Wonderful food, excellent drink selection, halfway service, very poor display of professionalism.... Unfortunately, service is key. I'll return when I think this has improved.
I love the food here and I'm a huge fan of the drink selection as many of the martinis are made with raw, wholesome fruits; additionally, they aren't  too sweet, and generally have the perfect liquor to natural flavor ratio. Happy hour ROCKS my socks off! Also, the ambiance is dead on for a luxurious, high-end feel: a warm, dimly lit lounge with cozy couches, classes drapes, and the integration of modern, one-of-a-kind decor to boot!
I had stopped in to drop off a resume and speak to the owner/manager as I was looking for extra, part time (may I add unnecessary) work while in school to support my ridiculous shoe fetish! This bar/restaurant is almost always busy and from what I have been able to collect they have accrued numerous returning patrons. That's why I was astonished to hear and see the manager treat one of the employees with blatant disrespect and complete disregard for customers as I was sitting at the bar attempting to enjoy my food and drink... There was little done to prevent this aggressive display from leaking to customers. In fact, I was floored by the bold nature of the manager in her harsh tone taken in front of everyone nearby. This lead me to think that the manger - whom doubled as bartender - had little concern for the customers who were forced to observe the exchange which occurred more than once - given many were drunk and didn't seem to care or notice. Shouts like "FOR THE EIGHTIETH TIME I TOLD YOU TO..." directed towards one young gal (a front of house staff member), were both entirely unprofessional and made me feel like this may not be the classy, fun environment I thought it was...
It's unfortunate that just one incident such as this can completely turn off a once loyal, returning customer. I know for certain that I wasn't the only customer staring at the bold exchange between manager and employee. I was temped to ask for my resume back, but instead I kept quiet and laid my credit card out. I waited for several minutes readying myself for payment. The manager, either too busy hollering at the employee, or chitchatting with the drunk customers opposite of me, never came back after I received my food and drink. Perhaps because I gave her my resume? She must have forgotten that I too am a customer. A tentative employee, a young man with dark curly hair, eventually made his way over and took care of my check. I hope he received part or all of the tip.
Dropped in for Happy Hour. Pleasantly surprised.
Raspberry Mojitos had the right tart from using real raspberries. The second drink I think was a cucumber martini... I'll have to check with my friend. This was also solid. No regrets. Great drinks.
Also love the staff made wine bottle chandeliers!
Love this place! Best happy hour in so county! The only time I've seen a crowd here was on a Friday night but business is steady other times and the food is consistently great -- ask about daily soups and specials but again, you can't beat their happy hour for price and selection. Check the schedule to see when live music is playing but really, there's no bad time to go.
Review Source:Decided late to go out on Valentine's Day and Luxe had a table available at 8, Â We went a little early and were seated right away. Â Ordered cocktails (the cucumber martini was great!) and split a wedge salad. Â They offered to split it onto two plates which was nice. Â So we were about a third of the way through our cocktails and not quite done with the salads when our entrees came out. Â We were so annoyed. Â That is my biggest pet peeve about restaurants. Â So why does Luxe get a 5? Â Because the owner (Jimmy) saw our distress and came over to find out what was wrong. Â Once he understood, he insisted on having the entrees taken away and redoing them when we were ready. Â How amazing is that? Â We ordered a bottle of wine and relaxed and ordered the entrees when we were ready. Â They came out promptly - fresh and hot. Â The yellowtail snapper was flash friend and tender and yummy. Â And to top it off, they brought us after dinner drinks on the house. Â Good thing we were walking (or stumbling) home! Â What could have been a disaster turned out to be a wonderful night. Â Thanks, Jimmy and Mikhala (I hope I spelled that right) for making it a memorable night!
