Waterline
The dining experience is focused on seasonal ingredients, local and regional seafood, and expert technique. Favorites include a delicate lobster house roll, Kona kampachi sashimi, and pan seared diver scallops.
Open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Sunday Brunch, guests can enjoy intimate indoor or outdoor dining overlooking Balboa Bay. Larger celebrations will enjoy the restaurant’s private dining room, including a dedicated patio, backed by sunset views.
Popular dishes
Pan Seared Diver Scallops
cauliflower, caper-raisin gremolata
3 reviews
Grilled Spanish Octopus
avocado, jicama, Marcona almonds, fingerling potatoes
2 reviews
Avocado Fries
yellow curry sauce, sweet and sour dipping sauces
2 reviews
Nice view.
Lots of outdoor seating available.
Avocado fries is delicious
The Best Sunday Brunch in Newport Beach.
Great Food, Thanks for The Great Services !
Always great being on the water. Menu a little boring but tried avocado fries for first time and liked them.
Beautiful location...lovely food...great brunch overall...
Our brunch at Waterline was terrible! They ran out of food and kept saying they were going to add more, the service was horrible. Had to beg for more coffee. The crab cake benedict was so bland, mashed up crab, dry and we took one bite and said no more. The waitstaff act like it's an inconvenience to serve their guests. As we left my husband was complaining to the hostess and a woman came up to him and said they had an awful meal too and would not ever be coming back. We won't be going back either.
Menu was a little limited especially for my wife and I as we only eat seafood. I think it was due to a shortened menu for Valentine’s Day.
Food was very good and service great
Prices a touch above average, but the setting was awesome.
People actually dress up there, which is nice. So a nice romantic dinner out without some idiot at the next table with a baseball hat turned backwards.
Stayed the weekend at Balboa Bay Resort for a girls weekend. Met some friends there. Full disclosure, we had OUTSTANDING service both times we ate here, dinner and brunch. My friends who are at different times than us and had different servers had absolutely horrid service. Not sure if we were just lucky or they were unlucky. But I have zero complaints and would go again especially for brunch. The cost was such a value.
Excellent brunch!, good price, nice location and service!. Recommended!
Valentines
Very limited menu affected our view of the food
Had a wonderful Valentines dinner. Definitely would come back again.
Our waitress was excellent. The service was slow , however it was a holiday weekend so it is hard to judge.
we enjoyed a quiet valentine's lunch at regular prices! we were a party of 4 and all enjoyed their food and we could have a nice conversation. the wait staff are knowledgeable and attentive. made for a very nice day. and valet parking is comped if you eat there.
We went for Valentine's brunch and it was amazing! Not crowded, bay views, delicious food. Pricey, but less than you'd expect for the location. Highly recommend for a romantic meal!
Great restaurant to celebrate an Anniversary! Quiet, romantic and a great view!
excellent sea bass, but menu a bit restricted for fish.
Very quiet, must have been the super bowl
Food and service was exceptional! Server Lucius was such a pleasure to have.
Had dinner here during Newport Beach restaurant week. We enjoyed our choices. Everything was delicious. The desserts were on the "very" sweet side but that's personal preference. Although it was a chilly evening, we sat on their lovely patio with heaters overlooking the boats docked there. It was just the relaxing evening we wanted.
Ambiance was great, food was average, and service started out disappointing, but eventually improved during our brunch. The unlimited champagne mimosas were a fabulous addition to our brunch experience!
Celebrated a birthday brunch and the experience was absolutely lovely! The staff were extremely attentive and the selection was high quality! The scenery and ambiance was also lovely!
Excellent service and great quality food and presentation. The menu was quite limited for Sunday at lunch to just the brunch and the brunch options were more limited than most places however the excellent service and ambiance offset that shortcoming.
Great experience
Loved the waterline! Our server was Justin and he was top notch. Great service and recommendations for food and wine! The Spanish Octopus was a superb preparation and very tender. Scallops some of the best I’ve had and my husband really enjoyed his Beef Wellington Cooked Perfectly to his request. A bit pricey but so is the real-estate they are in. We will definitely go back!
We had a wonderful dinner at waterline with my family. House roll and fried calamari were perfectly prepared and delish.
The white bass with forbidden black rice, bok choy and shitake mushroom; Scottish salmon with with beluga lentils and escarole; mushroom risotto and Kobe burger were all great. The ambience was very upscale and romantic with live music. They have beautiful outdoor sitting but we opted on having a comfy dinner without having to worry about being cold or too hot from outdoor heater.
Highly recommend!
Excellent! Octopus, mushroom velour, scallops and salmon oh my! Totally delicious! My hubby and I had a lovely date night...will definitely be back!
Amazing ambiance!! Grab a table on the patio- they have heat lamps! Brunch is to die for!
Sat on the patio for lunch looking at the marina. Service was excellent as was the food.
It was a good experience.
Celebrating Christmas
We made reservations for Christmas dinner. No one notified us of a holiday menu. None of the options met our dietary needs. We ended up paying $350 for two sub-standard steaks. How is it that a restaurant adds sweetener to ahi crudo and steak? Everything was covered in sauce! Management was dealing with a LOT of unhappy customers.
First and last time at Waterline.
The table was so nice with comfortable chairs, the waiter was very good and informative. The quality of the food was great!
We stayed at the resort for the Newport Beach boat parade and this was the perfect restaurant. We arrived early for our reservation and were promptly seated on the patio with heaters, with a perfect view of the boats. It was a pre-fix menu and everything was delicious - the portions were plentiful and the service was fine. The views and the food were the highlights and I would definitely return.
Rip off prefix menu for Boat parade
Went to Waterline to view the Newport Beach Christmas boat parade. Nice atmosphere. Our waiter Alberto was very attentive. Food was good, but apparently had cooled a bit prior to being served. I would not say it was "cold" - but it was not at the temperature I expected.
Food and valet parking was great. Unfortunately the service was terrible. Initially seated very quickly but then nothing. Took over 45 minutes to take our order and get the first course, asked for salt and pepper which ever arrived. Complained to manager and things did improve but no offer of compensation or reduction for what was really poor service.
We had thought we could order from the normal menu but found out that there was a preset menu coinciding with the Christmas boat parade. The preset menu lacked many of the items we would have preferred - filets, salads, other desserts - and what was served was not exceptional. If we could have ordered off of the regular menu, I believe the experience would have been Five-star. By the way, the service was exceptional.
The Seafood Cioppino was the worst I've ever had; no seafood was fresh - the clams, the squid have died some days ago and the sauce needed some full conversion to a lighter and happier sauce!!! In place of the cioppino I got the Wild Isles Scottish Salmon - this whole menu was not to my liking at all! The salmon was not fresh either - so total disappointment for me!
Now, I loved the ambiance! For the restaurant to succeed, they need to change the menu or have a more creative chef!
Excellent Brunch with beautiful views! Daniel N. provided very nice, personable service!
After going to several branches throughout the years this has to be my all time favorite brunch so far and will continue to go back. Atmosphere is relaxing with a wonderful View. Plenty of open seating very neat and organized staff was amazing and very welcoming to everyone. We had the most wonderful sweet, sociable, knowledgeable server by the name of Victoria. We will be going back very soon.
It was a great lunch venue to celebrate a birthday. Will have to come back and try it for dinner.
FAQs
Waterline is rated 4.4 stars by 747 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.