Valentines Day should be special. This restaurant ruined it for us. I made a reservation months ago, trying to be proactive. It seemed completely unorganized and like nobody knew what they were doing. We almost felt like we were in the way or bugging the staff. Complete chaos. Everyone was smashed in like sardines in a can, and it was very expensive for a burnt steak. $17.00 for a tiny wedge salad?! What??? $9.00 for a little baguette. This place needs someone to really take control. We would never go back. read more

I came here on a date for Valentine's Day and it wasn't the best experience. It took 30 minutes for our order to be taken. It was almost as if we were forgotten about. Tables would sit after us and get service to their table immediately. Service wasn't great. We weren't greeted or asked how our night was going. Not even a "happy Valentine's Day". It felt very rushed and overwhelming. We received the wrong menu as well so we had to last minute think of what to order. My boyfriend ordered the steak medium and it came out almost rare. The Brussel sprouts and cauliflower lacked taste. Also for the Valentine's Day menu we had to order a starter and an entree each? It was basically forced to spend $100 a person at least. It was very confusing. It would be nice to get an explanation about the menu. Look I get it's a special day, busy night, packed restaurant and the servers are stressed out. I just would have hoped the food would have made up for the service. The host was very nice though. She actually acknowledged our presence. I work in the service industry as well and no matter how busy or stressed out I am. I always introduce my self to a table and make them feel welcome as well as make an individual connection with each table. There were no excuses for that. It didn't feel special like how my date should have felt on Valentine's Day. Not giving a one star because the garlic bread was probably the best garlic cheese bread I've ever had. read more

Farm to table restaurant. The food is so fresh tasting. Everything was delicious. All the flavors were spot on and so unique. Small restaurant, recommend reservations. read more

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An absolute delight, sit down or takeout. Nice and quiet location on the main drag in downtown Laguna. Excellent food, diverse offerings, pleasant service. read more

I reserved this restaurant for our anniversary as the pictures of the restaurant looked great! As we arrived the ambiance was not what I had hoped, it was more casual than I had originally thought. It was nice for a casual dinner but not for intimate occasions. The service was great thankfully as our waitress greeted us with a smile and listened to our requests graciously. She also prepared great drinks! Finally the food was of a restaurant level and fine for the price point. My lamb was delicious but didn't blow me out of the water, and my fiancé's meal was the same. Overall a nice experience but nothing spectacular. read more

Nirvana by Chef Lindsay - Pistachio Dijon Crusted Australian Rack of Lamb - Comfort Food Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

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Food and service were excellent, and great ambiance and music. We enjoyed the blue lip mussels, which came with fries and a delicious broth! Also had the stuffed poblano filled with artichokes, spinach, and cheese!! We ordered steak frites and the pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and carrots. The starters were so filling, we brought home some of the entrees! Try the new fall menu this week! read more

Our first time eating here for our anniversary and it was instantly our new fave spot!!! From the appetizers (butternut squash and goat cheese, and the chicken won tons) to the entrees (salmon was PERFECT! best I've ever had!) and my hubs got the chicken and wiped his plate CLEAN! The lavender prosecco cocktail was so fresh and tasty! Topped it off with a shared slice of carrot cake that war so moist and full of flavor! Cannot wait to come back, Ricardo made out anniversary dinner so perfect and seamless and every recommendation of his was spot on! cannot wait to try more of their menu! read more

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Sustainable California cuisine at its best. The vegetarian plate has 10 different vegetables all cooked to perfection each with a unique flavor. The sourdough bread comes hot to the table. The cheese bread is fantastic. The rack of lamb is succulent with delicious mashed potatoes and broccoli. The poblano chile appetizer is yummy and enough for two. read more

Great ambience with a nice rooftop deck. The following appetizers were great... Chicken wonton Corn Chimichuri Beef kabobs Garlic cheese bread The mushroom ravioli entree was excellent with a sundried tomato and artichoke cream sauce. The butternut squash risotto had zero flavor. It couldn't even be saved with salt and pepper. The filet mignon was good but not great. The salmon entree was excellent with an Asian flair. The chocolate lava cake was good. They have a variety of quality ice creams. The Affogato was absolutely amazing! It had nitro cold brewed coffee with salted caramel ice cream, whipped cream and a splash of vodka and tequila. Not too potent. Just right. read more

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The restaurant was good, but did not fully impress us. The menu options had potential, but when we tasted the food, it did not live up to its hype. The service was good, but almost too much, and seemed disjointed. The ambiance is nice, but very small and closes early! read more