Review Source:Nice place but they overcharged me by almost 35%
So, Â My wife and I had a total of 3 glasses of wine and an appetizer. Â When paying the bill it seemed higher than expected so I asked for an itemized receipt. Â It seems they couldn't give me one and when explaining the cost it didn't add up by the servers own calculations. Â Our friends were leaving and in a bit of a hurry to leave we just paid the bill that was about $9.00 more than it should have been. Â Because of the extra charge and no explanation or itemized receipt there was no tip added to the 'tip' line on the CC receipt.
Now,,, it seems that on the CC online statement Luxe added a 20% tip making for not only being overcharged $9.00 but they also changed the signed receipt (isn't that illegal?) and added an additional $9.00. Â
The wine was good, the appetizer was fine, the atmosphere was fine as well.  The price ?  Not important.  The the practice of a shell game on your money  is!
Will I go again! Â Cash only.
Happy Hour seven days a week is a plus. We chose small plates instead and found food ample and good. Service was adequate. Pricing is comparable to other places in the area.
Noise level is LOUD. The place has bare cement like walls, so noisy music makes for shouting or no conversation at all. (and the place was not busy on this particular Sunday eve.) The unisex bathroom is down a hall apparently for the whole building and not well kept.
My wife and I popped in here on a whim last night using the great OpenTable mobile app.
Luxe is mostly a bar, but has a rather extensive bar and dining menu with both very moderately priced items and some at the other end of the spectrum.
Arriving at 6:30, Happy Hour was in full swing. Happy Hour (4-7pm) prices are honored in the bar only, but given the layout of Luxe, it is difficult to know where the bar ends and the restaurant begins. Â Suggest you ask. We were seated in the restaurant, had been given a bar menu by the host, but our server noticed that later and corrected it.
Regardless, there is a wide array of custom martinis, cocktails, wine and beer. My wife ordered a lemon drop martini, which she declared to be quite good, not the very best she's had, but extremely respectable. For some odd reason, I was in a Chardonnay mood last night and their offering was crisp, with an overview of oak, just to my liking. The first glass I was served could have been colder, but an ice cube from my water glass solved that.
(I know, ice in wine?!? Blasphemy! But the wine was full enough to handle it, my subsequent glass was served very cold).
We ordered three items from their small plates menu. I cannot imagine the portions from their large plates menu; the portions from the small plates section were ample, to say the least. Hungry people will not leave that way.
The garlic bread ($6) was first rate. Soft and crunchy at the same time, the bread had a garlic and fresh herb mixture spread on it, then baked or flat grilled to perfection. Definitely recommended!
The bruschetta sampler ($9) offers one of each of their bruschetta tapas, all were good, but the standout was the traditional topped with a garlicky tomato and herb mixture.
The sausage and peppers ($9) are sauteed with penne pasta and a very adequate marinara sauce that would give many Italian restaurants a run for their money. I would return if only for that dish, it is a favorite entree of mine and at Luxe, they do a very good job with it. Again, the "small plate" portion was more than satisfying.
Service was perfect, staff is well trained and very friendly, manager roams the floor to ensure all is well, smiles abound. People obviously enjoy working there.
There was a four piece jazz combo playing the entire time; very young and accomplished musicians who were really terrific. Apparently, Luxe employs local musicians during Happy Hour.
Wonderful restaurant! Â The wait staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. Â Food was tastily prepared and attractively presented. Â The restaurant is not suitable for a quiet, romantic dinner, because the noise level is pretty high. Â There is a combo playing great music, but it is rather loud.. Â There is a wonderful bar with good happy hour prices. Â I will definitely return.
Review Source:I really wish a Chef would come to the OC and just 'bring it" and master both mixology and tapas. Is it that hard?
Here's the run down on the small and sharing plates menues:
The Good: Â Flatbread Toscana. Descent flat bread. Good crispy crust that held up to cheeses, mushrooms and onions. All sweat badly and sometimes make soggy crust. But execution was very good. But most foodies could make this at home.
The filet was prepared to order: Medium. Not my choice, but I was sharing. The so called 'demi glace' was not authentic. It definitely was instant powdered or prepared. Very generic no richness of the veal stock. Scant salt detected on the 'salt roasted' potatoes = sweet fingerlings. They don't pair well with unseasoned filet and faux demi glace.
