Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in Rancho Santa Fe

Mille Fleurs is a wonderful place to have Christmas Day dinner! The decorations were beautiful, the menu selection vast, and the service excellent as always. They had some seasonal offerings like pumpkin agnolotti and lobster risotto that were exceptional.

Great ambiance and equally good food with very attentive service. Love the small plate menu option along with excellent main dishes.

Dined here on Christmas Eve. We were seated promptly and cheerfully by our lovely hostess whose name I, unfortunately, didn’t note. Our server, Marcie G., promptly arrived table side and was such a breath of fresh air - cheerful, knowledgeable, and friendly - making our experience most enjoyable. Food was excellent as well.

We were greeted with a welcome and they remembered from my reservation that this was my wedding anniversary. We choose an indoor seat by the window. The waves looked nice as we could see them roll in. The food was very good. We had the Shrimp Dumplings which was good--sort of like a Chinese potsticker, but soft. I had the Lobster and Shrimp Chowder, excellent. My wife had the Mixed Organic Greens, very good. We shared both. For our main course I had the Seafood Pasta lobster, shrimp, scallop & mahi with smoked tomato sauce, Thai basil & parmesan. I liked it very much. My wife had the Pacific Paella grilled lobster tail, mahi, clams, scallops, shrimp & saffron Arborio rice, very good. The quantity of those dishes was more than what we expected--we could have just ordered one or the other and shared.

What a find in the middle of Rancho Santa Fe! All the decorative lights on, quaint wood framed windows, protected patio out front- we chose a corner table inside, cozy crates of wine and poinsettias piled around, soft conversations from the tables, the gentle maîtred, the comforting waitress. What an ambiance. The Norwegian salmon and New York steak were special. Extensive wine menu. We loved the experience !