Had breakfast here this Saturday. Food was good and came out quickly. New face at waitress, her name was Corri. Great service and friendly smile! She's a breath of fresh air for here! Came back again. Sat in Corri's section. Great service! Good times! read more

Been coming here for a while. They have comedy shows some nights, breakfast in the mornings, sports with large TVs, dancing and live band at night - literally everything you can ask for in a entertainment setting for all types of occasions. The drinks are affordable and food is really good. Definitely my go to spot in OC :) read more

this might sound weird, but this divey racetrack bar has really good breakfasts! Dirt cheap of course. i think the combo special is about $2.75? read more

Yes one more bar. Still a good place just not for me tonight. So goes the search. This place holds many events. and the bands they have had are really good as well. Large dance floor and plenty of tables makes this a good place for everyone read more

Great place. Good food. Good bartenders. Marianna rocks on Sunday Funday. Country Sundays are awesome.

Are they open? It is 11:47AM, I called their phone number and NO answer. It is a personal answering machine. It says open for lunch but I do not think so. I do not want to drive over there if they are closed! Also their web page is down. I am from PGH and disappointed if they are closed. chuck s. read more

Interesting characters in this joint...just let loose have a couple drinks and head to the dance floor, you'll have a great time!

Great bartenders! This place always has tasty food. Great low priced breakfast deals on the weekends, the best deal around! The food is great quality and you never know what to expect here. I have had birthday parties here along with friends and we always have a great time! Thanks Kitty! Also Mariana and Joaquin are the best! read more

Been here a couple of times before and all times at night. I like the dance floor. the servers are alright but they tend to forget orders so i don't messed with them and just got to the bar. The atmosphere is always great and always had a fun time. read more

My friends and I always come here whenever we're lucky enough to get out on a Friday or Saturday. It's always fun, good music, good atmosphere, attentive waitresses and the owners are awesome. It's cozy enough that you don't have to dress up, but you're not over-dressed if you do. Do call a couple days ahead if you want a table, 'cause it fills up fast. No matter what the occasion you'll have a good time here. read more

New owners have done good job remodeling and freshing up this place.Now a younger crowd for sure. Its a Fun Spot and they are going to make it better read more

This place is great for people watching-and by people watching, I mean middle aged people gettin'/ their grind on! A male bartender there, I neglected to ask his name, made THE BEST bloody mary I've ever had! The crowd is always great; it's usually packed. Granted it's a bit of an older crowd, but who cares! Everyone's nice and friendly! Prices are reasonable and music is ok. Some bands are better than others, but the dancefloor's always poppin'! read more

i've been there a few times now and feel that I can give it a obective review. It si a bit older crowd,which is fine because they leave you alone and don't seem to look for trouble. We've been there on a Saturday night and a few mornings for breakfast/ lunch. There must be some regualrs because when we tehre in the evening, Ms KItty, who was our waitress seemed more nterested in chatting with them then getting us our drinks. She was nice enough when shem adeit over to us though, and the wait was no to terrible. I went there with a friend of mine yesterday afternoon and was attended to in a very friendly manner by Emily. Not too bar for a local hang out , I suppose. If you havea group outing, definitely call way ahead to reserve a section. read more

Turn on the air conditioner!!! This place is so hot and stuffy, makes it uncomfortable to dance/hangout.

At Starting Gate to watch Steelers Football game. Place is packed but service is great. Food is above average but price is excellent. Had the breakfast special for $5. Fun atmosphere. Drinks were good. read more

Had a fun night at The Starting Gate! Lynette Page and staff were super. Great service and nice dance floor! Food was good looking forward to being back there. read more

Went to this place because Yelp said it had pool table(s). It does not. Other than that, the place is pretty large. I came in on a Friday evening around 930 and the place was jammin... Decent live band, people covering the dance floor, good atmosphere. The only problem was, practically the entire place was reserved for a few different parties, so finding a seat was difficult. After finally landing a table, ended up offering another couple to join me, since there were no more left available. read more

With the average age of patrons being 42 on a Friday and Saturday, one knows the clientele that that the owners are going for. Good selection of beers, if one is a Steelers fan, this is the bar to go to on a Sunday to watch the games. read more

1st time at Starting Gate was Sat night with some friends. Bigger on inside that looks on outside. Had good time. Nice atmoshere, prices for drinks not bad. Can dance or sit and lounge. Pretty crowded on Sat night but lots of bar space so drinks come quickly. Overall, enjoyed evening and would go again. read more

