Plaza de Magdalena is a lovely venue that is perfect for a holiday party. First off it's in the heart of San Juan Capistrano which is a good and bad thing, mostly considering the traffic if there are other events going on and parking. I'd also caution in case there's road closures like this particular time I was there which made it hard to get into the parking garage. There is an option to take the train since it's right by the tracks if that's your cup of tea. The venue itself is a perfect blend of indoor and outdoor space, starting with the cocktail hour outside under the string lights with very tasty appetizers and was pleased that they also had outdoor heaters. A short walk inside opens up to a large space, in this case it was set up for dinner with festive red and green lighting. The catered food was pretty good with a nice variety of salmon, chicken and prime rib. The staff were also so friendly and did a good job serving and keeping everything tidy. I heard quite a lot of feedback from others that they liked this venue and had a great time at the party. I would have to agree. read more

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I wanted to give a HUGE thank you to Abi and her Sundried Tomato staff for all of their hard work during our baby shower this last Saturday 5/2. Abi went above and beyond to personalize and make this day feel special for our husband and I. She made the planning process as easy as possible, and even enjoyable which is rare planning these huge life events! So much gratitude for Abi and her crew on that day. We've joked about coming up with things to celebrate at Plaza de Magdalena in the future. read more

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We just had our October wedding at this venue, and it was honestly the best. The experience leading up to the big day was really great - the best part was the dinner food tasting! You and your fiancé, plus 2 guests, taste each option they have for your dinner (they have their own restaurant) and I literally felt like a queen!!! They just kept bringing out food, and in the end we were so full! We picked great options, and still my guests are talking about the food. The outdoor ceremony area was so beautiful, we had minimal decor because it already has such an elegant touch to the area. The reception was inside, very large room! We had 125 people and everyone fit perfectly WITH space to dance (this was important). It was also nice having the outdoor space to go out for some fresh air. The team was so sweet, and they made the evening so special. I didn't have to worry about anything! read more

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My husband and I had our wedding reception at PDM in October 2023 and it was perfect. Our wedding was large and we used both the courtyard area for the bar and the indoor area for dining. The only caveat was the courtyard area was too small for our happy hour (but that may have been our doing with the # of guests we had!) People still come up to us to this day regarding the appetizers. They were phenomenal. The food itself was great too. The PDM staff were great to work with and were exceptionally quick with answering all my questions no matter how far (or close) our wedding day was. They really made it easy for us to feel comfortable and stress free coming up to our wedding day. Overall - 5 stars and would recommend anyone planning an event to use PDM. read more

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We had our wedding reception at Plaza de Magdalena in September 2023. It was the perfect size for our mini wedding and we all sat together. There were about 30 guests. We used the Courtyard. It was beautiful with the lights and chandeliers. The venue came with these gorgeous dark wood farm tables and chairs. The china and silverware were included as well, so were glassware and napkins but we chose to put our personal touch of colored water goblets and silver napkins instead of the venue provided ones. They also had a hatch we could use, which we did as our sweet treats table. Oh almost forgot but there is a little water wall feature that had a pleasant trickle sound to it and there were separate rooms for the bride and groom to get ready in. There is room enough to add a Photo Booth and also our favorite Fluff Ice tables as a treat to our guests, DJ set up with a bit of room for dancing. The food! Oh my god! Aside from the outdoors courtyard we knew we wanted Sundried Tomatoes as our caterer. There were no ifs ands or buts. It worked out perfectly that Sundried Tomates had their own venue. Food was piping hot and fresh, I mean the kitchen was right upstairs. Absolutely delicious All of our guest enjoyed the food. And we want to say best wedding/cater food ever! Fyi we went with buffet style, that way guest could get as much as they wanted of a dish or seconds. We worked with Abi, she was really sweet and pleasant. Communication was very easy and smooth. We suggest anyone interested in Plaza de Magdalena to reach out way ahead of time so you don't have to scramble or stress out. We started our communications more than a year in advance. Also the staff on the day of, very professional and friendly. I felt like they were friends of the family. read more

