Great place for pool if you live within walking distance like I do. Pao has been there forever. They have a dollar table and free darts. Shuffle board if that floats your boat.
Not really the place to watch a game. The place is silent if no one is putting money in the jukebox. Pool by the hour its kinda expensive, but it is at all pool halls. Not usually very crowded.
But the location (for me) along with the games make this my go to establishment.
For me, this place rocks for me as I'm a pool player. Â I get reasonable pitchers of beer (was $8.00 this Sunday), tasty food (the house special fried rice and the club sandwich were both yummy!) and plenty of room to practice my pool game. Â It's really nice playing in a clean, decent-looking place with much better (and many more) quality pool tables than I usually find at a sports bar. Â There were a handful of customers there this Sunday afternoon during the football games, where loud & crowded sports bars were not on my radar. because the place is not so busy, you get peace and more quiet and can focus on your game.
This place rocks with quality for playing pool like some of the other nicer Orange County places like Danny K's in Orange and Classique Q in Costa Mesa; again, the food is yummy!
I'm glad the Blue Dolphin is near my home or I'd be driving a lot further to go to a nice place to play pool!
i guess it is kind of dive-y but for Dana Point this place is awesome if your hanging with a buddy, some fellas or even your girl. Compared to Turk's or other places where  old guys kick it & love to harass anyone under 30, you aren't going to get harassed and can do your own thing. Drinks are made stiff which is great. Pao, is probably one of the best bartenders around, a little respect goes a long way to the staff. If your a hipster it will probably seem a little dead inside just like your soul.
Review Source:I would have given them two stars, but I love shuffleboard so that pushed them up to three. And they do have cheap, strong drinks.
I went there on a Saturday night around 8 and it was totally dead. It's a huge place with a ton of pool tables, darts and I think there was even Foosball. It was awkward being there with it so empty, and the bartender still took forever. Maybe it gets crowded later? Not sure. There's an upstairs too that we didn't venture to.
If you want a super low-key place to play pool with friends this is a good spot... just bring a LOT of friends cause you might be the only ones there. I probably won't be back.
15 years, maybe ? 10 for sure ...
It is a POOL HALL. Good drinks. Fairly priced. Decent food.
4 1/2 x 9' tournament tables. Average prices by the hour.
One coin op table.
Tables are fast & well maintained.
Never a wait. Plenty of parking.
You get served according to your attitude.
Mostly locals - but be nice - strike up a conversation
while waiting for the bartender. He is cool - just takes a while
to become familiar. As it is in every local watering hole/pool hall.
Jukebox tunes could use some updating.
LOVE THIS PLACE - as it is at the beach.
Only Danny K's in Orange is better or Yankee Doodles in Long Beach.
It is a safe place to play billiards in a relaxing atmosphere with strong drinks & some decent food. POOL HALL ... remember that.
The Blue Dolphin is a good size billiards hall with decent bar food. "Restaurant" is a stretch. Lots of pool tables, few TV's, and a jukebox with a weak song selection. The place always seems to be dead and is run down looking on the inside. If Hennesy's had a few pool tables this place would be out of business.
Review Source:For those of you expecting a 5 star restaurant atmosphere, lol, remember you are going to a pool bar!!...not the Montage. The prices will reflect this.
But actually I thought it was clean, the jukebox upstairs had a large selection (up to you to choose good songs), the waitress was very nice and the food was actually very surprisingly delicious. The last bit was quite surprising. I had the house special lo mein and it was awesome. Not just saying that. Delicious!! My friend had the California avocado burger and she loved it.
I liked that they also had darts.
Parking is easy. I doubt you'd have to wait for a table, though it start to get a little busy later in the night.
My reply to Gina...
If you read my review again you'll see I DID go inside this establishment. Because two recent reviewers gave this place 5 stars, I went back the other night just to see if I was really being fair.
I had a drink at the bar, hung out for a while, and frankly my opinion has not changed. I think Veronica A's adjectives nailed it...It's dive-y (not in a good way) and dirty and sketchy.
You must take this place for what it is and nothing more. Â It's a pool hall...plain and simple. Â
If you like pool and decent priced drinks (about $4 to $5 for a beer or well drink), you may want to check it out. Â It's definitely not a place to be seen or meet people. Â If you want that you will find Hennessey's two blocks down. Â
The Blue Dolphin is a fun place to go with a group of friends. Â They have billiards, darts, megatouch and an internet-based jute box. Â There is also a decent sized patio but you can only bring your drinks outside till 11 p.m. due to noise ordinances. Â The only bar tender I've ever seen there, Pao, is attentive and polite.
I haven't been here in a long time and I don't plan on going back anytime soon. Its dive-y and dirty and sketchy in not a good way. This place is HORRIBLE! The bartenders are all horribly rude. Their drinks are very weak that I doubt they even put ANY alcohol in them.. This place is only good if you love pool. Its got at least 8 tables upstairs and 4 or 5 down stairs. The cocktail waitresses are okay for a place like this. I wouldn't go as far as saying they are "good" at their job or friendly. Compared to the douche bag bartenders everyone is nice.
Don't go here unless you LOVE LOVE LOVE pool. Its a huge waste of time.
Blue Dolphin is a great place for pool. That's about it. Its a divey type bar with a ton of pool tables and is NEVER packed. There is a reason. The bar tenders are all EXTREMELY rude, the drinks are weak, and the ditsy waitresses are slow, forgetful and annoying. Every time I have been dragged here I get charged for drinks that I didn't have, food I didn't order and was VERY rudely told by the server that it wasn't her fault that my tab had been messed up. Mind you, this happened EVERY time I have been here. (8+ times) Â If you like pool and do not plan on drinking, this place is great. If you do want to drink, be prepared to pay WAY too much for a weak drink and HORRIBLE service.
Review Source:This isn't a place I'd go to out of my own desires, I went here for a Birthday party. It's all right, it's a pool hall, bar, has some tvs and they have a menu of items from pizza to burgers and Chinese. The tunes people were choosing on the jukebox were not good and one of our friends saved the day by making some selections. I was surprised and relieved to hear Morrissey's "Hairdresser on Fire." Surprised that they had that song on the jukebox, surprised that someone other than me picked it and relieved to hear a good song. My fiance's friend has good taste in music, it seems.
The Cheeseburger I ordered was okay but I didn't eat it all. The steak fries that came with were better, those were easily consumed. Pool tables weren't bad. The place was not crowded, and it was a Saturday night. Our waitress was nice. I won the last pool game.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
