When I think about my experience here, all I can do is laugh.
First the good... I went with two girlfriends on a Thursday night with a Groupon. The location is great, a rooftop patio with comfy lounge-type seats with a slight ocean view. They played awesome 80s and 90s music the whole time - a big plus for me! When we told the server we had the groupon, she didn't give us that, "oh you're one of THOSE people looks" but was very nice about it - another plus. They also had a pretty decent happy hour.
But once a few more tables sat down, everything fell apart. There was one server for the entire patio and she was running around like a crazy person. Our only chance of ordering anything was to actually get up and catch her at the computer before she ran off again. Seriously, it's an outdoor bar, by the beach, in the summer, you should know to have more people on staff. We ordered a shrimp cocktail appetizer for $12 and it was literally a rocks glass, filled to the top with cocktail sauce, with six shrimp shoved in the bottom. We laughed out loud when the guy sat it down, we couldn't believe that's what a $12 appetizer looked like. The rest of our experience was like a sitcom, with the waitress freaking out and a plethora of interesting guests to chat with along side us.
Summary: I would go back with another groupon, but only for drinks and ambiance.
By far the worst service I have ever received. We came here with our family and friends as we purchased a Groupon. It took 20 minutes to receive our drinks, and over an hour for our food. The issue is that the waiter never even bothered to give us a status of our food. The food was mediocre and definitely overpriced. The location is nice however as it sits in front of the beach, but the heater located near us was broken, so we froze!
Review Source:I was disappointed, not with the food, that was excellent. Service was awesome. Â Its just on their website the pictures shows very bright yellow and orange cushions. Very festive. When we walk thru the door, I was disappointed with the drabby grey cushions. The chairs and benchs were not set up the same way. Â That is my only complaint for ViVo. Â I would go back for sure. Try the Ceviche.
Review Source:While I either love or hate a place, this place was just ok. I will say that I won't be going back. Positives: Nice, friendly service. Good drinks. Cool vibe. Negatives: The place was duuuuuuuuurtay! The food was lacking. The patio furniture hadn't been cleaned in years. The view is just ok, but it's overlooking the highway and a campground. Not an unspoiled view by any stretch of the imagination. So, 3 Stars, but that's being very generous because our service was so nice. Simple fixes like cleaning and tuning up the food would make me want to return.
Review Source:Crap. New Year's Eve bartender didn't know what bourbon is. That's bad enough but the whole place is just crummy. I was there to pick up friends that stayed there overnight. I'm glad I don't have to stay in shit-holes like this place. Â I'm giving it one extra star for karma. I won't be back and I will tell everyone I see to avoid the place.
Review Source:Went on a Saturday afternoon to meet a friend around 430; weather was great, nice breeze and view of the pacific ocean. A nice cold Stella really hit the spot! For those of us who still smoke, feel free to light up! And there was live music too :)
Service was a little shotty in terms of checking in, but staff is friendly. Prices are good, we were there for quite a while drinking and the check was more than reasonable. Get there early if you want good seats by the rail ;)
Valet is nice, free and fast, makes for an easy in and out experience.
Cool spot, I'd come back.
Went there around 4:30 around opening time, and the place was a stinking mess! Yuck Yuck! If I were anywhere else I would've definitely left but we were staying at the hotel and we have a child with us that they allowed to be up there and well, the view is pretty nice. So well we stayed considering we just wanted to have one drink before we left for dinner. But really, come on! They obviously didn't clean up from the night before because there was dried food globs on our table, huge hairs and dust balls all around us (no really, all around us!) and the cushions looked like they've not been clean since forever! The one server/bartender was very nice and apologized for the mess and told us that last night's shift didn't clean up so he had to do it. So while were sipping our cocktails trying to relax and enjoy the view, there he was with a broom sweeping up nastyness around our chairs and table. Management needs to get on that trainwreck, cause it could be a very nice lounge.
Review Source:I found this place through a Living Social deal and I am glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have known about it! It is located above the DoubleTree in Dana Point. The view was great and it was a fun atmosphere. Perfect for happy hour with a small group. The drink prices were good and my fiance still says it was "the best margarita" he has EVER had. Bold statement from an avid margarita drinker! And to our surpise the food was also excellent. I had jambaylaya and he had a burger, both highly recommended.
