Great staff and management/ ownership is very personable and hospitable. A true gem in OC
Suzanne L.
Loved the food and service.. Amazing view too ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
TabithaW
My husband had the wild boar and it was one of the best dishes we've ever had! Everything was absolutely delicious! It's one of our favorite restaurants . Our teenage boys love it too!
Tim Morissette
$45 corkage fee "OUCH". I mentioned the $45 corkage fee to the bartender as I was getting change for the valet and he I was told "well we do have an extensive wine selection", which I thought was a little arrogant. I learned my lesson. Ask first.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
RobM
Food was good not amazing but good but the service was amazing. I know I am not spelling her name right but Sienna was our server and her first night alone as service she did a great job.
My girlfriend and I went to the Winery in Newport for our anniversary, I will explain the details of our experience. We went last Friday night and arrived at 8pm even though our reservation was at 815pm, the hostess was very sweet and sat us down right away. Our server was a young shorter thin female. From the beginning she was cold and seemed like she didn't want to be there. She never offered to explain anything on the menu, or asked if we had been there before. The busser dropped glasses of water right away however, it took the server 25 minutes after she introduced herself to take our drink order. My girlfriend ordered a raspberry martini and requested it not to be too sweet and more tart, and it was on point! By the time we got the first cocktail it was 840pm and we were ready to order food. Once we received the cocktail, we asked if we could order since it had already been 40mins since we arrived. The sever than asked if we wanted to hear the specials but it was so late into our experience that we told her we were fine on hearing any specials, we had already made up our minds on what we wanted to order. The server than rolled her eyes at us, when we said we would pass on specials, and started to cut us off when we were speaking to her. We ordered mussels/claims with a white wine sauce which was very good! A great balance of white wine sauce which we really really enjoyed. We also ordered the Rib Eye (medium) and the Scallops/Shrimp dish which we shared. The Rib Eye came very undercooked, and my girlfriend wouldn't touch it I however am more flexible and will eat Medium Rare. The point is, even though we ordered it Medium we didn't even feel like saying anything to our server since the whole process was already prolonged/dreadful with her. The scallops and shrimp were very tasty and the risotto complimented it well(be advised SMALL portion). I've been coming to the Winery for 10 years and this was the first time I've been let down. Hoping they improve.
HenryT
Food was average but service was great. steak was not a good cut with mediocre preparation. Duck and fish were better. Wine list is one of the best but with a significant markup even for a high end restaurant. I have had better food at their Tustin branch, but ambience is better in Newport.
JimF
The wedge salad was one of the best things on the menu and they changed it to some kind of chopped up Romain from a bag , and the lettuce was a rusty ! hardly any bacon, hardly any dressing and zero blue cheese chunks!! such a huge disappointment it was our favorite salad and they charge 18 bucks for it complete and total rip off. why do you change the menu when you've got a good thing going I'll never go back to the winery it is a complete and total rip off you also cut back on the amount of food you serve and charge a lot more. Jim Freimuth
Don Noble
A solid 4 only because they don't have a 41/2 in certain categories. Everything is usually always spot on here.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Venison Chop, Crispy Bacon Deviled Eggs, Herb De Provence Organic New Zealand Rack of Lamb
Lee Bexiga
The food never disappoints and the service is always great. And you can't go wrong with the harbor views!Parking: Valet is $10 and convenient. Quick in, quick out.
