Restaurateur Looks to Break Curse

Originally posted at 3:11 p.m. 

Bizhan Atooni is not afraid of a curse.

About a week ago, he opened up Café Cesar, which is best described as a little bit of everything. It’s in the same San Juan Capistrano spot where two fish restaurants, two Thai restaurants and a German eatery have gone before – one which stayed open as little as a month.

“I’m not going to be superstitious,” Atooni said. “I’m going to be optimistic.”

Atooni, his wife, Narges, and 9-year-old son, Arya, are recent transplants from Houston to Laguna Niguel. But he’s no stranger to the restaurant world. He’s basically worked his way from the kitchen to owner since college.

In 1978, a young Atooni came to the United States from Iran to attend college. He had big plans to return to work in the television or movie industry.

But then the Iranian revolution got in the way, and Atooni found himself separated from his entire family.

“I had no choice but to stay,” he said. “I couldn’t get any money from home, from my parents. Everybody is still there. I’m by myself.”

Without great command of English at the time, Atooni went to work in Houston-area restaurants, and eventually bought himself a franchise there, Pizza Inn. In the end, though, pepperoni and the traditional pizzas weren’t his thing.

He longed to open his own pizzeria to serve gourmet pizzas. Thus, in 2008, Pappa King Pizza opened.

While the online reviews were positive, it seems many restaurant-goers loved Atooni the most.

“Good pizza and good sandwiches! They owner is a great guy! I go in regularly and we have great talks! Good food for the price!” says a review from 2010.

But California – a little bit of the Hollywood lure perhaps – has always been his dream. In 2012, he sold Pappa King and prepared to move west.

“The beautiful people of California, the weather – we love this, especially Orange County. It was the dream for my family,” he said.

Atooni has re-created much of his Pappa King menu, which also included a wide variety despite “pizza” being in the name. So he’s got Angus burgers on the menu, Italian fare and Mediterranean selections.

He said he wants to make sure everyone in a crowd, whether it’s a family or business associates on lunch, can find something agreeable. He also serves breakfast.

He did include several new additions in the San Juan Capistrano version of his eatery: burritos and tacos.

It’s one of the reasons why he chose Cesar for the restaurant’s name: Cesar works for all ethnicities represented.

• Café Cesar is at 27221 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano. The number is (949) 481-2990.