A beautiful new refresh to a classic culinary experience at Nirvana kitchen and pantry. The menu has a wonderful variety, I had the chicken wontons (a compleity mixed with a delightful crunch) and my date had the blue lip mussels (simply the best) to start then we shared the rack of lamb (personal favorite). Sirvice was simple but on point and the atmosphere is vibrant and farmhouse comfortable. We will be back. read more

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Friendly service and a nice and elegant but somehow cozy ambiance. The Chilean Seabass was delicious and flavorful! Highly recommend. Vegetable forward place as well which is great. read more

Stopped into Nirvana last night to see the new concept. Loved everything about the change. It is a casual dining experience where you order at front and seat yourself. The food was exceptional and fresh. Everything was amazing especially the poblano small plate! There's a small pantry area to grab food to stock up your fridge and also beautiful cutting boards and gifts to buy. Please make sure to stop in to this local establishment and female owned business! read more

Nirvana hosted my large family group for a celebration dinner (got married!) and we were all talking about the amazing experience for the rest of the weekend. Not only did Chef Lindsay and the kitchen and service teams fulfill all the plans we made ahead of time for our event - they added special touches all throughout the evening to take care of us. We had many restricted diets/allergy concerns in our group, and they took the initiative to change ingredients beyond what we had even asked for, to make everyone's choices easier and safer. I had previously dined at Nirvana and I knew the food was going to be good, but this menu exceeded our expectations. The salads and starters had so many wonderful flavors and textures. We had three proteins in the entree selection. My favorite was the meatballs (little spicy kick!) but many of our guests raved about the salmon with basil aioli. We also loved how Chef added special touches throughout the evening, like personally delivering ice cream sundaes to our family's kids who were gathered around the fire pit on the patio while the adults finished dining. The service was responsive and thorough all evening. read more

Food was good. The tables were crammed too close together. The servers were nice but seemed unorganized and inexperienced.

Chef Lindsay knocks it out of the park day after day. Some of the very best food in Laguna. Years ago it was so popular that the seating started to break down. I surely contributed to that. Anyways they have new comfy seating so it's all good. Super friendly too. read more

Cute little restaurant in a great part of town. Serious under-performer. Food was average and service was spotty. Waitress recommended a dish, then came back 15 minutes later to say it was unavailable. In addition, waitress got our order wrong, but at this point we just cut our losses and ate what was provided. Too many good restaurants in Laguna to come back here. read more

Had a wonderful dinner on Saturday night before the pageant of the masters. The food, mushroom ravioli and the caprese salad was wonderful. The trio of ice creams topped off the evening. Service was amazing. Also met the chef/owner who walked around checking on everyone. We were held up in traffic and they were very accommodating on our reservation. Nice restaurant by the beach. We will be back! read more

Great local special occasion restaurant in the heart of Laguna Beach. Nirvana Grille has a full bar, good wine list and friendly servers. Started with a nice wedge salad with excellent home made green goddess dressing (they sell it by the pint for $14). Our entrees were a delicious branzini whole fish on a bed of lentils with sautéed vegetables and the scallops also on lentils with asparagus spears. Not big portions but very well made and presented. Overall a more upscale restaurant and well located. Definitely will come back. read more

Nirvana by Chef Lindsay - Friendly staff at Nirvana Grille - Comfort Food Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

Arranged for a work team holiday dinner here. It was a fantastic experience with a customized menu, great service and great attention to the unique dietary requirements of some of our team. The food was fantastic. The butternut squash ravioli was a wonderful appetizer, as was the stuffed poblano chili. My Nirvana Vegetable Plate was delicious. Would definitely come here again. read more

We have now eaten at Nirvana kitchen four times. This is a small chef owned restaurant with amazing food. The blue cheese french fries, although does not sound sophisticated, are absolutely amazing. We have also fallen in love with their mushroom ravioli. They are utterly amazing. Although the service is a slightly strange and the fact that they include a 15% gratuity and 3% service charge on every bill, the food makes up for the strangeness. We would highly recommend it. read more

Chanced upon Nirvana Grille during a recent business meeting. Best dining experience ever, interior is uniquely classy and comfortingly warm with great ambiance. Everything seems to be curated to details, pair that with Chef/owner Lindsay's tentative service, explaining the menu, and attention to details, the dinner experience was just exceptional! Food was lovely (the pistachio dijon crusted chilean sea bass is a MUST try!) Definitely will be my go to the next time I'm in Laguna beach. Thanks Lindsay for the magical experience! read more

This was the second time we've eaten at Nirvana. Last time, a couple years ago, was much better. Three of the four meals tonight were just...bad. Fish and chicken was overcooked. Cioppiono was underseasoned and a small portion. The French Lavender 75 cocktail had no lavender. The vegetarian in our group fared very well, as the salad was, presumably, hard to mess up. But the real clincher was the waitress. From the start, she was terse, impatient, and didn't seem to care about anything but getting our orders and then leaving. Then she actually barely came back for upwards of 10- 20 minutes. Salt was requested, never brought. The assistant waiter was actually more helpful. THEN, when the check arrived at the end of the meal, she preselected the 22% tip option, before handing us the card reader. I am a good tipper even for modest service, but wow, this was not it. read more