The Bad: Mediterannean Share Platter - Fail. Baba Ganoush was whipped! Â This is a recurring theme here. The Baba was so unauthentic. Had no texture, no flavor profile. I expected garlic, tahini, etc... nadda. The psudo-shirazi salad of cucumber and tomato lacked any acid. Needed lemon juice, garlic, etc. Â Hummus, meh. Trader Joe's has better. The kalamata olives and feta were good. But yogurt dip was flat. Should be tart and savory - dill and mint made it tast like Milk of Magnesia. None of these items were "Mediterannean".
Stuffed Mushrooms - Unevenly baked and tepid in the middle. Could not tell there was lump crab in there. It was all mush. The bread crumb stuffing was all I could detect. Â We didn't even finish these.
Spicy Tuna Tartar - It looked pretty. But could not detect ANY spice in the tuna. and, the cucumbers were unseasoned and finely minced. Boring. The topping was an avocado mousse. Yes, I said avocado mousse. More mush.  My reco: spice the tuna with chili paste, marinade cucumbers in rice wine vinegar, garlic and shallots and don't mousse the avocado. Keep it in chunks. Plate on a small amount of  soy wasabi reduction.
Luxe is not a full-on restaurant. It's more of a lounge with great food. There's a bar area with one TV, there's a small cluster of tables as the dining area, and then there's the lounge with booths and coffee tables. I'm here rootin' for their happy hour especially since they have happy hour on Saturdays! We decided to sit in the lounge area since they had live music playing. [Here's a quick tip: if your group decides on the lounge area, call dibs on the sofa booths instead of sitting on the short, backless stool things. It gets uncomfortable after sitting for long periods of time since there's no backing, and it's so short to fit the height of the coffee table. I had a hard time figuring out what to do with my legs since I have aching knees.] Other than seating which can be arranged, I had a great time here with great food and drinks. Luxe has a varied happy hour menu with items ranging from tuna tartare, meatballs, meatball sandwich, to pasta. Prices on food start from $3 up to $7. Drinks on the happy hour menu include wines, martinis, and their specialty cocktails. Prices are usual of happy hours, $5-6 per drink.
Dining here is definitely worth it for happy hour. Get the pasta on the happy hour menu. I forgot what it was called but it's penne pasta with mushrooms and steak! It was delicious and only $7!
This place is Fantastic!! The atmosphere is pleasant and the menu is superb! They have small plates of their main dishes... so if you're not sure on what you want, you can order a couple small plates and share with friends!
They have great Martinis too. I highly recommend the Caliente Martini! Made with dragon fruit rum, agave nectar, Bell pepper, and a hint of Serrano chilie. if you like a spicy cocktails, this is the ONE for you!!!
Their menu changes from time to time, but they will always have their Filet Mignon. One of the better Filets I have had around town!!
You're in for a real treat if you go there during Happy Hour. Great Beer prices and appetizers. You won't be disappointed.
I can tell you what this place doesn't have: Loud music. Yes, there's always background music and a Sax player, occasionally. It's not a sports bar, per se, even though, there's a giant screen at the bar. This place is not a dive. This place is not a pick up joint.
Now I'll tell you what it has for me: It has a really cool decor that matches a lot of LA restaurants. It has a very friendly staff that remembers you when you walk in. It has delicious martinis that'll blow you away. It has a very large selection of Tapas or small plates so you can have several if you can't make up your mind. The bar is large and you can sit there and mingle with people sitting next to you or your guest. It's romantic so you can take a date and get a secluded table of take a large group of friends and have a private party behind the curtains. You'll even spot Val Kilmer working behind the bar (not, but a look-alike). Fabia is one fantastic bartender. The owner is usually around, looking beautiful and making sure all is well.
This is the place my SO and I frequent twice a month or so, but I also go there with my daughter (of drinking age) and my BFF for an early afternoon drink on weekends.
