of been more perfect. The food was outstanding as was the service. I could not of picked a better place for my wedding day. Any questions or concerns I had were handled right away. I would recommend the El Adobe to anyone who wishes to get married or have a special event. I plan to have my five year anniversary party there as well.

Love Love Love El Adobe!! My husband and I had the time of our lives at our wedding! El adobe was absolutley perfect!! Stacey is the coordinator and she is really great. She takes care of everything. All our guests loved the atmosphere and told us how beautiful our wedding was. The rustic ambiance and spanish vibe is so unique. We really could not have asked for anything more... it was just perfect!!

We had such an amazing time at El Adobe. We knew that was our perfect venue as soon as we walked in! It is gorgeous! The ceiling opened up during our first dance, the place was set up beautifully and the staff was awesome! I highly recommend El Adobe for ANY event! The events coordinator, Stacey Strausbaugh, was so helpful & made our day stress free! It was perfect!

A very nice place. Stacey the event coordinator was excelent.

Fantastic

They have a great room for large wedding parties and the roof opens up on the dance floor, it's amazing.

The wedding was everything we hoped for plus more. El Adobe is a wonderful venue for having a wedding. The patio setting was great for cocktail hour and the banquet room was a perfect setting for the great party we envisioned. For south Orange County California, the overall cost was an excellent value. Stacey was extremely helpful as the banquet coordinator and day of wedding planner.

Aside from the beauty and historical greatness of El Adobe, the place is just magical. The food was excellent (we chose Dos Corazones) and the drinks were perfection (pink Mojitos are terrific)! The event manager (Stacy) will help you with anything you need- she is professional, punctual, and knows her stuff. She is very flexible with everything which made planning my event at el Adobe so much easier. The staff is attentive, the value can't be beat, and I am still getting calls and cards telling me what an amazing time my guests had at my wedding. Furthermore, I have this beautiful memory of walking out on the dance floor with my new husband: our song playing in the background, we were just introduced, and we began our dance, then the ceiling slides open revealing the evening sky, everyone was awed, and it was just so special and romantic. I would whole heartedly recommend this site for anyone's party, but especially for a wedding. My husband and I will celebrate every anniversary there (since it is a historical landmark it will always be there) and we truly appreciated the hard work of the entire staff. Thank you.

My parents had their reception here almost 30 years ago and we had ours last month. It was positively magical when the roof opened up during our first dance! Stacy and her staff were very attentive and the food -- salmon and steak -- was delish! Admittedly, we usually expect overcooked, just-alright food at events serving 125+ but the steak was perfectly cooked and divine! Kids loved their grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetarians were pleased to have cheese enchiladas rather than a plate full of vegetables for their special diet.
Finally, it's important to note the ideal setup of the venue for a wedding reception. We toured several facilities when deciding on an ideal reception locale, and El Adobe had the perfect floorplan. No one had a bad seat and everyone was near the dance floor, had a great view of toasts, the cake cutting, the first dance, etc. Also, the outdoor area was ideal for cocktails and quieter visits while the party continued inside. I unequivocally recommend El Adobe as a reception venue for any Southern California wedding.

This place and Stacey were great! We were definitely on a budget, but wanted to do a few untraditional things and the wedding and reception, and Stacey definitely made it work. All my family and friends had a great time, as did we!

The best parts were
1) the food!!! SOOO good and we had the ice cream dessert ... fresh fruit and tons of toppings!!
2) the ceiling opening during the first dance, all our guests thought that was the coolest thing
3) Stacey was so prompt at answering all my emails and questions. She totally helped me to be at ease and I knew I could trust her to run things during the day!

It's a great place for the price!

We would highly recommend El Adobe to anyone who is looking for a great reception venue. The staff is very professional and easy to work with, and the venue is beautiful. The food is delicious and abundant, and all our guests (as well as us, the bride and groom) LOVED this venue.

This venue is flexible, so be willing to experiment with ideas to make it your own!

El Adobe provided a romantic, intimate environment for our wedding. Our guests were in awe of the ceiling that opened to the summer night sky for our first dance, many commented that it was the most unique, beautiful, romantic wedding they had been to. We have since had our first anniversary dinner with our bridal party and family in the portola room and will be using it again for our 2nd wedding anniversary this year. Food is delicious, staff is wonderful. I would highly recommend this venue as a great place to have a wedding. We Loved it!

The place was great! Very quaint...and affordable if you are going to have many people. Everyone loved the food and the ceiling opened on our first dance. This was probably our favorite part of the night!!! This a unique place that is very festive for your wedding. We covered the chairs in red and they were beautiful! Coordinator was easy to work with as we did our planning, but was not there on the day of the wedding, luckily we had a friend we had assigned to this task.

My husband and I could not be happier having our reception at the El Adobe. The coordinator was extremely knowledgeable and helped us throughout the entire planning process. The food was exceptional, the marigarita fountain was a wonderful touch, and the room was perfect for our number of guests. Our guests' favorite part of the evening was when the roof opened during our first dance! We would highly recommend this place for anyone on a budget but still want some class to their wedding.

All my guest raved about how awesome the food was. We had the Portolla room and it was perfect. They did forget a few place settings , but were very quick and accommodating and I don't think anyone even noticed. We only had 2 waiters that were helping us out most of the time, and they were really working hard to make sure we were happy. I really appreciate it. Everything was beautiful. Thank you so much for making our rehearsal yummy and stress free.

