La Cave

I've been going to LaCave for 25 yrs, and the atmosphere is the first thing you notice, It is a great place to take a date, or your s/o for a romantic evening. I have been hung up on the Halibut, which is outastanding, the garlic breac will bring you back again, and anytime I have gone, the service is great. It's very small, creating a nice friendly atmosphere. It is costly, which isn't bad. to me, you get what you pay for.\r I will continue to go, because the place cannot be duplicated in any other restaurant anywhere.\r Thanks.. Pros: Ambience, food, service are the best of the best Cons: i don't have any complaints more

i have never written a review but the reviews on this site are so off that i feel compelled to. first there's the service, which was non existent. showed up on time for our 930 reservation. literally did not see the hostess for 10 minutes. when we finally saw her and got her attention she told us that it ""shouldn't be too long, maybe 20 or 30 minutes."" no apology, no explanation. about 45 minutes later they finally sat us. sat no less than another ten minutes before our waitress, ms. sunshine, finally made it to our table. the way she spoke to us you would've thought i ran over her dog on the way over. this isn't le bernardin, it's la cave . . . in costa mesa . . . under a blockbuster. you can drop the euro-trash we're better than you shtick. the one bright spot was that the food came pretty fast. of course it's not that hard to pour chopped lettuce from a bag and throw watery dressing on it. i was hopeful that the steak would redeem the place. it was just alright. definitely overcooked (ordered it rare). it wasn't the worst steak i've had at a restaurant, but it was definitely the worst $35 steak i've ever had. my girlfriend's fish was dry. i don't get how people can say this is one of the better steak places in oc. finally there's the crowd. when i read some of the reviews i got the impression that this was somewhat insulated from the oc-newport ""scene,"" but this place is just as much a d-bag magnet as any around town. granted, part of my disappointment is that i had high expectations, but this place is just not worth it. bottom line: food is very average (and thus overpriced), and the staff just does not care about you in the least. won't be back. Pros: ambience gave the restaurant promise--very unique for oc Cons: everything else more

Went here last night (12-09-06) for our 28th anniversary. The hostess was very good as was the bartenders. After sitting down for dinner our waitress came up to the table and was curt- no smile, how are you tonight, etc. Just I see you have your drinks,here is our menu (in the chilled cart, which I thought was nicely put together). At the table next to us she was friendly, smiled and talkative. I wanted to ask for another waiter/waitress as this was a special occasion, but my husband and brother in law talked me out of it. I think she must have heard me talking about her because she was smiley and friendly when she took our dinner order. We had shrimp cocktails first (delicious with a lot of horseradish), and ordered our dinner, I had combo porterhouse and lobster (1/2 tail) for around $59, my husband ordered full porterhouse, brother in law had steak and sister in law had swordfish. She said the fish was dry. My steak and lobster was good as was the other 2 steaks. The waitress never came and asked us during dinner if everything was alright, etc. She did offer us dessert, but I had to remind her that it was our anniversary and I was told dessert came with our dinner. She said yes it did so we got that and the others got a chocolate cake. Dessert was good. As for the entertainment, Plan Be was like the background music to a 60's bad ""B"" movie. Not good at all. I was so looking forward to going here after reading all the reviews. I was very disappointed. We go to places like Flemings, Summit House, Montage, Chat Noir (where our company Christmas party is this year) etc. (have been to most of the places on this website's list) and would not recommend this place. Just having decent food is not enough when you pay these prices. At the end when our bill was brought, my husband asked what he would have to do if he wanted another glass of wine and she said get it at the bar. He asked her to do it and then refigure the bill. Fine Dining? NO, NO Pros: Decent food, easy parking, good bartenders Cons: Bad service, pricey for the service, bad ""jazz"" more

Dining in La Cave is like going back to the days of the Speak Easy's -- you expect Al capone and his boys to slip in through a side door. It is wonderful. We have been going there for over 5 years and have taken a lot of our friends there -- all of our friends still go there. They all rave about how wonderful it is. The food is great. they make a very tender tasty steak. The ladies that work there have been there for a number of years and can share with you a lot of old stores -- we love La Cave and will be going there for a long time to come. Pros: The atmosphere is wonderful Cons: Parking can be challenging on the weekends more

