Magic Lamp Inn — Restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga

We had reservations for dinner and arrived a little early, so we asked if we could have a drink while we waited. The hostess informed us that the bar was full but suggested we sit in a nearby bar area, assuring us someone would come to serve us drinks. However, after sitting there for 15 minutes with no service, we decided to go to the bar ourselves.

The bar was extremely crowded, and the setup behind it seemed disorganized. Although the bartenders were working hard, it was clear the system wasn’t conducive to efficiency. It took a long time to get our drinks, and while waiting, we inadvertently blocked the flow of traffic for other guests trying to move between tables.

Once we had our drinks, we returned to the bar area to wait for our reservation. I ended up sitting next to another woman who was also waiting. When they finally called our names—15 minutes after our reservation time—they planned to seat us first, even though the woman next to me had been waiting longer. We pointed this out to the staff, and they seemed confused, further demonstrating a lack of organization in managing the front of house and guest list. Ultimately, they decided to seat us both at the same time.

When we were finally seated, our server was kind and attentive, but the service remained slow. It took almost 40 minutes for our food to arrive. Unfortunately, when it did, my fish was cold, the carrots were undercooked, and my husband’s vegetables were also cold. Since our server hadn’t checked on us after the food was served, it took some time to address the issue. When we finally flagged him down, he took my fish back to the kitchen to be refried. The second attempt was much better—flaky and cooked properly—but by that time, my husband’s steak had gone cold while he waited for me to eat.

The steak was delicious, but the rest of the meal was disappointing. Drinks were $20 each, even for well drinks that were mostly ice. While high prices are expected at a nicer restaurant, the quality of the liquor was more reminiscent of a dive bar. The dinner itself was extremely expensive—$60 for the cold fish, for example. We don’t mind paying a premium for great food and a great experience, but this felt like a dive bar with slow, inefficient service.

To their credit, our server tried to make up for the poor experience by offering us dessert on the house, and the dessert was quite good. However, we will never return to this restaurant. It is highly overrated and desperately needs more efficient management and oversight of...

Wow...what an awesome experience for the area. We had been to the Magic Lamp several times, years ago and it was a significant part of local history. Unfortunately, it was so tired and dated in many ways and frankly fell apart from the food, management, the experience, the atmosphere...just an overall bummer. My family had loved it for many years as it was different and unlike most any other place in the area. We stopped going.

Now, 2024 - It is so exciting to see that new ownership came in with positive intention and energy to transform the restaurant back to even better than it was most likely in it's original beginnings and then carrying that revival to include updated charm, features and fresh decor to provide the utmost in a unique dining experience. The patio (not there before) is beautiful, the interior and all the details that clearly they paid attention to, accentuates the look, feel and charm of dining in something that is not your typical chain, shopping center or box restaurant. There is something innately special about this place that I believe many people find engaging and curious, so much so as to evoke a "magnetic tug" to come try the restaurant to see for oneself.

My family moved out of the area, but with new ownership, that curiosity pinged us big time, so we had to see for ourselves to know if it's a High-5 or a pass. We say, HIGH 5 - DEFINITELY go try it for yourself...the food, the renewed, beautiful place, the overall experience is a definite must experience! I can't speak to any of the other reviews I had read as I was not with any of these people, but I can clearly say, the Magic Lamp is back and we have no doubt it will be super successful given the transformation at this charming place. It is a deeply embedded piece of local history. It's one meal...but I believe it will be one meal that is different for anyone that goes and checks it out.

Thanks Magic Lamp...you are definitely on a...

My wife and I were excited about the reopening. The old magic lamp was old fashioned and dingy and the food was very antiqued and expensive.

What I liked and didn’t

Liked My Steak was seasoned cooked really well. The drinks were really good The French onion soup was above average The digital and much simpler menu was appreciated. The workers were all super cool.

Didn’t Still from the 70s inside. Sinatra playing the entire hour we were there. pictures of Dean Martin on the wall. Same dingy carpet and tacky lights. I’m in my 40s and I was the youngest customer there by 20 years. I had a baseball cap on. The hostess asked to remove it because they had a dress code. Alright cool, dress code at an almost empty restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga, all good. It’s Halloween and people came in wearing costumes and crazy wigs and they were good. WTH right? So the chef comes out to greet a couple of customers and he’s wearing a baseball cap. I mean, what are we trying to accomplish here? Super annoying. 2 steaks, 3 mixed drinks, 1 soup, 1 side…$230. Way too much. That was a $150 meal at best. The creamed corn and the baklava were the worst versions of those dishes I’ve ever had. No exaggeration. The cheese bread was super small and had no cheese. Also, they brought out a bowl of ice with 2 olives, 2 slices of radish and a couple of celery sticks for no reason. Is that like a bowl of stuff no one likes that you’re hoping I consider a gift? That was really odd.

I’d probably go back to sit at the bar and have the soup maybe but yeah, place is the same as it used to be…expensive and antiquated and just weird. If you’d like to go try to, make a reservation soon….no way a place with that food and approach at that price is going to make it. It’ll be closed again before too long and most...