Excellent food and ambiance. Enjoyed everything about the dinner accept we were overcharged for items we did not order and prices on the menu were not the same for what we were charged for. Also note, they automatically charge 18% for a tip and then ask if you want to add more for a party of 2! Just beware and check your bill. read more

Yum! Had the perfect, delicious dinner before Pageant of the Masters last Thursday here. After finding parking in the downtown area, we started to walk towards the Festival of Arts and said let's eat at whatever comes up that looks decent since it was already 7:30pm and show starts 8:30pm. Walked around to the big street and found this restaurant on the corner with some ladies standing outside chatting after their dinner I assume. I looked at the menu posted and one of the ladies said it's real good. She looked local, so I said done, let's eat it. Classic looking restaurant inside, was able to get seated right away. I chose the grilled romaine salad, full entree size + the chimichurri prime sirloin for the two of us, figured that should be enough food, especially with me being sick from the flu (but can't waste the tickets bought over 6 months ago?)... Both my wife and I loved the grilled romaine salad. Such a delightful and delicious thing to eat! I believe the entree size came with 4 chunks of the romaine, I ate one and tried to get another bite before wife ate it up. The prime sirloin was also very tender and delicious. The mashed potato that came out with it was also superb. On top of the great meal, Pageant of the Masters ticket holder gets 10% off, so it was also a great deal:) We were out of there by 8:10pm and had plenty of time to walk to and browse some arts before the show. For me being sick, the show was ok. But the highlight of the evening was that grilled romaine salad. I'll be back for that! Hmmm wonder how big it becomes if we order the family size upgrade... read more

Nirvana by Chef Lindsay - Grilled Romaine Salad. Got the entree size, it came with 4 of these romaine chunks. Amazing flavors... - Comfort Food Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

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I hate leaving a negative review for a Valentine's Day dinner, when I know restaurants are beyond their normal capacity especially during these times. That said, we go out every Valentine's Day and this was the worst experience we've had (on the flip side, some of our best experiences have been on Valentine's Day). Two stars because service was apologetic. Wait time was long and things were chaotic. Except for the lava cake, the food was lackluster. The pastas were drenched in butter/oil, the steak was bland, the risotto was too dense, the clam chowder was watery. Including the 4% COVID surcharge, the fixed menu cost $85 per person. I enjoy chef's tasting menus frequently, so the price point is not what bothers me, but what we got for it. We got $55 food at BEST, maybe $65 marked up for V-day. At $85 we felt taken advantage of. The last $90 fixed menu meal I had was impeccable, this was anything but. I am even less sympathetic to the restaurant's plight because they PAAAACCCCCCK their tables. LITERALLY tables and chairs touching each other back to back, getting to the restroom required squeeeezzzing past tables and servers, and yet they clearly could not handle it. Btw, when we inquired about the garlic toast that was supposed to accompany our clam chowder (but didn't), our server responded "sorry" and later brought out a plate of cheesy bread - we were delighted because we thought she was overcompensating for a mistake. Then they charged us $8 for the bread, which we didn't bother disputing out of pity really. One cocktail each, 18% tip = $268. The meal was a joke and completely undeserving of this price point. Maybe they're great on regular days...unfortunately I'll never know because this just felt like an unprofessional establishment. :( read more

Loved this place from start to finish! The cioppino And the nirvana vegetable plate were delish. Fresh and perfectly Seasoned! The decor is warm and homey and inviting. Best meal in Laguna Beach! read more

What a disappointment! We were excited to try Nirvana as they reopened, but it was a disaster. We were a party of six on Friday, November 17 and there was only one other couple in the restaurant. We were told it's self-serve-- you order and then sit down which was not what we were expecting. They did accommodate us by delivering our cocktails, but did not have any menus ready-- they were printing them. They eventually brought us two menus for a party of six, but none of the menus had any prices. We ordered and I will say the food was quite good. However, one of our party ordered the chicken dish and it did not arrive when we got our meals. We had all finished our meals and she had still not received her chicken. The waitress said it was because it takes 20 minutes to cook--but we'd been there over an hour. What bothered me the most was her defiance about the chicken never arriving and in any situation like this I think a restaurant should've comped the chicken dish. I try to support our local businesses and I know it's difficult these days to operate a restaurant but sadly none of us will be going back . read more

