We made a reservation at Pioneer and really enjoyed this little spot! It's tucked inside a diner,…read moreso it can be a little hard to find at first, but it's just inside the back patio area with a cute wooden saloon-door entrance. The space is small, cozy, and intimate with just a few tables. Our waitress was super friendly and took the time to explain the menu and different options to us. - Guava Y Queso (4.5/5): I loved this! It was really unique with the cream cheese topping, but the combination worked so well. Definitely a fun spot for cocktails and something a little different!

Lets try this again since my original review was removed…read more The night was going great. We just had dinner near by and decided get drinks here. We've been here a few times before and always thought it was decent. So, we made the last minute reservation online and got here 15 minutes early. When we arrived, there was a short line, but per the reservation instructions, one of my friends went in to check in while we waited outside. Friend: Hi, I'm checking in for a reservation. Bartender: What time is your reservation. Friend: 10 Bartender: What time is it now? Friend: 9:45 Bartender: Then I'll see you at 10pm. Friend came back annoyed and explained what happened. The bartender didn't say it in a joking way, but with attitude and annoyance. Most staff would respond "Thank you for checking in, we will let you know when your table is available." We weren't going to let this ruin our night, so we waited and were seated by the hostess. The bar itself is dimly lit and very tight. The music was loud enough that we had to almost yell to hear each other. The waiter came by soon after and was extremely friendly. We said we'd been here a few times before, but it's been a while. He refreshes our memory by saying they specialize making variations of classics. They want customers to focus on the flavors and that's why the menu doesn't list the spirit in their drinks. Also, they only make drinks on the menu because their drinks are prebatched/premade. We ask for recommendations which he was happy to give. We each order a drink and a snack for the table. As we're talking (very loudly so we can hear each other), we lose track of time before we realize that it's been 20 minutes and we haven't gotten our drinks yet. For something that's prebatched, it shouldn't take long. Before we can flag down the waiter, he comes by and apologizes that they lost our order and had to put it back in. We appreciate the honesty and say it's no problem. 5 minutes later, our drinks and food arrives. He again apologizes for the wait and has a second order of our food that he's including for free. Honestly we were ok with just the apology, but extra food too? Hell yea. Sounds like it was turning around. The drinks were okay. Not amazing, but definitely above average 3.8 / 5. The snack, bread and butter, were surprisingly good. 4.5 / 5 When we asked for the check, the waiter brought the credit card reader and told us we can swipe our card any time and left it on our table. We look at the bill and realize the waiter not only gave us the 2nd snack for free, but comp'd 2 of the drinks also. We all agree this waiter is GREAT. So why the 2 stars? Well first let me say, I would leave it at 1 star, but the waiter definitely earned them another. We wanted to pay cash, so we waited for him to come back. Instead, the original rude bartender comes by and realizes we haven't paid yet. We ask if we can pay with cash. He explains that they don't accept cash. Friend: Are you sure? *Proceeds to try to insert cash into the chip reader slot* Bartender: You're pretty stupid, aren't you? Friend: Maybe if I swipe it instead *Doubles down and proceeds to swipe the cash through the magnetic strip reader* Bartender: Wow, you really are stupid. My friend is a 100% a goofball and having fun with the bartender. It was OBVIOUS that he was joking. Was it funny? A little. Was it stupid? 100%. But for the bartender or ANY customer service staff to call a paying customer "stupid", that's simply unacceptable. We're all pretty pissed at this point and simply swipe the card and the bartender leaves. As I said earlier, we've come here a few times. We don't live especially close, but when we're in the area, we would always consider coming here. Now, there's no chance. For any business, even if your drinks and food are great, customer service can easily DESTROY your experience and that's exactly what the bartender did. Note to the male bartender with no hair: You really shouldn't be interacting with customers. You were rude from the start and have no sense of humor. Could you be having a bad day? Sure, but that's not an excuse to be rude to customers. I know management saw my original post because it was removed, probably because I referred to the bartender by his hairstyle (or lack thereof) multiple times. If they rather remove my post than deal with their bartender, that's another sign to avoid this place.

cute little speakeasy! my friend and i stopped by to start our night, and we loved the vibe and…read moreatmosphere inside. we ended up sitting in the carriage after another couple left, and the seats were a little wet/sweaty lol, which was definitely interesting but other than that, everything was cute and cozy. our drinks were good, although they weren't as sweet as we expected. definitely more of a personal preference, so i can see others loving them! overall, it's a cute spot to grab a drink, enjoy the atmosphere, and then move along to your next stop for the night!

