Ellie’s Table – Where Happiness Is Homemade and the Food Is Worth Every 5-Star Review

My name is Armand Jay Barragan, and I’m the third-generation owner of Jay’s Catering and Ellie’s Table. Food has always been at the heart of our family, and Ellie’s Table is a reflection of that legacy. I’m excited to share the story behind Ellie’s Table and introduce you to the dishes our guests love most.

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Named After My Grandmother (Who Actually Could Cook)

Ellie's Table is named after Eleanor Mastroianni, my grandmother. In 1967, she and my grandfather started Jay's Catering out of their home. She'd learned to cook at Conway's Corner, a small diner in Rochester, Pennsylvania, where she met my grandfather. After they married, his mother taught her the Mastroianni family recipes. Classic Italian. No shortcuts. The kind of cooking that turns into a catering dynasty. This café is what happens when you take a grandmother's recipes like Ellie's Potato Salad and Ellie's Cinnamon Rolls and let a talented pastry team loose on them. Tradition meets innovation, or as we call it, "Happiness is Homemade."

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The Breakfast Potatoes Worth Writing in All Caps About

"This is probably the favorite place I've eaten at in Orange County. It was so good that we ate there twice. The honey vanilla latte is 10/10. ORDER THE BREAKFAST POTATOES!!!!!!!!!!!"

That's not us talking. That's a real review from someone who felt so strongly about our breakfast potatoes that they used eleven exclamation points. Eleven. We've been making breakfast and lunch in Orange County at Ellie's Table at The Egan House in San Juan Capistrano, and at The Boardwalk in Irvine, and what we've learned is this: People don't write reviews in all caps about "good" food. They write them about food that made them come back twice in one trip.

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Our Bakers Start at 4 AM (So You Can Have a Butter Croissant at 7:30 AM)

"Locals have come to associate Ellie's with our incomparable bakery, and especially our Butter Croissant, an Ellie's house specialty." That's not marketing copy. That's what happened.  Our pastry team bakes every single morning before the sun comes up.

The Butter Croissant became "Ellie's house specialty" because people kept coming back for it. Then they started bringing the croissants to friends' houses, and then those friends started coming in. Now it's the thing people tell you to order before you've even sat down.

"The croissants are huge and you can get a sandwich made with it, my mom had the tarragon chicken salad which has red grapes, very flavorful."

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The Kouign Amann Filled with Crème Brûlée (Because Why Not)

"So who's ever heard of Kouign Amann? I never had until recently, then I saw an ad for Ellie's Table and not only did they have it, but theirs is filled with crème brûlée!"

Kouign Amann is a Breton pastry that's criminally underrepresented in American bakeries. It is laminated dough caramelized with sugar until the outside is crispy and the inside is impossibly buttery. Our pastry team makes them… They fill them with crème brûlée… Then they are torched to order, because if you're going to make a French pastry that most Americans have never heard of, you might as well make it memorable!

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"The Favorite Place I've Eaten at in Orange County"

That review - the one about the breakfast potatoes and eating here twice continues: "I got a breakfast burrito with green salsa and a honey vanilla latte and to say I ate it quickly would be an understatement."

Fast eating isn't always a compliment. Sometimes it just means you were hungry, but when someone says they ate it quickly, then came back the next day, then wrote a Yelp review in all caps telling strangers to ORDER THE BREAKFAST POTATOES? That's different.  That's the kind of urgency that only happens when food is legitimately good.

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The Breakfast Potatoes (Yes, We're Talking About Them Again)

Let's be clear about something: breakfast potatoes are usually an afterthought. They're the thing restaurants add to make the plate look full. Under seasoned, sometimes cold, and often forgettable.

Ours are:

• Cooked to order

• Well-seasoned

• Crispy on the outside, tender inside

• Apparently worth eleven exclamation points

"Breakfast sandwich and breakfast potatoes: well seasoned, great bread and cooked to order potatoes. New favorite place for brunch hands down."

We don't know exactly what makes them review-worthy. But we know people keep ordering them. And we know they keep writing about them.  So, we're not changing anything.

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The Honey Vanilla Latte That Shows Up in Half Our Reviews

"The honey vanilla latte is 10/10." "Try the honey vanilla latte! Yum!" "Honey vanilla latte is especially a favorite." "I had the Chilaquiles and Honey Vanilla Latte. What a cute town and a cute building (old home) to run a great business out of."

At some point, you stop counting how many times something appears in your reviews and just accept that you've accidentally created a signature drink. Honey. Vanilla. Espresso. Steamed milk. That's it. Nothing complicated. Just a latte that people apparently text their friends about.

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"It's a Gem in Our City"

"In addition to tasty salads, the vegan muffins, vegan soy-chorizo, and nondairy milk are much needed and appreciated options here in SJC/San Clemente. Thank you! Ellie's offers a charming, casual atmosphere, both indoors with the yellow & grey cheery color scheme and gleaming displays of baked goods as well as outdoors. It's a gem in our city and a fav stop whenever I have visitors in town."

This review gets at something important. Ellie's Table isn't trying to be a trendy LA café that opened last week. We're in a historic building (The Egan House) in San Juan Capistrano. Porch seating under trees. Blankets when it gets cold. The kind of place locals bring out-of-town visitors because it feels like home but tastes better than home. We have vegan options because people asked for them. We have gluten-free quiches because someone needs them. We have nondairy milk because not everyone drinks dairy. It's not revolutionary. It's just thoughtful.

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"There's a Reason This Place Is Always Packed"

"Love it here! First of all the staff is amazing. Always super kind and helpful and fast. Every bit of food I've ever gotten here is amazing. There's a reason this place is always packed, it's because it's worth it."

Lines out the door on weekends. Parking that requires strategic planning. A wait time that locals have accepted as the cost of admission. None of this is by design. We didn't set out to create a place with a line. We set out to make really good breakfast and lunch in a beautiful space with kind people. Turns out, that's enough.

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We're Not for Everyone

If you need fast food, we're not it. If you want the same menu every single day with no variation, you'll be frustrated. If you don't like lines or crowds or parking challenges, you might want to come on a weekday. Now, if you want breakfast potatoes that inspire all-caps reviews... If you want butter croissants made by an incredibly talented team of bakers who've been up since 4 AM... If you want a honey vanilla latte that half our customers can't stop talking about... Then you should probably visit. Just don't blame us when you come back twice in one trip.

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The Egan House & The Boardwalk

Ellie's Table at The Egan House (San Juan Capistrano): Historic building. Porch seating. Downtown views in the distance. Dog-friendly. The one tourists find when they're visiting The Mission.

31892 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
(949) 558-5310
Open Tue-Sun, 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Ellie's Table at The Boardwalk (Irvine): Corporate café meets elevated lunch spot. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Modern, efficient, and perfect for to-go orders without compromising quality.

18565 Jamboree Rd, Ste 175, Irvine, CA 92612
(714) 540-2303
Open Mon-Fri, 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Visit elliestable.com to see today's menu.