Nirvana Kitchen + Pantry — Restaurant in Laguna Beach

Although we were about 15 min late to our reservation, the hostess was very nice and was able to seat us right away; so, that was a plus and I was very hopeful about my dining experience. However, that experience slowly began going down hill after we sat down. We patiently waited on a server to come by, even made eye contact with a couple servers, but no one came to our table. It wasn't until after we spoke to the couple sitting next to us, who mentioned that they had been waiting for an hour and a half until their main dishes arrived to their table, that a server decided to take our order. That was because the couple next to us had to asked the server to go to our table after he brought out their food. Approximately 20 min after placing our order, we were told that they had run out of a main ingredient for one of the particular dishes we ordered and was given an option of substitution. One would think that we would've been told sooner, but we accepted the situation for what it was. We finally received our food 45 min later.

Overall, it was an okay experience. The place is nice and so is the ambiance. It gets a little loud because the tables are positioned very close together. The food was very good, but I'm not sure if it was because we were just hungry from waiting for so long or if it was actually tasty. Aside from the hostess, the service was not all too great. We also felt annoyed that our server was going a bit overboard on checking in on us to somehow make up for any inconveniences that we experienced thus far. It was unnecessary.

If you got this far into my review, just be wary that your server may automatically try to include a 22% tip charge to your bill.

I don't think I would recommend this place just yet, however, I would visit this place again to give it a second chance to...

Nirvana hosted my large family group for a celebration dinner (got married!) and we were all talking about the amazing experience for the rest of the weekend. Not only did Chef Lindsay and the kitchen and service teams fulfill all the plans we made ahead of time for our event - they added special touches all throughout the evening to take care of us. We had many restricted diets/allergy concerns in our group, and they took the initiative to change ingredients beyond what we had even asked for, to make everyone's choices easier and safer. I had previously dined at Nirvana and I knew the food was going to be good, but this menu exceeded our expectations. The salads and starters had so many wonderful flavors and textures. We had three proteins in the entree selection. My favorite was the meatballs (little spicy kick!) but many of our guests raved about the salmon with basil aioli. We also loved how Chef added special touches throughout the evening, like personally delivering ice cream sundaes to our family's kids who were gathered around the fire pit on the patio while the adults finished dining. The service was responsive and thorough...

My wife and I ate at Nirvana twice, and liked it so much we decided to host an event there (our wedding dinner!). The food and service is consistently excellent. My personal favorites are the kitchen sink salad, crusted salmon, chicken meatballs, and carrot cake (along with the coffee which is also excellent).

At our dinners, when we asked about dietary restrictions (gluten-free, and dairy free), the staff was knowledgeable and helpful, and for our event Chef Lindsay went above and beyond to create gluten free and dairy free versions of our dishes, which all came out delicious (especially the crab cakes!). The interior is inviting with interest coming from beautiful, hanging charcuterie boards.

Mainly, I love their focus on creative, organic food. Just as one example - the kitchen sink salad has a nice, hardy flavor overall (with beets and carrots), is perfectly dressed with a vinaigrette, then surprises (in my opinion) with candied pecans - sooooo yummy!

Thank you to Chef Lindsay and her staff for creating a wonderful...