Sage Restaurant

Being located in a shopping center your first thought would be this will be average at best. Boy how far off base would that thought end up being.
Sage is a trendy little locals place for some very high end dining. The service is wonderful and the food is amazing. You name it they have it. The steak I had was to die for. The same with my wife’s fish dish.
I could go on and on but want to post this review quickly. Now if you want to try this wonderful place you better hurry. They had a letter posted that after 15 years the Irvine Company is refusing to renew the lease. I am sure Sage is hoping that with all of the locals who enjoy the food they will be able to help apply pressure to work out a lease deal.
So in closing, Excellent food, Great service, wonderful outdoor patio all in amazing location. If you want to try this hidden jewel you better hurry.
Enjoy,
Don

IGNORED. Enough said.
We came in, spoke to a server at the host stand and were told they would be right back to seat us. 15 minutes go by; 3 parties come in after us, all seated promptly. Is it that we were a young couple not dressed to the nines in our Sunday best like everyone else? We walked out. As a local Executive Chef I would never allow this to happen in my restaurant. I ended up next door and found my new favorite restaurant in Orange County. We will never come back.

Wednesday night is bring you own wine no cork fee (also half off wine night). We decided to check this place out and we were not disappointed!
This place is tucked away in an Eastbluff shopping center so I never even knew it existed until recently. Its a hidden gem with a patio. Don’t let the online menu fool you, we showed up and there was another full daily menu that they served on top of the menu online. There were plenty of items to choose from, which we decided to choose a few items to share so we could taste many things!
The Tuna Tartare was amazing, they give you so much tuna and tons of wonton chips to eat it with and the sauces on the side were very tasty, it seemed to be one of the most popular items on the menu because all of the outside tables by us ordered it as well. We would go back just to get this item!
My boyfriends favorite was Grilled Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon. Its served with grilled corn relish, chipotle creamed spinach, goat cheese potato lasagna, and port sauce. He wanted more of the steak while I was all about the goat cheese potato lasagna, layers of yummy goat cheese between perfectly cooked potatoes, that was my favorite on that plate!
We also split the goat cheese, prosciutto, fig pizza that which had pesto and other cheeses on it and topped with arugula. This was my favorite dish if I had to only choose one (why limited yourself choose many items here)!
The only disappointment was the sweet potato fries but we know now not to order them here. They’re really overdone (almost leathery) and I believe they leave the skin on which gave them a weird texture and the dipping sauce (some type of mustard) served with them was not that great. We asked for ketchup which made them a little better but still not a fan of these fries.
The dessert menu looked great although we were too stuffed to try anything!
Our server was very nice and friendly but I think had too many tables inside so we didn’t see him as often as we wanted to but there were other staff that were helping who would get us the extra things needed for the table.
Any place with that many items that include my beloved goat cheese is a winner in my book! We will be back to try many other dishes that we wanted to pick from the first time! This is a great place for a romantic dinner, girls night out, and group dinners!

I won’t gush but this is a wonderful, romantic restaurant in a quite strip mall. Highly recommended.
My lamb was cooked perfectly and my Wifey’s sea bass was cooked nicely also.
Portions aren’t huge but enough.
We went here for my Birthday dinner and I left a happy man.

This is such a fun little brunch spot! My brother and his gf asked me to come meet them for some brunch and some time to catch up. We ordered some wine, and dug into some yummy food. I ordered the country breakfast, which came with some very yummy chicken sausage and some awesome potatoes. The 2 of them shared a salad, which was pretty large.
The restaurant wasn’t packed on a Sunday, but the people who were there were friendly regular customers. Everyone seemed to know one another and had such a great time talking. Service was friendly and efficient and we just had a very nice relaxing time.

1). I had to return a water since there was a hair in the glass.
2). A live insect fell from the flowers onto the table.
3). The dessert was pretty good (I don’t remember which one I ordered) but the Filet Mignon was average and over priced.
Would I go back? Yes, if I wasn’t paying for the entire party and only myself.

