I went for my 1st visit, breakfast on a weekday morning; the dining experience was peaceful, relaxing, and comfortable out on the patio -- especially with the surprising number of young children present. The view, as to be expected, was beautiful -- with the exception of bird droppings atop their blue tent on the beach (wish they'd clean that up).
The Hotel Laguna omelet ($12) was attractive and tasty, as was the equal-in-price Hotel Laguna Bloody Mary ($12) -- weak on the drink though.
Service was great; our server was very pleasant, attentive, and we didn't feel the least bit rushed. Fun breakfast find!
The location is great and that's the best part. Service was really lacking, unattentive and left a lot to be desired for a higher end restaurant. My coconut shrimp was overcooked and the server told me it's because the coconut is sweet and gets burnt. (I work in a seafood restaurant and know this isn't true) The Manager on duty stayed at the front desk the entire time and didn't visit one table. It wasn't worth the money spent.
Review Source:5 stars for the view
3.5 stars for the food
Came in on 6/22/12 at 6:30pm with a friend. Wanted to bask in the beautiful sunny weather, and watch the surf. Neither of us had been here before; we took a chance that the restaurant inside Hotel Laguna would have a short wait for a table would be, the food decent but the view amazing. The chance paid off!
Within 5 minutes of entering the bar, we were seated at a small table on the outside deck with a great view of Laguna Beach. Bonus point, we got to witness a wedding on the beach :-) We took our time chatting, listening to the surf crashing a couple of hundred feet below us, watched the blue ocean merge with the blue sky in the far off distance, and observed the sun setting. Picture perfect!
I ordered the spicy bloody mary - LOL it came with a long stalk of bean which was very unexpected as I'm used to seeing olives and a celery. Good drink! Â Friend ordered the lemon drop and really liked it too.
We shared 2 appetizers - crabcakes: so delicious, cooked to perfection, and bay shrimp cocktail: major disappointment because it came in a square bowl with diced tomato and red onion, but lacking salt, pepper and lemon seasoning. We had to ask for additional lemon wedges - squeezed all 5 slices plus added salt and pepper to the bay shrimp cocktail to get a hint of seasoning - it still was not good.
The service was so-so: we asked for water but it arrived after our cocktails, the appetizers arrived but we didn't have any plates (though we had napkins/silverware), and the server only checked up on us 1x.
This is a pricey restaurant: the bill minus the tip was $64 (2 drinks, 2 appetizers)!
This place has a GREAT view. Very very nice but the food was just average. Got the turkey burger and had some of the Caesar salad which was good. Just not great. Average.  Our server was nice  so everal it was 6/10.
7/10 service
10/10 view
5/10 food ( lower because price is waaay too high)
It's hard to decide what rating to give this place because the view is definitely 5-star.
However, that's where the stars should probably end. The service was good, but nothing outstanding. Â The food was...overpriced, overcooked, bland, and altogether unappetizing. Â I wanted to get a salad, but could not justify paying $18 for a salad. Let me write that again because it's still mind-boggling. $18 for A SALAD. Yup, completely unjustifiable especially when I could get the seafood pasta for $19. Sadly, after tasting the pasta, I might as well have gotten the salad because it probably would have been more worth the money. Â It's hard to mess up a salad. Â The seafood pasta was bland and yet oversauced. I don't think more sauce was the answer to the lack of flavor. Â The lobster was so overcooked that it was inedible. My boyfriend ordered the seared scallops, which were also completely overcooked and rubbery. Clearly, the cooks do not understand the meaning of "seared." Â We both ate just enough to not be hungry and then left the rest. My boyfriend was so mad because we could have eaten something good across the street for about the same amount of money.
Conclusion: Â Go for the view. Maybe have a drink. But don't eat. Save your appetite for something worth eating.
Even though this place has a great view, the food is definitely not worth it. Â The service we had was terrible - the water guy was more attentive than our actual waiter.
We had the scallops and steak and both were very sub-par.
