The Magic Pan El Paso is a popular restaurant that offers a unique dining experience in El Paso, Texas. Known for its delicious crepes and diverse menu, the restaurant has become a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike. Located in the heart of downtown El Paso, The Magic Pan offers a cozy and welcoming atmosphere that is perfect for any occasion. The interior is beautifully decorated with warm colors and elegant furnishings, creating a charming and inviting space for guests to enjoy their meals. One of the main highlights of The Magic Pan is its extensive menu of savory and sweet crepes. From classic options like ham and cheese to more exotic flavors like smoked salmon and asparagus, there is a crepe to satisfy every palate.

are open for lunch!!

Magic Bistro proudly serve freshly-prepared dishes made with meats smoked in-house and homemade dressings and sauces . Our breads and muffins are made from scratch and baked daily.

LUNCH

We have an impressive selection, offering a variety of options that the whole family can enjoy - including kids, vegans , vegetarians , and those who are gluten-free or dairy-free !

Come in today for lunch to enjoy a quiche , a filling salad , pasta , or a burger .

To start planning your event now, click above to submit a Catering and Events Inquiry and we will contact you with menu options, pricing and other important details.

Magic Bistro has a wide range of catering and event services. Our event menus are all-encompassing, accommodating anything from casual brunches or high-tea parties to formal wedding receptions or seven-course charity dinners . We've done it all.

At the restaurant, we host several types of events, big and small, including corporate meetings , birthdays , reunions , baby showers , baptisms , graduation celebrations , holiday parties , sweet sixteens, quinceañeras, and much more! Many parties enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of our shady patio and for others, its the charming interior of our dining room they seek - nothing beats our cozy fireplace during the winter! Some take advantage of both our indoor and outdoor space, renting out the entire restaurant for their private event.

We are a popular all-inclusive El Paso wedding venue , frequently hosting wedding showers , wedding rehearsals , or receptions ; and clients find our gorgeous outdoor space to be perfect for their intimate wedding ceremony, anniversary or vow renewal . Check out our Facebook to see pictures of past events!

We also offer full-service, off-site catering to venues like party halls , churches , or wineries and often deliver for school lunch meetings, to business offices , or to client homes for dinner parties . Let us do all the work!

Call us at (915) 833-2121 or email us at [email protected] to set up a appointment to go over your event details.

The magic pan el paso

SERVICES
• Cocktails, Beer and Wine
• Outdoor Patio Dining
• Shopping Marketplace
• Offsite Catering
• Entertainment - Live Music

The essence of “magic” is everywhere at The Magic Pan Restaurant and Catering Company. Not only are the culinary talents of owner, Annette Lawrence a magical experience that your palettes will not soon forget, but you will also feel the “magic” in the atmosphere of the cute and quaint restaurant. The Marketplace at Placita Santa Fe, where the Magic Pan is located, also includes shops for antiques, home décor, rustics, collectibles, fine art, pottery, jewelry, floral, folk art, linens and stained glass. The lush outdoor patio at the Magic Pan is cooled in the summertime by a state of the art misting system and heated in the wintertime by several propane heaters, which blend into the historic hacienda setting. Outside the dining tables are nestled between potted plants full of exotic flowers, and inside tables are surrounded by original works of art by Candy Mayer and Harweda Jordan.

The lunch and dinner menus have the same feeling as the restaurant, unique and elegant. The Magic Pan’s lunch menu features quiche, and specialty sandwiches. The Oinker, the Gobbler or the Sorcerer’s Delight are just a few of the many scrumptious sandwiches. The freshest soups and salads are also served daily. One of the favorites on the menu is the Emperor’s Secret salad; the crisp greens are mixed with hearts of palm, artichokes, and blue cheese and tossed with a bit of honey Dijon dressing. Start your dinner off with the Ahi Tuna Tartare which is the Magic Pan’s specialty. Any of the entrees are delicious but the standout is the Pinot Noir Lamb Rack with herb crusted creamy Grana Padano risotto, sauteed asparagus and a pomegranate glaze. It’s cooked to perfection and presented with elegance. Don’t forget to leave room for the Magic Pan’s original dessert, Cajeta Crepes. This vanilla stuffed crepe drizzled with caramel and hot fudge and topped with toasted pecans is to die for! The high quality ingredients, along with the excellent service ensures nothing less than satisfaction. The Magic Pan is also available to cater any special events with the same attention to detail and quality you have come to expect.

