What a lively and happy place!!!! We dined at Vaca for the third time and the service and quality have been consistently good. I feel like I am in Barcelona. Going again soon for drinks before a show - it's honesty a 3-minute walk to Segerstrom and that's a big plus! read more

First time visit Saturday night and last time visit also. Wow! We are a fan of Amar's other restaurant in Laguna Beach but this one is just not good. My wife and I started with the order of "ERIZOS CON HUEVO" which is the sea urchin with egg and miso toast. Our Sea Urchin was slightly smaller than a tennis ball and was filled with mostly flavorless and unseasoned runny scrambled egg. There was really no hint of any uni in it and was flavorless. The miso toast did not have any hints of miso in it. We were expecting some sort of umami flavor from this small plate but all we really got was the most expensive runny scramble egg and toast points for $16.00. Next we ordered the "PIQUILLO RELLENO". The best way to describe this is being 3 deep fried puff balls stuffed with goat cheese and ricotta cheese. This too was flavorless and not worth the money spent. After the bland tasting small plates, my wife and I decided to order more entrée types of dishes and figured that they couldn't be as flat and flavorless as what we just had. My wife ordered the "PAELLA DE MARISCOS" and I ordered the "BEEF RIB STEAK" which is their 50+ day dry aged $55.00 per pound steak. Our server said the smallest cut they had was 1 pound 10 ounces and I said no problem bring it on. He said the chef recommends it being cooked at medium rare...I said that's how I like it. About 20 minutes later our entrees are served and my steak is charred and mostly black on the outside and pre-sliced by the chef. I figured it was because it was 1 1/2" think and the inside would be perfectly pink with a medium red center. NOPE! The center was medium well and grey in the middle. The first bite was like biting into a salt lick. I gave my wife a bite and the look on her face was obvious and she said "SALTY". Now I probably should have said something to our server but after waiting 20 minutes for our dishes, there is no way I'm going to wait another 10 - 15 minutes for them to fire up another thick steak while my wife finishes her dinner. I ended up tossing a pound of the steak away and wrote it off as not to come back here again. My wife's paella came with the shellfish and rice overcooked to where the rice was a dark brown, almost black color. It did not have that nice yellow color and saffron like traditional Spanish seafood paella comes with. I wish I took some pictures to show. I tried one of the clams and the meat was like chewing gum. Her dish was super salty too. She just ate what she could of the overcooked seafood. What a paradox compared to the flavorless small plates. At this point we just wanted to get out of there. The only thing that was good was the bottle of Spanish red wine we ordered and my side of grilled asparagus. As we were exiting, my wife said she saw one of the chefs seasoning a steak with a half of handful of salt and not a good pinch or two like one would normally do to season a piece of meat. After spending $330.00 (tip not included), I would not recommend going here. The only reason why you received 2 stars instead of 1 is because the wine was good as well as the grilled asparagus and the bussers kept our water glasses filled. Sorry Amar...no bueno at this restaurant. read more

Don't believe the hype. It's a good atmosphere for cocktails but the food is average at best - I went in with high expectations because of the great reviews and left sorely disappointed. The piquillo relleno gets 4 stars but the rest of the tapas completely lacked flavor. read more

I really enjoyed this place! Great place with a lot of energy. Not loud but not one of those overly serious, quiet restaurants. We only had some tapas and a cocktail but they were really great! We got the bone marrow which was delicious, a cheese platter, these small sandwiches and the chicken with the foie gras sauce which was AMAZING. We'll be coming back here soon! Gotta try a steak. read more

Not a bad dining experience, somewhat ruined by a valet driver that seemed to value a few seconds of time over our vehicles transmission... as evidenced by him slamming it into park before the vehicle had stopped resulting in a terrible grinding sound I've never heard our gl450 make before. This was after an almost comical acceleration on the car just before us... comical because I thought it was accidental, before I noticed the pattern. The guy was in a hurry to get somewhere else and could care less about our vehicles (maybe we were the last ones in valet, not sure). To top it off, you don't even have the option to self park there, you must pay them to abuse your car in order to buy a good if mildly overpriced dinner there. read more

