Outstanding food. We were visiting South Bend to take our daughter to camp at the University of Notre Dame. After dropping her off, my wife and I had made a reservation at Cafe Navarre. Certainly a gem, with good food, an extensive wine list and good specialty drinks. The New York strip was very well done (no pun intended). But the best dish was the BAKED BOLOGNESE RIGATONI which is made with house ground black angus beef, slow roasted tomato sugo, rigatoni pasta, kalamata olive, charred cherry tomato, basil, parmigiano-reggiano 24. Certainly a delicious dish.

Everything I had was absolutely delicious (mushroom soup, ahi tuna, and chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream). We had a relatively large group (7 people) and everything came out accurately and quickly. The waitstaff was very eager to please everyone and they were very accommodating to particular dietary needs. Would definitely recommend.

Good food and excellent service. We have dined here several times and never been disappointed.

I ordered the MahiMahi and I thought my dinner was good. My wife and I both thought the mushroom soup was excellent. She, on the other hand, ordered the vegan entree, a stuffed poblano pepper. She said it was virtually tasteless and the small portion left her still feeling hungry.

Cafe Navarre is always the place to go when I have friends coming to visit or have a special thing to celebrate. This fine dining place is very good, in all ways. Food was great, the stuff were friendly and the service was awesome. Please definitely come to try if you are in town.

Delightful experience with wonderful food and service. Great way to celebrate our 49th anniversary. Just a little noisy.

Greatly enjoyed ourselves

Cafe Navarre never disappoints....a quiet Sunday evening...great food, great atmosphere....

The meal was one of the best I have ever had. Fantastic! I just wish the atmosphere was more set up for a quiet romantic experience. The space is loud and really takes away from the fabulous food.

We have dined At Café Navarre many times. As usual the appetizers, salads and soups were fantastic. However, again as usual the main courses were subpar. I find that our experience at Café Navarre is either five star or two star nothing in between and for the price you pay it should be 4 1/2 to 5 star every time.

Business lunch with out-of-town business associates (5)-service was excellent, food was excellent. Had reservations and was glad as restaurant became very busy.

Super busy weekend for them and they accommodated our change in reservations without issue. Neat venue and food was was wonderful.

Graduation

Great dinner - fantastic waiter. The best restaurant in South Bend.

I had an excellent dining experience here yesterday evening. The steak was cooked to perfection and the service impeccable, even though I was dressed down. The hostess was pleasant, the server attentive and the meal exceptional. I was quite happy with the whole experience and will come again.

I really wanted to love my first visit to Cafe Navarre. It was a graduation weekend kickoff dinner and we were in celebration mode. Arrival (it’s a lovely space) and getting seated was quick and efficient. The restaurant was maybe just over half full at that point. After that, our server just didn’t have it together. Our drinks and refills were slow to arrive, she took dinner orders from a table of 6 that was seated after us before she took our dinner order (we were a table of 2), and promised us rolls and butter twice that never arrived. She was frazzled and inefficient even though the restaurant wasn’t especially crowded or busy at that point.

Food was slightly above average. My lobster pot pie was tasty but the lobster was overcooked and tough. The shrimp in my daughters’s pasta wasn’t deveined and that’s just unacceptable.

Overall disappointing. It was if the restaurant was already operating in panic mode at the beginning of a weekend they knew would be hectic and busy.

Because we were in town for 4 days and had the opportunity to dine at a several restaurants on this busy weekend, I can honestly say our experience at other South Bend establishments was much more pleasant and memorable. So Navarre shouldn’t use the excuse ‘it was a chaotic graduation weekend.’ They just weren’t on top of their game.

Chef must have been smoking something in the kitchen because the salad was doused in salt and the green beans were charred. The owner should have dinner there once a week to he enlightened about how the food needs to improve. Could be great if they were more detailed!!

Filet and salmon dinners were excellent. .....as was our waitress

It took 35 minutes to receive our food at a very slow time during the early lunch hour. One ordered salmon and the plate garnish was baked on like it had been sitting under the heat lamp, the other two orders were salad and a bowl of soup. So I am not sure what the wait would have been. Otherwise, it was okay.

we love this place. The steak is juicy and the pumpkin soup is delicious.

Enjoyable meal, great service, we’ll be back!

