Restaurants near Laguna Beach Marine Life Refuge

From the minute, we walked in and were greeted by the hostess, to picking our car up at valet - everything was top-notch. The best view in Laguna Beach, fabulous food, and wonderful service!

Gracious hosts and spectacular food! Will definitely come back!

Absolutely wonderful! Have been to Las Brisas many times but have never experienced their brunch. Wow! Delicious! Perfect! We started with Mimosas for 3 and Bloody Mary for 1. Las Brisas provided a lovely champagne and a separate vessel with orange juice…we established the ratio. The Bloody Mary was spicy but not too hot. The glass was rimmed with a spicy salt and they floated a red chili. First coarse: fresh melons and berries Second course: 2 chose pozole verde, 1 chose smoked salmon, and 1 choose Caesar salad. Third course: 1 chose chilaquiles, 2 chose omelet el pastor and 1 chose beef enchilada with red sauce and 1 lobster enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce. Again we were all very happy with our meals. Fourth course: 2 chose a selection of 3 fresh sorbets and 2 chose traditional flan. Absolutely incredible brunch and our server Jose Lui was efficient and friendly.

I love both this restaurant and its sister, Opah, in Aliso Viejo. I have been dining at these restaurants for years. Our server Ryan did a great job and the rest of the staff was friendly and attentive. We had all small plates and for the most part they were delicious. These included the bacon wrapped dates, truffle fries, Parker House rolls and chocolate bread pudding. The only quibble I have is with the muscles. I've had them at both restaurants many times and loved them. These were served very fresh and hot and seasoned beautifully. The only problem was there weren't many in the bowl and 3 of the shells were empty, which made the helping miniscule. I suggest the restaurant be careful in the future when serving these to avoid this problem. Additionally, our cappuccinos were served lukewarm, but Ryan was quick to fix this for us and the replacement round was perfect.

Service and ambiance was excellent. The House Salad (I’m not an iceberg lettuce guy) - but they sure did made it work. The butter cake for dessert was wonderful. Here is where (and most important) they missed - the steaks. 1. Too salty, 2. They had an unusual spice to them that we do not associate with steak (both on the oorterhouse & ribeye). Were they trying to do them Santa Maria style? 3. The presentation (sizzling on the plate) & appearance (initially) looked good. Plates & steaks were so hot you had to wait a few minutes to eat. This cooked the underside to “gray”. Assuming they used the “reverse sear” they mismanaged the ending. Only 1 side (the upside) was charred. Instead of a scalding plate - char both sides and serve on a normal plate. Appears they are looking for style points versus an evenly cooked steak. Corkage fee - $50. Out the door - 4 Large. Will spend my $$’s elsewhere.