Opah

I really enjoy the mussels, martinis and the prosciutto wrapped shrimp. Great neighborhood restaurant and enjoy meeting friends for happy hour that goes into dinner. The only thing that makes me NOT want to EVER go back is RAMON!!! He acts as if he’s doing you a favor taking your drink order. He has been so extremely rude to me over and over again. I have NO idea how he still has a job??? As much as I love the food and drinks, I’m not sure if I can go back if I have to deal with Ramon again. He’s really hurting your place!!!

We absolutely love the town of Aliso Viejo. This is probably the best restaurant in this town and have eaten here several times now.
The best tasting appetizer is the Mediera Garlic Shrimp. The sauce is just exquisite! I could eat the sauce as a soup.
Their fish selection is pretty vast. You can eat outside and enjoy the beach weather.
I highly suggest this place!
Cheers!

The clam chowder flavor with bread is spot on the best in the area… but the clams are to big and chewy, the need to dice the clams… then I’ll give them a 4 star rating.

I’ve been here a few times now, for lunch with my husband and for late night happy hour with my book club. The food is consistently good and the service is always excellent. The fish tacos are some of the best I’ve ever had, the fish was plentiful and moist. The meatballs with the sweet chili sauce are surprisingly good and the bacon wrapped dates were delish. They have a sad selection of beers and no ciders so hopefully that will be remedied in the future.

I never leave bad reviews, even look at my page. However, I have to on this one. The food was so bland with no flavor. I ordered the frutti di mare and it was nothing special at all. My husband got some fish dish with mashed potatoes and it want flavorful at all. He was also hungry after. $ 100 later and we weren’t satisfied at all.

This place is the bomb. I don’t write a review very often but felt this was noteworthy. Two days ago we had the mussels and fries oh my god so delicious we also had a shrimp appetizer that was so good. Today I had the burger topped with crab and asparagus that included a Caesar salad oh my really really good. The other night the service was so fast I almost thought we were at at a fast food restaurant LOL

I had a great experience here a few weeks ago. I tried their calamari and ahi appetizers and loved them! Great wine selection and cocktail menu. My server suggested items on the menu I wouldn’t normally try and I loved them! Maybe I’ll try the oysters next time!
The manager (Casey) came by our table to ensure we were pleased with the service. I will definitely be back! Thank you Opah!

Not my favorite, but convenient. I think this is more of a «Drinks after work» kind of place. And since it wasn’t their for casual conversation or a connection… not my speed. Food is a bit rich for me. But my dirty bird with stuff olives was delish… haven’t been back.
Give it a try. It’s been in Aliso for longer than most restaurants, maybe you’ll like better than me.

Fantastic place to go on date night. Went to see a movie located within walking distance of Opah. enjoyed watching Star Wars then finished a lovely evening at Opah’s for drinks and appetizers. The bar area is centered within the middle of the restaurant which makes it a perfect location. The staff was amazing and most importantly the general manager made it a point to check on me and my beautiful date. Nice place!

Service was nice, ordered ahi. It was okay didn’t have too much flavor. The mushrooms were delish! My friend had the salmon and thought it was tasty and will return for salmon.

I really enjoy having this place so close by. Drinks during happy hour are great. The prosciutto wrapped shrimp is delicious. If you like seafood, the Cioppino is a must try. Don’t forget dessert — Chocolate croissant bread pudding!

Went tonight. Ordered my favorite clams casino. They should be ashamed to call them that I do not believe they were fresh clams. They had no flavor. The shells were there but the clams were not attached to the shell. I think they were canned clams, no taste at all. It was a fork full of mush. Never going again.

The service was great. Thank you Carina! The Opah Fish is very good, yet everything I’d rate as good but not great. This was surprising since I’d a huge fan of Marc Cohen’s other restaurant Watermarc in Laguna Beach. Everything I’ve tried at Watermarc was amazing. I’ll most likely give Opah another chance and maybe my rating will go up at that time.
Thanks again Carina for the great service and making my birthday special!

Amazing service!!! Great drinks and appetizers… ask for the seared ahi appetizer off the menu. Manager, KC I think, is helpful and wonderful when it comes to service and help with the menu all staff is well educated. Never been let down and I crave their surf n turf burger like once a week.