What a hidden gem this place is :) The martinis are fabulous! Come for the ambiance and stay for the happy hour from 8 — close every night. Can’t wait to be back… Thank you Sage for twisting up my Monday night :)

SMALL but MIGHTY GOOD!
There is something special about that little restaurant that pays attention to all of the details, and Sage does just that! Hidden in the community of the Eastbluff shopping center is Sage.
The best part of Sage is that Executive Chef Rich is always looking for the freshest ingredients available daily to insure that each meal meets his tough standards. That’s why when I’m in the area I always stop in and check out what on the tasting menu. Those are the items that he has found to be the most fresh that week!
The service there is second to none, as I love grabbing a bite with Carlos at the bar, or sometimes on a sunny day I’ll enjoy the awesome patio.
Sage needs to be on your list of places to check out!

Restaurant Week review!
Points off for the online menu being completely different than the one presented inside the restaurant. Two of the three entrees were fish and the other short ribs.
But big bonus points for our cutie pie waiter bringing us one of each dessert when we couldn’t decide which to try. I can be very charming when it comes to sweets.
First course: Butternut squash soup. Perfectly good rendition of this ubiquitous soup.
Side note: the bread on the table wasn’t very good and made worse by a completely tasteless hummus spread. How does one render garbanzo beans completely tasteless? A little salt and pepper would have gone a long way here.
Main: Whitefish sandwich served with potato chips. This was fine, not great or bad. The roll was warm and soft, the lettuce and tomato fresh. There was a not too exciting avocado spread.
Dessert: Mini lemon merinque tart, mini strawberry rhubard corn pudding cake and chocolate flourless tart. This would be a 3 star meal except the service was good and very attentive and as mentioned, the waiter brought us that extra dessert. My favorite was the lemon tart. Thick crust, tart filling and a marshmallowy whip on top. Second was the chocolate, a very rich, flourless rendition and the mushy rhubard cake was just eh.
$ 15 pp.

Came here for dinner with another couple. It was good in the beginning as they squeezed us in even if we were running late.
We were seated outside in their patio under heaters. Nice quiet area away from the crowd inside. The only problem is it was quiet for a LONG time. No one came to our table until we asked a nice busser if he can track down any server that could possibly take our order in the next decade. The crowd is very much older and we were probably the youngest in the whole restaurant and the other tables were giving us dirty looks (or stink eyes as people from Hawaii say) because we were speaking and laughing a lot. No we weren’t acting immature. I think the table next to us was more immature speaking about her divorce proceeding so everyone could hear.
Finally some one came! Amazing (thank you busser dude)! We ordered quite a few appetizers including their beet salad, spicy ahi spring rolls, and their grilled asian barbeque beef short ribs. Not bad at all. For dinner I ordered a bowl of butternut squash soup (I think) and their grill coffee rubbed filet mignon. Not a fan. The soup was good but my dinner was a little tasteless. I should have just ordered all appetizers. I probably just ordered the wrong entrée.
Anyway, overall I would probably never come back here because of the bad service.

Three servers circled the section our 4 top was in and after 18 minutes I had to flag a busser down just to get something going.
To me that’s enough to lose a star, but their menu was nothing special either. Their attempt to be what seemed like a bistro conflicted with the menu’s gastro pub-​like looks.
The short ribs were cut up into dog treat sizes, off the bone and served in a Lego pile. Their Asian slaw took place in what felt like every other appetizer.
The haricot vert and mushroom sauté was complete mush with my meatloaf.
The beet salad had hot and cold moments… warm greens, mushy beets, and cold candied walnuts.
I questioned the desserts too, although they seemed to save the disappoint with the appetizers and entrees.
You know, I would talk more trash too, but it would just rip the thunder away from how terrible of a first impression they made.
I actually made this recommendation to my friends too. I researched the «good» places around this area, so I could reach out to that local gem and stray from the predictable Hillstone Group like restaurant, but to no avail.
And their patio is actually really nice: comfortable and a good place to eat. It felt sort of like eating in a beautifully lit cobblestone alley way café in Provence.
There’s just one thing, they (the restaurant) forgot they could actually accomplish that. That’s too bad; I have a feeling they won’t get it.

