sheesh i chugged that blackberry margarita it was delicious (but not that strong)…read more the tacos were phenomenal. ribeye tacos were tender and juicy and i love building my own taco. halibut tacos were also crazy good, seasoned to perfection staff was so incredibly nice, loved the ambiance of the place

The ambiance here is definitely hip and cool--maybe a little too cool for me because it was so…read moredimly lit that I could barely read the menu. This old lady needed the flashlight on her phone. Service was attentive--possibly a little too attentive. They kept clearing plates while we were still eating, and a few times there was still a little food left on them! That said, they were kind enough not to rush us out, which I really appreciated since we were busy socializing. The appetizers were all fantastic, and overall, I enjoyed the experience.

We stopped by this bar after dinner one night. Love it! The decor all over is neat! They have an…read moreoutdoor area and more seating inside along with the bar. Seats are limited. There's a tree right in the middle inside. The decor is best described as eclectic. I love it! The drinks were great! My guava martini was delish! We also had the espresso martini and that delish! The service was great! Everyone was super nice! They are open late! We stayed until midnight which was closing time on Sunday but we would have definitely stayed later! We are definitely coming back!

What a great little trendy bar hidden away! After the OC Fair we felt like a little nightcap &…read morethrough Yelp found this little gem. The ambiance was so cool with lots of Asian inspired decorations, total eye candy. The line for the drinks was a little long but went pretty fast and we were lucky to score 2 seats inside almost immediately. If not, you can stand around or sit on other little tables on their outside patio. You can view the drinks through a QR code, a wall menu or above the bar. The drinks were really good with fun names, it was hard to decide which I'd make my first! A great place to visit and enjoy a good drink.

Such a fun fusion restaurant with so many good options! Everything we've tried has been really…read moretasty. My favorite thing on the menu is the Saltado Fries with steak. You can upgrade to garlic noodles, which are also delicious. The lychee lemonade is really refreshing too! The staff is attentive and so nice. Definitely a fun spot if you want something a little different!

I was honestly ready to leave a 1-star review based on how our experience started, but our server…read moreJoseph completely turned things around and bumped this up to 4 stars. We joined the waitlist and were quoted 10-20 minutes. After waiting about 20 minutes, we could see that we were #2 in line, but people kept getting seated ahead of us. I checked with the hostess and was told we would be seated soon, so we waited. More people continued to get seated. When I asked again, the hostess seemed a little flustered, checked the tablet, then pointed to a patio table and said they were setting that one up for us. Another 10-15 minutes passed and we were still waiting. By this point, I was hangry and went back to the host stand. Another host explained that they were seating reservations first, which I understand, but we had also seen multiple names called for people who appeared to have arrived after us. She checked with the original hostess, who then pointed to a completely different table INSIDE and said that was the table they were preparing for us. I pointed out that 15 minutes earlier, she had specifically told us we were waiting for the patio table. After that, they finally got someone to clean the table and seat us. The whole seating process felt disorganized and unnecessarily frustrating, especially because we kept being told we were about to be seated without anything actually happening. BUT THEN... Joseph came to the rescue! He was exactly the server we needed after that experience. Super attentive, genuinely friendly, and just had a great personality and sense of service. He kept our drinks filled, checked on us at the right times without hovering, and completely changed the mood of the meal. The food was great as always. We had the ceviche, which came with a sweet potato garnish that pleasantly surprised us. I got my usual Lomo Saltado and swapped the rice for garlic noodles. So good. Food: 5/5 Table service: 5/5 Host/seating experience: 1/5 Overall, this probably would have been around 3 stars for me, but Joseph absolutely bumped the experience to like 4 stars!

On a recent Sunday morning, I'd discovered this place (only open on Sundays) -- and determined we…read morewere heading there that evening! Enter the parking lot from Bake. Friendly, welcoming, professional, and attentive service. We ordered the following cocktails -- all beautifully presented, each with fine details (including clear ice cubes), passionately prepared, and with fun-&-uniquely different flavor profiles... unlike any cocktail we'd tasted: Last Cloud, $20 Warm Fade, $20 Kembu Highball, $18 Complimentary (warm) popcorn was appreciatively offered -- and refilled. I understand that the menu changes weekly. Dimly-lit, intimate bar with (if I'm not mistaken) 10 barstools at the bar top and limited seating (I seem to recall about 12) between high top and round tables. Fun to discover another speakeasy!