Most people dress nicely, too. Not too stuffy, not too casual.
I've never has a bad dish. But I don't necessary go there for a fine dining experience. I like the vibe, lighting, the fact that I can actually have a conversation with my partner without shouting at each other.
Hopefully this place stays around for a long time to come. I already decided that this is my favorite place for a nice martini, specially, Â the Caliente Martini!
Met a friend here the other night without much expectation. We chose a spot up at the bar, took a quick look at the menu and saw a lot more options than I would assume for this type of place. Extremely famished I asked our bartender for suggestions. . . her response "oh, everything is delicious!" This is quite possibly one of my least favorite answers at a restaurant, either you don't know the menu you at all or you're just being lazy. . . neither impresses me.
I ended up deciding on one of the flatbreads which came with goat cheese, portobello mushrooms, basil and a balsamic reduction. Food came out extremely quickly and surprisingly had great flavor. The one downfall was that it had more mozzarella on it than actual goat cheese which I think was left out from the menu (I was tricked)
They have a decent specialty drink menu, wanted to try something different and went with one that came with Dragon Berry Rum and jalapenos. The bartender may not know food but she knew how to mix up a great cocktail.
They had a one man jazz band playing behind us, who walked around the restaurant throughout the night with his sax...which is either your thing or isn't. Place only had about five people in there at 9p on a Thursday night.
I'd say this is a nicer place to grab a drink in Dana Point, a great alternative to Hennessey's or the dives in the Harbor but wouldn't go out of my way to get here.
Disappointing Tuesday night visit. I'm not sure if Luxe wants to be a sports bar, with the big TVs going. Our food was very unevenly done. Â My companion's garlic bread and butternut squash ravioli were well received. I thought the pasta serving very small for $16. House salad was chopped and very bland. Â I had shrimp scampi "special," after being told the ahi tuna was frozen, not fresh. Six small, dry, butterflied shrimp were served with two huge logs of tough asperagus, and the "garlic mashed potatoes" which seemed from powdered garlic and potatoes. I thought the wine list uninspiring be we found a bottle of California red under $45. I had been warned, and now caution you. Â Not fine dining at Luxe.
Review Source:As far as restaurants in Dana Point go, this is one of the better ones at this time. The decor is nice, I like the small plate concept, the food is fairly good and presented nicely. The servIce could be better, they are slow and not as professional as the ambience would suggest. The kitchen needs a little better timing as well. Happy hour is a great deal. The only not so great dish I have had their was the chicken taco's, on taco Tuesday, very dry, almost rubbery chicken cubes, reminded me of that "good" processed meat you get at a place like Subway. Overall I'm a fan and will go back.
Review Source:I've driven by this place a couple times and it's patio cover always catches my eye. Â My boyfriend and I finally got a chance to check Luxe out. Â I was amazed at how many items were on the "small plates" menu. Â So many of them sounded so delicious, but since we already had dinner all we ordered a basket of garlic bread for $3. Â It was so goooood! Â Even better than the garlic bread was the serrano chili lemon drop martini. Â Spicy, refreshing, and $12 a pop. Â Definitely something I will make another visit for after a long week and pay day.
Review Source:The ideal neighborhood restaurant and bar.
I generally stop in when after traveling. Â The small plate menu is a delicious option for those of us who do not want to commit to an entire meal. Â
It is great place to enjoy your favorite drink and colorful conversations with an entertaining staff.
So much potential but the service is non-existent! The food is pretty good, wine prices are reasonable but don't expect anything better than 3 Star service.
I was there the other night with 3 friends. Â We finally had to bail out to go find somewhere that would give us some attention. Â We had to flag the waiter just to get our bill. Â Mid-week, 7PM and the place was relatively empty, 2 servers and a bartender... and we might as not have even been there. Â This place is not going to last. Â They are following in the footsteps of the previous operators (Purple Feet). Â Everything else about this place is pretty good.
Quickly becoming one of my new favorite hangouts.