We wanted to stop at a random bar in the area since we were out here for our friends birthday (you…read morecan take a look at the previous review). I searched Yelp and this came up a couple miles away and we liked the name of it. Haha! Cute little place. And I mean, LITTLE. Not big at all and hard to maneuver once inside. Pretty cramped. Hard to get a drink. Had a group of 4 people totally cut in front of me and my husband. We went to the other side of the small bar and waited several minutes.... Fortunately, the girl in front of me was sweet to offer to order our drinks for us. The decor was fun and festive but we won't go back. Not our style, not our type of bar to hangout in. Plus we pretty much surpassed the general age of the crowd. Like probably by at least 15 years. HA!

All the candles are soooo cool…read more The drinks are made with care and the well liquor is high quality. I recommend coming here if you want to experience a drink made by a mixologist. Beyond the mixology, the bar is very approachable and easy for just a regular drink as well. I ordered the vesper: gin and vodka martini with a twist. The good cocktails and super intimate vibe make for a great recipe. There are a couple high quality leather upholstered couches. Along with the couches there are a few high tops and a good amount of seats at the bar. The space would be very fun when crowded but I tend to prefer to have to have the bar to myself. Then I can spend time talking with the person behind the bar (I'm sure I can be very annoying) I was served by Karena. She was super knowledgeable and patient. I wanted to talk about different cocktails and really get the full experience. The whole visit exceeded my expectations. Beyond the drinks, service, and decor; this place is truly something special.

For dinner the pizzas are pretty good. The lure is…read moredefinitely the bar in the back! The service is great and everyone is very friendly.

We stopped by this bar after dinner one night. Love it! The decor all over is neat! They have an…read moreoutdoor area and more seating inside along with the bar. Seats are limited. There's a tree right in the middle inside. The decor is best described as eclectic. I love it! The drinks were great! My guava martini was delish! We also had the espresso martini and that delish! The service was great! Everyone was super nice! They are open late! We stayed until midnight which was closing time on Sunday but we would have definitely stayed later! We are definitely coming back!

What a great little trendy bar hidden away! After the OC Fair we felt like a little nightcap &…read morethrough Yelp found this little gem. The ambiance was so cool with lots of Asian inspired decorations, total eye candy. The line for the drinks was a little long but went pretty fast and we were lucky to score 2 seats inside almost immediately. If not, you can stand around or sit on other little tables on their outside patio. You can view the drinks through a QR code, a wall menu or above the bar. The drinks were really good with fun names, it was hard to decide which I'd make my first! A great place to visit and enjoy a good drink.

The atmosphere and decor is lovely. The service was on…read morepoint, helpful. The food was very delicious! We will definitely be back for their drinks and food AND the music

Had a very nice dinner here with a work group. It was early in the week and early in the evening,…read moreso the place was pretty empty. It is a very nice venue with a pretty patio. They had a mojito happy hour with other options as well, so we had a few cocktails in the bar and then move to the table. Everyone seemed to like what they got, and I definitely enjoyed my seared tune. A really nice spot for a date, or really anything.

The absolute best speakeasies are transportive, sending the guest into an immersive state of…read moresuspended reality for a while. From the sign as you enter, through the teeth, to the throaty-red textured walls, The Belly of the Beast encases guests in the whimsical journey down the whale's gullet. Who knew getting "swallowed" would be such fun? Keeping with the throaty theme, the space inside holds a few tables. It's an intimate space with ambient lighting and cheery Hawaiian/beach music. Puppets hang here and there, as well as other thematic, decorative details. My friend and I shared a few mouthwatering apps and imbibed a few delicious concoctions. Our wonderful bartender frim "outside" even came in with us, which made our experience even more personalized. We especially appreciated the complimentary shots! Our food was delicious and plentiful for apps: spam musubi, edamame, sliders, and shishito peppers. Now this is a big deal: my friend has celiac disease. She needs to be very cautious when ordering food. She self-advocates but much relies on the knowledge of servers. Our wonderful bartender, now our server, was very diligent and knowledgeable, and double checked ingredients with the chefs. Accommodations were made. Good times rolled on! Extra heaps of thanks on that! We fully enjoyed every minute of our (generous+) 90 minute time slot here. The service was amazing, the food delicious, and the cocktails made with magic. It was worth the drive, and one I'll gladly make again at next opportunity.

The decor and theme are amazing. I love the immersion and attention to detail. The service was…read moreoutstanding. Brodie was on his game all night with drink recommendations, food suggestions and just being a great host for our table. This was our first time to TBotB, so we're went sure what to expect, but we've been to Stowaway many times. The only knock I had with it was the selection of cocktails is limited. While I understand TBotB is it's own thing separate from Stowaway, I wish you could get some of the drinks from there. Most of the cocktails we had were good (but I'm not sure I'd order them again), but the menu had a number of drinks I won't order, they're just not my style. We missed being able to get some of our favorites from Stowaway. We ended up getting a table at Stowaway after our time was up in TBotB anyway because we were having a good time so that was fun. All in all, I think next time we'll stick with Stowaway and sitting at the bar. At least we can check TBotB off our list. It's worth checking out for sure, but for me I enjoy the more classic tiki cocktails. It's fun to venture off the beaten path once in a while.