Such an amazing experience, easily the best cocktails I've had in years. The mixologist putting…read moretogether our drinks was like watching a true artist at work. He is very detail oriented, and you can definitely taste the complexity in the drinks. This speakeasy is open only on Sunday nights from 8pm-1am. There is a dj spinning music to set the mood. Parking is easy and right up front because most of the businesses are closed. I definitely recommend!

Honestly, eating at Nordstrom cafe is always a must for me where ever I go. Their cilantro lime…read moresalad is the best thing on the menu. Can't go wrong with their service - they're always nice, friendly and on point. The establishment is always clean and no funky smell. It's like your typical restaurant setting but in Nordstrom. I will always recommend coming here even if you're not shopping at Nordstrom.

Russello is an Italian inspired restaurant nested inside the Nordstrom…read more Ordered the following: Salmon Salad Fried Panko Breaded Chicken Salad Overall, the salads were pretty tasty and I enjoyed watching the half time show here! The service was friendly and quick.

Love this restaurant. Best vibes and ambiance. Dim, patio is super cute! I recommend sitting in the…read morepatio vs inside. The chorizo mussel clams steamer is so flavorful and good! Order an extra side of bread and dip it!! Perfect appy! Espresso martini was made to perfection. The filet was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Comes normally with fries but I got the garlic mashed potatoes instead. Service was great! Highly recommend this spot! Great for dates, girls date night and it's the perfect vibe!

I want to begin with an important distinction: my two-star rating is not meant to suggest that the…read morefood was terrible, the service was bad, or the restaurant unpleasant. It reflects something a little harder to quantify: value. The amount a restaurant asks me to pay inevitably creates a certain expectation. Food, service, atmosphere and price don't exist independently of one another; they form a package. And for me, the package simply didn't come together here. There were things I genuinely liked. We sat outside, beneath a corrugated metal covering, and I actually enjoyed the design of the space. The tables and chairs are a refreshing departure from the polished, corporate, "haven't I seen this in twelve other restaurants?" look. And the candle wall at the far end of the patio is simply wonderful--warm, cozy and genuinely beautiful. Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the setting or the prices. We each had a beer: an 11.16-ounce can for $10. It was cold, fresh and perfectly drinkable. It also wasn't particularly good. Obviously, the restaurant didn't brew it, but ultimately they chose it, priced it and served it. We also shared the Chicken Empanadas ($18) and Mariscos Fritos ($22). The empanadas were... meh. Nothing particularly wrong with them, but nothing that made me want another one, either. The Mariscos Fritos were the bigger disappointment. The menu promises calamari and shrimp, although I honestly had trouble identifying much of either. There was plenty of fennel, which was far too raw for my taste, and the dish was a considerable distance from what I would describe as "cooked to perfection." And I want to be fair here: nothing tasted spoiled. Nothing appeared to have been fried in old oil. Nothing was inedible. We finished the plate. It simply wasn't enjoyable. The service was perfectly fine and, frankly, perfectly forgettable--and I don't necessarily mean that as criticism. Good service can be a little like music in a movie: sometimes you barely notice it, but you'd certainly notice if it weren't there. Nothing about the service bothered me, and nothing particularly stood out. What finally crystallized my feelings was looking to my right from our table and seeing a parking lot. At one point I was being blinded by the headlights of a car whose driver needed about four attempts to park. Had I been looking at the Caribbean Sea, I might have sipped my $10 canned beer, eaten my rather ordinary appetizers and thought, Well... I'm paying for the whole experience. But I wasn't looking at the Caribbean Sea. I was looking at a parking lot. And perhaps that's the best way I can explain the two stars. Two $10 beers and two appetizers brought us to $60 before tax and tip. That amount, by itself, doesn't offend me. I've happily spent similar amounts elsewhere and walked away thinking, Worth it. Here, I didn't. The food wasn't terrible. The service wasn't bad. The setting had some genuinely lovely touches. And the prices, considered in isolation, aren't outrageous. They simply didn't belong together. For what we ate, where we ate it, and the overall experience we received, I left feeling that what I had paid and what I had received were too far apart. And ultimately, that's what I'm rating.

We were going to OCMA so my friend suggested we dine at Verdant which is in the museum, or at least…read moreit used to be. We checked in at the museum front desk and my friend said we were going up to restaurant on the third floor. The person at the desk said they moved it and it was on the first floor now. She pointed over to what I knew to be the snack bar that had been there since opening. We went over and sure enough it was just drinks snacks and a few pre-packaged light meals. I have to guess they just quietly went away.