Review Source:Went to the "rooftop lounge" with some other local friends on Sunday evening. We had a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> gift cert. and thought we'd try it. Bottom line, while it was "Happy Hour" all day on Sunday.... the gift certificate would only work on full priced items. AND Full Price is very pricey, particularly for what  you get. The whole pizza, although tasty, was the size of two slices at costco and near twice the price of costco's whole pizza. We also ordered the (recommended) jambalaya, which again was tasty, but not very much for the money. So I think we'll stick to the new Surfin Cowboy, just around the corner. It is on the pricy side too, for what it is, but the food is amazingly good and they have deals every day! Enough said....
Review Source:We were very disappointed coming here. We tried using a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> gift certificate and we were told we couldn't use it on drinks or happy hour and we had to spent $35 on food for the two of us. It doesn't state that on the certificate but whatever. We decided to stay and have a couple drinks and an appetizer and trade the certificate in for another restaurant with a better deal. The service was terrible!! It took over 10 min to get our drink order in, at least another 15 to get the drinks, we had to walk up to the bar to order our appetizer and after 20 min of waiting for wings we asked the waitress where they were and she said she didn't know we ordered anything so we had to wait another 10 min. After bringing out bill, our waitress was no where to be found so we had to go back up to the bar to change out. We were very pleasant when we were there but we were treated like they didn't care about our patronage at all like we were horrible customers or something. We were very nice to the waitress and <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbartender.It&s=481a29e70c0ddf92bcd62ac4198a82a06c86b33b5a524b5191c418f4a300cf6c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://bartender.It</a> was unfortunate because the drinks and food were great. Also, the pictures make this lounge look way nicer than it is. The furniture is actually really old and uncomfortable and people are allowed to smoke. Probably won't be back.
Review Source:Wonderful view and really great service. Â Fun place to just hang out and chill. Â The menu is a little 'foo-foo' bistro style for my taste, but the food was good. Â Prices were also very fair between their happy hour and/or coupons.
This place is hard to find and is in an odd location...roof of Doubletree Hotel. Â Also nice heaters, that help keep it cozy.
Like what most other Yelp reviews have stated, the view was nice. The restaurant is above the hotel, in a pretty small setting surrounding my lots of heaters. In the middle of it all is a fireplace with some chairs and a few side tables. People are constantly moving the heaters, tables, and chairs around so I get the feeling that the place is casual and laid back. Most of the people I saw there were in semi-formal outfits and were either with big groups of people or intimate couple dates. The atmosphere is pleasant--again, the ocean does all the work for this place setting. This restaurant is clearly a place to grab a drink and not really somewhere you should go to for dinner.
I want to note that the service was great. At first, we kind of just strolled in and didn't really know what to do. A server found us looking confused and told us to sit down and she'll get us our menus. Our waiter was a really nice guy and helped roll a few heaters in our direction. He even replaced the gas canisters when the fires died out.
While the setting is fairly romantic and the view is wonderful, the food lacks everything else. My fiance and I came here on a Saturday night. We had eaten before so good thing we weren't that hungry. We decided to order a few appetizers and just enjoy each other's company and hang out on the rooftop. I ordered calamari and he ordered the rib sliders. Sadly, they didn't have any of the ribs so they offered to make it with pulled pork instead. When the food came, my calamari was pretty good. However, my fiance's food is something you can throw together in the microwave in 5 minutes. It tasted like it too. The bread looks like the sweet Hawaiian roles you buy from the supermarket and the pulled pork tasted like the frozen food kind you buy from the grocery store and microwave to defrost. They threw in some fries with his meal and called it a dish. Not very impressed with their food selection and I get the feeling this place is known mostly for its view and not really for their food...
If you do plan on coming here, come with some great company and try to catch the sunset. Stick with the finger food and make sure to purchase a dinner voucher from discount sites (living social, groupon, <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a>) since paying full price for this place is not worth it.
