Clara
Nestled in Carlsbad’s bustling Village Fair, Clara is a chic new dining and drinking oasis. Serving market-driven cuisine and unforgettable craft cocktails in a lush and eclectic setting, the restaurant is a refreshingly modern North County destination.
Great night out!
The food and service is worth going back to Clara.
Customer service was amazing and also the food!!! Highly recommend!!
It was not safe seating with people sitting right next to eachother. Then it too hours just to get drinks, food was not being placed and a mess. The food was good but they need to work on being safer, and people who know what they are doing when it comes to service from the front of the house to the people taking orders.
Valentine's Day dinner. Food was amazing. Service not so much. We saw our server, ordered drinks and and appetizer and then she disappeared for 20 minutes. She came back and took our food order and we never saw her until we requested our check. Made the best of it as she seemed to be overwhelmed but probably won't return.
My food was good and priced correctly. My wife's was over priced and the quality was ok.
Me:
Scallops ~$27 - it was good
Wife:
Valentine Halibut $40 - just ok and over priced
They also offered steak and lobster for Valentines. 8 oz lobster and 8 oz steak for $64. This was over priced for sure because of the size. Don't get me wrong. I will pay more for food they that it prepared well. However the 8oz Halibut did not qualify as a $40 meal.
I'm guessing we would have enjoyed the meal more had we never seen the Valentine menu.
My family, three adults and two kids, were pleasantly surprised by the allowance for indoor dining. Because we were so grateful to be eating indoors we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The service was amazing! The food and drinks were tasty enough, though I have had better at those price points. Each of the adults felt exceptionally parched after eating, indicating perhaps a heavy handed use of salt by the chef.
We had a reservation here for tonight Saturday night at 5:45 PM. When we arrived we requested a table outside and were told that there were none available. We told them we would wait, but they put us alone by a railing far from the dining area. There was no heater and it was freezing cold. We requested a table under the heaters and asked that they move us when one becomes available. We watched multiple parties after us who were coming as walk-ins be seated at the tables under the heaters while we were left in the cold. We had ordered drinks so we paid for them and told the waitress that we would be leaving and not ordering food because people who arrived after us were seated under heaters while we were left out. She just said sorry we couldn't do anything to accommodate. It's not that they couldn't do anything to accommodate us, they chose not to do anything to accommodate us. We will never return here. We were happy to find another local restaurant where we could spend our money and it was well worth it.
Had a very lovely dinner!
Cocktails were good, service was good just super loud!!
Wonderful experience all around. Great service, delicious food, tasty cocktails, attentive staff.
Our server was wonderful and food was really good. We had a birthday and they were very attentive to the birthday girl!
Enjoyed everything about this place! Food was great, it was very safe, service was outstanding.
The service was a bit slow but everyone is having a hard time right now. We were seated quickly. The cocktails and food were excellent. The bar below was a bit loud/rowdy but it was fine. Overall a nice evening in Carlsbad!
We felt completely safe and comfortably warm on the outdoor patio. The good was delicious and nicely presented. Our waitress, Jessica, was great. Look forward to a return soon to support this great restaurant.
Made reservations and when we arrived the table was not ready. Then we were sat out in a corner with no heat warmer. Every other table had one. We then waited 15 minutes for a server to take our drink order, and then waited 30 more minutes for the drinks to come. The only reason we stayed was that we really wanted to try the food. The food came out before our drinks do not know how that was possible but it was. The food was awesome the experience was below average. Maybe they were short staffed but they never said anything except I’ll go check on your drinks and every 5/10 min come back and say oh let me go check again. So just rough rough experience.
Why take all your vegan options off the menu? I came in person before the reservation to let you know it was my spouses 40th birthday and that she was strict vegan. You never acknowledged her birthday and brought her dish with Parmesan cheese on it. We are not looking for special treatment but, come on. Please remove the “vegan options” from all of your collateral and just be honest.
