We had a most delicious dinner at Lilac tonight! We ordered…read morefour starters, each one notable . Starting with tasty shrimp and clams, spicy and saucy with a knock out sauce and toast for mopping. Outstanding cauliflower seated on a bed of fantastic sweet and sour sauce. The fried calamari was delicious with a dipping sauce of spicy aioli. Sadly, we had no room for their famous desserts! Highly recommend this lovely spot in Montecito. Outdoor seating was pleasant and friendly .

It was a nice little find in error. We were looking for a coffee shop and Google suggested this…read morespot. We ended up having an early dinner since it looked so yum. Decently priced, delicious food, great service! The calamari was the star of the show for sure, crisp, not oily at all. It's a beautiful little spot with a nice wine list and good daily specials. Nice place settings and ambiance.

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

While the food was fine, we had to get second dinner elsewhere. You're not gonna get your bang for…read moreyour buck here. Don't come hungry and expect to leave full. Wine pairing and wine service subpar. For what you're paying, it should be a much better experience. Perhaps this is acceptable for Long Beach, but this wouldn't fly in other locales. Disappointed that it didn't live up to the hype.

I made reservations at Casa Dami to celebrate my daughter's birthday, and overall, it turned into a…read morereally memorable experience. When booking, I had the option of dining , chef's table, or patio seating. I specifically chose the dining since my daughter loves creating content, and the indoor ambiance is absolutely beautiful for photos. The hostess seated us on the patio, and I mentioned that I had selected dining. I was told that seating is based on first availability, which was a little disappointing, especially since the restaurant is right on the water and by 7:30 PM it was getting pretty chilly. While they do have heaters outside, sitting in gusty winds with the smell of gas (especially after a fresh trip to the hairdresser!) just wasn't ideal. My daughter went back to the car to grab a blanket. Thankfully, the hostess noticed my discomfort and came back shortly after saying, "Donna, we have another table further down that's out of the wind and under a heat lamp." That small gesture made a big difference, and honestly, that's when the experience started to turn around. From there, things only got better. When our entrées arrived, our waiter Nick realized we had never received our appetizers. Without hesitation, he assured us he would make it right, and he absolutely did. He brought out a selection of cheeses for us to sample, which led to us ordering a caviar bump paired with champagne (highly recommend!). To top it all off, he surprised my daughter with olive cake and fresh berries to celebrate her birthday. Such a thoughtful touch. If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. Not just because the food was amazing, but because of the attention to detail and how seriously they take the overall dining experience. Parking is available in a nearby garage, and they validate the first 90 minutes, which is a nice bonus.

I had this place bookmarked on Yelp since November when it was all dressed up for the holidays. The…read morepictures of the interior looked beautiful and the food looked great. Yesterday, I came here for my birthday lunch with my mom after she made a reservation, and honestly, I wish we had just gone somewhere else. We sat down right at our 1:00 reservation and then waited 35 minutes just to get a drink menu. Not food. Not to order. Just the menu for drinks. After we finally ordered, the champagne showed up about 20 minutes later. It was served in wine glasses, which feels like basic wine bar knowledge, but apparently not here. When we asked to switch them to champagne glasses, the waiter brought out smaller wine glasses. Not exactly good etiquette for a place that leans so heavily on its bar concept. The whipped ricotta appetizer came out even later, around the 65 minute mark. As an appetizer. It was fine, probably the best thing we had, but "fine" after that kind of wait is not a positive. From there, everything just dragged. It took almost an hour for my mom's meatballs to come out, and when they did, they were raw. Not slightly underdone. Fully pink in the middle. She sent them back and was so turned off she didn't even want to eat anything else. I ordered a salad and specifically asked for light dressing. What I got was the opposite. It was drenched in a thick, heavy dressing that made the whole thing borderline inedible and the lettuce soggy. After our food, I tried to order drip coffee, which they didn't have, so I settled for an Americano. I asked for warm cream, which I've had done at plenty of places, and somehow it came out clotted. If you know anything about coffee, that shouldn't happen. At this point, we had been there for over two and a half hours. For a salad, an appetizer, and four raw meatballs. The server was very nice and doing his best with being busy. BUT, the overall operation felt completely disorganized and untrained. We weren't the only ones either. The couple next to us was also complaining after waiting 40 minutes just to order breakfast items. To make it even better, parking is only comped for 90 minutes. So because of their slow service, we ended up paying for parking on top of overpriced, underwhelming food. What should have been a 45 minute lunch turned into a 2.5 hour ordeal. The bathroom also wasn't clean either time I went, which pretty much sums up the lack of attention to detail across the board. The only slightly redeeming part was the crème brûlée, which was... fine. Not amazing. Just fine. It's a pretty space. I'll give them that. But that's about where the positives end. The food is not good, the timing is unacceptable, and the whole experience feels like Instagram style over quality and substance. Definitely not worth the money, and not somewhere I'd ever go back to.

