Went here on the 4th of July for dinner and surprisingly it wasn't crowded however the deck was reserved for people who called ahead and put down a deposit. But as soon as we got there we were welcomed by friendly staff and great service. The food was delicious with one amazing shrimp and lobster pasta and an appetizer all running less than $30. Only reason giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is because our food came out in the wrong order except it was obviously the cooks fault and the waiter apologized nicely.
Review Source:I Love Spark for it's balcony over looking HB's pier and beach, and for the firepit!
Nothing better than the pit and the view... Â Except the Lobster Mac and Cheese. Yup!
Another thing to add to the list of favorites here.. ...
You don't have to travel to Newport or Dana Point to get a great meal or awesome view, we're hiding it right here at Pier Plaza. Shhh! Keep it our secret, I like the lack of long waits and overly trendy 20 something's! Lets keep it that way....
Strong martini. Crappy overcooked steaks. Good calamari. Blah crab cake. Good pasta dishes. Nice outdoor seating with a great view. Decent selection of wine. The service was great though, our waitress took the steak off the bill as soon as we said that it's severely overcooked and we couldn't eat it... so my recommendation is order anything else BUT the steak...
Review Source:Entered the restaurant during the Tuesday street fair. All the other restaurants had waits, but not Sparks. No one was there. I should have read the writing on the wall. The workers were nice, but the place had five servers with no people there, makes you wonder. This was around 6 pm.
The food was super blasé. Any restaurant using the term "woodfire" in its name would beckon the notion of dining with meals prepared in such a cooking style. Pitfire Pizza makes fresh pizza's in a clay PITFIRE oven...that's why they taste amazing. Woodfire Grill is 99% tourist trap and 1% food. Everything on the menu is trite, boring, and my meal was fatty and very GMO. Steaks are $33. Cheap fish is $23. Drinks are at MAX prices, and their selection of wine is not unlike a grocery store. Not impressed. The service was fine, so I'll give them that. Let's hope the menu improves.
I won't be going back until I see a new name on the building, a completely different menu, and a good 30% off the prices. Thank God for Yelp.
I had the ribs on Sunday night and they were AWESOME! They have a great beer and wine menu as well. My girlfriend and I rode our bikes all over town and found this gem upstairs by accident (searching for a bathroom). We have already made plans to go back in 2 weeks because it was a great dinning experience. Great restaurant!!!
Review Source:My gfs and I went for Sunday Brunch and mimosas. It wasn't very busy (it was a beautiful day and we arrived 45 min before they stopped serving food) but the main patio seating was full (obvi). I really don't have any complaints except that it's pricey for whatever food and bottomless mimosas.
Review Source:This place was just no good!
For 3 adults & 1 child we spent $130 & here was our experience:
It was my daughters 7th birthday & she wanted to do something a little fancier than Fridays or Red Lobster for her birthday so that we could dress-up a little. We had originally planned to go to Dukes but they had a 1.5 hour wait so I called over to Spark and they said they had no wait so that's how we ended up there. I should have known this place was no good when right across the street they have a 1.5 hour wait and this place was a ghost town! Â Firstly, they wouldn't sing my daughter happy birthday, ok, I get it, you're too fancy of a place for all that jazz, fine.
But what they should really be ashamed of is that my 7 year old birthday girl ordered a lemonade, they brought it in a small to-go coffee cup, chock full of ice, barely any lemonade, charged us the adult glass size price of $3.50 and then would not refill it unless we wanted to be charged $3.50 again for another 3oz of lemonade. Really?! REALLY?! We are spending $130 here, it's her birthday, you charged us $3.50 for a couple swallows and you won't give the little girl another couple swallows unless you charge us another $3.50?! WOW!
We ordered a shrimp appetizer for $11 & it comes with only 3, yes, THREE shrimp & some beans. They were supposed to be garlic shrimp but they were plain. For my order I got a spicy grilled shrimp plate for $22, comes with only 6 shrimp and again they were plain. There was no flavor on them at all and definitely no spice! My husband said his $32 prime rib was not very good.
I guess this is where you come if money is no object, you have no appetite, your taste buds don't work well, and you enjoy getting very little for a lot of money!
