El Adobe de Capistrano, or El Adobe, is a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

located in at 31891 Camino Capistrano in

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...

. It has been operated since 1948 and is in a building composed of two historic

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

s near

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...

. It is also notable for being frequented by and being a favorite of U.S. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

who lived in nearby

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

. Now El Adobe is a California historical landmark. "The Restaurant"
El Adobe de Capistrano website

History

The adobe which comprises the northern portion of the restaurant was built as the home of Miguel Yorba in 1797. The southern portion, from 1812, was the Juzgado (court and jails), and also served at different times as a post office, store, and stage depot. The Juzgado’s jail cell now serves as the restaurant's wine cellar and is rumored to harbor a ghost. In addition there have been reports of a headless

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

in front of the restaurant. In 1910, Harry and Georgia Mott Vander Leck bought the two properties, combining them together and adding sunken wings to both buildings, for use as their home and store."El Adobe de Capistrano Restaurant"
San Juan Capistrano Historical Society website In 1946, Clarence Brown bought the property, and established the El Adobe restaurant, opening it on July 8, 1948 for the wedding and reception of the First Commandant of

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

Marine Corps Base, General Fegan. The restaurant was bought by the

Fred Harvey Company The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing n ...

in 1955. While in office, former President Richard Nixon whose nearby San Clemente home was known as the

Western White House Listed below are the private residences of the various presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States § Residence. Private homes of the presidents This is a list of homes where p ...

, visited the restaurant many times. The restaurant was originally continental cuisine, but after comments by Nixon, it gained attention for its Mexican fare and changed the menu.

References

External links

*
San Juan Capistrano Historical Society Page on El Adobe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adobe De Capistrano 1797 establishments in Alta California 1948 establishments in California Adobe buildings and structures in California California Historical Landmarks History of Orange County, California Houses completed in 1797 Infrastructure completed in 1812 Mexican restaurants in California Reportedly haunted locations in California Restaurants established in 1948 Restaurants in Orange County, California San Juan Capistrano, California