Overall we had a very nice dinner here. I honestly wasn’t expecting much when I saw discount gift cards at Costco, several discount offers through various channels, and a name as generic as “The Winery”. It all seemed like aggressive marketing. But beyond a few minor complaints, we had a good time here.Ambience / Location: It was very busy on the Saturday night we visited. $10 valet only parking, with no real self-parking options nearby. We had a reservation and were sat promptly even though it was packed. The interior is very nice, with the huge cellar wall and the view out to the harbor. We sat near the window looking out to the water. There was live music playing through the night. Along with a rather boisterous neighboring table, it made for a very loud environment. Not exactly the place to have a quiet conversation with your date. 4/5Service: The service was top notch. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a place with good service like this. Everyone is very friendly and attentive. The owners were walking around that night and checking on every table, and they even gave free shots and wine to a neighboring table having a 30th anniversary. 5/5Food: The food was great. Again I was not expecting too much, but for a high-end chain steakhouse style place it was quite good. We had steaks, and they were very well cooked. Perfect medium rare end to end with no banding. The sides were great too, the Brussels Sprouts stood out. Well seasoned and cooked.On the drink side we had wine by the glass. I was a little disappointed by their by the glass offerings because it was all New World wine (US / Australia / South America) except for one. And the waiter couldn’t tell us much about the one Italian wine that was there, he didn’t even know it was a Super Tuscan. I had to look it up later.One other small pet peeve: They ask if you want bread when you first sit down, which I normally assume is free because it is at a lot of restaurants. Here it costs $6 which you won’t know until the bill comes. Feels like getting nickeled and dimed.4/5Again, even with the minor complaints I’ll likely be back again in the future. I recommend a visit.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Charles Chan
I really wanted to like this restaurant. This restaurant was recommended both on Yelp and OpenTable, so I thought it would be a great place to try for a belated Valentine's day dinner. Sadly, this was nothing but an expensive disappointment.First, lets start with service. I had a reservation for 6 pm and we got seated at about 6:20 pm. Not the end of the world, but a little annoying. Then, the server came to take our order. She was nice enough and gave some good wine recommendations. After receiving our food (approximately 7:15 pm), she did not visit us until we were almost finished with our meal - this was a bummer because the food had a few issues.So onto the food. We ordered:- glass of Pessimist ($15)- glass of Black Stallion ($20)- 8 oz Filet ($52) with green peppercorn sauce ($6) and three scallops a la carte ($10/ea)- 16 oz New York ($56)- brussells sprouts ($16)- truffle mashed potatoes ($16)Let's just say, the wine, sides, and scallops were the silver lining of the meal.The Good:The Pessimist was perfectly sweet and not too dry, and the Black Stallion was a bit more tart but also not too dry. The mashed potatoes were creamy and had a lot of truffle flavor. The sprouts were a bit oily/greasy, but had a really nice lime flavor. The scallops were cooked PERFECTLY and had excellent flavor. We also got one extra, so that was nice.The Bad:The filet was incredibly dry around the edges but decently well cooked in the middle. There really wasn't any flavor on the filet itself, so the sauce on the side was the only source of flavor.The Ugly:The new york was an absolute disappointment. I generally like to let the meat speak for itself, so I ordered the new york without any sauces. The crust was decent and it had a little flavor but overall was severely lacking in the flavor department. To make things worse, the steak was filled with tendon, so much so that I didn't have a single bite without tendon.Sadly, we didn't see our waitress until we were both nearly finished with our meals. When she finally showed up, I mentioned the issues we had with our meal, to which she simply replied "ok thanks I'll tell the chef". There was no effort to try to provide any solutions or make the situation better in any way.For a restaurant charging these prices, I would've expected better service and most definitely better quality of food.To top it off, the only parking is valet ($10) and turns out, if you use card, they charge you a $0.50 cherry on top. Almost laughable for a $250 meal.For the same money, you'll have a much better experience at a Fleming's or Mastro's.Parking: Valet only. $10 and $0.50 extra if you want the privilege of paying with your credit card.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Black Truffle Mashed Potatoes
DaveN
We chose The Winery out of the many excellent dining options in Newport Beach to celebrate my wife's 60th birthday and a 40 year reunion we came to town for. The evening started out beautifully. We were seated at a window table with a view of the harbor and boat lights. Service was spot on. We had a cocktail and an appetizer of steamed mussels and clams that was fantastic. We ordered the halibut and sea bass which was one of the specials. At some point a man (the owner) pulled up a chair to the table next to us and chatted with the couple for about 15 minutes. It turns out the gentleman at the table was the owner's personal physician who was on a date. Our entrees were brought to our table and unfortunately, both were cold. Not warm but cold. The server apologized graciously and took them away. After some time she returned with new entrees, but again, the fish was warm at best. The plates, veggies and potatoes were hot, but not the fish. The server and maitre d' both came by and asked if they could bring us something else, but after 2 hours and no dinner we just asked for our check. The maitre d' brought us our check, of which the total bill of $240 was completely comped, which we did not at all expect. We hugged both maitre d' Elaina and server Amanda and tipped Amanda $200 which brought tears to her eyes and more hugs. The really unfortunate part is that partner/owner JC Crow, after the annoying fawning over his doctor and date, and who took the time to ask how their dinner was, couldn't be bothered to come by and apologize for his kitchen's inability to get our meals out to temperature (not once but twice), or to thank us for taking such good care of his server. Pathetic.