Steve's Food Blog

From classic options like ham and cheese to more exotic flavors like smoked salmon and asparagus, there is a crepe to satisfy every palate. The crepes are made to order and are served with a variety of delicious sauces and toppings, allowing guests to customize their dish to their liking. Aside from crepes, The Magic Pan also offers a wide range of other menu options.

Savoring the Local Flavor of the American Southwest and Beyond

Magic Bistro–El Paso, TX

Magic Bistro in the Marketplace at Placita Santa Fe

Magic Bistro is a prominent part of El Paso’s upscale food scene, a trend that seems to have exploded in recent years. Its predecessor, The Magic Pan, operated at this location for a number of years and was one of the pioneers of the city’s upscale eateries that were at the same time casual and not in a country club or private club setting.

Its location in the Marketplace at Placita Santa Fe has historically been a place to find arts and antiques, and as long as I can remember has been anchored by restaurants with the word “Magic” in them. The Placita seems to me very much like a calm respite from the surrounding urban life, and is one of the benefits of coming here.

The daily blackboard menu

The setup of the restaurant is a little unusual, but it reflects the quirkiness of the Placita. The photo at the top of this page shows the entrance to the Marketplace, inside of which are the restaurant and several shops. The restaurant is directly behind the main entrance, but before you enter the building there is a reception desk on the patio with the daily specials written on a blackboard. There are times when the restaurant is busy enough that you would need to get on the waiting list for a table, but normally you either sit on the patio or go inside to the second reception area. Most people seem to prefer the indoor area, and there has been adequate space the times I have gone.

Restaurant’s entrance next to the patio area

When I refer to Magic Bistro as upscale it means the food. Dress can be very casual if you wish, and historically when I have gone here or to the Magic Pan it has been in combination with a shopping trip within the Placita or at nearby stores (and many times to the nursery on Lindbergh Avenue).

Magic Bistro is now strictly a lunch restaurant (it opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday). Before the pandemic it was open for dinner Friday and Saturday, for which there was a separate menu. For both lunch and dinner the restaurant has traditionally let two people split any plate and get an extra order of side items for a nominal price.

Sandwiches

Half tuna salad sandwich with tabouli

Sandwiches are Magic Bistro’s “bread and butter” (so to speak), and are the largest part of the lunch menu. Normally I am not much of a sandwich person, but the sandwiches here are good enough to stick out in my memory, and there is a wide choice of items to go with it.

Pictured above is a Tuna Salad Sandwich on a half-soup, half-sandwich plate, with tabouli as a side item. I thought the price was good, and it met my criteria for being an excellent tuna salad sandwich (I do not know what was in it, only that the flavor was very good).

Full order of tuna salad sandwich with a salad substituted for a side dish

The full tuna salad sandwich also comes with a side, but in this case they substituted a salad with pomegranate dressing for the normal side.

Pork tenderloin sandwich

The Pork Tenderloin Sandwich is another popular choice because of the fact that the restaurant smokes its own meats. It also shows the restaurant’s propensity for spicy food due to its chipotle raspberry sauce. This did not quite have the spiciness of New Mexico chile, but it was well above the spice level I have found at most barbecue restaurants (however this was more of a barbecue fusion dish because of the sauce).

I found the flavor of the sauce a little disappointing and gave it a lower rating than the tuna salad sandwich because of this, but the quality was good. The rating is based solely on my personal taste.

Wraps

Asian chicken wrap

I have not been much into wraps, and the Asian Chicken Wrap did little to convince me otherwise. Part of the reason was the wrap, which tasted much like a flour tortilla except that it was a little crispy. The rest of it did not taste very Asian, and I do not know on what basis they call it :Asian.”

Soups

Potato and green chile soup

Many of the soups are spicy as well, such as it was with the Potato and Green Chile Soup. Magic Bistro has a house soup (chicken tlalpeño, which itself is made with chipotle). Any other soup choices (including the potato soup) are the soup of the day, and these tend to follow the theme of Southwestern cuisine. I thought the potato and green chile soup was excellent, and I would say that for people from El Paso the spiciness level of this soup would be well within what most would consider to be normal parameters (as in most places, people here do not like it too spicy).