This is the restaurant I visit the most in OC, hands down and my experience wasn’t always great! The first time I came, I was disappointed to find out it’s not a Greek place, but a seafood focused menu. I ordered the fish and chips and it was a little greasy. The drinks were amazing though — the blueberry coconut mojito & mango martini are two of the most outstanding cocktails around… So I didn’t give up of them.
A million visits later, I have figured out what I like and don’t like and order accordingly. I am never disappointed and the service is always outstanding. I feel like there are three or four people constantly looking over your table service. My favorite includes: oysters, bacon wrapped dates, onion soup, the polenta croutons on the Caesar salad, Thai mussels and MOST IMPORTANTLY the coffee rubbed New York Strip Loin. From a girl who prefers a tender filet mignon, take my word. This is a melt in your mouth piece of meat with an almost caramelized exterior.
There are a ton of other delicious things but I urge you to experiment
Ok. I am so hungry right. Must go get food.
Happy dining!

Second time I’ve been here and both times were delicious Caesar salad and steak calamari with the meatballs appetizer phenomenal atmosphere TVs outside heaters patio great lighting good server the server Marco was more than knowledgeable with the entire menu truly a delight I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for high-​quality food and great service

Happy hour here with some coworkers the other night. Food was good especially figs wrapped in bacon, sweet potato tower and the ricotta appetizers. Not the cheapest happy hour for wine or beer (only $ 1 off). $ 3 off signature drinks so they definitely are pushing for these. Server checked in frequently.
Cons: I had called ahead a week earlier for a large group. They took down party size, my name and phone #. When I called to confirm they had no idea that I had called. A little annoying.
Server, while efficient, clearly wasn’t thrilled when drinks weren’t flowing. Only 2 people ordered a second drink immediately so he brought me the check unprompted. Message received. Place was not full but he was over it as the bill wasn’t growing quickly enough. Star subtracted.

I was nicely surprised after not having a great experience here for dinner couple of years back and coming here after work yesterday to meet a friend for a drink and some appetizers.
The place was pretty empty at 4:30 pm, so had great seats at the bar as well as HH prices on drinks.
The appetizers we had (chicken meatballs and hummus w/​pita) was fresh and tasted amazing.
The bartenders were friendly and attentive, could have done better job on the water refills as we had to keep asking, however, overall very satisfied and will go back again this time much sooner.

Finally got to try this place I’ve had it bookmarked for so long. I was kind of in a hurry when I went here which is unfortunate because this is the kind of place you really want to relax and enjoy your meal. The interior was nice very modern with plenty of outdoor seating. I was greeted with a warm welcome as soon as I walked in the door which is always nice especially going somewhere for the first time. I’ve not gone back to places where I wasn’t warmly welcomed.
They have a happy hour which I asked about and they said I can get it anywhere in the restaurant. This is a huge plus because a lot of places seem to make the least desirable place to sit the only place you can get happy hour. Having waited tables before I understand why restaurants do that, at the same time it is nice to know that I can sit on the patio with my girls and still get happy hour.
Well I didn’t even get happy hour:) food anyways. I started with the Maui onion soup which is basically French onion soup they just use that particular type of onion. It was amazing! The cheese had just the right amount of crust and the croutons were fresh. A lot of places the broth of typical French onion soup is too salty for me, not this place it was perfect. For my entrée I had the scallops. The scallops were huge, and seared to perfection with a nice crust on the outside but still a nice texture in the middle. They were served with a creamy corn risotto & cherry tomatoes which complimented them nicely. One thing I was disappointed on but it wasn’t a big deal is they only had blue point oysters. After seeing all the photos of oysters I wanted to start my meal with those. But this is not an oyster bar so I can’t really complain that much & they did mention that they get fanny bay regularly. I highly recommend this place for the pleasant atmosphere great service and exceptional food.

We haven’t been to Opah probably close to 2 years now but from our past experiences, My husband and I were craving our favorite entrees that we always must have every Opah visit.
As we searched through the menu, we discovered they had changed there menu and removed some items while adding some new ones. Of course the mouth watering bacon burger and there tantalizing meatloaf we so loved and craved for… were the items replaced! But they added new additions to the menu such as a surf and turf burger and the braised short rib. So we decided to try those!
The burger was nothing special other than a small crab cake added to a typical burger and a side of aioli. My husband is not a picky eater but he does like a good burger and this burger didnt leave a lasting impression. I ordered the braised short rib. The meat was tender as any braised short rib should and it was accompanied with mashed potatoes and shaved Brussels sprouts but the meat lacked flavor. Dunno if it needed a sprinkle of salt or something but it was just okay. The presentation was beautiful as it had 2 waffle potato chips on top. But I can say I have had better.
Overall we were disappointed that our favorite items were gone but had hope to find new ones to replace them. Unfortunately it didnt happen.
Overall the service is always on point and have always been consistent on all of my dining experiences there.
The cocktails were yummy and refreshing and they have a great happy hour daily.