They charge $45 corkage for each bottle of wine you bring, prices are very expensive and the food was just ok. I don't think we will go back. I would go to Mastros or Old Brea chop house for much better food and pay less
Austin
We were seated at 6:20pm for a 6pm reservation & received our food at 7:15pm. We ordered: - glass of Pessimist ($15) - glass of Black Stallion ($20) - 8 oz Filet ($52) with green peppercorn sauce ($6) and three scallops a la carte ($10/ea) - 16 oz New York ($56) - brussells sprouts ($16) - truffle mashed potatoes ($16) The Good: The Pessimist was perfectly sweet and not too dry, and the Black Stallion was a bit more tart but also not too dry. The mashed potatoes were creamy and had a lot of truffle flavor. The sprouts were a bit oily/greasy, but had a really nice lime flavor. The scallops were cooked PERFECTLY and had excellent flavor. We also got one extra, so that was nice. The Bad: The filet was incredibly dry around the edges but decently well cooked in the middle. There really wasn't any flavor on the filet itself, so the sauce on the side was the only source of flavor. The Ugly: The new york was an absolute disappointment. I generally like to let the meat speak for itself, so I ordered the new york without any sauces. The crust was decent and it had a little flavor but overall was severely lacking in the flavor department. To make things worse, the steak was filled with tendon, so much so that I didn't have a single bite without tendon. Sadly, we didn't see our waitress until we were both nearly finished with our meals. When she finally showed up, I mentioned the issues we had with our meal, to which she simply replied "ok thanks I'll tell the chef". There was no effort to try to provide any solutions or make the situation better in any way. For a restaurant charging these prices, I would've expected better service and most definitely better quality of food. To top it off, the only parking is valet ($10) and turns out, if you use card, they charge you a $0.50 cherry on top. Almost laughable for a $250 meal. For the same money, you'll have a much better experience at a Fleming's or Mastro's.
Great staff and management/ ownership is very personable and hospitable. A true gem in OC
Loved the food and service.. Amazing view too ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
My husband had the wild boar and it was one of the best dishes we've ever had! Everything was absolutely delicious! It's one of our favorite restaurants . Our teenage boys love it too!
$45 corkage fee "OUCH". I mentioned the $45 corkage fee to the bartender as I was getting change for the valet and he I was told "well we do have an extensive wine selection", which I thought was a little arrogant. I learned my lesson. Ask first.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Food was good not amazing but good but the service was amazing. I know I am not spelling her name right but Sienna was our server and her first night alone as service she did a great job.
My girlfriend and I went to the Winery in Newport for our anniversary, I will explain the details of our experience. We went last Friday night and arrived at 8pm even though our reservation was at 815pm, the hostess was very sweet and sat us down right away. Our server was a young shorter thin female. From the beginning she was cold and seemed like she didn't want to be there. She never offered to explain anything on the menu, or asked if we had been there before. The busser dropped glasses of water right away however, it took the server 25 minutes after she introduced herself to take our drink order. My girlfriend ordered a raspberry martini and requested it not to be too sweet and more tart, and it was on point! By the time we got the first cocktail it was 840pm and we were ready to order food. Once we received the cocktail, we asked if we could order since it had already been 40mins since we arrived. The sever than asked if we wanted to hear the specials but it was so late into our experience that we told her we were fine on hearing any specials, we had already made up our minds on what we wanted to order. The server than rolled her eyes at us, when we said we would pass on specials, and started to cut us off when we were speaking to her. We ordered mussels/claims with a white wine sauce which was very good! A great balance of white wine sauce which we really really enjoyed. We also ordered the Rib Eye (medium) and the Scallops/Shrimp dish which we shared. The Rib Eye came very undercooked, and my girlfriend wouldn't touch it I however am more flexible and will eat Medium Rare. The point is, even though we ordered it Medium we didn't even feel like saying anything to our server since the whole process was already prolonged/dreadful with her. The scallops and shrimp were very tasty and the risotto complimented it well(be advised SMALL portion). I've been coming to the Winery for 10 years and this was the first time I've been let down. Hoping they improve.
