Made a reservation to have brunch for a 1 year anniversary date

The only issue we had was a common one. Chefs do not like to make eggs well done and that is the only way I will eat them. So unfortunately I regularly get my eggs not cooked enough and then my husband finishes his breakfast before my remade eggs are right. That is what happened here. I appreciate that our meal was comped, but that was not my ultimate goal. I would rather have paid a reasonable price and eaten at the same time as my husband. Nonetheless, this was a beautiful spot on Newport’s peninsula and the patio was lovely on a very pleasant Sunday morning. The menu was complete, the prices reasonable and the service was excellent.

Great food in a beautiful location

Our experience started out very bad when we were turned away for being late to our reservation. I spoke the Austin who was the supervisor and he stated the restaurant policy was to hold your table for 15 minutes. I made it within those 15 minutes and was told I would be put on the wait list which was 1 1/2 hours. Once the manager Christy heard about this she turned that terrible experience around and seated us immediately. She provided us with excellent customer service and comped our meal. She went above and beyond. I can't thank her enough. It was my daughters seventeenth birthday and thanks to Chtisty we left the restaurant happy! We will be returning thanks to Christy's professionalism.

Great service, quick, courteous.
Great ambiance on the patio, inside was very noisy. Great view.
Delicious food, I highly recommend the Beignets, lattes and bottomless memosas!

Food is very good, service is

Brunch options are poor. Only 5 items for breakfast. Don’t really want fish tacos at 9:30 in the morning. French toast was bread was sour and black.

Beautiful setting overlooking Newport Bay. Very light and airy. I had a flank steak sandwich and fries and friend had fish and chips. My fries tasted old and waitress brought me more. We also had the brussel sprout appetizer which was ok.

Excellent food at the harbor of Newport Beach. Beautiful view of the harbor and the scallops were amazingly delicious. Service was also excellent. The outdoor area was just a bit noisy due to loud music being played at another outdoor venue. The brought a very nice complimentary dessert for our birthday celebration to top it off.

The food wasn't that good. It used to be better. The beignets were under cooked. The breakfast food was just blah, nothing special. Wasn't full, but didn't finish my food because I was bored.

Great place! Will be back forsure :)

I really love coming to Lighthouse cafe so we made reservations to come for Easter Brunch where they were planning a special menu, however, the special Easter Brunch menu was very bland, boring, and bad. There was nothing "special" about this "special" Easter menu and there regular menu is much better. Also the monte Carlo sandwich we ordered was soggy and not impressive with very little ham. This Easter brunch was disappointing

We had a great Easter brunch and will definitely be visiting again!

Nice small waterfront cafe with good service and a great view. The menu was somewhat limited but the dishes we tried were good. The seafood pasta was one of the pricier items on the menu but had TONS of seafood, including a giant crab leg plus lots of other goodies. Fish and chips were also tasty and fresh. I had a bloody mary which was huge and had just the right amount of spiciness. We split the beignets for dessert and they were delectable and airy. We're looking forward to going back and trying it for brunch sometime.

The food is always good, but for the first time we had a waitress who was very attentive!

Slow service

I love the ambience of the Lighthouse Cafe! It overlooks the beautiful Newport Bay, and the inside decor compliments the maritime setting perfectly. The food is always good, but I wish they offered more interesting salads! The only complaint I have is that the service is very slow. It’s not as if the employees aren’t trying, there are just too few of them to service a multi-level restaurant! Overall, I love this restaurant and will continue to frequent it often!

Food was ever so tasty and fabulous. View was splendid. The noise level for our lunch was deafening!!

Only average food value. Children’s menu portions very small for the price. Server not attentive. Nice location and view.

Really nice place with a wonderful view! enjoyed it very much with a group of girlfriends

We were thrilled they could accommodate our group of 7 (including 2 kids). The service was poor - we waited 10 minutes, if not more, before we even got water and menus. We had to ask for an extra place setting three times before someone brought it. We also had to ask for small plates after our appetizers were served. Drink orders and water refills were very slow. On the upside, the food was VERY good (we especially enjoyed the bread with tomato butter spread, calamari and the soups). The chopped salad had pepperccini that was too spicy but everyone enjoyed their meal. We also tried to beignets, which were nothing like beignets and more like a donut crossed with funnel cake and a breakfast streusel - whatever it was, it was delicious and one serving was enough for everyone to enjoy 2. The other points of criticism I would make is that the lighting was too bright (we came at sunset and after the sun went down, the lights remained bright so it felt a bit like a cafeteria, not a cozy restaurant) and the sound bounces all around so it does get pretty loud. Every table has a fine view of the bay and the decor is very cute and chic — we loved the detail of the port hole “windows”.