They have the best paellas! very authentic, huge in portion and great tasting. The restaurant is owned by Amur Santana from Top Chef. You cannot go wrong with ordering anything on their tapas menu, I especially love the jamón de pat (duck ham). Their menu is a bit hard to understand because the title of every dish is in Spanish, but there are small sub texts below each dish that explains what it is. read more

I cannot give more than 1 star for two simple reasons: a good restaurant gotta back up their prices with QUALITY, no with location. A good restaurant do not charge for TAP WATER....( they said it was triple filtered...who cares TAP WATER). The meat paella cost about U$ 40... A plate that does even have meat or even worse does not taste like paella...U$ 13.00 for a glass of wine ( from a bottle that cost U$ 14.00 retail ), we ate 3 appetizers ( tapas) 2 glasses of wine, 1 cream bulee , 2 drinks...check= U$160.00....again the problem is not how expensive it was...the problem is that the food is not even worth 50-60 bucks. Super over priced restaurant. Still looking for a good paella place. read more

I called and booked a reservation for New Year Eve, and when me and my husband arrived they had no record of my reservation. Be careful this place always over books, you may be seating at the bar or outside in the cold read more

ive been meaning to try vaca since fall of 2016 but i've no friends who are down to drop a bill for dinner. that is until this past saturday!! friend and I ordered paella, brussel sprouts, braised pork, & albondigas. all the food was melt in your mouth delicious!! the best paella i've ever tried and came with a thigh & drumstick portion of duck. our tapas of braised pork & albondigas was also equally good! lastly, the brussel sprouts was tasty and came with mini chopped chorizo (?) -gave it a nice touch! vaca is also known for their gin & tonic drink specialities which wasnt an issue for me, given my allegiance to the drink. had 2 glasses of the vaca tonic because im that much of a fan. also tried the drink with grapefruit tonic, 10/10. ended our night with a bottle of wine and yeaaaah had a very boooozy dinner with superb food! cant wait to come back to vaca!! read more

I've been wanting to try this place since I heard about it and had the pleasure to on Valentine's Day! The atmosphere is really hip. Nice bar area as you walk in and then a decent amount of tables. I was expecting the restaurant would be a little bigger, but they make it work. We wanted to try a few different tapas, so didn't even make it to the entrees. Out of the ones we tried, I'd have to say my personal favorites were the Rabo De Toro (Oxtail) 10/10! - very tender meat and tasty sauce, Higado de Pato (Foie Gras) 8/10 - went surprisingly well with the fruity sauce, and Albondigas (Lamb Meatballs) 8/10 - nice combination of flavors. I thought the Pulpo a la Gallega (Octopus and Potatoes) 7/10 was okay. Bikini Sandwich 7/10 is tasty but mostly bread and not worth the money imo. Carne Cruda (Beef tartar) 2/10 is something you have to be mentally prepared for if you aren't that accustomed to raw meat. Service is really attentive and friendly. Overall great experience! The menu has many intriguing dishes and it's a fun vibe, so I will definitely return and recommend it. Excited to try their paellas and steaks sometime. read more

Great food and great cocktails. I loved the Brussels sprouts and the erizos. But the tuna tartare was so so. A bit bland, nothing special to it. When I come back it will be for the paella and the charcuterie. It looked awesome. Can't wait to bring more friends. read more

Went here on a date. The ambiance, tapas, and service are all wonderful here. Loved the sea urchin!

Visited a second time after really enjoying the appetizers and paella the first time. Went overboard and ordered the 32 oz. Tomahawk Prime steak for $110. Came to our table barely cooked, sent back, and we were shocked to find about 12 oz. of beef, and probably a 20 oz. bone. Very disappointed for the price. Stick with the paella. read more

Dissapointing. Food was average at best. For the price you would hope to be wowed. Not authentic Spanish food. Service mediocre, drinks took forever to get to us. Tables are way too close to each other, zero privacy in your conversations and impossible to get out of the booth without moving the table. No bread is served with your tapas, really like I ordered the foie gras and cheeses and cured meats and they bring you no bread. When you ask for it, they look at you weird. Several minutes after they bring you a couple of pieces. We had to ask for bread again. They charged $4 per portion of bread, wow. I will say if you have ever been to Spain, please save yourself the biggest disappointment of your life, do not go to this restaurant. Overpriced, pretentious and unauthentic. read more

Very delicious steak. The only issue we experienced was too noisy inside; we should sit outside for easier chatting with friends.

