Asada Laguna

After the chips, salsa, and beer, it’s all down hill from there. Service was attentive and promptly brought us our crappy food. The chef clearly cooked all of the Mexican food at Denny’s. worst food ever!!! Visit the bar, do not stay for dinner!!!

It’s not 100% authentic mexican food but definitely better than el torito. Would go again yes.

It was just ok…
Its tiny and noisy inside, the menu looks appealing, but what is served is perhaps a more mediocre Javiers style of food. The salmon tacos and the halibut tacos, didnt have much flavor. Cute place to grab a drink at the bar but food does not warrant a return visit.

After walking up-​and-​down PCH, we decided to stop here for a weekend brunch, despite the A-​OK ratings. We were fortunate to land one of the few tables on their small covered patio. Attractive atmosphere, attentive service!
The complimentary starter of a sweet masa was fun and tasty; my cocktail (Salty Perro) was flavorful — and strong; my Pepe’s Scramble entrée was deliciously (mildly) spicy and attractively presented, adorned with a fringed fried tortilla.
Great find — and fun start to the day!

Came here after a long day of paddleboarding and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the set up. The wood ceilings, dark floors, white walls and an open layout made me a fan of this place immediately. It has a very beachy, laid-​back, beach-​house dinner party vibe. We got seated on the covered patio and got to enjoy the (slightly obstructed) ocean view. They have a pretty extensive list of cocktails, but I was full of salt water so I passed, but I’d definitely like to come back for one. Service was great, our waitress was friendly and attentive.
I ordered the mahi mahi sandwich, which came with a HUGE piece of mahi mahi (I only wanted one mahi cause I wasn’t that hungry…), coleslaw, and fried onions. The sandwich itself was humungous. I’m obsessed with fried onions so I loved it already. The fish was well-​seasoned, flavorful, and cooked just right. They offer sautéed spinach as one of their sides, so I ordered those instead of fries. The only complaint about this was that the potato bread got soggy really quickly, so when I picked up the sandwich it literally just fell apart in my hands and onto my plate, so I ate it opened faced. The other half ordered the short rib burrito, which was the size of a baby, and the short ribs were tender and yummy. I’m bookmarking this place to try again.

Came here on a Wednesday around 9:00pm for a late dinner (kitchen closes at 10 FYI).
The service was good, maybe a little lackluster in the beginning but we ended up with a different waitress and she was attentive and relatively quick.
Very loungey… typical of most of the restaurants on this «strip» of Laguna, but it’s a little more mellow and less schmancy than others. We sat at a little booth next to the bar (there’s a good size dining room, covered patio seating, bar area seating and then maybe 10 seats at the bar as well as a more private back area of the main dining area). Dimly lit place, no obtrusively loud music playing, overall very chill vibe.
Their Taco Tuesday menu looks pretty good and they also have a late night happy hour menu with some pretty solid deals so I’ll have to remember that for next time. They have really good chips and salsa which is like number one most important thing at a Mexican-​esque place (and possibly in life). The salsa here is served warm which was a little off-​putting but the flavor was on point so I appreciated it all the same.
Their cocktail list is long and had some pretty delicious sounding drinks, but I was getting grumpy from hunger pangs so I just went to the important part of the menu: food.
We started with the Fire Roasted Jalapenos which were described basically like cream cheese stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon… I’ve had similar things a million times over, but these sounded especially good because instead of being breaded and fried they were fire roasted. Came with a serving of four large jalapenos for I think $ 9.00…a little pricey but they were nicely done. The only thing is, we could only manage to eat 1.5 of them because they were SO GODDAMN HOT. I normally enjoy and can handle very spicy food, but these were insane. After my first two bites, I downed my huge water and then chugged my dude’s water immediately after. Eyes watered over, nose running, heart burn. It was insane. The last time I had that kind of response to spicy food was from eating Tom Yum (Thai soup) that Satan himself made and I ended up in urgent care. Anyway, my point is, mayyyyybe scoop a couple of them seeds out before stuffing them with cream cheese? They were served with a lovely jalapeño jelly that was a perfect sweet accompaniment to the blazing fire destroying my tongue.
My mouth and esophagus were so fucked from the jalapenos that I didn’t even bother ordering anything legit for my meal, I just got a house salad and called it a day. The salad was average sized but actually very good. Pile of romaine topped with tomato, egg, cheese, crispy fried onions and some of the thickest bacon I’ve ever seen along with a really good citrus vinaigrette. My boy was craving Carne Asada fries but they only had Asada Nachos on the menu so he got those with fries instead of chips (my idea, you’re welcome fatty) and they had no problem accommodating his craving. He seemed to enjoy them and overall I would say the food was aight but nothing to boast about.
I’d come back in for a drink/​cheap happy hour/​possibly Taco Tuesday, but I don’t know that I’d recommend this place for dinner.