What a great find food was delicious service was great and not expensive a great value we will definitely be going there again
Outstanding service and excellent food. Thank you for the wonderful experience. Will visit again.
The food was great! We sat outside and enjoyed the music from downstairs. It was a great experience!
Great little spot in the Carlsbad Shopping Village area. The food was excellent! I had the best Eggplant Parmesan, and the house bread that came with this garlic-pesto butter sauce was so delicious! Waitress was very nice, and we even saw the owner and thanked him for the enjoyable meal. Next time we are in Carlsbad, we are going back definitely!
Food was amazing! Drinks were delicious. Service was even better. This was my first time here and I’ll definitely be back.
Clara always has great food, drinks and service
Best service and delish happy hour and fun environment!
Bartenders, Danny and Sebastian , and manager Raul, were so welcoming! Drinks are superb and fresh! They really are mixologists! They made us feel like this could become our new neighborhood bar! Fish tacos, and flatbreads tasted great.
We've been here a few times now and the food is always outstanding! The servers we've had each time have also always been friendly and attentive. Overall I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for some good food without a crazy long wait time. It's in a great location as well being right in the heart of downtown Carlsbad. The cauliflower tacos and the skirt steak are two of our favorite choices here, but you really can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Cocktails and beer choices are great as well!
We used to LOVE Clara. The Caesar used to be the best Caesar I've ever had and now it's basically a grocery store grab and go ceasar and the chicken was basically jerky The burger had a strange wine sauce on it that tasted off. Service was extremely slow. I will not be returning.
Waitress was unattentive didn’t provide menus and ignored us after we were seated. Bar staff and male waiters were very helpful and accommodating. My steak was over cooked but had good flavor.
Just reopened post Covid.
Food was excellently prepared. It’s a simple menu done well. Service was attentive and appreciative.
Nice dinner and good service. The noise level was quite high and intrusive.
drink was amazing. server was great. really loud and hard to enjoy time there,
Understaffed and beyond loud..won't go back. Not enough wait staff..and room was so loud you
couldn't even think.
The ambience was cold. the water in the bathroom sinks freezing. My dish, scallops, was great but my husband's NY was thin, came out welldone when ordered mid rare, replaced cooked correctly but still lackluster. the blueberry cobbler for dessert was all blueberry and no cobbler.
Great like always :) it is a loud restaurant, but great food and service!
The food was amazing. Their staff really does an outstanding job. Chef is a beast. Can’t wait to go back. Try the brussels.
Great food and service
the food, drinks, atmosphere, and service was amazing! definitely recommend.
Food came out cold. Pasta was good though. Meh.
If at any time there is an issue with your experience, please let us know and we will do all we can to make it better for you. We want you to be happy each and every time. Thank you for letting us know and I am hopeful you will come by again!
scallops - delicious. cesar salad - appreciated the anchioves. steak chimichurri good. music a bit loud, hipster type of place. food was good. recommend this place.
So glad you enjoyed it, Dianaa! We appreciate you and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Enjoyed dining at Clara, everyone enjoyed their meals, some wonderful flavors. Service was helpful and attentive. Was on the noisy side as it filled up and felt slightly chilly inside. Not unhappy though and would recommend.
GrantN: Thank you for sharing your feedback. I am glad that overall you had a good experience. I am hoping that you will come by again - we have a wonderful happy hour and also a fantastic lunch menu!
Everything was amazing! Service, food, drinks, and ambiance!
So glad you enjoyed it and we appreciate you taking the time to share your visit!
The appetizers were wonderful. However, the main courses left a lot to be desired. We asked for the hamburger to be cooked medium, but it was way overcooked and dry. But, the worst part was that the pork belly had obviously been cooked with oil that had been used to fry fish. The hamburger tasted distinctly fishy which was horrible
Thank you for sharing your feedback - we want every guest to have a great experience. If at any time there is an issue, please let us know and we will do all we can to make it better for you!
FAQs
Clara offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (760) 944-0699.
Clara is rated 4.4 stars by 225 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.