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Plaza de Magdalena is a hidden gem in San Juan Capistrano. Truly a beautiful venue to hold such a memorable occasion. We had our wedding reception here last January 8, 2024 and it was PERFECT!! . It was everything we had hoped for and more., A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to ABI BARBEAU and all the STAFF of SunDried Tomato for the excellent food and impeccable service. We were looking for reception venues in San Juan Capistrano and we found this place. We inquired by email and had an immediate response from Abi. Since we were having a micro wedding, Abi suggested the Teofilo room which was perfect for the size of our party. Abi was a pleasure to work with, she was very warm and responsive, most of all very organized and attentive to detail right down to fixing the groomsmen ties and groom's pin on the day of the wedding. She even allowed the guys to use the bridal suite to get ready for the ceremony. (Thank you Abi! ) After the ceremony, our guests arrived at the patio and was immediately welcomed with appetizers and drinks. The staff was excellent in making sure that everyone had their fill. Our guests cannot stop raving about how delicious the appetizers and the food were. We had soup shots, ahi tuna, shrimp and the egg rolls. They were fantastic! For the main menu, we had tri tip steak with chimchurri sauce, salmon, blueberry Asiago salad, Rice, Gouda Mac and Cheese and chicken tenders for the little ones. Everyone loved the food!!! Even a few weeks after the event, the guests are still raving about it. I highly recommend this place. If you're looking for a beautiful venue, excellent staff and high quality food, then look no further, Plaza de Magdalena will not disappoint. Thank you again Michelle and James Welch 01/08/2024 read more

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I came here for a seminar today. The room, itself, was a bit cold, as it is underground and somewhat open. The acoustics were great and we could hear the speaker clearly. The chairs were only good for short term sitting. After several hours they were a little hard on the lower back. They offered tea and coffee and the servers were attentive and friendly. We never ran out and it was always fresh. A nice place for a seminar. It was a little hard to find at first but there is a small area (see picture) that has the name of the Plaza that directs you downstairs. read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Follow the stairs down - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

Food was delicious as always. Service was timely, professional, and friendly. Dawn, Sundried Tomato Catering manager, and Patti, Plaza de Magdalena venue manager, make the best team. Highly recommend this catering service and venue for any events! read more

Plaza de Magdalena - May 2024 - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

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Abigail did an amazing job for our wedding reception. She was always extremely knowledgeable about everything, prompt in answering our questions, and friendly & easy to work with. Many of our guests commented that the venue looked great and was an ideal choice. We absolutely would recommend them to anyone looking for local wedding or event venues. read more

We were interested in booking this venue for our wedding, and reached out via a wedding website to set up a tour. We loved the venue and the pricing, and Abigail promised to send us more information regarding preferred vendors and the finer details. Several days after the tour we had not heard from her, so we reached out via email. After a few more days had passed, we reached out again. A few days after the second follow up email, we finally received a perfunctory "Dear Customer" response with the quote for the wedding, with none of the other details we had requested. It was a little disheartening and we decided to not move forward with the venue for this reason. A wedding is a significant event and requires a sizable investment, so to see a lack of care and communication from the team at the venue really put us off. read more

I am still in absolute awe of the incredible wedding we had at Plaza de Magdalena. I had booked our ceremony and reception with them back in June of 2019 for our 10.10.2020 wedding. Little did I know that COVID would arrive and disrupt all of our plans!!! We worked with Patti through the whole process and she was truly incredible. We settled on holding the ceremony in their courtyard as originally planned and moved the reception to my fathers backyard. They were wonderful enough to use our deposit toward the catering costs. We were able to keep our exact same menu, were still able to get ready in their suites, have our dream wedding in the courtyard and then head to my fathers house for a perfect reception! We also hired their staff to serve and buss during the entire event. They did a wonderful job setting up all the tables, serving at the buffet, serving wine during dinner, bartending and bussing all the tables all night long. I am beyond grateful for Plaza de Magdalena. Also, did I mention that the food was truly delicious! Good food was the one request my husband had and wow did they produce. Everyone raved about the menu and many people said we had the best food and appetizers they've ever had at a wedding. All things considered, I feel so very fortunate that I had selected Plaza de Magdalena all that time ago and that we were able to move forward with our wedding despite the craziness of 2020. I highly recommend this venue. The courtyard and banquet room were beautiful. I'm sad we were not able to use the banquet room for the reception but believe it would have been beautiful. They are reasonably priced considering how crazy expensive California weddings can be and you definitely get your moneys worth. Overall definitely go check their venue out. The best part is that they also have their restaurant, Sun-dried Tomato upstairs so now on our anniversary we can go have a nice dinner and re-live our wedding every year. Thank you for all your hard work Patti and the rest of the PDM staff, we are truly grateful. read more