Rooftop lounges are neat because there are whole lives and stories playing out underneath your feet, your food, and your drinks. There is some kind of epicness to being on a rooftop lounge and you just crack your knuckles like "yeah, I'm a boss" in the Rick Ross-entitlement sense. And it is very orange. That is one of the most important things because I like colorful things.
I didn't bother reading reviews or looking at pretty pictures as alluded to in Cat H.'s hilarious review of this place. I was just here because I was starving and it was five feet away from my room, not requiring much effort to get food to put into my mouth.
I liked how they had multiple heaters going on the rooftop lounge, that is usually a traditional complaint (in cities worth being in) that it is colder than my sassy blackened heart out on an unexposed rooftop lounge at night where you are drinking cold drinks with people. However with a sweater on, if you are sitting underneath one of the heaters bolted into the wall and there is a mobile heater relatively nearby, you are going to feel like those church ladies were right and you are in hell for 18 different reasons. So if you are already somewhat appropriately dressed for London rooftop weather, I would likely avoid sitting underneath one of the heaters bolted into the wall unless you enjoy sweating like a fish on your first day of prison.
Their premium mixed drinks are a cool $10. Their mega happy hour specials are Sunday and Monday so on other nights meh. But apparently cost effective on Sunday and Monday so there is always that. Pretty much everyone was drinking wine and they were around $9 for a glass. That's not ridiculous, especially given the rooftop location, however the $9 at the supermarket is considered "the good stuff" as far as I am concerned, especially when there is a $5.99 special and even cheaper if you buy six at a time. I would like to think I am sensible in my pursuit of quantity over quality, but to each their own - I am sure Miles Raymond would be suitably horrified with this paragraph. But at least I would never stoop to drinking merlot. So we are spirit animals on one level, even if it's on sale, no dice.
The menu is not super long if you are looking at food, but there are some interesting things that jump out at you. And you are likely here for convenience rather than anything else so you can always find something. They have some starters like kobe sliders, nachos, and "bar food" like that. I almost went with the kobe sliders since they came with fries and I like fries. I briefly considered the flatbread pizza but everyone and their mother were ordering that around us since the waiter had suggested to everyone it was his favorite (tbh that is a good thing - I hate when you overhead him telling one table one thing and another something else, it's all lies, consistency is so much better because he actually knows the menu and feels strongly about it) so when everyone else zigged, I had to zag. I went with the barbeque salad since I have been doing a terrible job with my new years resolution to lose some weight - also at $13 it was easier to justify on per diem than the lamb burger ($18) and the meatball mac and cheese ($16).
The BBQ salad comes out in a relatively large bowl. It is a big boy salad, it is not some dainty ladies-who-lunch ensemble with one piece of lettuce and a carrot. It is heavy on the corn, which meh, but everything else is soundly in proportion. It is mostly lettuce as a salad should be, there is enough chicken to know it is there, the sauce is present without being overpowering, the cheese rounds everything out. The chicken was kind of cheap supermarket quality. Not terrible, but likely not the organic juicy tender kind you would write home to your grandmother about.
For convenience if you are staying in the hotel this location cannot be beat.
For a cool, sunsetty, ocean view kind of place then this rocks.
Unlike Cat H. I thought it was pretty nice as a venue. I didn't need a tuxedo to fit in. I felt like it was pretty laid back. And I am personally glad it was not romantic since I was here for a business dinner ... there are some things you should not mix, like drinking and driving ... and merlot and your life.
Such an awesome spot! Gorgeous view and looks over Doheny camp grounds! Fire pit and open air lounge makes this a groovy place to hang. Great place for a date night, or a night out with the girls! not divey, not fancy, but super down to earth, beach- hotel groovy! Happy hour prices are right on the money! Live entertainment on the weekends, and the bartenders know what they're doing, too! ;)
Review Source:We went here with a LivingSocial deal, and it was good to experience something different that is so close to home. BUT. There was no warning that this is a smoker's haven. The sliders and quesadilla were pretty good, the service fantastic (really great bar tenders and servers), but you're going to choke on cigarette and cigar smoke the whole time. Bummer.