At first glance, this restaurant is FREAKING ADORABLE! I love the vibe… It reminds me of an adorable french bistro!!! The restaurant is very small so I wouldn’t recommend coming here with a large group unless you’re willing to commit to sitting on their patio. I was here for a company lunch and ended up sitting on the patio. It was definitely a cute garden/​patio area but it was a tad bit cold outside and they did not turn on the heaters. Also, there is a park or something on the backside of the patio which can result in a lot of gardening in the background of your lunch (i.e. lots of leaf blowers!!!)
I started with their Ahi Spring Rolls. I really liked the side slaw that came with the rolls; it was not heavy like coleslaw and complimented the spring rolls really well. The spring rolls were really crispy and came with a sweet/​salty dipping sauce (seemed similar to Vietnamese fish sauce but a little bit gooey-​er). My gripe with this dish is that the Ahi just seemed like ground up bits of meet and did not taste like Ahi, but more like mystery meat.
For lunch, I had their scallop, avocado, and grapefruit salad. There was nothing bad about their salad, but it was not great either. The scallops were really well cooked and were tasty. I think the grapefruit might have overpowered the scallops though; the grapefruit in combination with the dressing that they topped the salad made for a salad that was overly sweet. Also, the avocado that they included was delicious but still drowned out by the flavor of the dressing.
The service is really great though. Their servers are really knowledgeable about all of the food and made sure that both my wine/​water glass were always full. There was also no lag in service, so the food was ordered quickly and came out quickly.
All in all, I might be willing to try Sage again because the service is great and the ambience is amazing… But i’m not sure that it will be anytime soon.

It was Tuesday evening and we had reservations at 8pm. The location is a bit unusual, sandwiched between a yogurt shop and a CVS.
It wasn’t very busy but it’s Tuesday so that’s pretty normal. Sage has a nice bar and a quaint feel to it. We ordered the following for dinner;
Warm roasted beet salad
Caesar Salad
Petite filet/​with cream spinach
Grilled pork chop with green beans and wild rice
Roasted cauliflower
Brussels sprouts with pancetta
Sweet potato fries with mustard papaya dipping sauce and a side of mayonnaise (Dutch girlfriend loves mayonnaise)
The service was adequate not great, the side dishes came out 8 minutes before the entrees. I like the feel of the restaurant and would go back even though i gave it 3 stars.

COMPLIMENTARY BREAD! Yes.
I got the blue crab cake sandwich with sweet po-​po fries (~$ 14). The sandwich was really tasty. The fries… MEH! They should fry it longer — stop trying to be so «bourgeois» and healthy.
Anyways, I like the cute alphabet paintings on the walls. The servers were attentive.
Crowd there was mostly older women. Where are the cute guys at? JK

***OC Restaurant Week: Lunch Review***
What an oasis tucked away in a plaza of a Ralph’s and CVS. It’s not where I expected to find Sage. My girlfriends and I thought we put in the wrong address. Warm smiles and greetings as well as a lovely outside patio that feels like a garden, perfect for the Saturday lunch we had.
Chopped salad, Panko Crusted Whitefish and Risotto as well as Strawberry Rhubarb cake with Strawberry ice cream was our menu. Everything was extremely fresh and light and amazing. The Whitefish was cooked perfectly — buttery and melt in your mouth.
The service was great and caring, but there were some idle time.
Sage was my first OC Restaurant Week experience and it was a fantastic one. I can’t wait to do this again come fall!

I liked it. It was intimate, low key, food was great. You pay for the location (Newport), and ingredients. There is no view whatsoever, nor fabulous interior. It is simple inside, but the low-​keyness of it, and the privacy, is key. The crowd, older, mature, people from the area. I simply loved their wine and entrée — the Sage Ciopinno. Simply marvelous. Their beet salad was great too, as was their appetizer on their dinner tasting menu, forrget what it was maybe proscuitto, and very fresh mozarella
I highly recommend this place for a very quiet, private, low key, mellow, casual night.
Service was good and professional. A+

Was the food good? Yes for the most part.
Was my dining experience memorable? No.
Would I go back again? Probably not my first choice.
Some of the food is good. Some of it’s ok. Some of it, I wish I never ordered. But once again nothing jumped at me. I’ve noticed that this seems to be a common trend for me. Whenever I go to restaurants with a higher price point, I expect it to be worth my money. When it’s not, why bother going. I absolutely do NOT have a problem spending money on food that is worth it. I’ve spent bills on restaurants such as The Bazaar and Asia de Cuba. But their food is beyond our typical dining experience. However, if the food and meal is not worth it, why bother going when there are tons of other restaurants that provide you with better food.
Another thing that killed it for me was service. Waaaay toooo slooooow. I had to constantly wave our waiter down to get his attention. No bueno señor!
Sat outside on a nice and warm summer night. Perfect for an outdoor dinner. Loved the lights in the garden. This place is tucked into a typical Orange County trip mall with other small stores, grocery stores, and other restaurants.
You won’t find me here too often.