Amazing food I ordered the 8oz aged filet. Got side of potatoes with Brussels sprouts. Everything tasted amazing. Highly recommend.

Ordered seafood paella, sea urchin, oxtail, patatas bravas, and pan con tomate. Everything was really good, vibe was amazing and a good addition to the oc scene, and the drinks were solid. Amar was actually in tonight and the owners checked in with us which gave us that fuzzy feeling. We are adding this to our list to go back in the future! read more

Vaca - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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All around great ambiance. Some type of ethnic music playing, clean environment, and not smelly whatsoever. The tile is white pentagons (fairly common), and the walls are white rectangular tiles. Great lighting and artistic tiles outlining the mirror and center lining of the white rectangle walls. The sink is automatic but does not waste too much water. The soap is a nice lavender scented liquid, in a home style bottle. The mirror is big and clear and the sink is nice and surrounded by a nice marble-looking material with no junk underneath. Vaca has an American standard urinal and toilet with toto flushing. The only downside would be that employees also use the restroom. No bathroom attendant, however the paper towel dispenser is indeed of high quality. Another positive feature is the light switch which featured more options than I could have ever imagined for a restaurant bathroom. I have to give Vaca's bathroom a five star all around. read more

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Check the charges to your VISA account. Our charge for Vaca did not show up until two weeks later (a few days seems to be the norm), and the tip was 2x what we entered (and what we had entered was very legible.) The food is excellent. It's too bad that someone is skimming money from their clientele. read more

Food was pretty good, but portions were pretty small. We were with a group of 8, so as we were trying all the small plates, we were only able to get a small taste, even though we go double and triple orders of each dish. The drinks were really good, as was the wine. I think I would have given higher stars, but I had just gotten my new car detailed that day and when I picked it up, the valet had left it right by the sprinklers and there were water stains all over car. I thought this was not very smart for such a nice restaurant with valet parking. read more

This place is okay.... Nothing too special. Food was lack luster and the drinks were just ok. Wouldn't recommend it but wouldn't disavow.

Incredibly disappointed in their food. Service was ok, but the food is way overpriced. The NY strip I ordered was pre-cut and unseasoned. It literally had no taste to it. The paella we ordered was dry, and distasteful. However, in this review, I actually start with the main course on a positive note. We ordered Moët champagne, at 26usd a glass, that is half of what a bottle costs! Then we got tapas as starters. The patatas bravas were too fat and over fried. They were drowned in sauce and anyone that has been to Spain knows that it's spicy, but not a tastebud destroyer. We also ordered heavily overpriced Jamon Iberico, Which again tasted blend. They topped it off with the scallops which were so Salt that you couldn't taste the actual scallop anymore. Bill total: 360usd. Half of a ticket to Barcelona in low season. We think that the only reason people go here is because of the ambiance. It makes it seem like a cool place, but if you're looking for authentic Spanish food, or even just great tasting food don't try here. read more

I wouldn't go back o that place. The small dishes that I tested were average at most. No richness of spices. Pretty simple, nothing that I wouldn't prepare easily at home. How ever, inflated prices. But to charge $27 for a Cornish ham that was small, and not fully cooked and came naked on the plate was the epidemic of pretentioness... I returned it. It was in the dinner plate lists and I think it's a shame to serve a main dish this way. It's not close even to its kind of restaurant like play ground or Kia, etc. charge a dollar for cup of water is unheard off here. It's not Europe. Not yet how ever.. read more