Review Source:Once again, I got suckered in by pretty pictures on yelp and a cheap living social deal... In truth, unless you're traveling from out of town and are seeking your traditional awkward hotel bar experience, you're better off elsewhere.
The venue was less cute than the pictures and more reminiscent of my backyard. At night, I couldn't see the views, but there wasn't much to make the place look soft, inviting, or romantic. It looked like an awkward outdoor patio, to be honest.
The drinks were strong, the food mediocre at best. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd eat here again but appetizers worked well enough until we got to the next place.
All in all I wouldn't return, but it was interesting as a place to begin a night out.
I'm a local and go for Happy Hour at least once a week.  To the reviewer who called it dumpy and she got a headache just standing there....LOL. Stick wit the Ritz  I was there last nite for HH and stayed through 10:30.  The guys on guitar, violin and harmonica are awesome.  The Doheny Dip is not gravy and we order Everytime we go there.  Listening to great music under the stars with the waves crashing just across the street.....my idea of perfect.
Review Source:Went here for a pre dinner drink and appetizers around 10pm. Mislead by yelp saying they were open until Midnight. It seemed like they were getting ready to close, and the kitchen was already closed. Yes we were a little late for dinner, but hey were on vacation.
The positive - I got the bitchin coloda and it was DELICIOUS!
The pineapple garnish was dry and hard but the actual drink was good.
Good enough that I would attempt to go back again, because i want to dry their dry rub hot wings on their menu. Next time I am in Capistrano I will give it another chance.
The View was a little misleading. You can't really see the water, but you can see the stars, which were pretty. Comfortable seating, like wicker furniture with big comfy cushions. They had a cool fire pit going. Easy parking and a short elevator ride up. The staff was friendly and helpful, including the hotel staff who pointed us in the correct direction to park.
I would say if youre looking for a fun little place to have a drink, give this place a try, maybe at an earlier time than 10, would be my recommendation. I am telling my friends to check this place out.
Lovely view, great place to come for happy hour, or lounge around at night. Service was great. Plenty of seating. I really enjoyed myself. They only have a few beers on tap, but the ones they do have are decent. Good selection of Karl Strauss (can't go wrong with Tower 10 IPA).
There was live music, which provided a nice background.
The best part about Vivo is for sure the view. I had good service, perhaps a little bit of a wait on the food, but not that big of deal. Our party ordered the sliders, ahi and artichoke dip- everything was great. Not the best ever...but for sure would order any of those again. The best part of the meal was the apple pie dessert...so YUMMY! I would go back for the amazing view and for the apple pie anytime!
Review Source:After getting our group on with a Groupon, we ventured here for the first time after after living close by. You can valet for no charge or self park, too. They will validate your ticket if you got one. Head up to the fourth floor and take a seat on the comfy patio furniture with a view of the Pacific. It wasn't crowded around 5pm on a Wednesday but slowly tourists and locals alike starting coming. Anyway, Hoover greeted us and took our drink order. We dined on nachos with chicken and fish and chips which i have to say were actually very good. It did take a little bit of time to receive the meal but I guess the view makes up for the delay. Soak it in people....you're like a stone's throw away from the ocean. We would probably return as locals for happy hour too although the time, 2-4pm is kinda tight for us...who comes? People who dont work?
Review Source:I have been to Vivo two separate occasions now.
The first time, I was able to get a seat near the railing right away. The second time, was much more crowded so we first sat at the bar until one near the wall opened. Its a small patio with an ocean view, so seating is hard to come by- don't listen to the other reviewers who judge by lack of seating.
Food does take some time- there is one kitchen for both the restaurant and the bar, so things do get backed up. However I think the other reviewers are exaggerating. The staff is extremely conscientious and check in with you often. When the food does arrive, its always been delicious! Try the doheney dip, the kobe sliders, or the shrimp cake sliders.
The first time I went I tried a margarita and it was mediocre so I switched to wine, and that is what I have stick with since then. I haven't tried the other drinks so speak of them.
The last time I was there, a cool local band was playing and they were fun to watch.
All in all, I have enjoyed Vivo and if you're wondering if you should go or not, I say go! Â Great location- small, hidden, local rooftop bar you should check out!