My bf took me to La Cave for dinner a few weeks ago and we had a wonderful time and a great meal. The quality of the meat and fish (I had a Filet, he had the Halibut) were wonderful. The twice-baked potato had a little too much garlic but was otherwise pretty good. To be honest, the cave-like atmosphere was a little creepy for my taste but as dark as it is in there, it still maintains a lively feel. If you go in on a Thursday night and are daring enough, you can sing karaoke backed by a live three piece band. It's is so much fun and the crowd in the back lounge on Thursday nights is mostly 20's and early 30's. Also, the bartenders in the back lounge know how to make a martini. And the drink prices were surprisingly reasonable for such a Newport-adjacent location. Pros: Interesting retro atmosphere, great food and cocktails. Cons: Pricey! more

La Cave gets its fame for its ambience and underground entrance. The Alaskan Halibut is definitely worth a try. The menu is generally pricey. However, it's worth at least a one time experience. Pros: Ambience, Entrance, Halibut Cons: Price, Space, Value more

Its just alrrrrrrright!!!! If your gonna charge me $35 for a steak at least provide quality utensils. Not the crap you get at Norms! Service wasnt the greatest. I was pretty buzzed and the food was still sorry. I wanna speak to the chef!!! There are alot better steak places out there for the same prices. Cons: STEAK, STEAK, STEAK more

La Cave is not the best steak house around, but the unique cave like atmosphere and the excellent nightly live music makes up for the high priced food. The menu is a display case with all your meat and seafood selections under a plastic lid, and you have to ask for the price and it is not cheep. Dinner for two, with a glass of wine each, was just about 95 dollars. Pros: cave like Cons: parking more

La Cave is by far the best steak house around. Add that to the unique cave like atmosphere and the excellent nightly live music and that's why this is now one of my favorite places. Menu is a display case with all your meat and seafood selections under glass. The drinks are great. Two or three of those cocktails would finish just about anyone off. And the music!!!! I saw the Todd Oliver quartet on a Wed. night. This is about the only place i can think of where you can find live straight ahead Jazz for no cover. And there is live music every other night of the week as well. Pros: Ambiance, Drinks, Steaks Cons: None, Absolutely, Wonderful more

Okay restaurant if you like a very simple menu, no vegetables unless you count the salad and/or potato. Very cramped, noisy and overpriced. The steak was of great quality but I can buy one of equal quality and grill my own. I was surprised at how simple the menu was, makes for a very boring meal. Had reservations but still waited over 30 minutes, no seating for waiting patrons. Very disapointing. Cons: noisy, cramped, overpriced more

I love restaurants that offer unique ambience, great food & wonderful entertainment. The singer for the evening performed lots of Frank Sinatra & Tony Bennett. It was a romantic evening! My hubby and I had so much fun there, and the food was excellent! They roll out a cart with samples of the cuts of steak and mmmmm good. I noticed large groups, families w/ kids and they looked like they were having a great time. I think this place is great for couples, large parties or families w/ kids. Good place for all! Pros: great entertainment, convenient parking, excellent food more

I tried the Porterhouse. It was huge. 24 oz and every bit as good as I could have hoped for. The flavor was amazing. I could barely eat my potato but it was so good as well. The pototo was a stuffed potato and don't forget about the basket of garlic bread. From top to bottom I was so pleased. My server was very nice and attentive. I recommend everyone to check this place out. They have really good jazz music in the evening. Didn't plan on staying for it this time but next time we'll make an entire night out of it. Pros: Best Steak Ever, Great Martinis, Cool Jazz more

The parking lot was convenient. The entry way was confusing. A hefty wooden door that looks like it would lead to a broom closet, actually leads downstairs to a rather cramped lil restaurant squeezed in around a bar, otherwise known as ""La Cave"". There were many busy bodied servers running around dodging display cases of raw beef and seafood. Mike, the bartender fixes a mean cosmopolitan. The hidden lounge on the side tends to be more relaxing and quiet. If you come on the right night, you can enjoy all kind of entertainment...from an old man on a karaoke machine singing Sinatra covers, to a packed room of 20s-30 somethings applauding a very boisterous jazz quartet Great warm feel aside from the anxious cocktail waitresses. Pros: Good parking, Good crowd Cons: , Cramped more