Friendly bartenders and a decent whisky selection were all I really needed to like this place. But then I took a look at the beer selection: Duvel, Lindemann's sours, Young's Double-Chocolate stout -- these people seriously speak my language!
The menu is also very nice. The last time I was in, I tried several of the small plates. They were all very good and a great accompaniment to our cocktails.
I'll be back soon!
Good atmosphere, well decorated, modern and clean, and descent service, however the menu is extraordinarily confusing, I could count the entree choices on one hand, overpriced for small portions that seem like an a-la-carte selection, and you might as well eat the $ you paid for it cause it might taste better- so unless you have toilet paper made of 20 dollar bills, you may want to take your food or drink cravings elsewhere.
Review Source:HIGH HOPES?
I must admit that Luxe has so much potential is so many ways I really hope that I just had an average visit, and that's not the norm.
The owners are on site and were very accommodating making sure we got seated right away. It was a great start to the evening. The taster plates are a nice concept, and the food wasn't too bad. It wasn't fantastic, but decent.
The decor is pretty cool with a comfy vibe to it. The back wall behind the bar is a little odd, but overall it's has a good feel to it. I think you could bring a group of friends here and have a nice night.
I guess I was put off by the bartender to be quite honest. He was aloof, and not so friendly. In the end he overcharged me for one of our drinks that we ordered. The drink was tasty, or at least that's what my girl said, but I got charged and extra couple bucks for a "signature" drink when we didn't order one. Â It's not a big deal, but more of a principal thing. If he wasn't such a douche I wouldn't have cared.
I think that Luxe has potential.... I hope the staff improves.
I've been to Luxe several times now and always have a great experience. Â The staff and owners are very friendly, the small plates are the perfect size for ordering a few then sharing, and everything that I have ordered has been delicious (big fan of the cheese plate!). Â There is a great back room if you want to have a private party or if you need to take in some sun, there's patio seating.
I know a lot of people go to Luxe for dinner and they have a great happy hour from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., but I actually think it works well for lunch, too... business or casual.
I like this place. Great outdoor seating. The service has always been friendly. The last time I went my gf and I sat at the bar. The bartender was a little crazed and made us feel a bit rushed but he was nice enough, the food was great and the atmosphere was decent. They had the Cubs game on which was a bonus. Love the lamb chops & garlic mashed potatoes and the mousse pyramid desert was amazing. The menu has something for everyone. Love the small portions you can order a few things and get yourself a nice variety - similar to that of tapas.
Review Source:I tried Luxe for the first time jsut last night.  I had a Pepper Basil Martini and  Caliente Martini...both excellent and very unique.
The food was  delicious!  My faviorite was the filet tip porcini
penne! Â Delicious.
The eggplant flat bread was very good as well as the clams with pancetta and tuna tartar.
I would go back for the penne in a heart beat.
1. Great ambiance. We visited with our 7 year old boy. Very nice hostess, waiter (Mike). We were seated in there lounge area. It worked nicely with our boy.
1. Martini's. Awesome. We ordered a blackberry and raspberry. Not to sweet. My husband hesitated at first, because he thought it may be a bit fufu, but not at all. Highly recommended.
2. Ordered small plates. The menu is comprised of small plates, (afternoon sandwiches) along with several dinner selections.
3. One of the small plates we ordered was the bread basket. $4.00. I don't recommend this. The bread is dry and not worth the money. One suggestion, if you're gonna charge $4, it better be fresh!
2. We ordered 2 flat bread pizza's. We LOVED these. Very good.
3. They do have several kid selections that they will verbalize to you. Like a burger, pasta. They, however, will attempt and please your child. Very impressed. My son ordered pesto pasta. Not on the menu, but they made it! Very good.
4. We also ordered the ahi tartar. Very good.
5. The deserts are brought in from an outside vendor- WHAT. I don't know bout you, But I never had a good desert from an outside vendor. The only desert they make in house was cream brulee. We did order this. It was decent. Light and palatable.
