The LAB Collaborative — Restaurant in Oceanside

I came here with a friend who's been here before and has a varied experience. This time our experience was good overall. I recommend sitting at the bar if you are a small group as we initially sat at a table and service was slower there.

For two fairly small girls, we ordered a lot of food and drinks. We started with the Mexican Mule and the Lilikoi Mojito. I didn't like the Mule because it was more cranberry and chili than ginger beer and vodka. In hindsight, I should've stuck to my Moscow Mule. My friend's Mojito was good but very passion fruit heavy.

For appetizers, we ordered the Cauliflower with Agave Ponzu Sauce and the Pretzel and Sausage Plate. I loved both. I am obsessed with cauliflower so I am a little more biased towards that dish. It was tart, spicy, soft, fried and delicious. The leeks on the plate were delicious. The Sausage and onions in the Pretzel plate were top class. I'm not a big fan of Pretzels but my friend enjoyed it a lot. The sauces that came with the Pretzel plate were delicious. I highly recommend getting both. The portions are huge so we only managed to finish one app and my friend took the leftovers from the other one home.

For the mains (because we over ordered), we got the jerk chicken sandwich and the birria sandwich to share. Jerk chicken came with tots and the Birria came with salad. Between the two, the Birria won hands down. The shredded beef with peppers onions and cheese with the spicy side sauce was mouthwatering. The hoagie was soft and perfect. On the other hand, I expect jerk chicken to burst with flavor and take me back to the Caribbean. I expect vibrant colors, a flowing gravy, just a lot of abundance. This sandwich was not that. It did not have the color and vibrancy. On taste, it was definitely bland with no hard hitting flavors. The chicken itself was good but it could've been called a grilled chicken sandwich, which felt more apt.

We ended the meal with two more drinks, this time from their Mixologist menu. I got the Summer Rehab with vodka (the original has gin). My friend got the Oaxacan Sunset. These drinks were delicious and exactly what we wanted.

We spent almost 5 hours at the restaurant and nobody kicked us out. All in all, the experience was good and we...

We had a super enjoyable experience, both my wife & I, plus 2 great friends, who accompanied us for lunch, on 10/13/22.

Our server was kind & welcoming. This was our first time here, so she told us a tiny bit about the place, then took our drink orders. I couldn't help noticing a truly humongous TV, straight across from me. It nearly encompassed an entire wall, inside the restaurant.

The Lab Collaborative has an indoor/ outdoor feel, with tables inside this restaurant, which then opens onto 2 smaller outdoor patios, a narrow patio on 1 side, as well as a larger 1 in front of The Lab Collaborative. One unfortunate drawback to this open-air dining concept, are the flies, particularly in the hot summer months of September & October, in Oceanside.

Comfortable high-back chairs surround the rectangular bar space, in the center of this restaurant.

The Lab has a clean, modern feel to it. Their menu has a wide variety of tempting & interesting choices, but I rarely get a chance to eat fried chicken, so the O-side or No-Side Chicken Sandwich won me over. As my plate of food was approaching, I was shocked at just how huge this sandwich really was. It had 2 massive, perfectly-fried & hammered-thin chicken breasts, resting between shiny Brioche buns. These golden brown chicken pieces rested on a bed of fennel & cabbage slaw. I asked for the Bourbon Habanero Sauce on the side, since I'd no clue how hot 🔥 it was. Turned out to be tasty, & really not too bad, on the heat scale. I put a nice dose of sauce on each bite of chicken, & loved it!

My wife had a Curry Chicken Kabob Salad, & she loved it so much, she left nothing to take home.

My buddy ordered the Lime Cilantro Halibut, which he said tasted really good, but the fish was a tiny bit on the dry side. This meal came with roasted potatoes & sauteed veggies.

My other friend loved her Birria Sandwich, which when she dunked it In their Birria Consomme, took this creation to another level of deliciousness

Great place, friendly service, super tasty food & nice...

The first time we came was just for drinks (although we did order the Bone Marrow). This time we came for dinner.

After reading all or most of the reviews here on Yelp, I knew the Beef Cheeks was the de facto thing to order off the menu, so I did as well as my buddy. My wife ordered the Seafood Linguini and another wife ordered the Elote Lettuce Wraps.

The Beef Cheeks are other-worldly...insane flavor, so tender. Imagine pot roast or slow braised short ribs, but better. The fingerling potatoes and roasted carrots were perfect sides, all served in one iron pot with microgreens as a garnish. My wife has already pre-ordered this dish for the next time we visit

The Seafood Linguini was good, although it was served piping HOT, like super hot. And the bowl was huge. It was good, but it resembled too much of the type of dishes I make at home so it didn't seem special enough to order again.

We heard the Elote Lettuce Wraps were amazing...and a definite order-again possibility. To cap off the food, we had the Creme Brulee. The flavor changes I think over time, but the version we had this time was quite possibly the best creme brulee custard I have ever had. Seriously. It was that good. Granted it was $15, which is a bit steep for a creme brulee but at least it was mighty tasty.

For drinks, we orderd: Pineapple Mule Up Late Coffee Martini The Cure All Mexican Martini Eppig Amber (beer) Botanist's Basket Barrel-Aged Margarita

The only thing I wouldn't order again was the Eppig Amber. It lacked sweetness, not that I like sweet beer but it was pretty flat. Some ambers are awesome, and some are not...that's for sure. I would ditch this one off the menu unless you have some die-hard fans out there.

Thanks again TLC for an awesome time. Service was great. The food and drinks were great. Can't ask...