Been there twice and zero regrets! Delicious food and drinks. Our server made some great…read moresuggestions (the whole menu) but understandable because everything was excellent. This time I sat in the front instead of the speakeasy side in the back which was just as good, more lighting. Will be coming back again.

We were just looking for some good delicious food and we found this place in a strip mall totally…read morehiding and would had never thought all the good food they had in there! They also have a little speakeasy area (seat there) and the ambiance over there was super cool and very intimate. Service is as great and the servers were very nice. We started with Sakura Sour - deliciously made! And short bottle of unfiltered sake- excellent. For food: Lemongrass dumplings: too good, don't miss it. Wagyu Bao: absolutely delicious Seared Hamachi: Hamachi was prepared to its perfection and the sauce was perfect. Just too much asparagus for me. Garlic Noodles: OMG - you cannot miss this out if you like noodles and garlic! Chicken Katsu: great dish but can be skipped. Lamb Chop: if you like yakitori style lamb, it is absolutely great. (I love lamb) Over all this place from service to ambiance to food execution was absolutely amazing. I highly recommended this place and I will be coming back to try other dishes!

Excellent bartender, great food, perfect speakeasy vibes. New fave spot in this area! Def will be…read moreback to try more drinks. I had the Twain and it was fantastic!

The Guild Club is a speakeasy located inside of Arc Restaurant Food & Libations on the northeast…read moreside of the OC Mix in Costa Mesa. The space is small, so I definitely recommend using Resy to make a reservation. After checking in with the host at Arc, you will be guided to the rear of the restaurant to small round room with a mirrored door and a beautiful chandelier overhead. Upon entering, you will walk through another small hallway with green light and wood framed mirrors on the wall. At this point, you have now entered the Guild Club. The centerpiece is an attractive granite topped bar that seats nine people. The back of the bar features a beautiful wood cabinet with intricate carvings. There is a small area across from the bar with two round tables, each with two high back cushy chairs. This area is more intimate, but the tables are small if you plan to eat and drink a lot. The walls, floor, and ceilings are dark with lots of woodwork, giving a warm cozy feel. There are a nice assortment of interesting lighting fixtures, and paintings on the walls. A few small ceiling areas are painted dark green and display gold astrological signs. At the end of the bar, there is a spiral staircase leading to an upstairs space that I believe is for display only, but it adds a touch of mystique. The Guild has its own small menu of exclusive cocktails and bites, but you can also order anything from the Arc menu. We started off with an order of shishito peppers which were probably some of the best we have ever had. The portion size is very generous, and they have some herbs, almond crumble, and squeezed lemon on top. Be warned that the cast iron skillets that a lot of their food is served in are extremely hot. For cocktails, I started with the Number One. It was a good balanced cocktail with noticeable cucumber flavor and some bitterness on the finish from the Pimms. She started with Einhorn Is Finkle. It had a great light sweetness with some grapefruit flavor and light bubbles. For my entrée, I had the crispy duck. This is actually a big ball of duck meat with a fried coating on the outside. The duck was very flavorful and nothing about the duck or fried shell was greasy or oily. The grated cheese paired well and the arugula added a nice freshness. This was a great dish that I would definitely order again. She ordered the chile relleno. Obviously, Arc is not a Mexican restaurant but this was surprisingly probably the best chile relleno we have ever had. It had a great pumpkin seed crust with a very flavorful succotash inside. The chili itself was huge and filled up the whole skillet. We would absolutely order this again. I was talking with our bartender JT about my recent new appreciation for mezcal if it's toned down and that none of the mezcal drinks on either cocktail menu really caught my eye. He suggested a Last Word with mezcal replacing the gin. I enjoyed it, but the mezcal was a little too prominent for my taste. For her second cocktail, she ordered The Girlfriend which has a humorous description of "changes daily". The current girlfriend when we were there was a twist on a blackberry margarita. This was surprisingly the best drink of the night, and was definitely the most complex margarita we have ever had. It had a light blackberry flavor, and I believe some of the other ingredients that JT mentioned were grapefruit, lime, cocoa, and cinnamon bitters. For dessert, we ordered the German chocolate cake. It was a huge slice of moist cake and was served with a large dollop of fresh cream. The cake wasn't overly sweet which was nice. We shared one last drink, the Liquid Courage as it sounded like a nice dessert cocktail. On my first sip, I tasted coffee which was unexpected. I asked about it, and apparently the drink menu does not list the Nola coffee liqueur that is in this drink. I'm not a fan of coffee, but at least this cocktail had more of a mocha flavor than a strong coffee flavor. I probably wouldn't have ordered it if the ingredient list was accurate, but I think coffee or mocha lovers would enjoy it more. Our bartender JT was pretty much running everything by himself with only a little outside help, and he was doing a great job. He was also very friendly and we enjoyed our conversations with him. The prices are a little on the high side, but the drinks were good, and the food was excellent with generous portion sizes. Our reservation was for 6:00pm and I would recommend visiting a little closer to sunset. There are some outside windows on the far wall and even though there are drapes, a little light still comes through. And if the door to the outside patio is opened, a lot of light comes in if the sun is up. The Guild Club is a great little speakeasy that I only recently discovered, and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