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We had our wedding on 2/19/17 and it was AMAZING. I could not have picked a better venue. Patti and her team were fantastic to work with. A special shout out to the day of crew who had everything handled flawlessly. The food was amazing. I didn't get to enjoy too many appetizers, but I heard rave reviews. The meal and the chile relleno were to die for. Also thank you Patti for dealing with our family constantly stopping by for tours - you have the patience of a goddess! Beautiful venue. Amazing day. read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

Sorry, but the wedding I attended yesterday sucked in so many ways. The sound level inside the room where we had the reception was painfully loud. I simply could not talk to anyone else at my table, other than to speak into the ear of the guests sitting next to me. The food was far below acceptable. The salad was inedible. The main course meat and salmon were poor. The macaroni with some sort of tomato accent was not worth it. How could churros be screwed up? Summing it up, it was one of the worst weddings I've ever been to as far as the venue. read more

Beautiful venue for beautiful occasions. The staff was wonderful and ensured a wonderful outcome. read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

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What a gem! Seriously we could not have been more happy with our experience and were so happy to come across this venue that was not only beautiful but also affordable! You can't go wrong right in the heart of downtown San Juan Capistrano with so many great things to do and beautiful picture locations! Since we first met Patti, we knew we were in good hands! Our guests repeatedly commented on how beautiful the venue was, how amazing the food was, and how attentive the staff were! There was never a time since we first inquired to the end of the reception, that we did not feel prioritized. Thank you so so much! You truly made our celebration one for us and our guests to remember! read more

Patti and Sundried Tomato catered for our wedding in Long Beach. From the taste test to our actual wedding day, Patti and the team at Sundried Tomato were a pleasure to work with. The food was delicious! We had unlimited tray passed appetizers which included: blackened chicken spring rolls with honey cilantro pesto sauce, creamy tomato soup-shots, mini mustard peppered BLTs, and wonton chip blackened ahi with wasabi aioli daikon sprouts. The salad consisted of hearts of palm, baby kale, tomatoes, croutons, parmesan, and Sundried Tomato caesar dressing served with fresh baked baguette olive rolls with Sundried Tomato butter. Our dual entree course included: sliced tri-tip with chimichurri, fresh organic sliced boneless chicken breast with a cilantro lime glaze, fresh sauteed vegetables, and smoked gouda mac n cheese with portobello mushrooms, roasted red bell peppers, and spinach. Children had mac n cheese and chicken fingers. We also had a vegetarian option which included pastaless vegetarian lasagna. Our wedding was a COVID wedding and we were anticipating guests being unable to attend - Sundried Tomato was extremely accommodating and even refunded us for the guests that were unable to attend. I would absolutely recommend Sundried Tomato for their exceptional catering services! read more

Got married here on 12-22-19. Such a beautiful venue and amazing staff! Patti and her team are so patient, helpful, and kind. The food is a-ma-zing. 100% would recommend to anyone looking for a venue. read more

My husband and I had the pleasure of holding both our wedding ceremony and reception at Plaza de Magdalena on 10-1-16! Everything was absolutely PERFECT!! Patti and her staff were very helpful from day 1 and made our special day everything we could have ever hoped for. Our cocktail hour and dinner were delicious. Even several weeks after the wedding our guests still tell us how much they loved the food and they had so much fun. THANK YOU PLAZA DE MAGDALENA!! Love Mark and Rebecca read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Just one part of our beautiful reception set up! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