Excellent food, in every respect. I have eaten here several times. One time, my sister and I ate dinner here before the theater and we were both on a diet. My sister ordered the vegetable plate. I was shocked she would order a vegetable plate, thinking it would be drab, uninteresting, and basically, horrifying. How wrong I was! The vegetable plate was superb. I was eating off of my sisters plate. In fact, the next time we went there, we both ordered the vegetable plate, and we were not on diets. That's how good it was if a restaurant can make something like a vegetable plate off the charts, you can imagine what it can do with other foods, which are hard to make poorly. read more

This hidden gem is set slightly out of the main hustle and bustle of Laguna's Main Street area. But if you are celebrating a special occasion, this place was phenomenal. At first we were greeted by a young hostess dressed in jeans and casual sweater. So that threw me off. But the rest of the staff was professional and dressed all in black. My husband and I ordered a small bite of scallops which was only two pieces. But they were the best little bites we've ever had. Our entrees were the Chilean Sea Bass and the Branzino Bass. Both were incredibly tender and flavorful. We ate everything and forgot to even take photos. Don't miss this restaurant if you are in the Laguna area. read more

Came in here with my date for valentine's dinner. They had a prix fix menu for 84$/person. It included 2 options for starters the ravioli and arugula salad. We both got the steak for main dosh and we ordered a lava cake and chocolate mousse cake. Everything was delicious. It was a busy night so the seating was a little weird and crowded but oh well. 100% would come back. Love this place read more

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Very nice service Food was great Small restaurant but the service is amazing Enrique is a great server and the bus boy William is a nice guy I will come back read more

Cuppa sunshine colab with Nirvana is a must try! There is an array of coffee and tea options. Try the pistachio milk for an excellent non-dairy option. The food does not disappoint. The breakfast tacos with potatoes are perfect- light and filing at the same time. The chilaquiles are great, too. Oh, and the fig and rosemary scone was a great end to our meal. read more

Had a delicious dinner at Nirvana Kitchen +Pantry last night. Lindsey has returned to full table service and has physical menus which we really appreciate. The food was prefect as usual. We had the Steelhead Salmon and Meatballs with spaghetti squash which were both prepared perfectly. The baby gem salad was delicious with lots of almonds. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. We love the new look and decor and appreciate the healthy, organic ingredients. read more

We had diner here on a Saturday night and it wasn't overly busy and not sure why. We started with the blue cheese fries and they were so yummy and they were hot when they arrived at the table. For entrees, I had the Grandpa salad and the other person in my party had the chicken breast. Both portions were very large and delicious. For desert, we got the cinnamon gelato and it had full flavor and so creamy. I would highly recommend this restaurant for a nice evening out. read more

We had dinner here this evening. The food was terrible, the service was terrible, they were out of everything!, and the owner was our server, I ordered the muscles. I received french fries soup, and all the muscle shells were empty. Terrible!!! read more

Food was very good. Awesome, friendly service. Sweet potato fries and romaine wedge salad was excellent. Scallops were very good. I would definitely come back. Highlight was the Mezcal Matador drink. Applause, applause ... standing ovation! read more

Delicious food and great for vegetarians! We tried both the mushroom and squash raviolis. Great wine selection as well. Both Dawn and Chef Lindsey were super nice and made the experience! We'll be back! read more

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Nirvana grill was great. We could sit inside. We got the chicken wontons the stuffed chili and garlic bread. We had to order a second cheesy garlic bread because it's the best we've ever had ever... Ever. Make sure you get it. We also got a steak and the sea bass. My steak wasn't cooked correctly and the corrected version really wasn't good either so I can't rave about that, my boyfriend got the Seabass. Pretty good. Get the garlic bread. read more

Nirvana by Chef Lindsay - POBLANO CHILE HOUSE MADE GARLIC BREAD (4) - Comfort Food Near Me - Laguna Beach, California

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We live in town an thought we would give Nirvana another shot at getting it right and they failed again. It's Saturday night, we are a party of two the restaurant is not even half full. We wait a bit to be greeted as the server is also the hostess. She contemplates not to give us our desired booth then decides it's ok but forgets to give us menus. We flagged her down and it just went down hill from there. She not only had a horrible attitude when taking our order, but forgot my drink. She let our food sit under the lamp for longer than we wanted to watch it sit there. She was too busy trying to help everyone and move tables around etc. the kicker was the automatic 18% gratuity added to your bill and then asking for more while standing there holding the iPad. It all came into focus. She didn't need to give good service because she knew she was getting an 18% tip. At least they took off the automatic $5.00 Covid fee from the last time we visited. We really wanted to add this restaurant to our list of regulars bc the food is good, but the poor service is a turn off. If she would have had a piece of humble pie, and at least apologize for the poor service, it would have gone a long way. read more