Beautiful restaurant, personalized service, and amazing food. It was a great place for a lovely…read morenight out.

Love this place. A long-overdue OC gem! Won't be long till you can't get a reservation. Vibe…read more Service. Food... exceptional! Thanks

Barkeep Allen is amazing. We were introduced to some great champagnes and cocktails…read more A appetizer must is the caviar with cream fresh and crispy potato chips. Ahi tuna was good too. The eggplant on toast was very flavorful and cool. Sundays are for burgers. Yes they have the best hands down burger in the area, The two different ground beef Blend was seasoned and cooked to perfection. They added some sort of creamy sauce and of course the fries were cooked nice and crispy. We wished we had more of an appetite or guest with us for this party of two, to try more food. But I guess we have to come back for more! Ambiance and service was impeccable

This place had been on my bucket list for over a year after I saw how cute it looked on Instagram…read moreduring the holidays. I'd walked past it a few times and always thought it had a great vibe, but the seating situation was a little disappointing. The only nice seating consists of the three tables by the entrance; everything else is bar seating, and the restaurant itself is very small. Taking away the seating situation and evaluating just the food, I'd say Casa Damí is your average "try it once and perhaps never go back" kind of place. We started with the burrata, which was good, but I've also never had a bad burrata before. The croquettes were basically fancy cheese curds, which I could totally get behind if I were at a bar. The tiger prawns were a chef recommendation, but unfortunately they were pretty small and overcooked, which made them difficult to remove from the shell. The flavor was okay, but they were frustrating to eat, and at this price point I expected more. The olive oil cake was great and probably the best thing I ate all night. I can't say I'd come back just for that, though. Maybe I ordered the wrong things, but based on what we tried, I'm glad I experienced it once and don't feel much of a need to return.

This place has yet to disappoint on their tasting menu. Out of the few times I've been here I felt…read morethis time around they had upped their game with beautiful and unique plating. Some of the dishes were almost too pretty to eat. Our server was very attentive and knowledgeable about the food along with the wine pairing. It's worth the treat to come back every now and then as the menu isn't ever the same

For the cost of a Michelin star restaurant we were not very impressed. The food IS good but the…read morecost is very high and the ambiance isn't special. The restaurant is in an old house which is interesting but our table was smokey from the kitchen. Parking is street only. As I said the food is good but not at the price point.

What a hidden gem!! Chef Joo really impressed us with his…read moretasting menu as it was hit after hit. The food was generous with high quality ingredients (like the Uni pasta that was surrounded with uni sauce, a fat piece of uni on top and decorated with grated dried uni). The flavors were well thought out - by taste and by visual, it was evident how much care was put into each dish. We scrapped every dish for every last bit of sauce. Service was extremely attentive and well informed about each course. Chef Joo even came to greet us towards the end of the meal. It was insightful to hear about his vision and philosophy for his craft. We will be come back to try everything on the menu!

This place is incredible. From the cuisine, the ambiance, to the service - definitely a hidden gem…read moremore people should visit! Restaurants like this are extremely rare in Orange County. Food - everything we've had is delicious, but my absolute favorites are the Hamachi Crudo appetizer and the Diver's Scallop Symphony. Husband loves the Lobster Bisque, Pork Belly Ssam, and the Umami Steak. You really can't go wrong, everything else we've tried has got great blends of complementary flavors and were delicious. It's obvious that Chef Andrew puts a lot of care and thought into his art. Service is great - attentive, mindful and personable. We've only been twice so far and they remembered us. Ambiance is amazing also - clean, cozy and feels so inviting and warm. Looking forward to our next meal at The Wild Artichoke.

Came back to the restaurant and had above 5 star experience. Staff were super kind and food was so…read morefresh and so delicious. We came on a Sunday afternoon and there was a line to order but still very easy to find a place to sit. The manager, Ellie, was working the register and she was absolutely sweet and above and beyond friendly. We got: ~ Chicken Alfredo pasta ~ still my favorite chicken Alfredo pasta! Tastes more savory and cheesy than other Alfredo's I've had. It comes with cheesy garlic bread which is delicious. Highly recommend ~ American breakfast ~ very beautifully played and comes with a great variety of food ~ Matcha latte ~ Mango pastry ~ hard chocolate exterior with mango crème and a jelly/jam filling. Would highly recommend this, tasted like fresh mangos and so delicious

Their pesto panini with their wedges potatoes are my favorite, obsessed!…read moreThe utopia latte was very good but the two slices of cake were awful :(:( Pistachio cake slice 7/10 and berry tart 5/10 Definitely not worth it.