My mom lives in Laguna Beach and I visit her frequently and when I do, my go-​to spot is Asada.
This time I had company with me and wanted him to be able to see the ocean at dinner, but we got a late start and deferred to Asada because their kitchen was going to be open until about midnight, which was AWESOME!
We got there at about 10:15 and got seated right away at a great spot on the front patio. I had the filet mignon tacos, which were AMAZING. I asked for no lettuce, and they came with lettuce anyway, but I enjoyed them so much that I didn’t even mind picking it out.
One of my favorite things about Asada is that the salsa that comes out with the chips at the beginning of the meal is served warm. It sounds weird, but it’s REALLY delicious and the chips are amazing too! My date wasn’t as keen on the hot salsa, but I suppose it’s not for everyone.
**One thing I would say, is that I had their taquitos once, (my favorite Mexican dish), & they were AWFUL. Steer clear of the tquitos, but other than that… you can’t go wrong! :)

Never going back.
I should have known it was going to be bad when our waitress point blank asks if we are only going to get water before we even saw the menu.
Unfortunately we didn’t take the hint as we just thought she was rude and ordered anyway.
My drink and my husbands drink were both horrible. Twelve bucks each for drinks that were downright nasty.
Our salsa was hot. as in temperature wise. It was stemming hot.eww.
Our food wasn’t good and both dishes were cold.
We couldnt leave fast enough.

The short rib enchiladas are my favorite thing here so far. I’ve had them twice and they are excellent. Highly recommend!
Tried the fried green beans last time for an appetizer and they were really tasty. I am not normally a fan of fried foods but these were yummy.
The mango margatini is a great happy hour drink. It is very strong, though, so beware if you have more than one!
They also have a really spicy salsa you can ask for in addition to the regular salsa they bring out with the chips. I mixed it in with the other salsa to spice it up a bit.

Lousy customer service. Don’t treat locals poorly or ignore them– you can’t just count on tourists in Laguna.

We made an Open Table reservation last Tuesday, this was a restaurant we have been wanting to try for some time.
The scene is vibrant, view is terrific, we were even able to secure a parking spot right on PCH, which is a rare feat indeed.
Upon being seated, we were told it was Taco Tuesday. Tacos of various fillings are available from $ 2-​$ 5, depending on what they are stuffed with. Happy Hour bar prices are available throughout the day on Tuesdays.
We used the opportunity to try a selection of different meats, etc., to decide what was best for a future visit. My daughter ordered chicken soft tacos, my wife a crunchy short rib and one soft chicken, and I opted for 1 fish, 1 short rib and one carnitas.
The margaritas arrived and they were very tasty, but nowhere near the «strength» I have read about in previous reviews.
Tacos arrived and that is where the visit began to go south. My wife’s crunchy short rib taco had obviously been sitting out for a long time, it was cold, hard and inedible.
My fish taco was substituted with shrimp, which turned out to the tastiest of the three I had ordered. The carnitas had no flavor at all, the short rib was just OK.
Right about this time our server pulled a Houdini on us, literally disappeared into thin air. We had to finally flag down a busboy to get the cold taco replaced. After some time, she finally came back by with the replacement taco. We made the mistake of ordering another round of drinks and she promptly disappeared again, this time for at least 20 minutes.
I finally saw her and managed to wave her down from about 50 feet away. I asked if she had put our drink order in and she muttered something about the bar being very slow. It was not that busy.
When she brought the drinks, it was obvious they has too been sitting out for some time, the ice had melted and watered them down to koolaid. Inexcusable.
Our check came to exactly $ 70. I laid down a Benji and when my change arrived, it was a twenty and two fives. She disappeared again. I usually tip rather generously, but there was no way I was going to tip 28.5% for the horrible service we had experienced, so I left the $ 10 and we headed out.
We may return someday, probably not on a Taco Tuesday, because some of the menu items did look good.

