Jolie & The Belle — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

With summer knocking at the door, the June EDDC was held at Jolie, a wonderful new dining option in Huntington Beach. Housed in a former office space, Jolie sports sweeping views of the iconic pier and best stretch of beach in the OC.

Purple Rain, a Cold Brew Martini, and So Much Drama got things started for los tres amigos along with the Pork & Beef Meatballs. The drinks performed well and provided a necessary respite from the spiced marinara. The meatballs were tender, flavorful, and stood out on their own.

Main dishes included a Lobster Roll, Hot Honey Chicken & Pancakes, Chilaquiles, and an order of the Vanilla Bean French Toast for the table. The lobster was fresh and cooked perfectly, warm but not chewy and not overpowered by butter or excess mayo. The generous portion was more than enough to share to the delight of all.

The hot honey chicken was lightly breaded, tender, and juicy. The hot honey was lacking heat that would have taken the cinnamon swirl pancakes to another level instead of just standard fare especially compared to the Vanilla Bean French Toast whose strawberry compote & mascarpone whipped cream stood out.

The star of the table however had to be the Chilaquiles. Chrispy tortilla chips blended with chips soaked in spicy red sauce laid the foundation for the magical combo of steak, over easy eggs, sour cream, queso fresco, onion & cilantro. A delicious plate and one of the best renditions of the classic dish I've had.

A final round of cocktails acted as our much deserved dessert. The Paloma and Lavender Drop were refreshing bit underwhelming while Blueberry Watermelon Margarita was asthehically pleasing if lacking a punch.

Overall, Jolie provided a gustatory pleasure that won't soon be forgotten. We'll definitely be back once the upstairs...

Not quite sure what all the hype is about. We finally had the chance to check out this new restaurant located at a long-standing venue, and while the space itself is undeniably impressive—spacious seating, beautiful decor, a large outdoor area with ocean views, and even a rooftop section—the overall experience left a lot to be desired. As a self-proclaimed foodie, I found the food underwhelming and overpriced for the quality. The drinks were just okay, and as someone who appreciates a well-crafted cocktail, I was disappointed to find one of them misrepresented—it was missing a key ingredient featured in its name, which I had to request be added after the fact.

Beyond the mediocre food and drinks, what surprised me most was the atmosphere. With such a high-end location and elevated pricing, I didn’t expect the environment to be so casual and family-oriented. The space was filled with small children and babies, which made it quite loud and took away from the upscale dining experience I anticipated.

Although service was great it was a little slow as the restaurant was packed and I don’t believe they have enough employees to cover.

We parked in the garage downstairs and were told they would cover the parking for two hours. We handed them our parking ticket and they said that they validated it. But when we went to leave, we were charged for Parking.

All in all, the setting was beautiful, but the food, drinks, and overall vibe didn’t justify the price point. I’m not sure I’ll...

Jordan the manager and the goth chick were absolutely terrible and unprofessional. We made reservations a couple months in advance for about 15 people. It was our first time there. We were told once we got there we had 2 hours and then we had to leave. Would’ve been nice to know that when we made the reservation, but whatever. As I was literally putting a bite of food in my mouth, they told us we had to get up because the next reservation had arrived. The food took forever, it was honestly pretty mid anyway, we had a baby and a pregnant friend with us too. There were many other tables around us that were there before us. There was also a huge long empty table right next to us that the next reservation could’ve sat at.

I was honestly in shock at the way this was handled. Given the circumstances we were pretty nice about it at first, said we’d finish our meals and leave. They then literally asked us to pick up our plates and take it to the next table over. Insane, right?

I’ve never experienced anything like it eating at any kind of restaurant. Extremely unprofessional, and the least they could’ve done was comp some of our meal or a single free drink- but nope. Nothing. They also put our sweet waitress in a very uncomfortable situation. They should be embarrassed of themselves.

I will never eat here again and I’ve told all my friends and locals here in HB about this experience. Doing this I found out they’ve also had a terrible dining...