OK ,.. How can I make this short & sweet. I want to save other people (victims) from the horns of VACA. Other than the very nice waiter, this place is an INSULT. The food mediocre with microscopic portions and astronomical prices, I am NOT exaggerating. The paellas would be ok if they ACTUALLY had RICE in them, What a total RIP OFF. If you are a snob who thinks you know good food just because its expensive then you're the perfect IDIOT for this place. If you're a normal person who enjoys going to dinner without being ROBBED then STAY AWAY. Again other that the really cool waiter at our table, I would only go back to ask for my hard earned money back. read more

If looking for a great atmosphere amongst the business area within the south coast metro area in Costs Mesa, Vaca is a perfect location. However, the food we found to be below mediocre and the price point is unexplainably high considering the portion size. The convenience of valet parking is awesome but even the price for this service is beyond outrageous. We will not be coming back. read more

Overall I was a fan of the food and the service. We had duck proscuitto which was fantastic, all the tapas were pretty good in fact. So why the 3 stars? Two things kind of ruined this place for me. #1- tables are way too close together so you can hear everyone's conversation and that makes it hard ot have your own conversation. #2- when this place was being written about there was plenty of talk of "kobe beef" being on the menu. Well I checked and this place isn't listed as an authorized seller of true Kobe Beef on Japan's Kobe Beef Association website (only 9 US restuarants are listed as licensed by them). Doesn't stop them from charging $18 an ounce though. Now I wonder what we were paying for. There are other places in the area with equally good food but less pricey and more privacy at your table. Too bad as I love Amar's other place, Broadway. read more

Came here with my co workers. The staff is by far the most inviting and welcome crew. We were given complimentary appetizers, the bikini sandwich and the roaster Brussels sprouts, and constant assistance. My party ordered the delicious paella. And I got the salmon salad in which the salad was grilled to perfection. I will be coming back! read more

I want to give this place a raving review but can't for some fundamental reasons. i have dined here twice- once at the bar and once at a table top so i'd like to think i can give a qualified review PROS- -service is extremely good where tables were cleaned, wines were poured when empty, servers were extremely kind and attentive. we absolutely loved the service! -the meats are amazing and one of the highest quality meats around OC... and also perfectly cooked so the kitchen knows their stuff. -menu is varied so lots of options and the tapas are good, but their meat is the shining unreachable star of the menu. -we had my daughters birthday there and even though i didn't mention it, the servers noticed and had a complimentary banana bread dessert with a candle too which i genuinely appreciated. CONS- -extremely expensive (which is okay sometimes) for food and average cocktail is $13-$14. however they do have a lunch menu that is reasonable. -they charge $1 for each WATER!!!!!!!! and that's still water!!! wtf? the last time i got charged for water was at the $1.99 restaurant, not where i paid nearly $150 for a steak. are you kidding me? i know it's just a $1 but still! -i asked for bread and got charged $2 for a side of bread... and again I know it's just $2 but come on i have been to plenty of fine dining restaurants where bread is just complimentary... nope not Vaca they want your $2 as well as $150. -i told them over the phone when i made reservations i had a baby and she said she would make note i had a baby. when i arrived at the restaurant they're like oh sorry we don't have high chairs, not that they're in use or we don't have them yet... they just don't have high chairs at all. omg you're in orange county!! plus if you don't have high chairs, you could've at least told me over the phone and i would've had a portable high chair. i don't mind paying for expensive food if the service and food is good, but just the small petty issues that were beyond service or kitchen control left a really bad taste in my mouth. what could've been an amazing dining experience left me feeling like Vaca tried to say i didn't give them enough money and snuffed me for it when I already happily gave them hundreds of my dollars. for that I will definitely eat elsewhere. read more

Excellent steak, great service. I also enjoy the ambience. Get the meatball appetizers. Delish

