XA Sweet and Savory Cafe

When I am craving cookies and a meat pie, this is my go-​to place. I guess if you want to come for the healthy meals then they have a variety of options. BUT if you’re gonna eat out, then treat yourself to a warm, meaty pie with a flaky crust.
Also, the cookies are super soft and tasty. I agree with others, some of them do taste pretty similar but their most distinct flavor is the espresso one. You gotta try it, ridiculously addicting! They are opening a location in HB so I am excited! The owner/​cook seems really passionate about his work and probably the most friendly person I’ve met in a long time.

Great food! Lacks consistency. Favorite lunch spot. Excellent place to indulge in delicious but nutritional food. My favorite: potato cake, garlic noodles, wild cod and seasonal watermelon salad

Finding a good restaurant that has good food, great options, healthy and at a reasonable price is next to impossible, but that was before I discovered XA.
I try to eat here at least 3 – 4 times a week because it’s so healthy, gluten free and fresh.
Entrée is the best way to go
Pick a protein with many to choose from
Pick your sauce– 7 – 8 options… honey and spices along with lemon basil is my go to
Pick 2 sides from a large selection
Free cookie seals the deal… Rocky Road is unreal
Owner Shawn is a great guy and staff is very friendly

Yummy food, healthy options, customizable, good prices, nice cashiers/​servers, clean restaurant, quiet atmosphere, large parking lot, and apparently, free cookie with every entrée for their 3-​year anniversary for the month of January!

Great concept. Quality Ingredients.

Fantastic. one of our best dinners ever. Loved the freshness of the food, the sauces were excellent and all of them good. Excellent …
He should be on the food network with his dishes and style. A real dining treat

Love this place for brunch ! Champagne, and gourmet food ! Try the cheesy grits ! And the open faced omelette

My best friend took me to visit XA Sweet and Savory Café in Orange County. I was instantly drawn by the menu choices, and the customizable way to put together your meal. Everything looked healthy yet flavorful. The cashier on staff was very personable, warm and cheerful. She helped give reccommendations on items to order, and even offered a little platter of samples for trying out the different sauces.
Unfortunately she had to come tell me that the salmon I ordered was not in stock, but I already had a delicious second choice in mind. It ended up being just as incredible tasting, an absolutely perfect smoked chicken. I wasn’t even upset the whole time but both the cashier and the owner came to check on me and apologize and offer us wonderful free cookies for not having what I ordered. Excellent, welcoming service. I will definitely return.

Awesome place to grab lunch. Sean is a great host, and we got to try the flavor… lemon basil is yum. The pie combo is delish (flaky crust). Definitely would return. We were also given 3 tasty cookies para gratis.

My wife and I drove to Xa because my wife is Vietnamese and really likes to support Vietnamese business.
Shawn, the owner was there. My wife was so touched by him. He overheard her talking to the cashier and he jumped out of the kitchen, apron and all. He told her a personal story about his childhood and his dream of opening this restaurant. A really cool story — inspired by Alice Waters and other similar chefs, Shawn’s humble goal is to make wholesome, tasty and health-​conscious food accessible to everyone. Like *everyone*. He references stories about hunger in other parts of the world, allergies, fast food and heart disease. And when you really think about it, you really DO pay a premium for wholesome food. Most often, you have to go to a sit down restaurant or really go out of your way to find a place that will serve you food that makes you feel really good and light on your toes after eating.
So keeping all that in mind, my wife paid *$ 9.95* for a combination meal with consisted of a perfectly grilled, thick cut chicken breast with honey spice sauce over garlic noodles with a side of grilled zucchini. It was absolutely delicious, satisfying and guilt free. Not greasy, perfectly seasoned with sea salt and herbs, and the noodles were a good accent without overpowering the dish. Remember that Shawn wants to cook food that is actually HEALTHY and good for you, so he will stick to his guns and won’t compromise on his principles. So don’t expect the buttered up version of egg-​based garlic noodles here. My wife ate her entire meal.
I had the pork loin, also with honey spice sauce with a side of brown rice pilaf and roasted beets. Excellent. I finished it off with a decaf sugar-​free iced mango and pomegranate iced tea.
For our toddler son, we got a brown rice bowl with chicken and zucchini which Shawn diced up for us.
He also gave us samples of his favorite sauces (just in case).
THEN, after a warm conversation with Shawn about this and that, he insisted that we try the cookies — OMG they are so good. Green tea, smores, coconut, etc. Not cloyingly sweet — just right. It was the perfect end to our meal.
Next time you go to Main Place Mall, please try Xa which is located in the Carl’s Jr plaza. You can buy food to go, or eat on-​site in a casual coffee shop style atmosphere without having to dress up. Tell me if you can find a better deal for *$ 9.95,* from a classically trained chef. Roasted beets? Grilled chicken breast? Tomato olive tapenade? Brussell sprouts? Come on. Looking forward to trying this place again and bumping into this very kind, genuine, and hospitable chef once more very soon.