My Mom & I used a Groupon there last night and I was very happy with it, especially after reading mediocre reviews. Wine was good and affordable - we ordered the Doheny Dip which was nice & creamy. For my entree I got the Jambalaya and it was great - really big so I was able to bring home leftovers - not too spicy, just right. Mom got the Ahi Panini and couldn't stop raving about it. The ambiance was great - the only thing that was a bit odd was anytime we wanted our waiter we had to flag him down, but he was really nice and helpful so it really wasn't a big deal. I would love to go back and take my husband.
Review Source:No bueno.
We were there for nearly three hours, and not by choice. Â When we arrived, there was no available seating near the railing with a view. Â It was dark anyway, so not a huge deal. Â Until I noticed the glass pane walls we were sitting next to housed way too many cobwebs SPIDERS. Â Two large spiders to be exact. Â The mister says "That's nature." Â I say, "That's gross." Â Clean your freaking patio. Â Thoroughly creeped out, we asked if we could move to the now-available seats by the railing. Â That made me feel a little better, because I'm not sure if I'd have been able to eat with spiders staring at me.
We had the groupon like everyone else, that's the only reason we came here. Â The drinks were good and came out about 15 minutes after we arrived. Â Then we waited almost an hour for our appetizer. Â I didn't realize it took an hour to make some nachos. Â Once they came out they tasted pretty good, as we were starving at that point! Â Then we made the mistake of not ordering until our app came out. Â Another hour later our entrees arrived. Â AN HOUR. Â Honestly? Â A salad and a club sandwich do not take an hour to arrive. Â I don't mind waiting a little while for food, lord knows I have enough to say to fill an hour. Â But seriously..not okay. Â The waiter clearly knew it was a bad night (we saw people leave..people complain..), and offered more drinks and dessert on the house (which we declined, but the gesture was nice). Â That is what saves this from a two star review. Â The waiter was really great and it wasn't his fault the kitchen had some serious issues. Â Ultimately, the food was okay, but the wait times were ridiculous.
We won't be back and I really don't recommend you try it.
Not bad...I've had better but I'm a sucker for anything with an outdoor patio & drinks. Call me crazy.
Probably the only reason we'd ever go to this hard-to-get-to hotel was because of their groupon promotion. $30 for 2 drinks, an appetizer & 2 entrees. Pretty good. So last Friday we headed to the rooftop for some hotel-food action.
The mai-tai's were wonderful, seriously, they were wonderful. I've learned that yes, as a matter of fact you CAN f-up a mai-tai.
The nacho appetizer was pretty good too, a lot bigger than what I had imagined but then again it better be for $11.
I got the jambalaya as my main dish, the Mrs got the kobe sliders or the burger or something guys always get. I can't speak for his but my jambalaya was a 3 out of 10. Pretty bland and the shrimp wasn't cooked enough. I guess I'll just have to go to Louisiana to get this shit done right...
All in all, if we had another deal we'd probably go back & I'd definitely go back for the mai-tai's and some outdoor action.
Another new place tried because of a groupon-
Everything tasted pretty good, but the service was extremely slow and the food was kind of lukewarm. It might be because we are on the the rooftop and things get cold fast, but it was like that from the first bite so I feel like the food was just sitting for a while.
My question is, why would a rooftop lounge inside a Double Tree Inn promote via groupon? I dunno if anyone would be returning to this place as a regular. And I don't think they were ready for the influx of customers since they only had one waitress, making the service extremely slow.
Anyways, we got the Jambalaya, Kobe Beef Sliders, and Chicken Nachos. The Jambalaya was pretty good and it was the first thing that got eaten up. It was very seasoned, with good bits of chicken, shrimp, and sausage. The Kobe Sliders didn't taste like anything special. It tasted good but since it was kind of cold, the cheeses and fries weren't as good as they could have been. The fries were seasoned and wedge cut, and it would have been really good HOT. The Nachos - same thing, good flavors but not as good since cheeses and such weren't really melted anymore.
The place got really busy with other couples dining with groupon and their food came out extremely slow too.
