Luxe Restaurant & Martini Bar — Restaurant in Dana Point

I am completely jaded from decades of operating in the food service business. At a glance I can tell whether the entrée came from SYSCO, US Foods or Restaurant Depot…and it kinda kills the dining experience. But I was seeking a new place for fine dining last night and took my wife & daughter to Luxe Restaurant and Bar. From the assistance on the phone before booking to tipping the pianist on our way out…nothing could have improved our dining experience. Their performance (both front & back) was flawless. I am not an easy customer. I expect table service with the FOUR MINUTE RULE and challenge my server in friendly ways…like asking about house favorites, specifying I want my steak cooked 3 minutes on the first side, 90 seconds once flipped for a true black & blue (charred outside-cool center) grilled rare steak. To my surprise our waitress exceeded even my top tier expectations…asking my wife if she’d like the croutons on her salad finely cut like the rest of her salad. This attention to detail and earnest desire to please sets Luxe Restaurant and Bar head & shoulders above the rest. The music, the décor, the atmosphere, cocktails, food and service were all perfect. 100 out of 100…a score I cannot remember giving anyplace for over a decade. Trust me, I can be something of a perfectionist at times and left this place completely satisfied…impressed even! I had to meet the owners…shake their hands…they hire very well. Seem like a nice couple. So look, if you want (or need) an exceptional dining experience for work or recreation…this is your place. Luxe Restaurant and Bar sets the customer care bar so high, other restaurateurs need to charter a plane just to see it. Oh and it would be a sin to skip dessert… take my word for it, you can...

This place is a gem!!! Came here because they have a dog friendly patio after driving up and down Del Prado looking for a dog-friendly place to eat. What a find! We are from NYC and are pretty used to good Italian food. This place was right up there with some of the best we have had. And the service was top notch! Celia was our server and she could not be more attentive.

We started with the meatballs which were super light and tasty. The sauce was outstanding! Paired that with their garlic bread and we were in heaven!

My wife had the baked cavatelli in bolognese sauce which she loved. The pasta was made that day and the food was piping hot. I had the shrimp scampi pasta which was light and the shrimp was perfectly done. The portions were huge and certainly can be shared.

Save room for the tiramisu which was also outstanding! The mascarpone was light and the lady fingers had the right amount of crunch.

This places is a must when you get tired of the standard “fish and chips” and when you want some really good Italian food! We also made it a point to meet Jimmy (the chef and owner) and his wife (also an owner) to praise their cooking and their...

We had gone to luxe for the first time about two weeks ago and everything was fabulous. My husband had a steak and I had that penne with fillet. His steak was perfect medium rare and my pasta had very thick pieces of fillet that were also medium rare beautiful dishes!

We went there tonight and spent about $200 I had the same penne and fillet and he had the trio with chicken lamb and steak. My pasta dish was not even close to the first time we went there it had teeny little bits of fillet in it that were overcooked and hardly any mushrooms. His lamb chops and steak or order medium rare and they came medium well.

I ate mine but he sent his back and his meat came back rare. Which you would think they would have fixed it perfectly but it was almost rare -a poke with a stick.

Sadly we probably would not go back and drop that kind of money at this restaurant. But originally we came back because the first time a few weeks ago was so great.

I don’t know what happened if they lost a chef or why the quality changed but it did.

Our waitress was amazing and she did such a great job -service was excellent! It was the food that...