Fairly high priced restaurant with amazing views, and I've been there several times. However the service and food quality have continually deteriorated over the years, while the prices have not! The service was so slow that we had to go looking for someone to bring us our food after our waiter disappeared. When he was there, the waiter could barely hold a single plate in his hand, did not know the menu and our guess was that he'd never waited a table in his life. The food was mediocre at best. On our way out I mentioned to the hostess that we'd not be returned. She asked if we wanted to speak to the manager but she did so in such an unenthusiastic manner that we just walked away. This would have been disappointing in a lower priced restaurant, but in one that charges as much as Spark does? Wow, what a stinker!
Review Source:We have been wanting to check this place out for a while now and finally did last Friday. Â It got good reviews and has a stellar view of the ocean from the patio so we were VERY disappointed when our experience was so sub-par.
We called to see how long the wait was and was told 45 minutes for 2 people, so we headed down and decided we would get a drink at the bar while we waited. Â When we arrived the inside was almost empty and was told the wait for outside was 45 min. but could sit inside immediately. Â So we sat inside and waited for our waitress to take a drink and app order. Â A group of 4 came in 5 minutes later, asked to sit outside and was sat immediately outside. Â Hmmmmm, I guess you can't always predict when tables would open but we could see empty tables outside from our seat from the moment we were sat. Â I understand you don't seat every table if your servers/kitchen can't keep up but that was a huge time discrepancy. Â
At this point our waitress had yet to come to our table. Â I suggested to my boyfriend that we should just get up and leave. Â As we were debating it the waitress finally came and took our drink order. Â The slow and inattentive service continued. Â We had the ahi app which was decent. Â I had the cod and my boyfriend had the salmon - both were mediocre.
Bottom line - mediocre food for the price & poor service. Â Not worth it in my book...
After a week of dining in Huntington Beach.. this was my fave. Â I had the lemon chicken.. while for $17 I would say it was a small portion (a single boneless breast, cut in half and pounded.. prolly about 6 oz) Â The brussel sprouts were great.. still not a huge portion.
Everyone loved their dishes, and the lemon chicken was undoubtedly the least bang for your buck.. Â But, still, its flavor was spot on. Â Service was great.. would absolutely go back.
What is this champagne glass you use? It is so classy and pretty!
Came here during Restaurant week for OC Dine and it was a pretty good deal. A 3 course meal for only $30! Score! There is a set menu of what you can pick, but still it was a good deal! The service is pretty good, cannot complain because they accommodated about 25 of us since it was part of my friends' bday party. Yes, they all have the same bday because they are triplets! I loved the champagne! I got one with antioxidants, haha I forgot the name! I swear I only had one! Anyway, for an appetizer I got the steamed veggies, which was ok. Nothing to exciting! A few people got calamari and they said it was ok, not that exciting either. For our main course, a majority of us got the scallops with veggies and they were to die for! Scallops are tricky to cook because they either turn up burnt or raw. These were just right! The best part was dessert (shocker!). I got the milk and 2 cookies (Choco chip and oatmeal raisin) and it was such a classic and delicious dessert! I loved it's simplicity. The food overall was good and I think the beach scenery is what you really pay for! Sigh. I love Huntington Beach!
Made reservations for Saturday night couple hours before through <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FOPENTABLE.com&s=ad3ed2e58ab6e5678c0caaf54f676b97002471413b3fa175fb9a63d2149bbc46" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://OPENTABLE.com</a>. 8:45 reservations weren't going to be a problem when we called over the phone..we also inquired about the corkage fee for bottles ($12) which is reasonably low for restaurants these days. So far so good right?
Okay So we get seated.... didn't look like reservations mattered because we got seated at the worst table ever. Right smack dab in the middle of a busy restaurant (table of 2) smallest table where you are close to everyone, including the bus boys and waiters who are running passed you, and everyone who has to use the restroom. We didn't let that bother us! It took forever to be recognized...at least 10 mins for water, and another 10 for wine glasses.
