Hacienda On The Lake — Restaurant in Mission Viejo

7/13/2025

We had a wonderful time at Hacienda on the Lake. My father and his friend came out from Hemet and we met at the restaurant. Maria is so wonderful and welcomed us as well as took us to a beautiful table by the lake. Oscar was our amazing server assisted by Martine. Both were professional, kind and efficient. The ladies had enchilada entrees and my father and I had the tampiquena and the food was hot and tasty. The chips and salsa was great and the drinks terrific as well. What a great ambiance. We topped things off with the fried ice cream and it's fantastic as well. Highly recommended.

1/7/25

Another great dining experience at Hacienda on the lake. Tonight when we arrived Maria greeted us and took us to a wonderful table in the dining room. I noticed right away that they had new tables, painted walls and spruce up the interior with the addition of fire pits as well. Mauricio was our amazing server and we also were greeted by Hilda another amazing server. Ricardo helped us with chips, salsa and water as well. We started with margaritas and also dinner salads. Miguel the general manager came by and we chatted as well. The people here are like family. We talked for a while and I also commented how good the chips and salsa were. Miguel informed me that they also had a new chip supplier. A terrific move as these chips are fresh and tasty. Miguel that brought us each a shot of Don Julio Reposado to cheer the New Year. What a wonderful and thoughtful person. We then ordered our entrees. My wife had the Caleta and I had the tampequenia. Great food, great ambiance and amazing staff. Highly recommended.

10/11/2024 My wife and I both decided to head to Hacienda on the Lake for a nice meal on the water. We were greeted by Maria who is such a wonderful person and so cheerful and welcoming. Maria took us to a nice table at the waters edge. So nice! I saw Miguel with a serape and he looked quite authentic. Miguel is the GM and a wonderful person. We were greeted by Raphael and what an amazing server and person. We spoke of his daughter who is attending Harvard on a full ride scholarship and he was glowing as a proud papa. He works two jobs to help his daughter with all other expenses. A wonderful man. We ordered drinks which were fantastic. My wife had a blended margarita and I had two Don Julio 1942s on a large rock and one mango margarita. So so good. My wife ordered the Hacienda tacos with chicken and I had the chicken breast tostada. The food was wonderful. We had the guacamole and chips with salsa while awaiting out main entrees. Alex one of the other managers came by to say hello and we chatted for a while and we also said hello to Hilda, Mauricio, and Kassandra. The staff are so nice and just wonderful people. The main entrees came and were excellent. Miguel has us try a new cabernet savignon and brought out a bottle of topo chico. Highly recommended

9/29/2024 Had a wonderful evening at Hacienda on The Lake this evening. Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by the gracious Maria and Miguel the awesome manager. Miguel took us to a lovely table by the water and we visited for a while. Shortly thereafter Hilda our server extraordinare came by and took our drink and appetizer order. My wife had the Patron silver with topo chico and three limes muddled with mint and I had the Mango margarita. Both drinks were perfect. The ambiance at this location takes to to Mexico via Mission Viejo. It's breathtaking. Both dishes were very good, tasty and hot. We also saw Kassandra another server who is kind and we exchanged greetings. Miguel brought us another bottle of Topo Chico with some limes on ice in wine glasses which was also a nice touch. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal, time, ambiance,...

My friends and I came here after work for a little after work tea session.

We asked for a seat with a view, and the view did not disappoint one bit. I will admit, it was cold even with a heater near us, but the view made it worth suffering through the cold.

The food here is on the pricier side just so you're aware. Be prepared to spend around $30 if not more per person. I spent well over that, and I'd say the food wasn't as amazing as I expected but I get with places like these, you're paying more for the view and the ambiance than the food itself.

For dinner, I ordered some taquitos to share with my friends and a blueberry milkshake. The taquitos were good but nothing to write home about. They're your average taquitos.

The blueberry milkshake was honestly my favorite thing I ordered when we went. Even more so than the fried ice cream. Shocking, I know, but it was honestly the best part of my whole meal because it was a unique flavor, easy to drink, and just plain good. Don't get me wrong, the fried ice cream was good too, but the caramel and chocolate sauce was not my favorite addition. Personally, I would have loved it more if it had been coated in cinnamon and sugar, so it tastes more like a churro. But like I said, it was good, and I would eat it again, but I wish they offered a "churro" version. hint, hint. Wink, wink. And yes, before anyone comes for me, I know they have churros, but they're just not the same as fried ice cream. Fried ice cream just hits different. IYKYK.

Overall, this place is a really nice spot for an after work tea session or any casual lunch or dinner, and I would happily go back and would recommend it. Especially if you want your lunch or dinner with a beautiful view. Just maybe skip the taquitos unless they're an absolute must-have for you. If they are, treat yourself. Otherwise, order something more unique. They have a lot of options, I just went with something that was easy to share, but on my next visit, I'll definitely be trying...

I took my mother for a Sunday lunch because we wanted to be at the Lake. The location of this restaurant is perfect! Sunday is busier due to brunch, but we were able to get seated right away and the restaurant was not at max capacity. We were offered chips and salsa as well as some waters within the first 3 minutes. I would say it took about 5-7 mins before our server came around to take our drink order - a margarita and a soda. It had been another 5 or so minutes and nothing had shown up. The server eventually made his way back a few minutes later to confirm our drink order. The soda was brought shortly after that. However about another couple of minutes later the server came over with a Stella and started pouring it in a cold glass. I let them know we asked for a margarita which he apologized and went to get. It finally arrived shortly after. The server then came back to take our food order. We waited what felt like another 25 minutes when some woman who came by just to say our food was next up to plate. More and more time kept going by. Eventually our food showed up. We both ordered the same thing. 2 item combo with rice and beans. One chicken taco and one beef enchilada. The beans probably tasted the best and were subpar. The chicken was tough but had some flavor. The rice tasted like cardboard - neither of us ate it. And the beef enchilada was bland and we both only ate half. These dishes were $23 each! I should have said something but I was enjoying time with the view and talking with my mom. We got the check and the server charged me for that beer we never ordered. I asked him to take it off. We paid and left I don't know what happened to this place. It used to be good. They have a lot of potential with this location but the food needs to be better. I don't come here thinking "oh they have great (insert food or drink)."...