Ola — Restaurant in Orange

Four stars is stretching it for this place. For everyone raving about it: I suspect they don't do much Spanish/Latin food (not afficianados or connoisseurs), or Ola has changed, since most reviews are old. I might not be so negative had it not been for the poor to average service. We sat at the bar and were ignored; for about ten minutes or more. I thought, "the bartender is really busy and he will eventually get to us". When three women walked up to the bar, he immediately gave them his attention. Our complaints to other servers in the bar area didn't get a response from him... like it wasn't their problem. When we were seated after all our party arrived, service was slow. I asked for guacamole (which was light on avocado and bland), from a passing waiter because ours was not very attentive. Some of the chips were stale. I asked for salsa and our waiter said he would see what he could do. He never brought anything and had nothing to more say about it. The salsa sauce they serve is a teeny-tiny bowl of warm, greasy bland tomato concoction with no heat. There is no salt, pepper nor any condiments on the tables. There was no HEAT in any of the dishes! The tuna tacos were bland, without any significant seasoning and no lime to add, except from my margarita. Ostras Mofongo was hit or miss with one really overcooked and having burnt bits. Also didn't look much like pretty pictures I saw from their restaurant on "friendsfoodwine". While this is a decent representation of Spanish fusion, particularly seafood, it is nothing unusual and certainly not for $28 a plate. What you get is a fancy presentation, with a lot of beans and corn that is punched up with a mild chorizo. All that's cheap; not much substance for the money. You can't eat a plate of shells even if they are piled eight inches high. What's with the buns of white bread? Weird-inauthentic and not even good bread. Oh..., perhaps the red oily stuff was for the bread? If it's Latin/ Italian fusion, it doesn't work for me. The free flan was good. That might have been to make up for the slips in service. That and we dropped a chunk of change. To me, while creativity and presentation are commendable attributes, it does not quite measure up to the similar cuisine of Bistro Basque or Crave for...

We’ve dined at Ola for years and always enjoyed it. But last night was the last time we’d choose this restaurant. We sat for 20 minutes before being acknowledged by the waitress who happened to be the owners wife. When we asked for bread and dipping sauce, which we’ve always gotten there prior to ordering our meal she said the Department of Health has prevented them from serving bread and a dipping sauce. (??) We informed her we were there the week before and upon our request were given the bread and the dipping sauce - so she complied. We waited another 20 minutes for our 2 appetizers of which she only brought one. It was another long wait for our food because she was talking to the people at the next table as we sat there patiently waiting to be served our food. Other staff was rushing around attending to their customers. When our dinners we’re finally served, my husband had specifically asked for his salmon to be medium rare and it was served well done so he sent it back at which time she turned around and brought the second appetizer that she forgot. She returned to the table next to us and continued to chat with the couple as we sat there waiting for our table to be cleared and waiting for our check. We stopped another waitress and asked her to please tell our waitress we want our check we watched the waitress relay the message, but our waitress still continue to ignore us and continued talking to the couple at the next table . We expressed our disappointment with the long wait, the over cooked salmon, the delayed appetizer and the time she was spending talking to the couple at the next table instead of attending to our party of four. Her reply reflected a very aloof attitude about our poor dining experience. We felt unwelcome and unappreciated and we definitely will not be...

I love this place, and I've been going here for years. I enjoy the food at both the Fairfield and Orange locations. I especially love (and recommend) the tapas. In particular, I recommend: Salmon tartare (in the past, they've also offered it with tuna, equally good) which has avocado, mango, red onion, cilantro lobster quesadilla (no, seriously...you have to try this) pulled pork quesadilla (smoky, cheesy, buttery madness!) enchiladas with mole (not tapas, but delish) house made guacamole, with different/fun chips to try, like plantain! mojitos (I order mine with no sugar/syrup...and they are SO good and refreshing...plenty of mint and lime!) Fish tacos! (Fried cod, cole slaw, YUM) Anything with crema and cilantro! (you get the point... :D) I love happy hour at this place. As far as "Ladies night" is concerned, yes it's outdated and a bit odd.....but it's not a big deal as one cheap (and decidedly angry???!) commenter made it out to be. The entire male division of the human race is not going to suddenly subside or be brought to their knees because a few women could come in and get a few apps/drinks on the (very slightly) cheaper. Ignore that review! I...