I imagine if you come for the hamburgers & fries this place would be fine but as to actual decent dinning, forget it!!
Spectacular 5 star View ! Ok service  and decent 3 star food! Hour wait to get in so do not wait till you are already hungry. I had the lobster roll sandwich. Not much flavor and pretty pricey. Mostly langostino I believe but Quiznos has a pretty decent Lobster Salad sandwich for 1/4 price. The view is what you come for and it was spectacular! It looks like the closer you get to the water the more you pay for just ok food. I think the places on the street are better quality food an more exciting menus. It just depends on what your priority is.
Review Source:Stayed at the Hotel and this restaurant was part of it. Great Location righ on the beach.  Had breakfast there, good fast service.  The food was great!  Also had drinks on the Patio really busy , with lots of weddings,but  they still had time with a smile for us.  I do recommend coming here. It's traditional American Food.  After eating go for a walk on the beach ,since its at your feet.
Review Source:I came to visit friends here and didn't eat. Â However, the view was awesome and after my friends got done eating we walked down to the beach to relax and tan which was nice and convenient. Â Valet park your car and your good for the day here. Â Oh ya, I did have the bloody mary and it was very average.
Review Source:The look (view) is great but because there's no substance we won't be returning.
We really liked Claes, which was the sophisticated sister to the bar. But now that it's closed and the restaurant is part of the bar and grill, there's no gastronomic reason to visit.
The food is very mediocre bar food at heavily marked up tourist pricing.
A simple chicken sandwich is $18. Â The chicken is sliced and grilled. Â Because it was probably not made to order, the side sitting on the grill is hard as jerkey. Â A bowl of clam chowder costs $10. Â It has good amount of clams but taste is nothing special. Â The kids meal are $10 - a plain cheeseburger and a side of fries.
On a really busy day at Laguna with long waits at popular spots, there was no wait at OceanView, despite the drop dead view. Â It might be because it is hidden inside Hotel Laguna but the main reason is that looks isn't everything, even in the middle of a very pretentious town.
Phenomenal view........way overpriced. Â The hotel itself is historic and beautiful, and right on the beach......the food is ordinary at best and way overpriced. Â We had two local draft beers and paid $15. Â Enough said. Â I give all three stars just for the hotel and view.....they lost the other two for gouging patrons.......
Review Source:LOVED the food here! Chef Rob did an excellent job for our party of 14. I had the sea bass which was excellent, and the scallops and crab cakes were my other 2 favorites. The twice baked potato that came with the rib eye was to die for. The staff was very nice. I would definitely eat here again.
Review Source:Located conveniently inside Hotel Laguna off PCH. Â They don't have a self park lot, so I prefer valet, which isn't free. Â But if you dine at the restaurant, you don't pay as much as the regular valet price. Â Their calamari is a must order. Â Tender, golden batter with the ample lemon for your need. Â I've been getting their half chicken every time I'm there, even though I should probably try something else. Â Food wise, it's like an amped up bar kitchen menu. Â But being in Laguna, of course it needs to be up to par to the restaurants nearby or it just wouldn't last. Â Overall, I enjoyed the experience here. Â Nice view. Â Decent food. Â Not exactly a date place, but would make a good place to dine by day.
Review Source:We went there last night for their Thanksgiving buffet with reservations at 6PM. We were a little hesitant to make them so late with concerns of them running out of food. A quick call to the restaurant a day before and we were assured that they'd have plenty of food to accommodate all....guess what, they didn't.
The buffet setup was really well designed as they had food in several different areas to avoid crowds, and that worked well. However, when I went back to get a little more turkey at 6:30PM, I was told, "sorry, we are all out of turkey, but here is some steamship round".
Who runs out of turkey on Thanksgiving, especially when paying $40 a head? Good food, but extremely poor planning.