What a disappointment. Went to the Starting gate about a year ago. Had fun. Went again last night, it has certainly changed for the worse. It's not even a dive anymore, it's a dump. Music was okay, it was really about the low class clientele that now frequents this location. We stayed for one set and left. The waitress asked if this was our first time there. I shared we had been there a year ago, wow has it changed. She nodded yes. Won't go back again. Don't waste your time. read more

This place may have comedy shows but the staff is horrible. I've been to gas stations off a highway that had cleaner bathrooms, food is terrible. I've never written a negative review for any business but I was upset enough with this place to say something. I even called the manager to talk about my poor experience with this establishment and wrote an email and haven't received any response. I have been to a lot of dive bars or as some say whole in the walls but never been to a place this bad. They have no interest in keeping customers coming back and I have no interest in ever showing up again. I bet they won't even respond to this review because their appreciation for customers is non-existent. read more

Came here on a Tuesday and saw the comedy show. Drinks were cheap and the show was great! Cant wait to go back again.

I love live entertaintment, I love music, I love drinking... I feel home when I'm here. I first was invited to this place a couple of months ago when Cochino from Comedy Central started doing shows there on Tuesday. I said to myself that it would be crazy to pull an all nighter and go to work the following morning. I didn't care. So, I went in and had the best time of my life. The bartender at the main bars are very friendly and very knowledgeable about what is trendy about drinks. Did I happen to mention the drink specials after 11? Well, they got 2 for one specials, so yeah, ask for wednesday off cuz you are going to need a tow truck to take you home. Oh yeah, the bartenders are very cool and they also are very friendly. The food was delicious, including dollar tacos. I am mexican, dollar tacos sound as good as a corona for cinco de mayo to me! The place is conviniently located, there's a gas station at the corner, easy to find, good and big parking lot. The place itself is very clean. If there was a complaint I would have about this place, it would have to be the same waittress I get stuck with. I hate having to complaint about the people who handle my food/drinks but thsi particular time, it has to be done. This young lady always, always has a long face, an attitude and she's kind of pushy when taking orders. I know and understand that there is a lot to do in a single night, but that is not one of client's problems. We, pay to eat, have fun, drink and enjoy the night, not to see long faces and deal with staff problems. I hope this review is helpful read more

Worst service ever, and I am grading on a curve comparing to other dive bars. Arrived at 6:00 left at 7:00, was offered one drink while the regulars were brought drinks till they were falling off their chairs, literally. The seat next to me was occupied by a dirty dinner plate which stayed there the whole time I was there. This place did not have the character of a true dive but it is not the cool place to hang out that it tries to be. It is just kinda....there. a little bleech. read more

this place is the world's greatest!! fun. comfy, divey, cheap....! old man grey sausage party but in a not-so-old-man-stenchy kinda way.. if that makes sense. reminds me of a really great fisherman sweater that you get for super cheap at a thrift store not worn out.. more like worn in... anyway, I've never been there on the weekend maybe it's not as good.. but I like the comedy night and the biker night (weds?) the starting gate is right next to the place that does all my website work the walk In web store... (within stumbling distance of the gate) read more

Really tired of the same bands every month! and some of them arent even that good! Bring some new ones in! Thanks!

Food was good. Had wings and fries. The service was horrible. After our waitress delivered our food she never came back. We had to go to bar and get our own drinks. We wanted to order more food but no one ever came. Their loss in profit. read more

Bad business practices & a jerky manager named Fernando. Came to visit a friend who is one of the cocktail servers. Bar was divy-er than expected, but I don't mind. Actually like dive bars. Ordered an appetizer and soda which they refilled a few times. Food was typical mediocre bar food. Since there was a shift change, they asked me to close my tab which i gladly did. At that point, there was no charge for refills. I decided to to stay an extra 2 hrs for the live entertainment and refilled my soda a few more times. As I got ready to leave, the manager presented me with another check for four sodas saying that refills were not free. When I tried to explain that I already paid a check that included free refills, he said very abrupt and with a jerky attitude that it was a mistake. From my perspective, it seems my food and soda was not enough business for my time spent there. So he arbitrarily decided to charge for refills when at first he was not. I am non-confrontational by nature and tried to explain that I am fine with the policy and paying the extra, but was bothered by the principle of their mistake and misleading message to a patron being my problem. He just blew me off. The server actually apologized for Fernando, the manager. To not charge for refills 1 minute, then change your mind is ridiculous. A business that is going to that extent to penny pinch will never gain good repute. I will not be going back. The Gate needs to re-evaluate their policies, get staff on the same page, fire Fernando & re-hire management with a better attitude and a good head to customer service practices. Is it really worth losing customers over $7.50 of soda which is a negligible overhead cost? read more

This place has been going down hill for a long time. Service is slow and menu limited. Food barely warm. Entertainment has slipped dramatically. We used to frequent this place weekly now it's every couple of months. read more