Cool concept where you get to build your own meal. You pick the protein, sauce, and 2 sides. They grill, cook, and compile it for you in an artsy way to enjoy :)
Given that most of the sides are veggies and most of the protein is grilled or braised, options are pretty health conscious if that’s what you’re looking for! And it tastes great as well! I’m a big fan of their garlic noodles and fried plantains (haha I guess bc they’re fried). Their garlic noodles have a little bit of crispiness to them, love that.
I’ve had their chicken bowls before, which comes with chopped grilled zucchini and brown rice. I wasn’t so much of a fan. Strange, but I felt like I was eating toddler food… all chopped up and simple. Meh
It’s also a little pricey, but I’m assuming from the fresh, high quality ingredients. They also have some amazing cookies with very unique flavors like matcha green tea, earl grey, smores, apple pie, etc. They’re also super soft: D Might even be worth the trip for cookies alone!

My co-​workers and I had lunch here since it had such a high rating on Unilocal.Not really impressed with the food here.
I got the chili lime chicken with brown pilaf rice and Brussels sprouts. The chicken was hard and not moist. The rice pilaf was really not pilaf it was more of a brown rice with sauteed onions. The Brussels sprouts were a bit over cooked. I thought the chicken was marinated with the chili sauce but the chili lime sauce was on the side. I had a strawberry lemonade to drink and it was too thick. The strawberry flavor seemed like the strawberries had gone bad. Too sweet for my liking as well.
My co-​workers had the the following:
smoked red curry chicken with asparagus and Basel rice. He said the chicken was hard and it was just an OK dish.
Smoked blackened Cajun chicken with asparagus and Brussels sprouts. She stated chicken was way to hard and it wasn’t to savory a bit bland. The veggies were just OK. She said she wouldn’t come back.
Half a chicken sandwich and coconut squash soup. She did not like the soup at all but she stated the sandwich was good. She would have preferred to have a full sandwich and do without the soup.
All in all I we wouldn’t be back.

I got a few cookies and a brisket entrée, the cookies all have the same taste, they were extremely eggy so they all went into a garbage bin.
Brisket with garlic noodle, and zucchini with lemon basil sauce — noodle was overcooked and turned into one big chunk, but the flavor is very clean and the sauce I chose well complimented it. Zucchini is clean and perfectly grilled as well. But the brisket slices were extremely thin like sashimi, and they were terribly fatty. I cut out all fat and left with a tiny 4 bites of meat of all meat was served. Overall, portion is too small, only generous with the noodle…
Interior is clean and cozy, restroom is clean, owner seems to know all customers, and the staff are friendly. But their food is a bit overpriced for what you get and they need to work on cookie flavors more…

I hate to give this place a five-​star rating, and to add my voice of joy to the chorus because I know it’s just going to encourage other people to go there, likely about five minutes before I arrive. Eh, life in OC at popular places…
Don’t go looking for his website and menu – you won’t find it. Xa lives every day by the blackboard and it’s wandering scribbles. And what a blackboard!
Xa has a fairly unique approach: you pick your entrée, the sauce with which you’ll flavor it and your two sides. All are interesting/​fascinating and likely to be items you can’t get elsewhere. Over the past two years Chef Shawn Xa has slowly increased the proteins. I noted recently that this column (including chicken, pork, ribs, beef brisket, cod, salmon, etc) practically doubled. Now on the second half it’s 6 or 7 of the same things but *smoked*. And beautifully smoked! The sauces are extravagantly inventive and change to suit his creative whim. I got a red curry sauce to go with my beef brisket the other day and they were incredible together.
His list of sides include both grilled zucchini and asparagus – almost always. Fresh and tasty. These as well as another 10 – 12 items including garlic noodles and a potato cake which both have zealous fans.
Now he’s doing pot pies, and likely getting a big bump at lunch. I think it’s a half-​a-​pie w/​salad or some such. He’s always changing, and by changing, I mean *innovating*. Everything he does, he does right. He’s an absolute wonder! I’ve never encountered a chef whose instincts are so incredibly on the mark and diverse.
Bang for the buck: The pricing is surprising, this stuff would cost you at least thrice the price elsewhere – if such were available elsewhere. We always get dinners to go here, and it is the best «to-​go» feed one can get: no exceptions.
The cookies occupy the center of the known universe of cookie perfection, and I say this as somebody who doesn’t really give a damn about cookies and is a non-​believer in general when it comes to desserts. Still, these things are simply perfection! I’d explain but I think eating one would answer all your questions.
With just a little focus you can get great pasta, burgers, bbq, phở, banh mi, tacos and other eats all over OC. What you can get at Xa – believe me when I tell you – you can get *nowhere* else! So go get it, and don’t dawdle at the head of the line, damn it!
Shawn is opening another shop in Huntington Beach, and so isn’t in the Orange shop schmoozing with patrons right now. But I happened to note the last time I was there – the kitchen is still operating like a well-​oiled machine!

