Five Crowns — Restaurant in Newport Beach

Five Crowns ruined our wedding day. Don’t get married here.

2-3 weeks before our wedding, Alison said they could no longer honor the appetizer minimum in our contract (20 per item) and that we'd have to increase our orders to 100 per item (this would have cost us an additional $6,500!!!). She also said the valet parking rate we agreed to was increasing from $4 to $6. I couldn't believe she would even suggest modifying a CONTRACT to this degree and then insist that we didn't have a choice. Talk about a bait and switch.

All of our decor was planned around a clean white tent with 5 crystal chandeliers (1940's theme) which is what Five Crowns sold us on. But 2-3 weeks before our wedding, Alison sends a photo of the most hideous wood lighting fixtures I've ever seen (they looked like upside-down spiders that belonged in a Tim Burton movie) and tells us—surprise!—this year they're going with "French bistro" and there will only be 2 of these horrible lights.

On our rehearsal day, we were completely ignored by staff. We walk into the event space and realize they installed clear plastic ceiling and pitch panels (even after they told us they would be white, like last year) effectively turning the tent into a hot and unbearably humid greenhouse. It also looked incredibly cheap and tacky. Everyone was sweating bullets and we were so embarrassed. Alison refused to answer her phone and the staff at Five Crowns refused to fix it, so we scrambled to find a vendor at the last minute to install white panels on the ceiling and filter out the direct sunlight. That cost us another $1,000 that we did not have in our budget!

But if all of that wasn't enough, the worst part was walking down the aisle, seeing my groom, and then smelling garbage. This immediately ripped me out of this moment I had been waiting for my entire life – the thought still brings me to tears two months later. We couldn’t cover all of the clear plastic with such short notice so the tent was still so hot (even at the end of November), they had to open some of the side panels to let air in. Their dumpster was apparently open and overflowing so the garbage smell was blowing into the tent during our ceremony. One staff member admitted they knew about the issue before the ceremony and NOTHING was done to address it.

I was up at 1:00AM on my wedding night crying my eyes out. A year of dreaming and planning for the most important day of my life ruined by Five Crowns' negligence. To our friends and family, I pretend it all went well because 1) I'm too embarrassed to admit it was a disaster, and 2) I don't want to remind them of how bad it smelled.

I don't know how many hours we wasted or how much sleep we lost fighting Five Crowns on all of this with countless emails, phone calls and in-person meetings. They finally gave in on maintaining the prices and terms of our contract (because they knew it was illegal to change them) and they reverted back to the original space design we were sold on (except for swapping out some of the white tent panels for clear plastic), but we should have NEVER had to fight at all.

Because of the smell, Five Crowns agreed to a 25% refund that we finally received last week. 25% for ruining the day I had looked forward to my entire life. When I think about my wedding day, I experience anger, disappointment and heartbreak instead of joy – I can't even print our photos. No amount of money will ever fix what they did to us.

Whatever their tactless, smug and dishonest "Sales and Marketing Manager" tells you, they are NOT giving you a good deal. You are not saving money versus other venues (even by getting married at 10:00AM). You will be treated like a burden and inconvenience, and talked down to like a child, instead of being treated like a respected client who is spending many, many thousands of dollars on a single day.

There are hundreds of better wedding venues in Southern California – do your research and don’t make the same...

I know that every restaurant has a bad night, but Friday 12/22 was a very bad night at the Five Crowns. We have enjoyed meals at Lawry restaurants for the last fifty years, most of them at their Prime Rib restaurant in Beverly Hills. We were looking for a holiday dinner out for our family of six and chose the Five Crowns because of the festive atmosphere and the carolers that come to each table and sing. SUMMARY: Reservations were at 7pm; seated around then. Our dinners were set down a little after 9pm. We finally left the restaurant at 10p. DETAILS: The restaurant was clearly crowded. If you didn’t have a reservation, you didn’t get in. I had made ours 30 days out, the earliest they accepted reservations for that night. Even booking online at midnight, the only time open was 7pm. So, they knew that there was going to be a full house that night. Apparently what they weren’t prepared for was the large number of takeout orders placed that evening. As I stated above, we were seated shortly after 7pm. The server introduced himself, took our drink orders, and brought bread to the table. The drinks arrived probably around 7:30. At this time, we ordered our food. Several of the party ordered lobster bisque as a starter. This was delivered to the table around 7:45 and finished by 8. For the next hour we sat there. Bread was brought two additional times. At around 8:45, the waiter brought glasses of champagne for the table because of the long wait. The carolers who generally only sing at each table once, came to our table TWICE. Food arrived a little after 9. Now for the food. Prime rib was not hot, only warm, and with a taste that was kind of bland to be honest. The creamed spinach appeared to be just spinach and certainly not the recipe we had enjoyed at both Lawry’s Prime Rib and at Tam O’Shanter (the Lawry’s restaurant in Glendale). One of our party had the salmon. It was inedible, was sent back, and removed from our bill. Another one of our party had the chicken pot pie which looked delicious from the outside until you cut into it and realized that there was very little filling and it was mostly crust. Per our waiter’s suggestion, we ordered the dark chocolate souffle when we ordered our meals. Those arrived timely after we finished our main courses. They were hot and delicious. As for our waiter and our assistant waiter, they were both excellent. The evening clearly wasn’t their fault. As we left at 10, there were still parties waiting to be seated. The restaurant is supposed to close at 10. FINAL OPINION: When takeout orders (we heard after the fact that there were more than 300 that night) prevent a restaurant from actually delivering food to the diners who are dining in it, there is a serious problem. They should have declined the takeout orders when they got out of hand. Very disappointing experience. The first one in fifty years of dining at Lawry’s restaurants. While I understand that every restaurant has a bad night, this one was so bad that I would find it hard to convince any of our party to return. I’m sure that there are other restaurants to enjoy a festive holiday dinner in Orange County. And then, of course, we could always make a little longer drive and enjoy far better prime rib and sides at Lawry’s Beverly...

Pros: Great food, rotates seasonally Excellent drinks (beer, wine, and cocktail selection is on point) Attentive Staff Cool Ambience (English decor) Side Door (bar dining) w/ patio seating during summer months

Cons: Fairly expensive Can fill up on the weekend Parking (for dinner it’s valet or struggle to find a street spot)

TL;DR One of my wife’s and my favorite restaurants in Corona del Mar/Newport Beach. Excellent prime rib and amazing drinks keep us coming back every couple months. The staff really makes the experience.

My wife and I absolutely love Five Crowns and Side Door. They are owned by Lawry’s and serve prime rib that is equal in quality to Lawry’s in L.A. (but so much closer!). It is an English/Tudor style restaurant that serves food you might expect from an English restaurant. Their menus are fairly seasonal so it’s hard to know exactly what they will be serving, but the prime rib and most of the meats are staples.

I always get the Five Crowns Cut when I am in the main restaurant. I have never been disappointed by the taste or texture, and when you order medium rare it comes out with sufficient red for a prime rib. The pieces are decently fatty which is excellent for this cut, and the au jus + whipped horseradish can help bring out the flavor of the meat. The creamed spinach you can get as a side is HIGHLY recommended. The Yorkshire pudding would be my second recommendation (think soft popover).

My wife likes to try different things and has had a few of the fish dishes and has been happy with each one she has tried. We had the prawns starter in the past and raved about them the entire night.

I can’t resist the cocktails whenever I’m here—they make a mean Templeton old fashioned. It’s just a little sweet and they are generous with the liquor. My wife has had the bellini and a few other cocktails that didn’t leave as much as an impact. Their beer and wine selections are quite excellent, too.

The staff is very attentive, and they will take their time walking you through the menu. This is especially helpful if you visit fairly often and have questions on the seasonal offerings. When we have sodas and waters they never go empty, and if we’re in the bar it’s easy to always have a cocktail in our hands.

The ambiance is very much to our liking—a little dim with pretty cool English decorations. There are rich woods used throughout and a lot of the tables are going sans linens to add to the effect. The front of the restaurant has been very recently facelifted so it has old charm without the run down look, and the dining area has recently added a brand new bar which we’re excited to see.

This restaurant is so charming that the first time we dined here my wife (at the time girlfriend) decided she wanted to have her wedding at Five Crowns. I feel like the whole wedding portion of Five Crowns deserves its own detailed review so I’ll save that for the wedding sites, but if you’re browsing for venues I can’t recommend this place enough. The quality of food and service was as good as it is during dinner, and our guests couldn’t stop raving about the food and reception.

All in all I can’t recommend this...