Excellent restaurant. Food and service is impeccable. Been going to this restaurant for 15 year's…read more I've never had a bad experience. The ambiance is impeccable. Juan is the most caring and gives very good and attentive service.

Another amazing experience at Boccaccio! This has become one of our favorite restaurants in the…read morearea. The lake views are absolutely beautiful, the service is always warm and attentive, and the food is consistently excellent. The crab cakes and lobster bisque are the stars of the show and are a must-order every time we visit. That said, everything we've tried has been delicious. The portions are generous, the ingredients are fresh, and you can tell they take pride in every dish. If you're looking for a restaurant with great food, outstanding service, and a beautiful setting, Boccaccio never disappoints. We'll definitely be back!

Delicious Slavic food, just as good as homemade. The server was very sweet and the food was made…read morepretty quick. I definitely recommend if you're looking for authentic Slavic food!

Amazing food ! Tartar with black caviar is the BOMB!!!!! Must try…read more There was our first time hope not the last Friendly service

Host/ waitress was friendly. Bread served was room…read moretemperature, tough and served without butter. The dunarea was flavorful and satisfying. Although the beef stroganoff had a nice flavor, it was 90% mushrooms and 10% beef, and for $28!! should be renamed mushroom stroganoff. Way too pricey for what was provided.

Excellent authentic Eastern European restaurant! Perfect for family gatherings and large meals…read moretogether as well as quiet date! This has to be one of my favorite Romanian restaurants in OC! Family owned and operated with exceptional staff and service! I can't wait to bring the family back together again for dinner or quick Mititei or some Sarmale! Mhmmm hmmmm chefs kiss! The smells coming from the kitchen will have you eating and sipping wine all night long! The best part the food! I ordered the beef stroganoff chopped filet mignon with mushrooms cooked in a sauce of sour cream, tomato and white wine! We also ordered a side stuffed cabbage rolls/Sarmale in varza, ground pork in pickled cabbage leaves and served with cornmeal and sour cream! The sparkling water in the bottle was even from the Carpathian Mountains! This place is phenomenal! Thank you Dunarea for your hospitality until next time! Multumesc mult!

Great service and environment. Love the food.. Definitely my first choice of brunch.read more

A French fusion brunch restaurant near LACMA, a Michelin-starred establishment. The building,…read moreconstructed in 1929, was once Charlie Chaplin's studio. It was packed on Saturday noon, with queues stretching dozens of meters, so I had to get takeout to eat at the museum. Kimchi Fried Rice: Unsurprisingly one of the most popular dishes. Even as takeout, it was still incredibly flavorful. The rice was dry and fluffy, each grain distinct, perfectly absorbing the sweet, sour, and slightly spicy flavors of the kimchi; the beef short ribs were tender and juicy, with a rich, fatty aroma. The perfectly runny soft-boiled egg was a definite plus. It somewhat shattered my stereotype about Korean fried rice. Short Rib Burrito: Calling this tortilla soaked in sauce a "burrito" is quite creative... avocado, soft-boiled egg, cheese, and black beans--a typical Mexican recipe; the sauce was tangy and spicy, refreshing and stimulating, creating a good balance with the rich, rounded flavors of the ingredients. For Cantonese like me, it was a bit too spicy. Basque Cheesecake: Absolutely delicious...the best Basque cheesecake I've ever had! The cake was delicate and smooth, with a different texture in every bite, from the molten center to the firmer edges, and the transitions were very natural; the cheese was incredibly rich and creamy, almost like eating milk powder.