This place is located inside a gorgeous shopping center in Irvine…read more It's located inside, Bacchus Bar and Bistro. Which, was extremely crowded. They have tons of parking in this shopping center. They share it with TONS of other places. One of my BFFs saw this on an Instagram video and wanted to check it out. *They do take reservations When we came in we checked in with one of the waitresses. She said she would seat us in a minute. To be honest, she did forget about us. A waiter walked up to us and asked us what was going on (we were standing there for around 7 - 10 minutes) and we told him we had a reservation for the speakeasy. He immediately apologized and sat us. This camp themed speakeasy has a couple booths. It's on the smaller sides. Which, speakeasy's are usually small to begin with. I did not get the waitresses name, my friend and I were busy catching up. The waitress was nice, but not attentive. I will say service was a 2/5. However, the actual restaurant, cozy pine is located in, was packed because of the World Cup being on TV. So I definitely was not going to complain The food Our food order did come out extremely FAST. Faster than our drink orders. -the campfire guacamole -BBQ shoestring fries (had bbq seasoning all over them so it tasted like a BBQ potato chip) -Glamping plate (charcuterie board) -steak tacos (one without onion and cilantro -churro affogato Again, the food was VERY fast!! And to be honest it wasn't that bad. I'll say, speakeasy's usually shine in the drink department vs food. Drinks -Lycheed and Loaded Ketel One, lychee liqueur, lemon, elderflower. This was extremely delicious! If you don't like to taste your alcohol? Go with this. It was really refreshing. Hand this to me at a spa and I'd be the happiest gal in the world -Camp Anawanna $17 Graham cracker-infused bourbon, licor 43, chocolate, torched marshmallow (the waitress catches the marshmallow on fire at the table) This one was stronger and I didn't think it was overly sweet despite the ingredients I think they had a good selection, especially for a small speakeasy. I have been to better, so I don't think I'd return. Especially since the service was not that great. We still had a good time and recommend for every speakeasy lovers list.

Ambiance is great. Feels like you're in a cabin in the woods. Service is prompt and friendly. Food…read moreis solid. Shrimp tacos hit and were absolutely packed with shrimp. Cocktails were tasty and followed the theme well. Will be bringing friends next time for sure!

This place was a 10 out of 10. Food was amazing, drinks were awesome, and the ambiance transported…read moreyou the moment you walked in. You can tell the owners really have the right passion for tiki bars with vintage cups and tiki mugs, flame drinks, curated umbrella drink decor and a rum list that had about 100 different types. The pineapple rice was delicious and well flavored with pineapple and ham, the coconut shrimp was perfectly cooked and the egg rolls were cut fairly for a table appetizer. The dipping sauce was perfect too. I had the Vitamin D in a coupe, my sister had the flamingo which needed simple syrup which they brought and took care of that, my husband had a coffee drink after ordering a green iguana which they didn't have. The service was perfect. Although they didn't have the fren iguana, they custom made one which was very kind. We will be back.

My friend and I were suffering from back-to-real-life after a vacay in Maui. The antidote? A…read morestateside tiki bar! From the outside, The Stowaway is entirely deceptive. There's a sign at the door that hints at the theme within, but really, it was so delightfully shocking to walk into this immersive tropical paradise. The lighting, the decor, the music, and the total vibe of the place was so....Tiki bar! Reservations are greatly encouraged, and I made mine on Yelp. We were seated at the bar which worked out perfectly for us. We were greeted by a friendly, wonderful bartender (I *think* his name was Danny? Sorry if I got this wrong!) who created our tasty Polynesian themed cocktails for us. It didn't take long for us to release the tension in our shoulders, laugh a little more, and ease into relaxation here. Going for the full experience, we also had reservations at their speakeasy, The Belly of the Beast. We were well into the Hawaiian spirit as we moved into that delightful space next (also reviewed). We weren't really ready to head home yet, so we were able to be reseated back at the bar. Our new bartender was fantastic, too! He made what might be my new favorite drink for the now, "The Bitter End". The Stowaway had been on my radar for a while, but I'm IE and it's OC, and it's easier to get to Maui. But on THIS night, it was a pilgrimage. And so, SO glad we came out. It'll definitely be a stop when out this way.