My boyfriend went with the lamb rack which was a part of a $30 meal, with your choice of selected appetizers and dessert. His lamb was very dry and looked/tasted like steak. Keep in mind, he always selects lamb if it's on the menu so he's basically an expert ;) Appetizer was a cheese plate with pretty good dijon mustard, went well with our wine. As for the desserts, he chose "Milk and cookies" =) cute huh? Wish they were as good as the one's we leave for Santa Clause on Xmas eve!! Even santa's reindeers would be upset if they got cookies like these. Very dry and hard....
As for myself I ordered a steak plate with a side of brussels sprouts instead of the green beans. The asked for medium but again came out well done, and dry like the lamb and never got the side I ordered... instead I got green beans.
We were out of towners- just visiting Huntington so we asked if our waitress can call a taxi for us... I liked her response... kinda. She said..."Yes I can call one and Tell you where you can find one." Â So really, she never called anyone, just told us where to walk to basically when she could've gone the "extra mile" and provided us customer service and called for us so we could just go outside when one is across the street.
Pros: she waived the bottle fee and asked if we wanted to switch tables after we were nearly done with our plates.... but I wouldn't go there again. Very disappointing... especially when your looking forward to a romantic little getaway!
Came here for their Sunday Brunch! Â It was a colder day so it wasn't so packed. Â But brunch was AMAZING! Â It is all you can drink. Â And they have a really great guy that comes in and sings, he is his one man band. Â He is excellent.
The food varies from eggs, crepes, oyster shooters, salads, potatoes, or veggies, and desserts. Â I'm Gluten Free and they had plenty of food that I can eat.
Came here on a Saturday as a late Valentine's Dinner and had a great experience. Greeted by a friendly host who instantly took us to our table. The view is incredible! Definitely look to go here around 5pm if you want a view of that perfect California sunset.
The steaks here were phenomenal. My girlfriend ordered well done where I opted for medium rare. Both were great and had their own distinct tastes. Seems as if the steaks were great cuts as there was just about the perfect amount of fat/meat to my taste.
We also ordered the shrimp appetizers with the white beans and it was delicious! Service was helpful as well!
I've heard great things about the creme brulee but we were too full to have a chance at it. Definitely looking forward to coming back to Sparks again!
P.S. Make sure you look for the underground parking..parking around the street is hectic and only allows 2 hours max.
One of my very favorite places to get a steak, and some romance while dining. I love the view, the drinks, the steaks, and back in the day, I loved the Creme Brulee. DELICIOUS! (I gave up sweets)
The latest visit we made was on Valentines Day - and nobody cared that we tossed rose petals all over the table, opened gifts, and were in love. It was such a great choice for this occassion. (Kudos to my Valentine)
The filet is always perfect, and this sounds crazy but the sauteed brussel sprouts are amazing! As is the grilled asparagus. The fish dishes are fresh and wonderful, as well. I had a filet trio last week that was prepared 3 seperate and delectable ways - each one to die for.
We had some beer, some wine, some irish coffee....and an amazing time, as we ALWAYS do.
This is a date, couples, grown up place. I prefer children dine elsewhere, and as the mom of 5 I am not hating on kids! I just know where the do...and DO NOT belong. When I spend the kind of money on a delicious, romantic meal, I want to do it without the kids of others crushing the mood.
Love the seating area looking over the beach onto the pier. Food was good but not great. Had the filet mignon special which was delicious. As for the calamari and salad both tasted "old". Service was somewhat slow but that could be because it was valentines day. Overall it was an ok experience.
Review Source:WoW!
The only thing they have goin' for them, is the view and location...this place has prime time real estate.
I ordered a side salad to start, it came out wilted, old and frickin' ugly! Â It looked like it had been baking in the sun for an hour. Â Do the chefs not take pride in presentation, taste and quality? Â What the eff man?! Â You're in CALIFORNIA which has some of the best farmer markets and FRESH farm to table produce.
The main dish I got was pasta, I could have taken each strand of pasta and rung it out from all the oil it was drrrrrenched in. Â Flavorless oil slick.
The iced tea is bomb! Â It's a passion blend and I literally drank a gallon of it.
I won't go back. Yuck!
Nice spot above PCH across from the pier (is this where Louise's used to be?) and pleasantly not crowded. Awesome view, service was wonderful and burger was even pretty good.