Overall, we would visit again for a pre dinner martini and small plate.
I was reluctant to try Luxe after reading all of the reviews, however it seems like they have also seen these reviews because the food was delicious. Â We ordered a wide assortment of dishes and they were all great. Â I was there for my friends birthday on a Tuesday night. Â There is no corkage fee on Tuesdays so we brought our own bottles which kept the bill low. Â
The food prices were not bad considering I shared the caprese salad and the stuffed shrimp and sampled some other dishes and was perfectly content. Â Keep in mind that many of the bad reviews came from the first couple of weeks. Â
The decoration is nice and the TV is only in one spot and not distracting. Â There is still the issue with the bathrooms. Â We got a good laugh out of it. Â Once you turn the corner it's like you are in a creepy hotel hallway and the bathroom is like one in a gas station although it was clean.
I would definately go back. Â I recommend checking out their specials on the website.
Recently tried Luxe and the experience was mixed. We arrived for happy hour and sat outside. The service was excellent and the drinks were both very good. I ordered a Paloma martini and my hubs ordered a spicy martini with a chile slice.
The most disappointing part of our visit was the food. The crab stuffed mushrooms were mediocre and  the swordfish skewers were overcooked. However, the cous cous that accompanied the skewers was absolutely delicious (the best part of the meal). We also had their version of a caprese pizza. Interesting, but mostly comprised of flat bread and mozzarella cheese.
Will we return? I'll give it another shot, especially because the service is very good.
Went here over the weekend I will say some of the experience was good and some of it was bad.
We were taken to a table in the back which was fine, except we couldn't get in because of the arm rest, the host didn't seem to care/notice we were struggling to sit down, we finally had to move the table ourselves and squeeze in. When we sat down and tried to order a bottle of wine they were out of our first two selections. The wine we did order was great so that was good.
Come to the food. They were once again out of my first two selections (the lamb chops and the ahi) so I went with their penne, mushroom, fillet small plate which was really really tasty! If they provided bread I would have sopped up all of the extra sauce. Mom got the wedge salad and that was pretty bland. Nothing special and lacking in flavor. The stuffed mushrooms were also just okay. They were also about $6 for 3 not-jumbo, mediocre mushrooms.
We ended the meal with the tiramisu, which was good. My step-dad wanted some port with dessert. Guess what..............................................Â.they didn't have any!
Over all I'm not sure if I would go back again for food. The service was just okay for the price and they were out of a lot of things on a Friday night. I would maybe meet some friends for drinks only and only if we were wanting to spend $12 a pop.
I wanted this place to be great so badly. Â We really need a nice bar/tapas spot in Dana Point and I was hoping Luxe would be that place. Â While the martini list was OK, the wine list was horrible and overpriced. Â The food was also not up to par...the flatbreads were bland and the shrimp dish we ordered was so small and generic. Â I wish they would listen to all the yelp reviews and up their game! Â It wouldn't be that hard...good food and a better wine selection from $8-12 a glass would help so much!
Review Source:Went to Luxe and had a very nice dining experience. Â Wasn't terribly hungry so ordered the $10 lamb chops off the small plates menu which were petite but tasty and cooked to a perfect medium rare on a bed of mashed potatoes with a rosemary demi glace. Â Deelish. Â Started with the carrot ginger soup which I've never had before and I'm now a big fan. Â Excellent soup.
Fabia the bartender was super friendly and awesome. Â Service was excellent and so were the martinis. Â We'll be dining often at Luxe.
First experience last night. They have only been open for 2 weeks and they were really buttoned up. Â We had a few appetizers and the food was quite good. Â They did a real nice job with the decor and it has a pretty cool vibe. Â The wine selection was good and the beers on tap were solid. The service was really good and the owner was very engaging. I expect this will be successful! Â This is a great spot to meet people for casual dinner and drinks. Â There is even some seating outside.
Only suggestion would be to turn off the big tv if there isn't a game on. Otherwise it just detracts from the ambiance.
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