Wow. Okay the pictures on instagram do not do this place justice. I rarely say that places look…read morebetter than their official page and marketing...but yeah. This place does. Like people said it was romantic and I was like sure, I guess in the pictures it kind of does. In person though??? Wow. Absolutely wow. I was in awe. I wish I could sit there every day. The lights and ambiance are truly insane. I have never experienced anything like it. Let me backtrack too and say that I paid $14 for valet which tbh is not too bad considering I didn't have to worry about my car or anything so it was worth it. Okay the food. We got Parker rolls and the Mezze plate for the table. Wow, the Parker rolls were as you would expect. Buttery goodness. French butter as you know...top tier. Okay the Mezze plate? Every single sauce was so good. The little cous cous thing in the Mezze plate was so cute and yummy. Then the main dishes. Seven vegetable couscous was great. As a Moroccan, I can say it was a great vegetarian version of the dish. Has the staple veggies you look for in a cous cous. My friend got the vegan cauliflower steak and that was so beautiful and tasted delicious. It was a great dish for my vegan friend. Our waiter was so nice and really personable as well. From start to finish, he was there for us when we needed him and we really enjoyed our dining experience because of him. I forgot his name but he's a star. I have already recommended this place to others because it really was so incredible. I am so happy I got to come here.

We celebrated a romantic dinner at Little Door for my fiancé's birthday and I would say the…read moreexperience was OK. She chose this place for the Instagram worthy atmosphere you see online, but I would say it falls a little short of how picturesque it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice garden setup up, but we were expecting a more romantic and whimsical layout. We also noticed that the dress code is very loosely enforced as there were numerous people there with T shirts on. We got there for our reservation about 15 minutes early and was seated quite fast. The hostesses at the front were quite friendly and the wait staff were attentive and mostly nice. One of our servers seemed a little curt at one point, but it wasn't too bad. Once you are seated they ask about your drink order, and offered wines, sparkling water, and literally said "tap water". Pretty surprised that they said tap water, but we went with a glass of wine and sparkling water. The menu is short and it's easy to make your decision. We went with the 24oz Prime Ribeye Steak, Pappardelle pasta, Kingfish Crudo, and the Portuguese Piri Piri Shrimp. The ribeye was served with scalloped potatoes and green beans that were delicious. The ribeye was a perfect medium rare, tender, and served in a very balanced sauce. The Piri Piri Shrimp was also great. Large pieces in a slightly spicy cream sauce; I would describe it as almost a Cajun flavor. These were my favorites of the dishes we ordered on this night. The Kingfish Crudo was a nice choice. I believe it was yellowtail served with small pieces of cherry tomatoes and peach chunks. The sauce was nice and refreshing with a little sweetness. The Pappardelle Pasta was ok, and probably my least favorite dish of the night. It wasn't bad, but wasn't on par with the rest of our meal. The thick pasta noodles were al dente, and the sauce was nice and creamy with pieces of green beans. It got better once we mixed the poached egg into the sauce, but still didn't get it to the point where we would order it again. Since it was my fiancé's birthday, she wanted to get one of their desserts served as a small birthday. She saw pictures of their passion fruit coconut cheesecake on Instagram and wanted that, but they changed it where the passion fruit was at the bottom of the cake. I thought it was decent, but not a great dessert. I thought the staff would at least sing happy birthday like other restaurants, but that didn't happen here. Overall, The Little Door is a small romantic stop to have a date night. I don't know if I would consider it a place to celebrate a special occasion though. I think we would come back, but not for anything big. Also, I would recommend using the valet, it's right in front and they only charge $14 pre tip.