Let me preface this by saying I am not particularly a fan of Mexican food but my boyfriend’s blood stream is made entirely of guacamole — I’m sure of it.
After a blissful afternoon at The Cliff, we walked over to the strip of restaurants across the way (Nick’s, Watermarc, and Asada). Watermarc had an hour wait, Nick’s had a 90 minute wait which later turned to 2 hours and 45 minutes (are you effing kidding me?) and Asada was able to seat us immediately. Hooray!
We were seated in the back with a huge TV so we could watch the games — SCORE again. Immediately greeted by our server and we ordered a round of drinks… shortly thereafter our server was replaced and he came over to let us now. After he left ANOTHER person came to make sure we were taken care of. Talk about service!
We had chips and salsa and we probably went through at least 7 buckets of chips before the end of the night. The chips were so bomb too. They were seasoned and thin and warm!!! The salsa was amazing!!!
I ordered the sopes… they were good but not King Taco good. The masa was a little overcooked and hard.
To close, we ordered churros. OMG do it!!! Amazing little churro bites served with whipped cream and nutella!!! Hot and fresh!!!
The real star was the service. My water glass was never empty, the chips were never empty and he was really attentve. I’d definitely dine here again

Not as good as Javier’s. (Sorry, but that’s the standard for this type of restaurant)
Great location on PCH — grab a seat on the patio area for some quality people watching with your meal. Chips and salsa were good. I like more of a pico de gallo salsa than the warm, roasted pepper salsa, but it was stil good.
It’s pricey. Drinks were very expensive ($ 11 for house margarita, and the tequila shots were way overpriced — do your drinking at El Ranchito if possible). Food was moderately priced. My gf had veggie tacos and I had fish tacos, which were excellent. Those 2 dishes plus a beer and a margarita was $ 50. I’m not complaining, but like I said, Javier’s is better any day.

It was a little after 3 and my guy and I were looking for a place with happy hour that started earlier. Most places in Laguna have happy hour at 4. As we were walking down the street checking out menus,
Hostess outside of Asada: «are you guys hungry or thirsty? we have happy hour»
Me: «what time?»
Hostess: «now»
Me: «perfect! it was fate»
Haha anyways, we came in got a couple of sangrias, margaritas and ordered the bean dip to eat. The margaritas were alright but the sangrias were pretty good and had a nice spicy kick to them.

Amid all the wonderful art galleries and boutiques sits a stylish and chic restaurant/​lounge in the picturesque artist colony of Laguna Beach. Asada really echoes the Laguna Beach spirit — cool, classy, elegant, fun and artistic with a relaxed and casual vibe. The décor is very chic and the atmosphere is relaxed. Asada offers indoor and outdoor seating. There’s a heated, covered patio where diners can enjoy a sunset dinner. The indoor features include rich wood tables and a handsome bar.
Traditional Mexican gets a modern spin at Asada. Shrimp-​studded salads, lobster-​stuffed burritos, filet mignon tacos and egg-​laced nachos are a few of the selections made from scratch. Asada boasts quite an inventive drink menu, including refreshing premium tequila flights and signature cocktails like the Ginger & Blood Orange Mojito. The bartenders certainly know how to whip up some ultra-​strong drinks with a punch. They serve breakfast all day so if it’s breakfast you’re craving, indulge in a breakfast burrito, huevos rancheros or maybe some chilaquiles.
Service was excellent. Heather, our server, did a wonderful job with some of the best service I’ve seen in quite some time. She was very sweet, friendly, hard working with an infectious personality and rare-​seen geniune warmth. If you’re dining at Asada try and ask for Heather.
We ordered the Filet Mignon Tacos ($ 17) the Lobster Burrito ($ 22) the Mahi Mahi Burrito ($ 17), a side of Jalepeno Mashed Potatoes ($ 6) and the Bread Pudding ($ 7). We also ordered a couple of the potent Mexican Mai Tais ($ 12/​ea). We enjoyed all our entrees but I would have to say that nothing was remarkable or markedly different from your standard Mexican fare. What you’re really paying for is great ambiance and atmosphere, personalized service and high brow-​high potency cocktails.
I would re-​visit Asada again, especially if Heather is on shift. We had a splendid evening out together.