Enjoy the complimentary tasting:)

We love El Adobe. Stacey was helpful in putting our reception together. We had a cocktail hour and our guests raved about our appetizers and tray passed beer/wine. The service staff was phenomenal. My husband and I never had an empty glass (Pedro took great care of us) and they made sure we had enough to eat. The times I went to the bar for a drink, I was attended to immediately and the bartender memorized my drink every time. The food was awesome! The thing I love about it was although it's mainly a Mexican restaurant, they have a lot of non-Mexican options too. Their food presentation was nice too, it wasn't just thrown in a chaffing dish. There was a time crunch between the wedding before and trying to set up for ours. The staff hauled ass though and everything was set up in time. The only bad thing was the audio didn't work for the slideshow, but my DJ took care of that problem. Now we plan to go to El Adobe every year on our anniversary =)

El Adobe has the best food! Everyone at my reception really enjoyed their meal which was important to me. El Adobe was also very accommodating on how I wanted to decorate for the reception... and you can't beat a ceiling that opens up to the stars above the dance floor!!

Our church ceremony was in Dana Point, so I was looking for something that was easy driving distance from the church, could fit 180 people, nice but not fancy, and affordable. After a ton of research, I narrowed it down to San Juan Hills Golf Club, Franciscan Gardens, the Casino, and El Adobe. I didn’t think the facilities at the golf club were that nice, Franciscan was lovely but I was worried about rain in April, and the Casino was too expensive. El Adobe was the perfect mix of our priorities.

For being an older, family-oriented restaurant, the grounds were surprisingly lovely. We love the outdoor patio and all its greenery, the string lights everywhere, the glass doors, and the open ceiling wowed our guests (plus kept it from getting too warm inside). It has a very homey and welcoming feeling while also being beautiful enough for a wedding. We had minimal décor because the feel of El Adobe is already nice.

I heard people enjoyed the food (we got a fajita buffet) and had enough to eat and drink. They were also very accommodating to make sure we had vegan options for our guests (veggie fajitas grilled separately from the meat, vegan pinto beans, vegan white rice). We didn’t have time to eat, but the staff was so lovely in preparing a plate for us. I did get a Cadillac margarita (our signature drink) and that was really yummy – and strong. All the staff we talked to were super warm and friendly, even by the end of the night. Everyone seemed really nice and helpful. I didn’t hear any complaints from the staff or from my guests or wedding coordinators, so I’m assuming everything went really well. No problems with sound quality for the music and speeches and sufficient electrical outlets for the photobooth. Seriously, everything was perfect.

I would recommend the site. The garden area where we got married was beautiful.

The site was beautiful, everyone of our guests raived at what a beautiful site El Adobe is, and that the food was awesome! I had guests say to me, "The dinner filled me up, and I've been to wedding before, they never taste as good, and make me full". Venue and Food are amazing... there were some unique things we had at our wedding, and El Adobe was flexible. I highly recommend El Adobe... affordability and it's very classy!

Most beautiful place and really awesome food. The venue is extremely busy so it's hard to make deadlines they set because of minimal communication. However, if you are organized and self motivated it shouldn't be a problem. The servers were flawless, the city is gorgeous, the bridal suite is super fun, the event coordinators were always working hard. When working with a budget, you really have to be disciplined to manage it cause things add up quick. Some errors were made at our wedding but nothing imperative and the event coordinators were quick to hear us out and meet us in the middle. I love this place. I would totally do it again here. Everyone loved the food and enjoyed the space.

I enjoyed the ease of having both our ceremony and reception at El Adobe. They are easy to work with and they have many services to offer. Being able to go to one place for food, site, linens, chairs and drinks was great!

I’m extremely happy with how the whole day went. It’s a beautiful venue. The issues with the venue looks wise was that some of the “greenery” was actually brown, and some of the greenery that my bridesmaids stood by during the ceremony had bees in it. Also they had this weird light post that was really ugly and it’s right in the middle of the ceremony spot so you have to figure out how to cover it up.
What I loved was how good our meal was, we had the create your own tacos and people LOVED it!!
I had three other issues,one being drinks and food kept on being taken from tables! I got up from taking a few bites of my dinner to take a picture with a guest and went back and my plate was gone and same with my husbands. My champagne was also taken after going to hug my brother in law after his speech. My mother in law said the same thing was happening with her drinks all night long so she just stopped getting drinks.
Another one is that their special events coordinator kept on changing so there was all of mix ups on what was said to me by different people, promising different things etc.
And lastly I was really annoyed that my cake was not served when we asked it to be and I’m pretty sure the kitchen staff took some of my desserts because by the time dessert was served a lot of people had left, and the amount that was put out didn’t look like all I had bought and when we were given our leftovers from the refrigerator it was not a lot either. And we brought in A LOT of desserts!

Overall I hope that the newest coordinator knows what she’s doing. She wasn’t much help to me being that she was just having to “clean up” what the other two had done. Otherwise I definitely would recommend ElAdobe!! All my guests were happy and talk about the venue.

I loved the venue and the wedding planner they have on staff, Stacey, was very helpful.

It is a great, beautiful venue and a good value for your money but the special events manager was very unresponsive. It was difficult to get a hold of her and she often said she would do something and then would never do it.

The venue is beautiful! However the special event manager wasn't managing anything. Every time I attempted to talk to her I talked to someone else. I very rarely talked to the same person twice. It was next to impossible to get a hold of her.