But. And it's a big "but." Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, change the way you do your fries.
I never thought I would experience fries so off putting and unappetizing that it would bring down an entire meal but I had that happen here. It's some kind of style of battered flash frying or something they're employing to make the fries super crazy crispy but what ends up happening is that the taste of the oil gets preserved onto the fry and the inside turns to mush. And I might just be mistaken but it does not taste like very high quality oil. Now I am no expert on frying fries so consider this a layperson's opinion. But I hated them. For the record it wasn't just the regular fries, the sweet potato fries had the same thing going on and the cheap oil taste was even more noticeable when juxtaposed against the sweeter flavors of those fries.
I had a great time here and want so badly to give it four stars. But man... Those are some awful. Awful. Fries.
this place is right across from the pier but a lil hard to find as there are no real signs directing you to the entrance of the staircase which is on the opposite side of Fred's... towards Subway... once you are up there, there is a beautiful balcony you can enjoy your meal as you sit and view the ocean, or the inside is also very elegant and nice... their menu changes from time to time according to the chef's choice.. but everything here is amazing.. I'm addicted to the BLT sandwich with sweet potato fries.. reasonable prices and good service.
Great place for a business meeting or a date.
This restaurant is located right across from the pier so if you choose to sit outside, you get a really nice view of the ocean which is a nice touch. Lucky for my boyfriend and me, the weather was perfect for a meal out on the balcony.
We started with the calamari appetizer. This wasn't what I was expecting at all since it actually came out already covered with this Spicy Thai Pepper Sauce. It was definitely an upgraded version of a calamari. I thought the toasted cashews were a nice touch but I still prefer the classic Calamari. Along with our appetizers, we both ordered drinks. My boyfriend ordered a margarita which I thought was a bit strong, and I ordered a Champagne Cocktail which was delicious. I believe it was the Tropic Mist one but I could be wrong. It was fruity.
For our entrees, we ordered the Lobster Mac and Cheese and the Pappardelle with Italian Sausage. I don't know what compelled me to order Mac and Cheese because I'm generally not a fan of the dish, but this Lobster Mac and Cheese was delicious. It was super cheesy with a generous amount of lobster. My boyfriend and I both agreed that we would come back just for this dish alone. The Pappardelle was also very good. Cooked just right with a yummy sauce with lots of sausage.
The service was a little slow for my taste but not horrible neither. This restaurant is also just a $1 or $2 more expensive than I would like, but not too expensive that I would consider this restaurant upscale. It's a nice place for a casual date. 4/5
The view from the patio of Spark is absolutely AMAZING! Â Unfortunately, that was the best part of my dinner there.
I came to Spark for a work function and was pretty disappointed by the food. I ordered the Salmon which came with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Â The asparagus was SO small and tough, I could tell it had been microwaved several times. It was as if all the moisture had been sucked out by the microwave. The salmon was pretty fishy, but not horrible. Â It was topped with some weird greens things that looked like shards of grass. Â
We had to wait a while for a food to be served because of the large party and I was surprised that there was no bread on the table.
They had good drinks though. Â Try one of the champagne cocktails, but go somewhere else for dinner.
Sunday night date night - reserved a table outside for 6 pm; we were seated and served super fast and had our food within 10 minutes of ordering. Â The food was just ok nothing to write home about. Â Maybe my expectations were too high :/
As more guests arrived the service slllloooowed right down, we were ready to leave and waiting on the check for at least 15 minutes. Â The waitress was busy with other guests and definitely more than happy to help us when she had time.
The third star is for the FANTASTIC view of the sunset, honestly it did make waiting for the check quite painless. Outside seating is a must if you're going here.
Great place to visit for a beautiful view of Huntington Beach and enjoy an extraordinary meal. The restaurant is located on the second floor on the corner of Main Street and PCH. It is well decorated with a warm inviting ambiance including an open fire pit and has a fantastic view of Huntington Beach. Â
The food was really amazing, we started off with Grilled Artichoke appetizers, oohh so delightful, that buttery sauce was very tasty I wanted to take it home. The Mango Martini was a huge hit, so refreshing. My main entrée was the Lobster Macaroni and Cheese. This dish was delicious!! It was made with Penn pasta, generous portions of Lobster, and a variety of cheeses like asiago, mozzarella and parmesan. It was enough for dinner and lunch!!