I'd like to start out by thanking our server, Christian for being very accommodating and helping us…read moreout on Sunday! I had made a reservation online for 6 people at 12:30pm and my reservation was accepted. When we got to the museum, we were told the restaurant was closing at 12:30pm and I felt very upset. Why was the reservation accepted then? When I got to Verdant, there was no one in sight. The restaurant was empty and there was 1 other party, but no staff. I actually ended up making my way near the kitchen, and that's where I found Christian, who appeared really busy. He explained that they had a wedding later that day and had to close at 1pm for set up. He still sat our party and was very kind, accommodating and helpful. He gave me a great tip and said when making cafe reservations, it's best to call ahead, because they do sometimes have event buy outs. As far as the ambiance, it is a really beautiful space. But, it was SO cold. It seemed like the AC was on full blast. The food was pretty good, but the menu seemed to change since I was there last.

Had a great time on Sunday! The bartender Sarah was so cool. Very attentive and chill vibes. Then…read morethe karaoke night was great too. 10/10

We love Kitsch Bar and have always had a good time here, which is why this was so disappointing…read more The bartender, Sofia, completely ruined the vibe for us. She was rude and came off really disrespectful, and at one point said things that felt degrading. It made my boyfriend so uncomfortable that he actually left and went outside just to get away from it. Instead of calming things down, she got more aggressive and tried to intimidate me and my friend into leaving. She straight up told us to go and wouldn't even let me finish my martini. I had a long week and just wanted to relax, and that moment felt so unnecessary and frustrating. We still love Kitsch Bar, but that experience with Sofia was not okay and definitely left a bad impression. Hopefully it's not something others have to deal with.

The great room is a restaurant within the Weston. It's got a casual but ups ale type vibe. I had…read morebreakfast there and it was on point. I had the classic American breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and sourdough toast. The servers were attentive without being too present. I always appreciate that. I'd come back tomorrow if I was staying another night.

Brunch at The Great Room in Costa Mesa was such a classy casual vibe. The ambience feels modern and…read morerelaxed, and we had a lovely view of the fountain outside which made everything feel a little more elevated and serene. We ordered the Lox and Bagel with smoked salmon, capers, cream cheese, pickled red onions, fresh dill, and sun dried roasted tomatoes. The salmon was fresh and silky, and I loved the brightness from the pickled onions and dill. The roasted tomatoes added a nice depth of flavor. I also had the white crab white omelette with spinach and substituted the fruit for hash browns. The omelette was light and fluffy, and the crab added a subtle sweetness. The hash browns were crispy and satisfying. Cappuccinos were great, rich, smooth, and perfectly foamy. Just note they are nine dollars each, which feels a little steep, but they were well made. Service was pretty good overall, attentive and friendly without being overbearing. Overall, a solid four stars. Great atmosphere, quality brunch options, and a polished setting that feels perfect for a relaxed weekend catch up. I would come back for the vibes and the cappuccino.

We made a reservation at Pioneer and really enjoyed this little spot! It's tucked inside a diner,…read moreso it can be a little hard to find at first, but it's just inside the back patio area with a cute wooden saloon-door entrance. The space is small, cozy, and intimate with just a few tables. Our waitress was super friendly and took the time to explain the menu and different options to us. - Guava Y Queso (4.5/5): I loved this! It was really unique with the cream cheese topping, but the combination worked so well. Definitely a fun spot for cocktails and something a little different!

This place is well hidden, but unfortunately the experience was ruined by how rude and dismissive…read morethe employees were. I asked about seating for two and was simply told to wait outside with no explanation. After 15 minutes, I asked for an update and was again given a vague, dismissive response. Why not give a yes or no answer to whether accommodations can be made? There were several parties waiting in the brightly lit hallway with no A/C, despite plenty of tables seemingly available. At one point, another party peeked inside and a young kid employee with an Afro came out and rudely waved his hands in a "what do you want" manner without saying a word. Two waiting parties immediately left, and we decided to do the same after witnessing that. Another party with a reservation waiting told us this happens regularly and that the staff can be rude. Whether that's their normal practice or not, it was enough to make me not want to give this place my money. We ended up going to two other bars nearby that the one party waiting there recommended and had a completely opposite experience, welcoming and respectful. Definitely disappointing and don't recommend wasting your time as there's so many other places to try.