Rare Society — Restaurant in San Clemente

I have never shared a review for anything in my life, but I felt this was warranted. From the start, I want to say the service we had tonight was incredible. Our server was incredibly knowledgeable, and I truly felt he went out of his way to make sure we were taken care of and satisfied. My one star does not reflect the service or staff whatsoever, we were incredibly pleased with our experience in terms of staff. The restaurant is also beautiful done, with an impressive interior. The cocktail I had was well made, and I enjoyed it. However, for the most part, the food was abysmal. I was absolutely shocked. We ordered the dinner rolls, the bacon, the crab cakes, the tri tip, the lobster, the filet mignon, and the glazed carrots. Other than the dinner rolls, there is not a single dish I would order again, nor recommend. The tri tip in particular was disappointing - it was incredibly, incredibly chewy to the point I could not finish the meal. Especially outrageous considering the price tag. The bacon should really be advertised as pork belly. It is not thinly sliced bacon- it is one long thick chunk of pork belly. While the gochujang sauce is fantastic and compliments the pork well, the preparation was poor. I found the pork belly to be dry, and the aftertaste was terrible. The carrots were okay, a little on the salty side. Simply put, they just don’t match the price (nearly $20 for a side dish of miso-glazed carrots). As a whole, the actual product is high quality (excellent cuts of meat, fresh lobster flown in from Maine daily), but the preparation ruins them. All 3 of us left completely unsatisfied (other than with our service), despite spending more than $400. While this location is new, this is the 5th restaurant in the franchise - I expected significantly more. The “salsa” I was charged $5 for on the side of my tri tip was laughable - it tasted and looked like it came straight from a grocery store (also sauces cost $5). Besides the poor taste, it was a tiny portion. Again, for $5, 3 tablespoons of poorly prepared salsa is disappoint for 10 ounces of tri tip. As a side note, it has been about 2 hours since the conclusion of our meal, and I am now feeling rather ill. Save yourself the money - go there for a cocktail, and enjoy a meal at another one of the many excellent restaurants in town. If you are looking for a menu with a price tag that matches the quality, look no further than Nick’s...

Rare Society offers a unique and vibrant atmosphere that truly lives up to the influencer videos you might have seen. As you walk in, you're greeted by a dark yet lively room with an impressive wine cellar selection on the right, a bustling bar further in, and winding stairs leading to additional dining space on the second floor. The ambiance alone earns this place five stars.

Service and food choices were commendable. We started with a seafood tower, which was excellent, and moved on to the main dish – the executive board and sides – perfect for our group of four. Our server was attentive and professional, but the pace of service was notably slow. It took 35 minutes to get our first round of drinks, which is quite unusual, especially considering my background in the service industry. Additionally, an ordered appetizer was forgotten, which added to the wait time.

A particularly confusing and disappointing part of our experience involved the drinks. Some of our friends ordered multiple rounds, and by the end of the meal, they had ordered three rounds totaling about $90. We joked about how the drinks tasted like juice, only to be informed by our server that they didn't contain any alcohol. It turned out we had missed that these were spirit-free cocktails. Although they were in their own section on the menu, the wording didn't make it clear enough that these drinks were non-alcoholic, leading to our surprise and disappointment.

Given the various mishaps, I would have expected the server to perhaps comp a couple of the drinks, but that didn't happen. Additionally, the drinks, even when served correctly, seemed to be mostly ice. If you removed the giant square ice cube, the drink only filled about a quarter of the glass, which felt like a poor value for the price.

The butter cakes we ordered for dessert were good, though not quite traditional. Overall, everything was enjoyable, but the service and drink issues left a bit of a sour taste. Our total bill came to about $700, which was steep given the service flaws. We might consider returning for a special occasion due to the fantastic atmosphere and quality food, but we hope for a more streamlined service...

Came here for a Mother’s Day dinner. The night started good - service was on point, atmosphere and location were great - things were off to a good enough start. Then it took a turn.

Some negatives:

Ordered some appetizers and a meat board: appetizers were a little salty but still ok. The meat board took a while to come out. It looked like the table next to us, who was seated and ordered after us, got their meat board first. Probably not a good sign. They dropped off “warm” plates that don’t really do much if the steak arrives 20 minutes later and the plates are now cold. Meat board comes out and the steak is cold. Not room temp, just cold. When we mentioned this, they said the meat needs to rest 10 minutes before serving. I get that and why it is necessary, but shouldn’t it be resting while being kept warm? I’ve never had a steak served that cold. It was a huge disappointment because now we just needed to wait longer to have it warmed up. When it came back out, it didn’t seem like the whole board was really warmed. Still a little cold.

Now for something that was a bit strange and something I have never encountered at a restaurant. I ordered an old fashioned. Most people know that an old fashioned typically comes with a big, single ice cube (so the drink stays chilled while limiting the amount it gets watered down). I should have maybe known something was up when I was specifically asked if I wanted a big ice cube. Of course I did, that’s what the drink should come with. Well, not here. The check came out and there were 2 interesting charges. The cost of the drink was $18 for the specific bourbon and then - $2 to make it an old fashioned AND $2.50 for the “big ice cube.” I looked at my wife and was a bit perplexed. We were being charged for an ice cube? Just make the drink $22 or something. I find it very strange to charge specifically for a big ice cube. It’s like the Spirit airlines of cocktails.

Anyway, probably wouldn’t come here again but don’t want to say it was completely terrible or anything. Just wasn’t great for the price that was paid…$2.50 for...