This dining experience is more on the expensive side, however they do offer great specials during the mid week. We came here on a Tuesday and received 20% off our check. You can also have your parking validated here. Fantastic service, our drinks were never low and we were well attended to. Â They also have Sunday Brunch with live Jazz music... I am sooo ready to come back for that! =)
I recommend this place for a nice night out in Huntington Beach. After dinner, stroll down main street, or walk over to the beach and enjoy the sunset.
Last night was our first time trying Spark and I would give it 4.5 stars. Â The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it did take a while to get a glass of wine even though the waitress was attentive enough to take your order while you still had some left. Â
We made our reservations on line and requested to be seated on the patio. Â We were about 20 minutes late and the host had our reservation and held our table on the patio for us. Â Very nice! Â The food was AMAZING! Â We had the calamari to start. Â BEST calamari I've ever had! Â For our entrees we tried the jumbo shrimp and lobster mac and cheese. Â The portions were good for the price (I would have even expected to pay more!) and they were both delicious. Â They give you a very nice amount of lobster in the mac and cheese (a claw was visible) and the shrimp were large and cooked perfectly. Â We tried 3 of the dessert martinis: Â caramel apple, dark chocolate, and tiramisu. Â All were tasty but my fiance liked the caramel apple the best.
We will definitely be going back for our wedding rehearsal dinner!
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!
One of the most enjoyable restaurant experiences I've ever had. The ocean view is stunning. They have an amazing martini list too!! I have been to their Sunday Brunch once and thought it was fabulous-amazing selection, unlimited mimosas, and live music while overlooking the ocean. Doesn't get much better.
The service staff is exceptional as well! Tom always seems on top of everything and it appears he treats his employees well ( I waitressed in college and always take notice of this)! I have had both Kevin and Greg as my server and they were exceptional. Very knowledgable about the menu and the drink selection, always helpful but never bothersome! Go give this place a try!!!
Brunch: let's keep it simple.
The champagne glass never even gets close to being empty, the service is great!!!
The food is refined, well thought out and flat out delicious.
25 bucks is very reasonable!!
Mike from Say When Entertainment performs during the brunch and he is phenomenal. He is a true professional and very talented.
This place is a no brainer for Saturday or Sunday Brunch.
To be fair, this is now my go-to champagne brunch buffet so I had to up the stars.
they have upped the price a bit, it is now $25.95 however they've added a seafood table (oysters, mussels, tuna tartar and ceviche). so still a great value!
this place is consistent and that is important to me. buffet isn't huge but has some goodies: assortment of pasta salads, mac & cheese, pancake lasagna, chicken & waffles, carving station, customized crepe and omelette bar as well as a dessert table. servers are also great about refilling your champagne glass. even today, had a table all the way in the back corner on the patio but was never forgotten. as I said before, if you have a party over two and walk in after 11, you will most likely be turned away so plan accordingly.
you get a two hour validation for the parking garage in the same structure.
I rarely scrape my plate clean but the Pappardelle pasta @ SWG was DIVINE!! pasta was cooked to perfection and the sauce had a little spicy kick to it without causing tears to flow...
For dessert I had the chocolate bread pudding despite my apprehension, after seeing the words BREAD PUDDING. It was nothing like other varieties that I've had before, it wasn't soggy and gelatinous, it was well balanced in flavor and texture, and not too sweet.
Both selections I would definitely order again next time in HB.
Service was excellent! Our waitress Gina was so helpful and patient as my bestie and I pondered over the menu and wine list. She helped me select a red wine that I was satisfied with and was friendly yet not artificial.
Atmosphere on a Sunday night was not the best...the view of the beach is nice and the fire pit in the front patio was a cozy detail, but when walking into the main restaurant the feeling is veery relaxed and a bit blasé...SO theres pros and cons to that.
Otherwise excellent food and service! Bring your own Partay and you'll enjoy yourself!
B & N, dang, your review hits it right on the spot!