Poor service. Do not wait on you. The servers do not ask if you want another drink. They do not refill ice tea. Take forever to give you a menu. Take forever to get your order. Servers do not work. They charge you for an ice tea each time read more

I love it when I stop into a "drinking establishment" to check the scores of NBA and NHL games, only to find they have fabulous food. I mean some of the best burgers, pasta and...yes...steamed vegetables (no kidding). Everything is fresh and the service is great. Very good crowd too. read more

I grew up around the corner from this bar and have never been in. I've always wanted to go as it always looks so busy and fun. Finally when visiting my parents house for the holidays a friend and I decided to grab a drink around 11:15pm. Around 12:30 or so the bar was winding down and there was no one really left so we left. Unfortunately the next day I realized I had left my brand new leather jacket there! My mom and I were driving by the next day so we went in and spoke with the manager Carlos who was very accommodating and promised he'd look into the whereabouts of my jacket. He told me to give him a call a couple days later...I followed up with him and sure enough he had great news that he'd found my jacket! I am so pleased by the way this was handled. I'm excited that I finally experience the Starting Gate and can't wait to go back and have some more fun as it was a great venue! read more

lived near this bar /grill for some time. first time going in and it was nice. we stopped in for breakfast wich was good. but the atmosphere looks like it is poppinat night. they have a stage and live music, dance floor a and pool tables. Good food and plenty of liquor. read more

We dropped in and was pleasantly surprised by the band. Great Music and lots of people dancing on this Saturday nite. It was crowded but we found a table between the dance floor and the back bar. There were no negatives until I observed the action of the 3 hookers and their handler at the table next to us who were busy dancing together and working the single men at the back bar. read more

Wish this place was closer to home. Cold Beer, good food, and good service. Lynette was super nice.

I have been going to the Gate 5 years. I have been reading the reviews Yes Friday and Saturday nights did (past) have a OLDER crowd. Now there is a good mix. My self I like Wednesday night the only night of the week for bikers or any body that likes motor cycles. This becomes the most friendly place in town. Check it out your self, I am easy to fine there I take over 100 photos with my friend then I post them on www.thestartinggate.us come is you will be happy you did. Russ read more

The Starting Gate is our favorite nightclub Friday and Saturday nights rock. Love the bands and they have a large dance floor. We live in AZ but when we come to visit family we always go out to the gate. I highly recommend this club to everyone 40's to 60's. Even my daughter 28 likes the club and Karoke nights. Please continue with the same bands were there 3 weeks ago had a blast. Linda and Ray read more

Went here Saturday night for a friend's birthday party and was really surprised! The new owners have really made this place into a nightclub instead of the high school cafeteria it used to remind me of. The DJ was great and the band, LA Lyon, rocked! Nice to finally see a band in a club that looks like they are having fun and want to be there. My husband even got out on the dance floor and that never happens! The food was good, the staff was great. My only complaint was the place was so packed, it was hard to get on the dance floor. read more

Went there two weeks ago with my father who was visiting from New York. Sat at a table near the bar around 7pm. We were waited on by a "bad attitude" waitress. She was an elderly woman, you can't miss her among the pretty young waitresses. She was very rude and obnoxious . I don't know how they can keep her working here due to her attitude. This place is definitely a "money-hungry" establishment. They don't care about their loyal customers (they only care about how many drinks they can serve you. This particular waitress told us that and how much money they can make off you. Not customer friendly. I will never come back again nor recommend this place to anyone. Loyal customers are very important these days and its a shame to be treated this way. They force you to buy drinks if you sit at the table. They used to offer free water and now you can't even get that. They make you buy two drinks per person or you have to stand and if you want water you have to pay $3.00. This waitress should be replaced, she is ruining the atmosphere of this place. I noticed at other tables where this elderly waitress did not cover, that they were getting free water. read more

the starting gate is the best place in town for drinking, dancing eating and meeting new friends and beyond, the new owners have really done a great job remodeling the starting gate, you have to see it to really see all the great work they have done and more to come, but with the addition of the dj to breaks it's really great and of course all the great bands they have on friday and saturday night, there is something to do every night of the week there, mons. karaoke, tues, the best comedy club, weds. is bike night, thurs. salsa night and fri. and sat. bands, its a no cover club but they do have a two drink min. which is great, the prices for food and drink is really great also, it had a hugh dance floor and the light show is so terrific, you'll want to dance all night either alone or with someone, it doesn't matter, the servers are great as are the bartenders. so if you get a chance to come to the starting gate in los alamitos and katella ave. across from the racetrack you will have a great time. read more