Malibu Farm Lido — Restaurant in Newport Beach

Unfortunately, I had the worst experience with a server here today. I’ve been a regular at this location, visiting a couple of times a month for the last 5+ years. Everyone I’ve interacted with has always been nice and friendly. However, today a short male server wearing a baseball cap gave us the worst service I’ve ever experienced.

We arrived at 2:40 PM for the breakfast menu, which closes at 3 PM. When our server came to the table, I asked him to come back in a couple of minutes when we were ready to order. From 2:45 to 3:01, I looked for him but couldn’t get his attention. When he finally returned at 3:01, I politely mentioned that I had been looking for him for the last 15 minutes and asked if we could still order from the breakfast menu, even though it was just one minute past the cutoff. He rudely refused and took no responsibility for being unavailable when we needed him.

I then ordered something from the lunch menu and specifically asked for one of the sides to be removed because I cannot eat it. My food arrived with that exact side on the plate. When I kindly pointed this out, he dismissed my concern with, “It doesn’t matter, you can just leave it on the side.” There’s a clear difference between removing something I can’t eat and simply leaving it on the plate.

Then I asked if the side could be replaced with something I prefer, and once again, he rudely declined. I’ve made this same request over 50 times before without issue. Finally, he brought the side I had asked for and literally threw it onto our table, saying, “I’m buying this for you.” That was the last straw. I had to firmly explain to him that his behavior was unacceptable and that he should show some manners. I asked him to take it back and have someone else serve our table. These repeated negative interactions completely ruined our day and took away from what was supposed to be an enjoyable meal.

It’s unbelievable that they would hire someone with such an attitude. Another server was eventually assigned to our table, and we finished our meal, as we usually do. I spoke to two other kind servers about this, and they both apologized. However, I would have expected a manager to come over and address the situation or at least offer an apology for the server’s behavior. The entire incident was witnessed by everyone around us, which made it even more embarrassing.

This was both a failure of the server and a failure of management. For a high-end restaurant, this type of service is disgraceful. I hope they train him to have some basic manners or replace him with staff as competent as the rest of the team. The lack of action from management was equally...

I live close to Malibu Farms Lido and have dined here three times. Over the last few months (i.e., since they opened); once for brunch and twice for dinner.

The atmosphere and location by the water 🌊 are terrific😀 HOWEVER the acoustics 🔊 indoors are awful ☹️👎🏼a combination of concrete floors, low ceilings, and nothing on the walls to absorb sound can make the dining room deafening loud. On a busy evening, we all had trouble hearing👂🏼each other from across the table.

Food and menu were a work in progress - initially the food didn’t seem cooked right - but I have been back several times since and it had noticeably improved.

Brunch quesadilla is disappointingly thin, small, and unsatisfying; the cheese 🧀 is strong and sharp - this could be good or bad depending on taste.

Dinner salmon tastes delicious, but the first one I ordered had been cooked bone dry and needed to be remade - such a waste 😢 this was on my first dinner there.

Tried to have the vegan paella 🥘 for my second dinner there, but it arrived undercooked; for example, the butternut squash was crunchy (closer to raw) and the couscous was also undercooked. They remade it properly, but by the time it arrived, everyone else had finished eating, so I took it to go - I didn’t want to eat alone. Such a disappointment. And yes, you’ve read correctly; what they call paella does not resemble real paella🤪 When done correctly, it’s tastes good, whatever it is, but the couscous, tofu, and vegetable combination lacks the paella rice and only vaguely resembles the dish 🧐 Nonetheless, I’d order it again and this time hope I actually get to eat it with my friends 😆

Their flatbread concoctions are yummy 😋 Both the cauliflower and the Greek salad flatbreads are creative, tasty, and recommended.

Their branzino (fish) meal is very good (we’ve had it twice) and well presented on a wooden paddle board with veggies and rice.

My friends also liked the steak fajitas, although similar to the paella, I’d say it was good whatever it was🤔 but it certainly wasn’t a...

We had high expectations from this restaurant. We chose this place because of the many 5 star reviews.

Unfortunately we were thoroughly disappointed. The menu had vegan options which was nice, since our friends are vegan. Anyway, I'll cut straight to the chase.... The BLT Caesar was just like any typical, run of the mill Caesar salad with a few bits of bacon sprinkled over top. Tofu and zucchini lasagna was ok at best. All tofu and a few slivers of zucchini. Impaste was tolerable. Sauce was bland and two "meatballs" were overdone and had no flavor. Lobster pancit was another disappointment. There was barely any lobster meat and it was a little rubbery. The sauce was overpowered by the lemon flavor. The wine was good but highly overpriced. Talk about a huge markup.

1st star was for our server Chyna, who was sweet and outgoing. 2nd star for the location of the restaurant. The relaxing and warm Southern California vibe was welcoming, especially on a rainy night. However the ambience wasn't enough to justify the prices and the quality of the food or lack thereof. If the food was good, the price wouldn't be an issue, but clearly it wasn't. Needless to say, we won't be coming back. For the amount we paid, we could've gone to Nobu a few doors down, paid the same amount and we would've had an amazing meal, hands down.

Update: We received a call from our two friends that they were sick and spent most of the night in the bathroom. My husband and I were sick as well! What a great way to end the evening with...