We had a very nice Mother's Day dinner with my partner and her son. Stuff squash was undercooked but they took care of I. We were one of the first sittings for the evening so probably the reason for that. Would certainly go back for a special occasion

salmon portion was a bit undersized but otherwise the food was excellent.

A delicious, gourmet meal in the heart of South Bend! The French may have first come and established Notre Dame, but they have returned and given us Cafe Navarre. Highlights for us were the melt-in-your-mouth bone marrow and pork belly small plates and then the short ribs, sea bass, and bone-in ribeye for main courses. The sweet potatoe gnocchi was a little dense and could have used a few more brussel sprouts and the potatoes with the ribeye we're a little al dente and underseasoned. Excellent cocktails and wine list. Service was attentive and helpful in advising our orders. We look forward to returning on our next trip to South Bend!

We had dinner here to celebrate our 30th Anniversary on a Monday night. We could not have been happier with the quality of the food, the service and the atmosphere. Outdoor, street-side seating was an option (thanks to the newly designed downtown South Bend streets) but we elected to enjoy the peace inside.

Beer and wine selection were both good as were the decor and seating options.

I've been here before and had a WONDERFUL dinner. This past experience was sub-par unfortunately. My scallops cassoulet featured 3 very salty scallops and a dry (dehydrated??) white bean mixture that was tasteless. I also had a Caesar salad that was edible but unmemorable. I will probably give the Cafe another try, but only because my first experience was so exceptional.

Wanted to celebrate an early Mother’s Day with brunch/lunch. The food quality good but need a more extensive brunch menu. Service too slow for a less than half full restaurant. The food tasted good hence the positive review.

Five of us have theatre league tickets and do Sunday Brunch each time. It's lovely! The bloody mary bar is fantastic. Fresh ingredients, good service and lovely atmosphere.

Very happy with all of our dishes. Steak is always good.

My first trip to this establishment and I was not disappointed. The food was excellent and our waiter, I believe his name was Matt, was friendly and engaging. I love the décor and the feel of the whole scene.

Wedding anniversary dinner. We were promptly seated. Both ordered app, salads, entree, and cocktails. Received cocktails and app. They brought my wife’s salad and my entree. No salad for me. I kept it because I was afraid they would just stick it in a warmer. After another hour and 15 minutes they brought my wife’s entree. And we each ordered another cocktail. I kept asking about her entree and we actually saw the entree she ordered delivered to an adjacent table. We were sitting outside and it was beautiful weather. They brought me the check, which was $169.00! As a consolation they offered me a 10.00 gift card! I didn’t want to make a scene and decided not to ruin our day. But I won’t be going back. That was inexcusable. They didn’t comp anything and we were there over 2 hours. There were plenty of servers so it wasn’t for lack of help. Very disappointed. The food was good, not stellar.

Food and service was excellent!

At our business lunch, almost everyone was thrilled with their meals. One meal was a little dry, so the vegan Jamaican jerk probably won't be ordered again. Even with that one snafu, I would highly recommend this restaurant, and will continue to be a patron there. Our waitress was outstanding! And the overall service was great. The ambiance is very pleasant as well.

We ordered3 small plates for4 people. Then each ordered salads. The small plates were good. The Naverre salad was go hum but the wedge and the best salads were favs.

I think the reputation of this place is misconstrued and that it’s not as nice/good as it’s made out to be. Food looks better than it taste. Not a lot of flavor in anything. Service was ok but could tell server was taking to many tables and could not be attentive properly.

I had lunch here one time and it was awesome, zero complaints. BUT, when I went for a dinner I was definitely disappointed. This was the first time ever, that the majority of my table walked away disappointed when the bill equaled $100 a person.
Sea Bass was okay
Shrimp Arrabbiata was not good at all
Lobster Pot Pie was good but overpriced
Bone in Ribeye was above average
Osso Buco was excellent

It was an alright meal, but one should expect a great meal for the prices being paid.

The Wild Mushroom soup is a must try if you go.

Great place! They do it right!

Cafe Navarre has the absolute best wild mushroom soup ever. Service is exceptional. Lovely dining area.

Excellent atmosphere. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. We will be back for sure!

Overall experience was great. Reservations were easy to book online. Alex, our server was attentive, welcoming and very friendly. Cocktails were well made and the food was presented well and tasted great. We will be returning here. This is a great place for a date or special occasion.