Laguna Beach Restaurants

A Laguna Beach legend. You don't come to the Royal Hawaiian for the food. You come for the kitschy Polynesian decor and the drinks. In particular, the Lapu Lapu. The Lapu Lapu is a Mai Tai-type concoction served in a fish-bowl glass. Once you've had one, you can stomach the food. If you're foolhardy enough to have 2, you'll likely be found the next morning face down in the sand. You'll be lucky if you have your trousers on.

Favorite Dish: Head straight to the bar and grab a Lapu Lapu.

1 more image

Hennessey's bar and restaurant is a great spot to have lunch and a traditional Irish stout. It is located right across from the main beach in Laguna and has outdoor seating. They regularly have live music and it is one of the locals hangout.

Favorite Dish: Fish and Chips

4 more images

The Studio is the formal restaurant at the lovely Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. We celebrated our 25h anniversary here and it was very nice. After catching the sunset, we changed into our formal attire and lingered in the gorgeous lobby by the fire, the restaurant is a short walk away from the main lobby. We ordered appetizers, had our Archery Summit Pinot Noir decantered and also enjoyed our entrees and dessert. I had the John Dory which was a nice portion fish in a Teryaki glaze, my husband had the Fillet Mignon. Desserts were brought out with Happy Anniversary which was a nice touch.

Our service was outstanding, the Sommelier came to our table and tasted our wine and then helped us order accordingly. A very nice dinner!

Favorite Dish: The John Dory seafood entree, desserts, appetizers

Decent little bistro / restaurant with delicious desserts, pastries, also with a rear terrace facing the main beach right in the middle of downtown.

This is a highly recommended place for when you have a taste for french, breakfast (until 4:30pm!) but also excellent dinner or cafe and dessert.

Try the dark chocolate espresso cake with some strong coffee on the terrace at night after dinner. It was excellent.

Favorite Dish: They serve (among other things) - Escargot, Bouillabaisse, Veal Osso buco, Duck Confit.

I thought this was a find and I went back.

Check out the website:

C'est La Vie Laguna Beach

2 more images

When we went in they asked if we wanted to sit inside for a more formal dinner or outside and eat off the lunch menu. We wanted to eat outside, if they had heaters on the patio. Of course, they did. First we wanted to order a margarita, after we made up our mind what flavor we would like to try. They had several to chose from so my son had a regular one, my daughter tried pineapple, and I just had a glass of wine.
I had not eaten Mexican food in years but I remembered that I did at one time love Nachos.
Everyone enjoyed their meal, the location, and the service was very good.
We would recommend this restaurant to everyone.

Favorite Dish: I had nachos. They were delicious. They have margaritas in several different flavos that are great also.

(Pronounced "Clay's") - Upscale with an excellent view of the beach through "knee-to-ceiling" level large windows.

This is another place to catch sunset with dinner. You can also (though not officially part of Claes) sit outside on the Hotel Laguna terrace for drinks and a more limited menu from the terrace bar.

All menus and amenities can be checked out in detail at the website listed below.

Winelist covers the gamut from Cristal to Staggs Leap.

Claes is quiet, upscale and formal, certainly not cheap.

Favorite Dish: Steamed Manilla clams, black tea smoked duck breast, seared ahi tuna.

I also enjoyed an armagnac on the terrace for dessert.

Here is the menu:
Dinner menu

Here is the winelist:
Claes Winelist
( a 2Mb PDF download)

If you're looking for good eats away from the "must look good at all times" vibe of main beach, this is one of the best local dives in south Laguna. The place is TINY! Almost no one eats inside the place because there is just a little bar w/ barstools (about 5) and a couple of tables outside. But that doesn't stop anyone from pulling up outside and ordering a great lunch/dinner to go.

Favorite Dish: 2 Chicken tacos. Yummie!!!! I've tried most of their food, and really like the carnitas. But will always go back to the chicken tacos. They're super-yummie.

You might walk past this little taco shack on PCH without giving it much notice but that would be a true shame! There are lots of vegetarian options, seafood and of course yummy mexican food with a California flare. All the seating is outside so you can enjoy the sun and watch the locals stroll by. And to make it even better, prices are extremely reasonable!

Favorite Dish: The tofu mushroom burgers are to die for. You may be thinking that a tofu burger is only for hardcore vegetarians but even the most manly men will be begging for more. The trick is they add lots of fresh guacomole, sauteed mushrooms and salsa to make it incredibly tasty.