Seems like a super underrated spot! To the point I don't know if I want to add to the dazzling…read morereviews because we felt spoiled having the chef almost to ourselves on a Sunday lunch time. We had lunch/brunch here and had an amazing experience! Andrew was such a spectacular server and even brought a great white wine to go with my ceviche. He accommodated to our party which had children and just provided just such a great experience for my parents 40th anniversary brunch. The menu has a lot of variety without being overwhelming or excessive (I don't trust restaurants that have too much on their menu lol). I ordered oysters, which were on the small side but the flavors they placed on top were amazing. I followed with an entree of ceviche which was generous, DELICIOUS, and nourishing. Our table ordered an array of items: Portuguese scramble, Shakshuka, Hugo's rotos con Jamon, the branzino, breakfast pizza, Italian breakfast sandwich, French toast- each one exceeding all expectations. Playlist was repetitive but fun for me, a millennial drinking mimosas and white wine lol.

I love when you go back to a place and the staff remembers you! The bartender recognized my husband…read moreand came to greet him and shake his hand! Love that! Once we were seated, he came over and asked us what we would like to drink and suggested making a special beverage and it was delicious! Food was good and our server was very attentive and took great care of our party of 8. My favorite dish of the night was my hamachi collar bone! It was light and the watermelon salad was refreshing. The reason for the 4 stars was the pricey drink prices and they boxed up our chicken but somehow mixed it up and we came home with a dessert instead!

Came here on a Saturday night for their EDM night. At 10:30 the place is converted into a lounge…read morefor dancing and it gets poppin. I liked it a lot, especially the tech house, I think all of the DJs that come here do tech house only. The only thing I didn't like was the people who make their way into the audience but then they just stand there and don't dance. If you are going to push your way towards the front and disrupt everyone's flow and rhythm just to stand there and take up space, that's very annoying. Go stand in the back if you aren't going to dance.

Service 10 Ambiance…read more10 Beer Options 10 Food 1-2 (Fries best part) Long time customer. Laguna Beach native. Don't know if it was just an off day/night the food was underwhelming. The escargot a favorite of ours. Re-used shells ok whatever but at least put a bigger piece of meat in there. The shells were filled with oil and some greens but the meat of the "escargot " was a little bit bigger than a pea! The fresh bread was great. Salad Endive - ehh chunks of ham??? Couldn't parent it better or just cheap meat? Steak was very tough. I had to spit a part out bc of the sinew. Then the frozen garlic butter hockey puck!! How do you expect people to put this or use this when it's frozen solid? The meat isn't hot enough to melt it. Overall you need to do better. Won't be coming back anytime soon unfortunately!