Let's just get to the points of the matter:
1. Great location, nice view, lovely spot, it definitely has the location going for it.
2. As everything else, prices have gone up and up throughout the last 10 years.
3. Sadly the service and food has gone WAY DOWN in the last 10 years too.
Summary -
Come early to be able to grab a table especially if there's a group. We arrived around 6:00pm and got to choose where we wanted to sit.
Initially the waiter offer drinks and gave us time to make our selection... problem started with dirty lip stain wine glasses (3 out of 4 total) , which he took back and brought out clean ones. Â Nachos were ordered and while we wait for those nachos, the famly of 8 next to us got their dinner and was chowing down as we wondered how we were forgotten.
I then notified the manager. Nachos came out 10-12 minutes later. We've now been seated and waited for food for 45 minutes until we were served with an appetizer....hmmmmmm just doesn't sound good ....wait it gets worse....
BBQ chicken - sauce was not well liked
Fish and Chips - meh...could be better at Long John Silvers
Seafood Pasta - needed more flavor, thought about adding salt!
Chicken Wraps - better if we grab them pre-made from Albertson's
(big sigh.....) I used like coming here, but sadly I can't see myself or my friends spending over $100 on a dinner that truly was miserable to chew on. Â What a disappointment.
The view is amazing! Â Our waitress was very nice and had great customer service. Â
The food on the other hand was mediocre. Â I had the seafood pasta, it was good for the first few bites then it somehow got boring. Â I found myself eating the seafood and not the pasta. Â
My husband ordered the chicken burger. Â It was fine, nothing special. I mean A grilled chicken is a grilled chicken, although it was almost too dry.
The restrooms were clean, due to this being a hotel.
On our way out, we saw a small area with a gazeebo and took a picture then decided to go downstairs to the beach. Â
It was maybe 10-20 steps to the shore which was great. Â I had a very relaxing lunch and will probably go back but this time we are sharing food or just getiing appitizers.
Pretty ocean view & breeze. Libations & food delish! Mahi Mahi fish & chips/ clam chowder/ Tuscan pizza (soggy in middle but still A-ok) all excellent. Umbrellas to shade & comfy sturdy chairs. There's an inside area too as well as a small TV & live music section. Don't be in a hurry here as service does the best they can... Their toothsome smiles & eye contact with laugh wrinkles carry them through.
Been here before-- bridesmaid to a wedding & this venue was lovely for that as well-- gazebo outdoor greenery & fountain mezzanine for the photos & ceremony. Magnificent mother nature for more photos & frolicking. Of course there were "glitches" but there always will be on those special days. Food, service, & venue worked out well that day.
Valet available but lot can "close" due to being full. Bathrooms in the hallway -- sugar rose hip exfoliation hand treat in the ladies room-- courtesy of the spa.
Absolutely LOVE the view, but the food was just OK. The view justified the price, that made us feel better.
We were in Dana Point for our wedding. The morning of our rehearsal dinner, we wanted to find a nice restaurant nearby that had awesome views of the coast. We found OceanView Bar on Yelp and decided to give them a try.
It was 72 degrees with light wind. We sat outside in the patio, against the glass walls and it was just beautiful. We were watching people play on the beach while eating our breakfast.
I ordered the breakfast burrito which was really dry. I even added all the salsa and that didnt help it. My husband ordered the french toast and it was burnt and hard.
Really cute place with beautiful views. This is the perfect venue for drinks, but I wouldn't come here for the food.
Amazing view... ok food ... meh service.
I came here for lunch with the gf and the promise of amazing views. Â The views didn't disappoint. Â The restaurant is over looking the ocean and it was quite pleasant to look at while eating. Â Too bad that was the only thing that really impressed.