Patti Pracht and the entire staff at Sundried Tomato and Plaza Magdalena are simply AMAZING! My wife and I were blown away by the attention to detail and positive attitude that Patti, brought to our big day. Since we booked with them, Patti was in constant contact with us, sending us photos of events that took place there, bouncing decoration ideas off of us, helping us find vendors, and even giving our family members a tour of the venue 4 months before the wedding. Dealing with Patti was like dealing with a friend who sincerely cared about your experience with Plaza Magdalena, and we were just so lucky to have her on our side. As for the venue itself, you cannot find a more intimate, unique location for a wedding in San Juan Capistrano. Its prime location in the middle of downtown allowed our guests to visit the local restaurants and bars before our wedding and even after. You are definitely blown away as you walk down the grand stair case into the plaza, which has strung lights, a fountain and decorative stone pavers enhancing the old Spanish feeling. Inside, the venue was completely brand new, and accommodated all our 200 guests, without being cramped. We had a head table (with 12 people), 18 round tables, decorative furniture, dance floor, bar and a cake table all inside the venue with room to spare. Outside, we had a photo booth, gift table, bar and cocktail table with all our guests, again without feeling like sardines. Lastly, one of the biggest hits at our wedding was the FOOD! We kept getting rave reviews from our guests at the quality of food served by the venue. The Sundried Tomato, the restaurant on the 2nd floor, provides excellent gourmet food, hot and fresh from the kitchen. We had the chimichurri steak with the salmon, and everyone was loving it! If you are hesitant about what the food tastes like, just have a dinner or lunch at the restaurant and be blown away at the quality of the food. Overall, I cannot over emphasize how perfect our wedding day was with the help of Patti and everyone at Plaza Magdalena and Sundried Tomato. If you are on the fence, or are searching for a special venue, THIS IS YOUR PLACE! THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING PATTI! Daniel and Joelle Guerra - Wedding Date 8/13/16 read more

I truly can't recommend Plaza de Magdalena enough. Patti was an absolute joy to work with - she is a great listener, she is accomodating, she is easy to get ahold of, and she is only the beginning of our experience with Magdalena. My husband and I only had our reception here - but - we had access to the venue for the entire day. This meant that both parties were able to get ready in the beautiful bridal suite and relaxing grooms room before we went to our ceremony site. We had a server that came to our rooms and took our orders (food and beverage), which made it a truly luxurious experience. When we came back from the ceremony, our guests had tray passed appetizers in the courtyard (which has been totally redone and looks GREAT!), as well as a full beer and wine open bar (spirits were an option, but we opted for beer and wine). By the way, the site has been created by SunDried Tomato therefore it is catered by SDT (aka AMAZING FOOD!). For dinner, we chose salmon with an olive oil caper sauce and chicken with spinach and marscapone. Our sides were fresh vegetables with an aioli sauce and their 'adult' mac & cheese (amazing); each table had bread and their delicious sundried tomato butter. The service was impeccable; our guests could not stop raving about the service and food. It truly was a memorable experience to have our reception here. I cannot fully express how grateful we are to have had a flawless experience of uncompromising quality. THANK YOU, PLAZA de MAGDALENA! read more

Plaza de Magdalena is such a beautiful venue! At the beginning of the year my then fiancé (now husband) and I were scouting out different locations in the San Juan Capistrano area for our fall 2019 wedding. We came across Plaza de Magdalena, and we knew this was the place. We could not have found a more perfect venue for both our ceremony and reception of 135 people. The courtyard setting for our wedding ceremony was magical. Patti (the onsite event coordinator) and her team are wonderful to work with. Since communication is so important to a stressed out bride, I can't tell you how appreciative I was that Patti would get back to me so fast with the answers to my questions. She was always accommodating to all my ideas, and last minute changes. Sun Dried Tomatoes is the caterer for this venue. All my guests had such great compliments about the delicious food at dinner. In addition, everyone enjoyed the wonderful appetizers and open bar during cocktail hour. Patti's staff working our wedding was amazing, and everything on the day of our wedding was flawless. My husband and I highly recommend Plaza de Magdalena for any event! read more

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We had our wedding at Plaza De Magdalena on September 10, 2016. It was nothing short of amazing. Patti and her team were so supportive, flexible, and just incredible to work with. The pricing was very reasonable, the food and service were amazing and my guests are still talking about what a wonderful event it was and how marvelous the food, staff and service were. We had 200 people for the ceremony on site and reception. I was very concerned because it seemed 200 would be a stretch for the courtyard ceremony, but it worked out beautifully!! Patti and her team worked with all of our vendors, photographer, flowers, videographer, coordinator and all to make the day effortless for us. It was truly flawless. If you are thinking about this venue for your ceremony and/or reception, just book it!! You won't be sorry! AMAZING and magical! The transformation from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception was simply magnificent, flawless and magical! I will find a reason to use this venue again in future. Thank you To Patti and your entire team for making our ceremony and celebration a dream come true. Sundried Tomatoe and their team aced it from A to Z......planning, execution, all of it!! You will be in great hands with this venue!!!! read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