This is a long-overdue post. République has been on my must-visit list of LA dining experiences for…read morequite some time. I just never realized where it was since I don't usually make it out to Hancock Park. Then one day, while I happened to be in the area, I stumbled upon it and had one of those "Wait...this is here?!" moments. You ever have one of those places you've wanted to visit forever, only to realize it was much closer than you thought? My first visit was actually for dessert after having a less-than-memorable lunch at Mish down the street. Unfortunately, I arrived later in the day and most of the pastry case had already been wiped out, leaving only a limited selection. The staff recommended the Dulce de Leche Cremadette ($6.75), and I'm glad they did. It was perfectly flaky, buttery, and sweet, with the dulce de leche tucked inside the pastry. The caramel reminded me of the caramel coating on a caramel apple. I also picked up some brownies at the staff's recommendation, and those were fantastic -- incredibly moist, rich, and delicious. Definitely a must-get. I was a little disappointed that I missed out on the majority of the pastry selection, but I was told that the pastries are made in limited batches each day and once they sell out, that's it. So if you're coming specifically for the pastries, get here early. Earlier this summer, I made the acquaintance of an OG Yelper, Joseph A., and we've been corresponding back and forth on Yelp. I happened to know that he's a regular at République, so I asked if he'd be interested in meeting me right when they opened. I figured if anyone knew what to order, it would be him. Joseph was incredibly kind and gracious enough to treat me to breakfast. I ordered his usual breakfast recommendation: the Regular Breakfast ($24), which comes with bacon steak, fingerling potatoes, a demi baguette, French butter, jam, and an egg prepared any style. Joseph went with the soft scramble, and I followed his lead. That was definitely the move. They really know how to cook eggs here. The soft scramble was absolutely divine -- creamy, delicate, and perfectly cooked. The bacon steak was a little on the salty side, but still very good. The demi baguette was excellent, especially with the French butter and jam. Honestly, I could have eaten several pieces of that baguette with the butter and jam alone. The fingerling potatoes were nicely seasoned and quite good on their own, but a few dashes of hot sauce really took them up another notch. I'll be honest: $24 is definitely on the pricey side for what you're getting, especially when you break down the individual components. That said, when you factor in the quality of the food, the setting, and the overall experience, I can understand why people are willing to pay it. We also shared several pastries, and every single one was excellent in its own right. I'm officially hooked on the pastries here. They just don't miss. Service was pretty good during my visit. One thing worth noting is that République adds a 4% surcharge to the bill to help cover healthcare for their staff. It's certainly something to be aware of when looking at the final bill. f you're looking for a quintessential LA brunch experience to take out-of-towners to, République is a great option. Just be prepared for potentially long lines, especially on weekends. I visited on a weekday morning over the summer, so I didn't personally experience the weekend crowds. My only real wait was at the pastry counter during my first visit. I've heard you can expect people lining up before they even open at 8AM, so plan accordingly. The cult following surrounding Walter and Margarita Manzke's restaurant/café is understandable. Between the food, pastries, atmosphere, and history of the building, there's a lot to appreciate here. And speaking of history, the building itself is pretty special. The property was built in 1928 by Charlie Chaplin. It became a restaurant in 1989 when chefs Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton transformed the space to open La Brea Bakery and Campanile. After Campanile closed in 2012, the building was renovated and modified to open up the space while returning it closer to the spirit of its original construction. République opened in 2013 and has been going strong ever since. Do yourself a favor and eat at République. Come for the food and pastries, but also take some time to appreciate the ambiance and the history of this incredible LA property. And whatever you do, get here early if you want the pastries. Once they're gone, they're gone! Don't walk--run to République.

The breakfast plate used to be really good & it had purple potatoes…read more I got it last month and it was off, and tasted very salty. It had regular white potatoes and the eggs seemed on the 'hard' side.

Wow this place is amazing, 1st time and we really enjoyed our dinner here…read more Food was outstanding. Every thing was delicious tasty and great flavors Service was accommodating and friendly, shout out to Maya/Naya thank you for the good service Love the ambiance here so chic Def coming back here again when I'm on LA

After years of wanting to visit The Little Door I finally got to go to celebrate my birthday with…read moremy partner. The Little Door is known for their gorgeous outdoor seating under twinkly lights but be aware you cannot garuntee a spot there - only request. We had reservations on a Sunday night and they were fairly busy around 7pm. We were taken to the back seating area which is indoor. I appreciate that they have the option of a personalized dinner menu which is what my partner got for me, and they even bring you a large envelope so you can take the menu home. It took us some time to be greeted by our waitress. I felt the service was lacking. She was nice, but I felt like we were often forgotten. For our drinks I had a cucumber gin martini and my partner had the Casanova. Both were delicious! For our appetizer, we ordered the Piri-Piri shrimp. It was 4 pieces of shrimp lined up with small circles of flatbread in between each piece, seated on top of a smoky and flavorful sauce. We both loved it! For our main meal we ordered the couscous "Royale," fresh Papardelle pasta, and roasted carrots. The couscous came with one lamp chop, stewed lamb, merguez, and chicken - with a side of sliced almonds and dried apricot for topping, extra lamb stew sauce, and the most incredible harissa. I absolutely loved this dish, it was so flavorful. The pasta was a solid dish as well, and the roasted carrots were also fantastic. For dessert, we ordered the lava cake and I had Moroccan mint tea. The lava cake was well balanced with flavor and not overly sweet. The tea was fragrant, sweet, and the best way to end the meal. Overall I had a nice first experience at The Little Door. I don't think there's much left on the menu that I would want to try. I would love if they added more Moroccan-inspired dishes to the menu to make them stand out! But I feel like I would still come back, and I recommend it as a place for date night or to celebrate a birthday.