For a restaurant at this price point, it's all about the total experience - the food, the decor/atmosphere and the service. The food was amazing. The decor/atmosphere was super trendy. The service, now let's talk about that portion... our server never engaged with us. I complimented two items that we ordered. I said "the steak was amazing one of the best in town" and I also said "this is the best flan I've had hands down". To which he replied "okay" and walked away. He also never checked on how we were enjoying our food. After he cleaned our table post main course, we had to flag him down to get a dessert menu after 10 minutes of having an empty table. I'm sorry but a proper server should have asked something like "any room for dessert?" or something of that nature. It seems like the servers here are just there for a job. They lack passion or interest for food which is a requirement when you're employed in a restaurant of this caliber. I honestly had more engaging conversations at my local Starbucks whenever I order coffee. Fortunately like I said above, the food was amazing and for most people that's all that matters but not for me. To the head chef and the managers please fix this so you can be OCs premier restaurant deserving of a 5 star. read more

Great place and atmosphere. Food was great as well. However, way overpriced for the quantity of food received. One of us ordered a mojito,it was 13$ outrageous. Flan for dessert was very excellent however,the size of a small cupcake it was 7$. One thing I found very off putting as well was they charge you for water 1$ a glass. Valet parking is 7$as well. I don't mind paying for quality and value but Vaca was not there. This would not be my recommendation for Tapas or Spanish cuisine in Orange County. I do have a way better recommendation in mind if anyone is interested send me a message and I will let you know what it is. read more

The food was great! Not all of the tapas were my favorite but it was an experience I won't forget! I definitely recommend coming here, grabbing a cocktail, tapas, and steak! I got the vaca tonic, their original drink, and it was super delicious and refreshing! There's a chicken tapas dish that was to die for! The steak was great, but not the best I've had. Overall, I enjoyed my experience and recommend it to all! read more

Busy and hip place. Reservation highly recommended. Good valet service at $7. Some dishes were ok to mediocre as we tried about 8-9 plates throughout their menu. I get its a tapas place, but the large dishes were on the slim side. Small pours too. Decent appetizers, our 3 lb steak was severely undercooked for a medium rare. Can't say it was memorable experience. Left wishing for more after a $400 bill. :/ read more

Great food, great service, a lot of parking nearby - FREE and GREAT Sangrias

way overprice!!!!!!. dessert leche was awful and the portion is very ,very,very small. the cake was dry and berries was not sweet. normal leche has soft firm cake with condense milk. meatball was too salty . prosciutto was tasteless. for cheese lover, they offer a lot of choices. dont expect to lose weights on this stuff.the churros and beet salad was too small to. i could tell any different on a 2. 4 lbs dry age steak. it has a small bar seat about 20 , small restroom, and small dining area.it a tight squeeze area. employee uniform look like salvation army clothes. parking is valet only. dinner for 2 cost 310.00 read more

Vaca - DIFFERENT KIND OF STEAK - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Yummy tapes, the cappuccino perfect the tres leache Cake was a little stale but even with that it was goodjust not as good as the last I would definitely recommend this place just know it's a little pricey but well worth it love the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts also read more

Love the tapas and the variety menu. There is something for everyone's tastes. Made me feel I was back in Barcelona enjoying a meal with my family. Try the signature VACA drink, their take of a gin & tonic. Definitely go back to try the rest of the menu. Service was great too, with everyone making sure you were helped and enjoying your meal. read more

This place was amazing.........Beautiful setting, wonderfull food, great service......ill be coming back for more of the octopus and the goose liver.......so good read more

We went here for our 17th Wedding Anniversary. We knew that the prices would be high however we justified it because of the special day. We now wish we went to good ol' Harvey's Steakhouse. The corn nuts were the best item we ate. My seafood paella was burnt, lacked the luster of the photo; clams were teeny tiny, no octopus and no flavor. My husbands steak was good, however 4 oz. was $90!!!!! We will not be back. read more

Poor service - absent and unknowledgeable staff, underwhelming food, one of two cocktails were sent back, overpriced, under seasoned, bland tasteless food, total disappointment. This was surprising as we love Broadway! We will not be returning to Vaca. The shocker... Amar was at the restaurant that night and obviously the back house staff was just as bad as the front house staff. Perhaps a training issue, but for the prices these kinks should have long worked out by now. Lastly, thank goodness we were in the patio and had some room to spread our elbows as I would have felt claustrophobic sitting inside. read more