A surprisingly good soup was the Fish Soup, made with tilapia and vegetables. This one was not spicy, and was served on a day when I was trying to recover from an illness, and the flavor and substance was able to completely hit the spot with me. Possibly because of the circumstance I considered this to be better than the potato soup. This was another soup of the day, though, so I do not know how often it is available.

Steak and potato soup

The Steak and Potato Soup comes very close to being a meal in itself. This was another soup of the day.

Mushroom and artichoke soup

The Mushroom and Artichoke Soup was flavorful, but I could not chew part of the artichoke (which was uncharacteristic of the food here).

I get confused about which soups are seasonal and which are soups of the day (and about what days they are served). I believe, though, that the Tomato Soup is always available. When I ordered this one on a half soup/ half sandwich plate I determined that next time I would probably just get a regular sandwich. The soup was thin and very light for my normal appetite. I also thought it was too much on the sweet side and probably did not have enough of the “good stuff” (oregano, basil, etc.) although many restaurants go too far the other way.

Burgers

Bistro burger with a side of tabouli

The Bistro Burger is one of the restaurant’s best dishes because of the flavor of the meat and the quality of all the ingredients. For a topping I asked them to omit the mayo and give me mustard instead, but it was a standard store bought mustard (I found out later that they will provide Dijon mustard on request). Even without the optimum mustard, though, I thought it was a good burger.

Side Dishes
All sandwiches, wraps, and half-soup half-sandwich combinations come with a side dish. All the ones I have tried have been good, and there is enough choice to pick something that seems to fit (such as Potato Salad with what was essentially a barbecue sandwich).

The Tabouli has always been good, although probably not totally a Middle Eastern style.

Other Comments
Another nice feature of this restaurant is the drinks. There are some interesting ones such as Pellegrino water. I liked the iced tea not so much for being better than at other restaurants, but for being less expensive (this is less true, though, after the Covid pandemic).

The lunch menu is limited to sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, burgers, pasta, or quiche. Still, the way they let you combine a soup and salad with a choice of side dish, gives a good variety of items.

Dinner had more interesting choices, but has been put on hiatus as of 2022

RATING: 24

Cuisine: New American
Cost: $$
Hours: Lunch only (closed Mon.)
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Beer and Wine

Most Recent Visit: Dec 20, 2022
Number of Visits: 6
Best Items: Tuna Salad Sandwich, Bistro Burger, Fish Soup, Potato Soup with Green Chile

Magic Pan Restaurant

Favorite of Ours – My husband and I have always depended on Magic Pan for our celebrations - anniversaries, son's birthdays, our birthdays. The outdoor patio is simply magical with the lighting and soft music. Their newest venue, the Pan, is in a fun part of town. We recently celebrated my husband's birthday there. They have great appetizers and great happy hour specials. We simply love both restaurants and will continue celebrating our special moments there.

Great Night Out – Two weeks ago on a Friday night the three of us entered Magic Pan at 8:30 p.m. About half the tables were occupied. We were greeted at the door by who I think was the owner and a host came up within seconds. The first impression was very good. Our waiter was excellent as he took care of us throughout the evening - always meeting our needs without interupting our time together. The food was fantastic as we had an appetizer and shared our three main dishes with one another. I'd been to The Magic Pan many time. read more

Magic Pan is MAGICAL – I have been to Magic Pan perhaps 100 times and hope that I have 100 more opportunities. Each time the food is excellent, the atmosphere special, and the staff super sweet and attentive. It is unfortunately a hidden gem, not on the radar of enough people at dinner time. It is hidden away which adds to the ambience. Live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings makes this one of the most special restaurants in El Paso. Magic Pan, thank you for existing and enhancing the quality of life in El Paso

Weird Waitress, forgettable food – A group of 6 of us went here before a UTEP football game 2010; we had 1 1/2 hours before kickoff. We walked in, and only one table was occupied. While we waited to be seated, one of our group spoke with a young lady who walked in with us; this was our future waitress, and though she seemed fine at the time, we little suspected our fate! We waited at least ten minutes to place drink orders;this took quite a while to accomplish, because our waitress kept losing track of who wanted what. After. read more

TWO WORDS OLIVE GARDEN! – Really the olive garden is a million times better! they should change the name to the magic trashcan. our food wasn't very good,and the staff acted like we were bothering them. we paid over $100.00 to eat a lame dinner and to be treated poorly at that! Olive Garden, half the price and the staff is nice!