The wife and I finally had a night to ourselves so we picked Sparks as we are Downtown locals. Â Service did not come to the table for 10 mins. and also did not have ANY help on picking something on the menu.
I ordered the Yellowtail entre and the wife had a rib special. Â The ribs were great, meat fell off the bones! Â She asked for a steak knife but it was definitely not needed. Â The yellow tail was another story. Â It had no taste! Â Was dried out! and was the smallest piece of fish I've paid $20 for. Â That wasn't the worst part, the worst was that the waiter didn't even ask how the meal was. Â I didn't even have a chance to tell the waiter that I hated the meal!
I went to pay for the meal and they didn't take my discover card. Â When the waiter told me that, he cleared the table along with half of my beer that I didn't get to drink. Â Pissed that I didn't get to drink that beer! Â But thank you for taking my mastercard instead (no questions asked).
Sitting waiting a few more minutes I finally wrote on the back of my check how I enjoyed my experience. Â
These guys have to learn service and food! Â Do not go here! Â You might as well go to sugar shack and give them $40 for steak and eggs
*Written by my husband
I think the food and drinks here are awesome-- I have never been disappointed with a dish I have tried and their martini list is quite extensive. I also appreciate they have affordable wines by the glass that are pretty tasty. Of course you can't forget the beautiful view from their covered/heated patio-- we come here a lot. The brunch is pretty good for a buffet as well.
However, what keeps me from giving this a 5 is because the service is so hit or miss. I have had awesome waitresses and I have had ridiculous inattentive service- even when the restaurant does not seem to be very busy. It looks like a common problem among the reviews so perhaps they all need a bit more training, especially since many people come here for special occasions.
If you park in the garage directly below the restaurant they can validate.
I went there with my date by accident. Â We wanted to go somewhere else, but it was closed, and decided to eat here. Â
The service was very attentive, but the reason for 3 stars (instead of 4) was my date ordered one of the fish dish, and we didn't find out until 20 minutes later that they ran out. Â Ok, things happen, but I thought maybe the restaurant could have offered him a drink, dessert or something for the inconvenience of this.
We both ended up with the cod, which was just ok. Â IMHO it was a bit salty, and I think it was the crusted coating they used. Â
Service = B+
Food = B-
But the fact they didn't tell us they were out of something until 20 minutes later... a -1 star more
***OC Restaurant Week Review
We picked Spark Woodfire Grill for our lunch date during OC Restaurant Week and it was a great choice! It was super cold, rainy, windy that day so parking in DT HB was definitely not a problem. This sits facing PCH on the 2nd floor so the view of the ocean is fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the view of the storm even if I didn't dare face it after walking out of the restaurant.
I got to sample on their OC Restaurant Week menu:
Herbed Tomato Soup
Grilled Vegetable salad
Crab Salad Sandwich
Grilled Ham and Cheese Panini
Also, off their dessert menu: Creme Brulee
The tomato soup was fantastic during the cold afternoon. This is a chunkier tomato soup, with visible pieces of onions. The grilled vegetable salad included both grilled veges and fresh greens with grapes! The grapes added a nice acidity; however, the grilled zucchinni were over seasoned and was salty on its own. The grilled ham and cheese panini was wonderful. There were three types of cheese: bleu, brie, and sharp cheddar. The bleu and brie complimented each other very well, while the cheddar seems out of place and unneccessary. It was less of a panini, and more of a grilled cheese sandwich. Now, the crab salad sandwich was the highlight of this entire meal. The crab were nicely seasoned with light mayo and tasted so sweet and fresh! It was wonderful and I wished I had more of it.
The creme brulee was good. The custard was very well made. However, there was not a nice crust of sugar on top (the best part of creme brulee btw). Instead it was a soft and sticky crust.
My second time at Spark was for the Sunday brunch. The selection isn't huge, but there was plenty of the kind of stuff I personally like. Cinnamon roll french toast, biscuits & gravy & plenty of crispy bacon (not the limp stuff often found on buffets).
I really enjoyed the pancake lasagna and I will admit to hitting the dessert table more than once. There was also an omelette/ crepe station & carving station
Of course the view is great, but it was made even better by our server, Kate, and her attention to our champagne glasses. They were never empty, so we were happy.