Dinner Time at Cinnamon Productions! - CLOSED

Cinnamon Productions

22342 El Paseo

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

Katie has just recently moved to the wide opened spaces of Rancho Santa Margarita, which opens us up to a whole new area of restaurants to try. We have come out here before, for trips to see her wonderful brother in law and her average sister, but now we will be spending more time in the city with the longest name in California.

Not wanting to stray too far from home, we decided to try Cinnamon Productions for dinner. I know this joint is more of a breakfast place, but I had a coupon and wanted to see what they offered for dinner. CP was started in Seal Beach in 1987. That location has since closed, and they now have another location operating not far down the road, in Ladera Ranch.

We arrived at 7 on a Wednesday night, and the restaurant was deserted, except for us and another couple. A few more customers would ramble in throughout our visit, but it never got busy. The first thing you notice when walking in Cinnamon Productions is the bakery case. This thing is huge! Wish I had taken a picture of it because it was massive. I was also surprised to see that it was fully stocked even at this off-peak time. They offer brownies, cookies, cakes, and of course cinnamon rolls. We ordered at the counter, and this is what was brought to our table.

We could not eat a place called Cinnamon Productions, without getting to try their signature offering, a Cinnamon Roll. The cinnamon roll was pretty good. The outer shell of it was little on the harder side. Maybe because these were made a few hours before our visit. The insides though were pillowy soft. These were not overly sweet. The cream cheese icing was more on the tangy side than the sweet, and insides were not as full of cinnamon as some of the other rolls we have had. Not a bad start to our meal, (of course we started with dessert, and how can that be bad?).

Katie tried the Pepper Turkey Pannini. This turkey sandwich came with Swiss cheese and sliced tomato on seven-grain bread. Katie felt this sandwich was a little on the dry side when consumed as it was brought to our table. She added some mustard to it and was much happier with the result. The pasta salad served with this was fresh tasting and not oily, but did not stand out for her flavor-wise. An average meal for Katie.

The menu at CP is not huge and mostly filled with sandwiches and salads. They do offer four specialty entrees though, and the Penne Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage is one of them. The sauce is a tomato and basil cream sauce, which was very smooth and good. The pasta was cooked nicely and held the sauce well. The sausage was not of the best quality, but it did have a little spice to it.  I thought the $11 price tag for this was a little on the steep side for this portion size, but I would get this again.

Cinnamon Productions is not going to blow you away with their lunch and dinner options. Everything is decent here though. The dinners should feature at least a slice of garlic bread or a roll, (this is a bakery!). CP is worth the trip if you are in the area and want a quick dinner. I hear better things about their breakfast items and can not wait to try them. Now that Katie is in the neighborhood, we will definitely make it here for breakfast.

Out of five volleyballs, (because the national sport of Sri Lanka is volleyball, and that country produces 90% of the worlds cinnamon), five being best to zero being worst, Cinnamon Productions gets 2.5 volleyballs.

For more information about Cinnamon Productions, click here: http://cinnamonproductions.com/