If you like extremely overpriced bland mexican food, check out Asada.
Exactly what I expected. Way too expensive. «Authentic» overpriced food.
More of a scene than anything. Makes Javier’s look like the best mexican restaurant in Orange County

Grabbed dinner here last night with a friend, we snagged probably the best seat in the restaurant: corner booth seating on the patio overlooking PCH and part of the beach. Needless to say, things were starting off right. We split a pitcher of their house Sangria. Now I will not try to claim to be a Sangria connoisseur but, to me, this drink lacked the key ingredients: fresh fruit, vino, depth. It tasted more like fruit juice with Sprite and a couple Serrano seeds thrown in.
You get complimentary chips and chipotle salsa, both were served hot to our table, within minutes of sitting.
For my main dish, I ordered the Mahi Tacos which my server informed me were one of the most popular dishes. You actually are given three tacos with rice and beans, which surprised me so prices are reasonable considering ($ 15 for the plate). The tacos are fried and served with cabbage and a mango salsa. The mahi was unfortunately overcooked and dry.
All in all, experience was alright. I would maybe try a margarita on the patio another time. They have a prime-​people-​watching patio and bright interior using lots of natural lighting.

This place is so open and breezy! Perfect for a sunny Laguna afternoon.
The drinks are mmm mm good! The black cherry relaxer is surprising and delicious. The margaritas are great too. The ceviche had a little more shrimp than expected! The guac is a surprisingly large portion.
The crowning experience, however, was the salsa (that came to your table automatically – no need to know the secret!) Beautifully fire-​roasted peppers creating a delicious, smooth salsa with surprising depth of flavor!
The rest of the food may not be as spectacular as one may expect from the prices, but it is certainly good – and if you’re not in the mood for food, you can stick with the chips, salsa, and libations and be perfectly satisfied!

I have only been to Asada twice and for Taco Tuesday. Both times I have gone have been a good experience. The place is clean and modern and has a great atmosphere. It is on the expensive side and frankly I enjoy Papa’s tacos down PCH a lot more. But Its a nice little treat and a good place to go with friends.
Customer service has been pretty good. All of the staff are pretty on top of everything which is always a good thing. Bartenders are excellent — attentive and personable.
The chips and salsa are great. The chips are warm, light and crispy. ill go back just to eat them.
On taco tuesday the prices range from $ 2 to $ 4. My favorite tacos are the crispy short rib taco and the Mahi Mahi fish taco. Now the Mahi fish taco is awesome. There is a pineapple/​mango slaw on top of the light and crispy fish that is killer. Short rib taco has a great taste and is jammed full of meat.
The drinks have been good. Except for the Spicy Jalapeño Sangria it was seriously spicy. Too spicy for me.
Ill be back for Taco Tuesdays.

This place has been open for a couple weeks now. It’s been very busy — as most restaurants in Orange County are the first couple weeks after they open. I finally saw some open seats at the bar when I strolled by and grabbed a seat.
Bar seating is a bit tight… they pack the chairs in there! Reviewing the menu they have a great Tequila selection. Most of the tequila runs from $ 10-​$ 150 dollars with many in the $ 13-​$ 15 dollar range. They also offer some great mixed drinks, martinis, margaritas, and a very good wine selection. Interestingly, they also have a good bourbon selection. Most importantly, they have a good beer selection too. I had the Asada Blonde. The beers are tapped and served very cold — almost icy. Just perfect!
As for the layout — it’s a big improvement over the last Javier’s space. It’s much more open, a better street view, and not as confined. The bar isn’t as big as the old bar room, but it may actually seat more.
The menu is pretty large, with most of the dishes you would expect. If you know Javier’s, I would say Asada isn’t as Coastal Mexican as Javier’s. I had the Carne Asada plate ($ 18). Have to say, some of the best Carne Asada I’ve had — very tender and thick cut. Black beans, rice, pepper wrapped in bacon, salsa and three flour tortillas.
The service at the bar was good and friendly. I’m a fan of the food, drinks and service.
Here’s the one thing I did notice that was interesting. I assume it’s because the restaurant just opened. But the place was full of the Newport Coast and Newport Beach crew. A bit older crowd than most Laguna places — basically a similar crowd to Javier’s. I’m sure that will die down after the newness wears off. Overall, a good experience though!