So I just finished a day in clinical rotations and I was starving.
This restaurant is 7-​ish minutes away from CHOC/​St. Joseph Hospital. Parking is easy and breezy.
Upon arrival, it’s super cute and more like a bakery. But here’s the twist: there’s some bomb savory dishes. Menu is on the wall and you basically create your entrée.
The staff here is extremely inviting and friendly. They’re very knowledgeable on what’s delicious.
The food is spectacular. I got the braised beef with honey and spice sauce with asparagus & garlic noodles. The portion was small, but fulfilling. The flavor was off the chain. The braised beef was slightly dry, but the sauce did it’s thang and turned it into magic. The garlic noodles were pretty good as well. I also got the Vietnamese coffee and green tea cookie. Both items were fantastic! Cookie was chewy and moist!
Price was extremely fair. I felt like I ate at a five star restaurant with some quality service for ¹⁄₃ of the price. My overall price was roughly $ 15, which was such a steal.
With that said, I love a good bang for your buck and this place fulfills that! Price was reasonable and the food was fresh! Will I come back? I can’t wait!
Turn Ons:
— easy parking
— price
— food quality
— unique flavors and cookies
Turn offs:
— order first then sit down
— not that many outlets so it’s hard to charge your phone/​laptop

Came here this week with a friend after work for dinner. It was only a Wednesday, and the place was packed! I would have given this place higher rating if not for the fact it was very hot (but we just sat near the windows) and the food came out SO slowly. maybe it was because it was very busy that night. My friend’s food came out maybe 10 min after mine… but they were nice and gave us free cookies :)
The food itself was pretty good, maybe 4 stars. I just ordered the chicken caesar salad, which came to about $ 10 because I added chicken for about $ 4. The portions were very good… I didn’t even end up eating the whole thing, and I was full. She ended up getting some sort of bowl that looked good, but I didn’t get to ask her how she liked it. The cookies were just okay to me, and were kind of small.
I think I would come back to try their other menu items, but hopefully next time the food does not take so long to come out.

This is the most genuinely homemade/​healthy meal I’ve ever had at a restaurant. When you walk in the cashier asks if it’s your first time and explains the entire menu to you; I don’t think the free cookie for first visit is a thing anymore so don’t expect it. You basically get to choose your meal with a protein, sauce, and two sides, or you can get sandwiches or any other combination. They can also premake meals for you to eat throughout the week.
The sauce really makes the food because there’s no excessive oils or fats in the protein or sides, so it would be on the bland side without it. The honey and spice sauce was a nice blend of sweet and spicy, and I was afraid the noodles would make the meal too filling but it was the perfect portion size. Overall the healthiest restaurant food I’ve ever had, with great taste and friendly service.

This is a great healthy option especially for people looking to eat clean or on a paleo type diet. The food is fresh and very tasty. I ordered the above chicken with lemon basil sauce with a side of quinoa and green beans.
The plate came out in 5 Minutes and was presented well. The portion size was fair; enough to leave you satisfied but not so much you get food regret. The meal was light and prepared well.
Service was polite and helpful. Great place to go for lunch. Total cost was $ 11.83 which I felt was a tad on the high side but still within reason. Definitely a good option.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while.
Pros: variety of sauces, different choices of protein, sides, really good cookies, good customer service
Cons: seasoning, somethings aren’t that great as others.
I got the ribs which was 13 dollars with two sides. I picked the plantains and grilled zucchini. The ribs which I thought was going to come with sauce on it was more of sauce on the side. They serve it with there own BBQ sauce which different really taste like BBQ sauce to me it was okay eh. The meat wasn’t like falling off the bone so it’s not your typically rib it’s oven baked. I like the plantains but it’s paired pretty simple same as the zucchini. If your into like more salting of food this place is definitely not for you. It’s more like simple healthy type cooking.
I was more into my boyfriend dish. He got the pork loin with the honey and spice sauce also my favorite sauce out of the whole bunch of them. I really wish that the food was marinate or like cooking in the sauce a little instead of like just pouring it over so it can steep more of the flavor.
I know people love the garlic noodles but I thought it was bland and lacking garlic flavor.
I think I want to try something else next time. Favorite thing was the cookies I love the smores cookie and the oolong green tea not so much. The lemonade is pretty good. I like the passion fruit one.

Great place for garlic noodles. The small space seems popular with millennials. The young lady working behind the counter asked us if this was our first time here. We said yes and we both got a free cookie. Mine was one with mango and coconut flavors and I liked it. Even though it was prepackaged, it was not dry and the flavors came through well.
I had questions about the menu and sauces used for the entrees. My questions were answered and a sampler of the sauces was offered. Nice! That’s what I call service.
My entrée of choice was the non-​smoked pork with garden noodles and a salad comprised of romaine lettuce, apples, beets and other vegetables. The dressing was a balsamic that complemented the vegetables nicely. I think the non-​smoked pork was good and the portion was generous for the reasonable price. The garlic noodles were great, but I was thinking that they might have been frozen noodles because the temperature of the noodles was not uniform. Some parts seemed a little colder than others.
All in all, I would try XA again. The next time, I would try a smoked protein. The desirably very garlicky noodles might be chosen again. I do like garlic. For those of you in the Huntington Beach area, staff said XA will be opening another location there in May.