THE ORDER
Calamari Fritti - 3 out of 5 - The highlight of the meal.  The Calamari came with Wasabi Aioli and Sweet Chili Sauce.  The calamari were cooked well.  They were cruncky and not over battered.  The sauses were both solid, with the wasabi aioli being my slight preference.  <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3-media2.ak.yelpcdn.com%2Fbphoto%2Ffw9M8qoD5rG-JpKeffPKOg%2Fl.jpg&s=3cc6b3ab7fd2d805cef651fb9f48beeb08d24972f65c4f93bb8d6a4b12f42adc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://s3-media2.ak.yelp…</a>
Lobster Roll - 2 out of 5 - Maine Lobster, Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Cabbage,
Roasted Shallot, Tarragon Aioli.  Nothing really special here.  The lobster was a little over covered with mayo and all the flavors were bland and kind of blended into each other.  Meh...  <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3-media2.ak.yelpcdn.com%2Fbphoto%2FiRa-394URsOWGfcFqvm1vw%2Fl.jpg&s=75f6b1367c7e1f7fbc93b37ffe3bb5c7cde784672dfdb07ac4a057f1cbc5145d" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://s3-media2.ak.yelp…</a>
SERVICE
1 out of 5 - When we were arrived we were told to seat ourselves. Â From there it was a good long while before we got menus. Â As we were going through, we noticed that another couple (who arrived after us) we looking at a different menu. Â So once we able to flag out waitress she let us know that the other couple were looking at the breakfast menu. Â We asked to see that one as well and there came another long (10+ minute wait). Â Once we got the breakfast menu, we scanned it quick and we just wanted to get our order in. Â From there nothing really got that much better. Â Food kind of crawled out and our waitress was no where to be seen.
OVERALL
Not a place I'd recommend or probably ever go back to again
Expensive for extremely subpar food. The roasted half chicken was no where near a "half chicken" and the sauce was awful. The chicken was over cooked and dry. The only redeeming quality was the amazing view and our friendly server. Despite some of the other glowing reviews I would not recommend eating here.
Review Source:I love this little spot. The patio is perfect and looks out onto the beach. It's never that busy. Â Food is on the pricey side and nothing is knock your socks off you must come try, but everything is solid. Â
When I went I ordered the fish tacos. Â Not quite prepared like I was expecting, but still good. Â The fish seemed to be slathered with tomato based sauce with onions and green peppers mixed in and then served on corn tortillas with side of black beans. Â I would have preferred more traditional fish tacos, but still wasn't a bad dish. Â
The calamari appetizer is EXCELLENT!
Service is friendly and attentive. Â We'll be back.
great view
friendly service
good prices
delicious meals
today we got:
chicken sandwich with sun dried tomatoes, carmelized onions, arugula, goat cheese spread, balsamic reduction, ciabatta bread ~$16
the chcicken was grilled to perfection of thin slices, nice amount, the bread was nice and crispy with a soft center, tomatoes were delicious, onions were delicious, arugula was nice touch, goat cheese was incredibly deliciously spread on the bread with a nice thick amount, and balsamic reduction was running down my hadns in deliciousness!
tequila quesadilla with chiles, cheese, steak, adobo sauce, sour cream ~$18
(is $12 but add $6 for the steak, add $4 for chicken)
tortillas were crispy perfection, steak was deliciously seasoned and marinated, and very tender, cheese was ooey gooey deliciousness, and sauce had a good delicious kick!
an amazing restaurant behind hotel laguna, a bit pricey, but its okay b/c:
1- amazing food
2- amazing service
3- amazing view
like today we were watching a pod of dolphin families the WHOLE 2 hours we had lunch!! with a cool breeze, fresh air, and delicious food, what else is better??
We came here for a Saturday morning breakfast and got to sit outside, overlooking the water. We weren't even there that early (9-ish), but there was nobody else there. There's a great selection of omelets. I chose the Orange County omelet. The side of potatoes was a little cold, but still good. I ordered a side of fruit too. I thought the meal would come with toast, but no. I get a little sad without carbs. Overall, a good experience though.