Food was average but service was great. steak was not a good cut with mediocre preparation. Duck and fish were better. Wine list is one of the best but with a significant markup even for a high end restaurant. I have had better food at their Tustin branch, but ambience is better in Newport.
The wedge salad was one of the best things on the menu and they changed it to some kind of chopped up Romain from a bag , and the lettuce was a rusty ! hardly any bacon, hardly any dressing and zero blue cheese chunks!! such a huge disappointment it was our favorite salad and they charge 18 bucks for it complete and total rip off. why do you change the menu when you've got a good thing going I'll never go back to the winery it is a complete and total rip off you also cut back on the amount of food you serve and charge a lot more. Jim Freimuth
A solid 4 only because they don't have a 41/2 in certain categories. Everything is usually always spot on here.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Venison Chop, Crispy Bacon Deviled Eggs, Herb De Provence Organic New Zealand Rack of Lamb
The food never disappoints and the service is always great. And you can't go wrong with the harbor views!Parking: Valet is $10 and convenient. Quick in, quick out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tahitian Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée
Restaurantji Recommends
Overall we had a very nice dinner here. I honestly wasn’t expecting much when I saw discount gift cards at Costco, several discount offers through various channels, and a name as generic as “The Winery”. It all seemed like aggressive marketing. But beyond a few minor complaints, we had a good time here.Ambience / Location: It was very busy on the Saturday night we visited. $10 valet only parking, with no real self-parking options nearby. We had a reservation and were sat promptly even though it was packed. The interior is very nice, with the huge cellar wall and the view out to the harbor. We sat near the window looking out to the water. There was live music playing through the night. Along with a rather boisterous neighboring table, it made for a very loud environment. Not exactly the place to have a quiet conversation with your date. 4/5Service: The service was top notch. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a place with good service like this. Everyone is very friendly and attentive. The owners were walking around that night and checking on every table, and they even gave free shots and wine to a neighboring table having a 30th anniversary. 5/5Food: The food was great. Again I was not expecting too much, but for a high-end chain steakhouse style place it was quite good. We had steaks, and they were very well cooked. Perfect medium rare end to end with no banding. The sides were great too, the Brussels Sprouts stood out. Well seasoned and cooked.On the drink side we had wine by the glass. I was a little disappointed by their by the glass offerings because it was all New World wine (US / Australia / South America) except for one. And the waiter couldn’t tell us much about the one Italian wine that was there, he didn’t even know it was a Super Tuscan. I had to look it up later.One other small pet peeve: They ask if you want bread when you first sit down, which I normally assume is free because it is at a lot of restaurants. Here it costs $6 which you won’t know until the bill comes. Feels like getting nickeled and dimed.4/5Again, even with the minor complaints I’ll likely be back again in the future. I recommend a visit.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts
I really wanted to like this restaurant. This restaurant was recommended both on Yelp and OpenTable, so I thought it would be a great place to try for a belated Valentine's day dinner. Sadly, this was nothing but an expensive disappointment.First, lets start with service. I had a reservation for 6 pm and we got seated at about 6:20 pm. Not the end of the world, but a little annoying. Then, the server came to take our order. She was nice enough and gave some good wine recommendations. After receiving our food (approximately 7:15 pm), she did not visit us until we were almost finished with our meal - this was a bummer because the food had a few issues.So onto the food. We ordered:- glass of Pessimist ($15)- glass of Black Stallion ($20)- 8 oz Filet ($52) with green peppercorn sauce ($6) and three scallops a la carte ($10/ea)- 16 oz New York ($56)- brussells sprouts ($16)- truffle mashed potatoes ($16)Let's just say, the wine, sides, and scallops were the silver lining of the meal.The Good:The Pessimist was perfectly sweet and not too dry, and the Black Stallion was a bit more tart but also not too dry. The mashed potatoes were creamy and had a lot of truffle flavor. The sprouts were a bit oily/greasy, but had a really nice lime flavor. The scallops were cooked PERFECTLY and had excellent flavor. We also got one extra, so that was nice.The Bad:The filet was incredibly dry around the edges but decently well cooked in the middle. There really wasn't any flavor on the filet itself, so