What's the hype? – Okay, so all you have to do is put a restaurant up in an odd part of town, fry up some sweet potatoes and you're all the rage? I don't get this place at all. Is it the name or the location that all the ladies seem to go crazy for. I get so many lunch invitations to the place. So, I guess a lot of people like it. I don't. I don't like sandwiches. Call me weird. But that's their whole menu with the exception of one burger that is just not good. Oh and soup. You yep, I don't like soup either. So maybe it's me. read more

Great place – One of my favorites places in town. The patio is awesome, totaly recomended!

Best appetizers in town! – I have heard about this place forever, mostly that it is really pricey, so we went for appetizers only, with a nice local wine. We were more than pleased with our selections--the portions are enormous, and the wait staff is friendly and helpful. The live music is very nice, and the ambience is curious, but nice, with lots of mismatched furniture everywhere--decor does not resonate with the reputation of the place. We stayed for dessert and coffee--one dessert serves two people. The manager there is. read more

I will never go back. Waste of time! – This place is overrated in El Paso. The ceiling of the place is falling down. I felt dirty just sitting in there. If they are going to call themselves a high class place, please fix you building. It was gross. When I got my food it was cold. Not a good time. If you have heard of this place and want to go, DO WASTE YOUR TIME.

Guests can enjoy salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes, all prepared with fresh and high-quality ingredients. The restaurant also offers a selection of wines and cocktails to complement the flavors of the food. What sets The Magic Pan apart from other restaurants is its dedication to outstanding customer service. The staff is friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable, ensuring that guests have an exceptional dining experience from start to finish. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or simply looking for a great meal, The Magic Pan is sure to exceed your expectations. In addition to its dine-in service, The Magic Pan also provides catering and take-out options for those who prefer to enjoy their meals at home. The restaurant has gained a loyal following over the years, with customers coming back time and time again for the delicious food and impeccable service. Overall, The Magic Pan El Paso is a hidden gem in the heart of the city. With its delicious crepes, diverse menu, and outstanding customer service, it's no wonder why this restaurant has become a favorite among locals and tourists alike. Whether you're a fan of crepes or simply looking for a great dining experience, The Magic Pan is a must-visit destination in El Paso..

Reviews for "Embrace the European Flavor at The Magic Pan El Paso"

- Sarah - 1 out of 5 stars - The Magic Pan in El Paso was a huge disappointment. The food was incredibly bland and lacked any flavor whatsoever. I ordered the chicken crepes and they were extremely dry and tasteless. The service was also very slow and the staff seemed uninterested in their customers. Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a delicious meal.

- John - 2 out of 5 stars - I had high expectations for The Magic Pan in El Paso, but unfortunately, it fell short. The menu sounded promising with a variety of crepes to choose from, but the execution was poor. The crepes were overcooked and lacked filling. The portion sizes were also quite small considering the price. The service was average at best, with long waits for our food and disinterested staff. I was disappointed with my experience and will not be returning.

- Emily - 1 out of 5 stars - I visited The Magic Pan in El Paso based on positive reviews I had read, but I was extremely disappointed. The food was incredibly underwhelming and lacked any flavor. I ordered the spinach and mushroom crepe, but the ingredients tasted bland and were not fresh. The service was also disappointing, as the staff seemed disorganized and unattentive. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a quality dining experience.

- Michael - 2 out of 5 stars - I had heard great things about The Magic Pan in El Paso, but my experience was far from impressive. The food was mediocre at best, with overcooked crepes and lackluster fillings. The service was also subpar, with slow response times and forgetful staff. While the ambiance was pleasant, it couldn't make up for the disappointing meal. I won't be returning to this restaurant in the future.

Gourmet on the Go: The Magic Pan El Paso's Takeout and Delivery Options