Great breakfast, the atmosphere and views were outstanding. Fun place.

This is such a cute spot!! Every table can see the marina! We came for lunch and all enjoyed some delicious seafood!! Service was great, we will be back! Looked like they have a yummy brunch menu too so we look forward to trying that out!

You can watch the harbor from any seat inside or out. Heaters over all of the outside tables means you won't get cold no matter what seat you're sitting in. It can get a little loud inside on the weekends but, it's a small price to pay for the view and the food. Wait staff is attentive, the food is tasty and served hot, beer is cold and the wine by the glass is generous. Whether you're out for a mid-week dinner, weekend date or Sunday dinner, consider The Lighthouse. Lots of parking in the lot or street and free boat ties at the dock too!

Best location for breakfast. Beautiful view on the beach.

A lovely location overlooking Newport Harbor with friendly service and an expansive menu. Great kid-friendly playground next door (but not too close) Dine inside or out., great views from all tables.

Perfect place for lunch with my daughter.

There is a consistent lack of service the management is not aware of or doesn't want to address.

Wonderful location

It was great, food options for those who have sweet tooth’s or are looking for something savory. The only down side is that it can get a little windy when sitting on the patio which can be made worse when it’s already chilly outside. They do have space heaters and blankets you can use when you sit outside but just make sure you dress warm just in case you can’t get seated inside.

Terrible food, we ordered 3 salads (2 Greek and the steak), burger, calamari and the fish tacos. The fish tacos were alright, but the salads were so bad and overpriced! The service was not good, even though we were one of 3 tables there. Overall very overpriced for poor quality food. Would not recommend except for the view.

This first time I came here was Father's Day last year and the service was great and the food was good. I decided to make reservations and come for my birthday. Our server was a little rude and she didn't seem to know the menu very well, she couldn't suggest vegan options for our vegan member. She could have got the manager or something to help us out. She didn't check on us. We had to wave another server down to get a refill on our drinks. I got the bottomless mimosa and only had it refilled once. I felt like she just wanted us to eat and leave when it wasn't busy. We got better service from the other servers.

The food was good and the beignets are my favorite

WE COME HERE EVERY TWO MONTHS WITH FRIENDS FROM HS,, WE WHERE LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR BLUEBERRY PANCAKES,, NOT SURE WHY YOU CHANGED THE PANCAKES,, BUT I'M STILL BUYING BLUEBERRIES AT THE STORE,, IM SURE YOU COULD BUY THEM ALSO...

Great for bringing visitors - we brought our family on their first visit us in CA and they loved the location and view and relaxing dinner we had!

I had an ok experience. I went for Sunday brunch with my mom. We had reservations and were seated immediately. We were seated in a small corner against the back wall on a one sided booth facing towards the dining room( if you go I recommend asking for an actual table). I ordered the avocado toast with coffee. I don’t consider myself a picky eater but the coffee was actually really bad and the waitress kindly took it off the bill. The avocado toast was okay, bread was a bit soggy (probably sitting out too long before service to our table?). The service as very good though and the views from the restaurant are really beautiful. I might give this place another shot but I’m not rushing to do it. There are a lot of other great brunch places in Newport/balboa/lido.

Mediocre Food & Service

I have only come here for breakfast but I am never disappointed. Right on the sand on the bay side. Food is a bit pricey but you would expect that with the location.

Really want to love this place but they continue to disappoint. They have a wonderfully unique and beautiful location and I hope they can figure out how to get their food and service to match.

As always, service and ambiance did not disappoint!!! Staff have been consistently amazing. First time meeting the manager and she came with a smile and surprised with free meal when something mix up happened. Our nice waiter told her and she immediately came over and comped the meal when it was totally not necessary.
Very sweet and she was welcoming. So definitely going back again and again!! Great food options!!!

Service sucked. Reserved an outdoor table with a view for a brunch date. They put us right by the hostess and register, when we asked for something away from the desk and closer to the water, they made us wait over half an hour. I had to beg the waitress to refill the coffee one time at brunch, after which she would not return no matter what. For Newport, I expected more. Food was good, but once was enough for this place.