the sauce on the side was the only source of flavor.The Ugly:The new york was an absolute disappointment. I generally like to let the meat speak for itself, so I ordered the new york without any sauces. The crust was decent and it had a little flavor but overall was severely lacking in the flavor department. To make things worse, the steak was filled with tendon, so much so that I didn't have a single bite without tendon.Sadly, we didn't see our waitress until we were both nearly finished with our meals. When she finally showed up, I mentioned the issues we had with our meal, to which she simply replied "ok thanks I'll tell the chef". There was no effort to try to provide any solutions or make the situation better in any way.For a restaurant charging these prices, I would've expected better service and most definitely better quality of food.To top it off, the only parking is valet ($10) and turns out, if you use card, they charge you a $0.50 cherry on top. Almost laughable for a $250 meal.For the same money, you'll have a much better experience at a Fleming's or Mastro's.Parking: Valet only. $10 and $0.50 extra if you want the privilege of paying with your credit card.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Black Truffle Mashed Potatoes
We chose The Winery out of the many excellent dining options in Newport Beach to celebrate my wife's 60th birthday and a 40 year reunion we came to town for. The evening started out beautifully. We were seated at a window table with a view of the harbor and boat lights. Service was spot on. We had a cocktail and an appetizer of steamed mussels and clams that was fantastic. We ordered the halibut and sea bass which was one of the specials. At some point a man (the owner) pulled up a chair to the table next to us and chatted with the couple for about 15 minutes. It turns out the gentleman at the table was the owner's personal physician who was on a date. Our entrees were brought to our table and unfortunately, both were cold. Not warm but cold. The server apologized graciously and took them away. After some time she returned with new entrees, but again, the fish was warm at best. The plates, veggies and potatoes were hot, but not the fish. The server and maitre d' both came by and asked if they could bring us something else, but after 2 hours and no dinner we just asked for our check. The maitre d' brought us our check, of which the total bill of $240 was completely comped, which we did not at all expect. We hugged both maitre d' Elaina and server Amanda and tipped Amanda $200 which brought tears to her eyes and more hugs. The really unfortunate part is that partner/owner JC Crow, after the annoying fawning over his doctor and date, and who took the time to ask how their dinner was, couldn't be bothered to come by and apologize for his kitchen's inability to get our meals out to temperature (not once but twice), or to thank us for taking such good care of his server. Pathetic.
They charge $45 corkage for each bottle of wine you bring, prices are very expensive and the food was just ok. I don't think we will go back. I would go to Mastros or Old Brea chop house for much better food and pay less
We were seated at 6:20pm for a 6pm reservation & received our food at 7:15pm. We ordered: - glass of Pessimist ($15) - glass of Black Stallion ($20) - 8 oz Filet ($52) with green peppercorn sauce ($6) and three scallops a la carte ($10/ea) - 16 oz New York ($56) - brussells sprouts ($16) - truffle mashed potatoes ($16) The Good: The Pessimist was perfectly sweet and not too dry, and the Black Stallion was a bit more tart but also not too dry. The mashed potatoes were creamy and had a lot of truffle flavor. The sprouts were a bit oily/greasy, but had a really nice lime flavor. The scallops were cooked PERFECTLY and had excellent flavor. We also got one extra, so that was nice. The Bad: The filet was incredibly dry around the edges but decently well cooked in the middle. There really wasn't any flavor on the filet itself, so the sauce on the side was the only source of flavor. The Ugly: The new york was an absolute disappointment. I generally like to let the meat speak for itself, so I ordered the new york without any sauces. The crust was decent and it had a little flavor but overall was severely lacking in the flavor department. To make things worse, the steak was filled with tendon, so much so that I didn't have a single bite without tendon. Sadly, we didn't see our waitress until we were both nearly finished with our meals. When she finally showed up, I mentioned the issues we had with our meal, to which she simply replied "ok thanks I'll tell the chef". There was no effort to try to provide any solutions or make the situation better in any way. For a restaurant charging these prices, I would've expected better service and most definitely better quality of food. To top it off, the only parking is valet ($10) and turns out, if you use card, they charge you a $0.50 cherry on top. Almost laughable for a $250 meal. For the same money, you'll have a much better experience at a Fleming's or Mastro's.