Review Source:Very good food but what you're really paying for is the view.... and it's an amazing ocean view. We did a ladies luncheon a few weeks back and my friend picked the patio here. Considering that there were maybe 15 or so of us, the wait staff did a pretty good job of taking care of us. I could have done without the plastic patio chairs but that was probably my only real complaint. As aforementioned, the view is gonna cost you in regards to the food. $16 for a turkey, bacon and avocado wrap is a little much even if it was pretty good.
Review Source:A bottle of wine and an immense amount of appetizers during a sunset, is as close to heaven as I will most likely will ever get.
Food and service is outstanding, all offered with a million dollar view (outside).
Of course you can sit in the bar next to the large fireplace if it gets cold.
For me, parking at the Hotel Laguna has always been a problem. Â For some reason, the parking attendents are rude, and can easily embarrasse you in front of clients or a date; so, avoid them if possible; they will not add to your evening.
If you can pace yourself, you can make it a night, you will always remember:
I Â recommend the fine dinning next door (make your reservation for a table ASAP). Â
The food is a little more expensive, but well worth the price. Â Desserts and coffee need improvement. Â The (fish and steak) Â entrees have always been marvelous. The chef's of the past, usually come by the table. Â You will discover the Chef's that work there; are truly qualified, and have some of the best culinary training in the area .
One of the best lunch spots in Laguna. You are seated on a raised platform over the beach. Occasionally, you'll be rewarded by the sight of dolphins or a sea lion. I saw a whale blowing last week. I had the fish and chips. Really nicely done. The waitress was very pleasant and was very apologetic when our first choices were not available. They shade the tables with umbrellas. Street parking is a challenge in Laguna, but worth the effort.
Review Source:I lunched alone at the corner table on the outdoor deck. Warm sun on my face, cool ocean breeze through my hair & a stunning coastal whitewater view! Â My meal consisted of the perfect iced cold vodka martini (lemon twist), New England clam chowder & Asian style lettuce wraps. Â
The chowder was delicate in flavor with tender clams. Â Crispy bibb lettuce, accompanying veggies and diced chicken portions were abundant and uber fresh, although my chicken was a little dry. Â I enjoyed my meal, appreciated the surroundings of the historic Hotel Laguna and felt satiated! Â Cheers!
I had the opportunity to be one of the first to try OceanView Bar & Grill's new late night happy hour!
Located towards the back of the ground level at the historic Hotel Laguna, OceanView packs a lot into its cozy, quaint, bar area by offering live music (rock covers) from their house band, a small area for dancing (if you're so inclined), an amazing view of the ocean, and of course, tasty cocktails and bar bites.
The late night happy hour menu (currently offered Friday & Saturday, 10pm to midnight), has food ranging from $6 - $8, signature cocktails & house martinis for $7, bottled beers, drafts, and wells for $5, and $2 off wine by the glass: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vJCyCDLws_3e_ER_VT8Scw?select=wqUOJhBbd_1SqwE-0HS4ZA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
The bar bites come on surprising large plates, so a few should be plenty to share for your noshing enjoyment.  I'd recommend the Western Bacon Sliders (<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vJCyCDLws_3e_ER_VT8Scw?select=0A0QV5YO4Zn6z2FvN4BxZg">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>), or the Chicken Wings, which have a nice kick.  You also can't go wrong with the Rolled or Surf & Turf tacos.
I was able to get my foo-foo cocktail on, with their signature "Leslie's LemonDrop". Â It was a fun & interesting combo of sour (Ketel One Citron & fresh lemon), sweet (sugar-rimmed glass), and even spicy (muddled jalapeno). Â Yum!
Back to the amazing view of the beach and water from this hidden gem: It's pretty much identical to that found at Splashes (<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/splashes-laguna-beach#hrid:X324aL_qBm0ZYat4DU1XaA">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>).  If you're not familiar, Splashes is a high end (and very expensive) restaurant a block or two up PCH; where the food is good, but 95% of the reviews are about the fantastic view, and the premium paid to have it.  With that said, why not enjoy the same view at happy hour prices on a Friday or Saturday night at OceanView instead?  I definitely recommend it!
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