Quite literally a hidden gem. Although you may be unaware driving or even walking through San Juan Capistrano, this gorgeous venue is most likely rocking some event any weekend evening. My wife and I got married here last weekend and it was incredible. Patti is a seasoned veteran that helped us through the whole process of choosing the venue, ironing out details, getting ready for the big day, and then had Dawn help us throughout our entire wedding day. Both the courtyard and indoor area are amazing, you won't even notice anything going on in the businesses/restaurants above you. We had about 130 people and that was a tight squeeze in the courtyard, so don't invite too many more than that. There was also a small issue with the staff not following our seating charts, so double-check that before you seat your guests. Other than that, it was an incredible evening with amazing food, staff, and ambiance. Thank you Plaza de Magdalena and Sundried Tomato! read more

A beautiful venue for our wedding - definitely a hidden gem in San Juan Capistrano. We had our ceremony, cocktail reception, and dinner/dancing there (with 160 guests, during the month of December). The staff was professional to work with and ensured a wonderful outcome. Before our big day, Patti accommodated last-minute menu changes and provided gracious windows of time for our vendors to set-up. On the day of, everything was set-up to perfection, and the entire Plaza de Magdalena team went above and beyond. Once the ceremony ended, the Plaza de Magdalena team swiftly and seamlessly changed the outside courtyard from ceremony seating to a cocktail reception...quickly opening the bars and passing trays of delicious appetizers. The food was delicious, and the Plaza de Magdalena team did an amazing job making sure our guests' needs were met. We had children at our wedding, and they plated the children first, knowing our tiny guests would be ready eat. Another nice touch was a member of the team brought us drinks and appetizers as we waited in the bridal suite before our "grand entrance." We opted for a buffet for dinner and wow, it flowed better than we expected. Our guests were served quickly, the food was hot, and was just as scrumptious as it was during the menu tasting. Many of our guests told us what a great time they had, complemented the friendliness of the staff, and how they really enjoyed the food. We are very glad that we had our wedding at this venue. It was like having a wedding in an Italian villa. We certainly recommend Plaza de Magdalena to anyone looking for a beautiful, affordable wedding venue. read more

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Amazing venue! We were fortunate to find this for our ceremony and reception and loved everything about it. Patti is wonderful to work with, the food is delicious, and the venue itself is beautifully designed. Our guests had a great time, and we highly recommend it! read more

Plaza de Magdalena - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Juan Capistrano, California

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Patti Pracht and everyone at Sundried Tomato/Plaza Magdalena were fabulous!!! This is the second event we've had catered by Sundried Tomato and the food did not disappoint - it was excellent and loved by all our guests. This was the first event at Plaza Magdalena and it was amazing! Such a beautiful venue both inside and out. This was perfect for our daughter's bat mitzvah - all the kids and adults had such a wonderful time!!! Special shout out to Patti for being so accommodating and a pleasure to work with. Thank you! read more

Was a guest at a wedding tonight and the waitress Kathy did an AMAZING job making sure our tables needs where met and went above and beyond. She exceeded all of our expectations and made sure we where happy. If my husband and I weren't already married I would definitely plan my wedding through this venue. They all did a phenomenal job and where very professional!! I highly recommend and our guests will have a great time. read more

Plaza de Magdalena was the perfect setting for our wedding on 5/22/16. Their outside courtyard provided a nice, relaxing atmosphere for the ceremony and my girls and I came down the stairs which I loved. The reception area inside is nice and open and left plenty of room for my guests to be comfortable. It's crisp and clean and well maintained. I loved the romantic setting. The food here is incredible. The appetizers and entrees are out of this world. All of our guests raved about the food. I love that Plaza de Magdalena provides pretty much everything. Food, linens, bar, tables, chairs, the only thing I had to hire was the DJ, coordinator and photo booth. However, Patti provided me with a list of preferred vendors and I hired 3 of her recommendations and was so happy! Everyone I worked with was wonderful. The bridal and groom's suites are spacious and comfortable. The location is close to the Mission in San Juan and also the Los Rios District, which is where my bridal party took photos. I was able to bring in my DIY decor and set it up just the way I wanted on the rehearsal night. Patti is so accommodating and quick to respond to any questions or concerns. I can't recommend Plaza de Magdalena enough, it was an amazing day and so memorable. I can't wait to go back to Sundried Tomato Bistro (their restaurant upstairs) to celebrate our anniversary (although I am sure we will be there soon since their food is so incredible!). Thank you, Patti and team for making our day the best one ever!! read more