It's a cool spot to drink and lounge around if you're staying here, but I wouldn't come back to eat here. It isn't really nice enough to want to come back. There were spider webs on all the metal chairs, eek.
My boyfriend and I had a groupon for this place, which we would have probably never found otherwise. Â It was not exactly what I was expecting since I thought it was more of a restaurant than a lounge at a hotel; however, it was still really nice. Â
We got there a little early so we luckily got a table right by the railing so we had a great view and the weather was amazing. Â I wish they had glass panels there instead of the metal railings because the view would be even that much better. Â
On to the food...the place had some decent choices. Â A little pricey for what you get but the groupon made it more than worth it. Â We split a salad and the filet mignon and it was delicious! Â Great parmesan fries to go with the steak. Â A very enjoyable dinner overall.
Just visited on august 19, 2011 and we enjoyed it. My wife purchased a groupon and that's how we found it. The views are great when you sit near the railings and decent when you sit at the bar. Clever drink items and the nachos are really good. Don't expect a high end restaurant style experience it is a lounge.
I would go back.
To start off, we came prepared with our Groupon. This allowed is to try more things then we would have normally.
Vivo rooftop is a pretty nicely laid out lounge. It is not a restaurant as some of the people who came were expecting. There are lounge chairs and couches set up around the place, there's a bar and there are a few tables scattered about. If you''re lucky enough to grab a seat closest to the railings, you will be given a fantastic view of Doheny beach and the pacific ocean. If you're in the back like we were, the view is still very nice but not as open.
We ordered two drinks, I don't recall the name of the one my wife's drink, but it's the top one on the drinks menu. She ordered the flight and each of them were uniquely delicious. I ordered the Rum punch drink and that was excellent and very strong, just to my liking.
For food, we ordered the artichoke dip. The artichoke hearts are kept whole so don't expect a puree. The dip itself was good, however it was served with slices of tomato sauced covered flatbread which didn't do the dip justice. For the entrée, I got the jambalaya. It was very good, the shrimp was cooked perfectly, however, there were some peaces of undercooked rice which made it a bid on the crunchy side. Not all of the rice was underdone as to make it inedible. My wife got the BBQ chicken pizza. It was good but nothing spectacular.
As for service, yes, the service is slow, almost Europeanesque. However, if you have nice company, you don't need the wait staff to bother you every second. I think it was a nice change from the hurry hurry you receive from so many other restaurants.
As for price, this place is definitely not $. It is way more toward the high end of $$.
All in all, good place.
Had a super fun time here celebrating Remy-baby's 33rd. Â They even honored our Groupon we bought the same day, going a little outside the rules, which we very much so like and appreciate.
The spot itself is a rooftop lounge at the DoubleTree hotel. Â It's relaxing, you can see the sun setting on the horizon waay past all the beautiful ocean water, and you can get your drinky-dink on with your buddies while nestled on pretty large and comfortable patio furniture. Â Quirky and rather broad soundtrack at just the perfect volume set just the right, lazy tone. Â Good stuff.
Drinks are all very good here, except I wouldn't order the cucumber gimlet again. Â Not that I don't think they make a wonderful one here, it's just that I think the drink itself sucks. Â Have no idea what possessed me to get one. Â Bloody marys (does the plural of that spell with an "ies?" Â I'm not sure...) are legit and made with pepper vodka. Â Fat Tire on tap.
Food? Â Very good, but not jaw-dropping. Â Actually, strike that. Â The Brussels sprouts doused in butter were delectable. Â Everything else is pretty much your standard room service fare and room service prices, just done very well.
In all, I'm a total fan. Â It's a little ways out from our usual stomping grounds, but if ever in the area, we'll most definitely pop in.
Oh, and the service we got from Sara and bartender Hoover was deee-lightful. Â
Great night!
Pick up a coupon off <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FRestaurant.com&s=0aab4cbd731f3d3b0d1453050d3abc56a8c80bd214e25469c7555b750dca8a51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Restaurant.com</a> and headed over there with my fiance. The food and view was pretty cool. It's really good for large parties, but I will provide more details when I sober up from my hangover.
Review Source: