Javier's Restaurant - Newport Beach — Restaurant in Newport Beach

PLEASE do not come here if you have any severe food allergies

My family and I decided to come to Javier’s today August 16th. We had originally booked a reservation over the phone on the 8th for 7:30. We provided all the information and were under the impression that we had everything booked. When we got to the restaurant the host told us that we had no reservation. We were a little confused because we got a verbal confirmation over the phone and had the call history from that day so it seemed that it was all set. We were told that we could join the waitlist and being that there was no other option, we did. We were told 1) they would try and get us in earlier given that we had made a reservation but they messed up 2) the wait would be approximately 1.5 hours (they started saying to all other parties after us the wait would be 2 so we figured we had just made the cut before wait times went up). After around 1.5 hours we went to the host said it would just be a little bit and that they had previously told us 2 hours which is the complete opposite of what everyone in our party heard. At roughly the 2 hour mark, we were fed up that it was well beyond our wait time and went to speak to a manager. We explained the situation to him and how we were frustrated that it was taking so long despite this whole situation stemming from them originally. As we were explaining it, I overheard one of the hosts talking to another in Spanish thinking we wouldn’t understand saying that she told us a max of 2 hours and was annoyed that we were talking to the manager. This is not how you should be acting when it was your restaurant that made the mistake at first…not us. After speaking with him for no more than 3 minutes they magically found a table to seat us at. I did mention to the waiter that I have a pretty severe gluten allergy (when I do eat it I become violently ill to the point where I am throwing up for hours after eating it) but the waiter assured me that the majority of the menu was gluten free so I felt fairly confident to order without the worry of cross contamination. Me and another person in my party both ordered the trio enchiladas del mar and was assured that it’s gluten free (which made it seem like they were naturally gluten free). When our food came out, the food runner brought out one of the enchiladas that we had ordered. He stated “I have the regular enchiladas.” I didn’t think anything of this as it wasn’t made apparent to me that there was a difference between the so called “regular” and gluten free options so I told the food runner it was my entree. He then let us know that the other enchiladas would be coming shortly. Since there was a solid 3 hours between when our reservation was supposed to be and when we got our food, those of us that got our food started eating. When our waiter came out with the last of our food, he had a worried look on his face and asked me to hand him the plate and that he needed to go check something. He returned shortly saying that the food runner had made a mistake and given me the non gluten free one, after I had already taken a few bites. He proceeded to give me the gluten free one and said that the manager would come by shortly. After receiving all our food, the manager came out to talk with me. He stated “I talked with the food runner and he made sure to say that the enchilada that he had was regular and that the gluten free option should’ve had a tomato and olive on the corner the plate.” As someone with a severe food allergy, the way the manager dealt with this whole situation was absolutely unacceptable. It should have been made clear and apparent from the start that not everything is inherently gluten free, but they can prepare it in a way that would make it so. The way we were talked to felt like I was being blamed for the whole mishap. Being at a high scale restaurant, staff should be better trained in dealing with food allergies. I am utterly disappointed in the way that we were brushed off the whole night by both the host staff as well as the second manager...

I’ll start by saying, the restaurant is beautiful. The ambience is lovely and the lighting is perfect. I’ve been to many Javier’s locations and always leave feeling content. The Newport location has always been a go-to when in town, and we take clients here often. Perfect place to entertain and feel like you’re in a lively space. My last experience however was far from good.

I went with two friends last Tuesday evening, and politely asked off the bat if I could please be on a separate tab. Normally I would never ask for this, since I never need to… and I figured they may have a policy against it (which they did). However, I just had to evacuate my home due to the Palisades fire in LA, and my company was so kind to put me up in Newport and give a daily per diem. This meant using my corporate card (for just me!) so I wanted to give a heads up initially, that I would need to be on a separate check in possible. I figured, why not at least ask!

Our server then informed me that they don’t allow separate checks, but was willing to check for me given the circumstances. I explained that I’d never ask otherwise. They ended up making an exception, which I thought was such an act of kindness. However, it seemed that the service got progressively worse and that they were… pissed at me…? Like, holding it against me… bizzare. And I get it yanno, if a policy is in place- I’d rather them just have said no and have us do one check… like I can afford a freakin dinner…. It’s NBD!! But don’t act like this is an act of kindness from the restaurant and then be rude to me, deliberately skip our table, and have us sitting for an hour between each request (new drink, the food, the check). Our reservation was at 7pm and we got out at 10:47 while tables around us were rotating guests…. On a TUESDAY.

Then, after our meal, the manager came over to remind me that their policy is to not split checks. I explained that the last thing I wanted was to be difficult and I hoped our server didn’t get in trouble for asking. I would’ve been happy to speak to the manager directly, or just NOT split the bill! Their manager was hostile, and spoke over me, and didn’t even want to hear an apology from me. I truly was stunned… I had just evacuated my home, didn’t know the condition of my living situation, and was receiving support from my company. I didn’t understand how that warranted hostility (and I didn’t even want to explain this situation because it already felt uncomfortable). He said, “given the situation we can make an exception, but not again.” I said sir, I would NEVER ask for special treatment and I’m sorry if it was so difficult. That is the last thing I’d ever want. He cut me off, kind of rolled his eyes, and didn’t even hear me out. He hit me with a “… yeah good luck with everything,” under his breath on his way out. I could not believe he was so angry at me? What really rubbed me wrong, was it was clear he came over to remind me that I’m doing something “wrong” and so passively said “given the circumstances…” blah blah with his nose in the air. He completely blew me off, like I almost didn’t belong here. Little did he know I’ve brought a lot of business and frequent this location, but damn never again. Weird energy.

I made sure our server was okay one more time, left her a nice tip just in case she got in trouble, and got the hell out of there (after yanno… a nearly 4 hour experience).

I take clients here, I frequent the restaurant… and the one time I ask for something, it’s the end of the world? Hell no. Never again. In a world full of ‘hot shot’ restaurants, this one doesn’t even make the list. Also the food is mid (salsa is bomb though lol).

Separately noting, my friend got the fajitas which come with beans, (which she asked for when they didn’t come initially)… she also ordered a side of guacamole. They never brought the beans OR the guac and then charged her extra for guac on...

We just bought a home in Newport Coast, so we have been making our way through all of the local restaurants. We looked forward to trying this Javier’s location, as the one at Aria in Vegas has the best chips and salsa around! Despite having a reservation, it took 15 minutes to seat us, not terrible but awkward. As we were led to our table, I was struck by how beautiful the space is - it is huge and airy, great sky/ocean views, clearly a lot of money was spent on this restaurant. Our table is a big disappointment - literally the worst in the restaurant. We are surrounded by lovely sumptuous leather banquet tables, but were given a two top placed obscenely close to an another two top with a couple who looked just as disappointed to see how close we were seated to them. Not a great start. Our server was friendly, if not very difficult to understand (fast talking, strong accent). Our drinks were superb, but things started to go downhill from there. When we were asking for a glass of wine post-cocktails, the server literally cleared our appetizer, and walked away as we were describing what wine we wanted. It was shocking, and embarrassing. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, that the restaurant being so loud made it so he couldn’t hear us? Poor customer service regardless…you should notice if a patron is speaking to you. When he returned, we placed our order for a Cabernet. The server returned with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc!? We were too stunned and confused to speak out, so just drank it (in hindsight, should not have done so). I started to become suspicious - are they trying to weed out certain customers by intentionally giving them a bad experience? It has to be said that we eat in the best restaurants in the country on a regular basis, and I doubt that they would want to offend local Newport Coast diners? I digress …the meal was decidedly rushed, with a lot of men in suits milling about the tables with very serious expressions like pit bosses, and others quickly whisking plates off our table in an apparent effort to speed us along. In other fine restaurants you also see men in suits, but they approach your table, they ask about your evening, and are very warm and welcoming - far from the case here.

We had the excellent empanadas as an appetizer, and ordered fajitas for dinner. We asked if we could have both corn and flour tortillas, to which the server replied “sure”. The fajitas arrived with only flour, and were a let down. Who has ever seen fajitas served on anything but a hot plate!? It was a regular plate with the ingredients cooling very quickly. We also had an enchilada and tacos. The shrimp enchilada was very good…but the taco was not - plain, and decidedly flavourless. At this point, we are still trying to enjoy the meal, but after having been affronted twice by our servers’ ineptitude, our terrible table, and the unpleasant suits milling about, it’s not a great experience. It has to be said that this restaurant is clearly not hurting for business - lots of wealthy well-dressed people, mostly aged 25-40. I feel as though they think because they have an excellent location in a wealthy area, that they can just phone it in. Well - I’ve seen the many one star reviews for Javier’s on here, they should consider that it can’t continue to be a bustling business if half their customers refuse to return. A wealthy clientele tends to also mean a very exacting and discerning clientele with high standards. Offend them, and they will not return. We will likely give Javier’s one more chance since we live up the street, but...