I came here with my friends for dinner during Restaurant Week. The location is tucked away in a plaza right between CVS & Ralphs.
$ 35 for a 4 course dinner was a pretty good deal. So we all ordered from the prix fixe menu.
1^st Course — by far the best course out of the 4 we had
*Roast Bacon Wrapped Dates — perfect & it wasnt too sweet.
*Roast Butternut Squash Tart — crispy on the outside
2^nd Course — ehh was okay
*Farmer’s Market Citrus, Scallop & Avocado Salad
*Warm Roast McGrath Farms Beet & Prosciutto Salad — did not like
the beets
3^rd Course — ehh was okay nothing special stood out
*Roast Dijon &Garlic Stuffed Chicken — disappointed for there wasn’t
anything «stuffed» in the chicken & the garlic tasted bitter
*Grilled Hanger Steak & Twice Baked Gorgonzola Potatoes –
potatoes & mushroom was good, steak was kinda of dry
4^th Course:
*Warm Choclate Truffle Cake — okay
*Meyer Lemon Polenta Cake — did not like
*Peacock Farm’s Persimmon Pudding — tasted like carrot cake and it
wasn’t even anything near pudding-​like
Food was decent. Service was slow. Nice selection on the list of teas. Overall I wasn’t impressed for I had better but it was worth the try.

Hrm… are my taste buds off or something? I came for lunch during Restaurant week, back in September/​October or so, and it was not good. I’m not sure how my companion felt (didn’t hear him saying «mmm!»), but the food failed to impress me. Not to mention that the entire time, there were crazy, fat bugs frying all around us. They nearly flew into our faces a couple times – it was startling and disgusting and distracting all at once.
But it wasn’t all bad. Minus bugs, the outside seating was quite lovely. Service was also very attentive and friendly. The food was beautifully presented. Too bad looks are deceiving!
My friend and I each chose a different Prix Fixe meal. He had something meaty, and I had lightly breaded fish over a grapefruit salad. He brought his little piggy and I brought my chibi totoro (
).
Appetizers:
–Caesar Salad:
. Pretty Plain Jane dish – it was good.
–Eggroll:
. My friend had this. I tried it… we agreed that it tasted like an eggroll – I’m not sure if it was supposed to be an eggroll. But to me, it tasted specifically like a middle-​school-​cafeteria-​food eggroll.
Main courses:
–Breaded white fish over a grapefruit salad:
. Beautiful dish, but it tasted funky – I think the ingredients were poorly paired, and the fish was bland. I didn’t like the cheese or the dressing either.
–His meat dish:
,
. This was really, really heavy.
Dessert:
–Strawberry shortcake: By far, the best part of the meal. I gobbled it up like no other… mmmmm I’m not sure how you could mess up this one.
,
.
–Chocolate cake: I recall this being good as well.
Overall, Sage was a disappointment, but at least we got lots of cute pictures from it.

Tucked into the corner of a very unassuming OC strip mall is Sage, a quaint, intimate restaurant that boasts creative American cuisine with global accents. In many ways, it is a restaurant that one might expect to find on Abbott Kinney in Venice or 3^rd Street near Park La Brea. But the fact that it is located in the heart of OC bespeaks, I believe, the high level of quality that can be found down here.
My review of this restaurant is based upon a special wine dinner I attended here, so some of the dishes I had might not be on their regular menu. That said, you have to give credit to a chef who is willing to go outside of his standard repertoire to create dishes just for a special occasion.
Here was the menu:
HORS D’OEUVRES
Spicy Ahi Spring Rolls
Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
COURSE ONE
Grilled Portabello Mushroom, with rosemary goat cheese polenta and roasted tomato coulis
COURSE TWO
Pancetta and Panko Crusted Wild Alaskan Salmon, with chanterelle mushrooms, fresh lima beans, agretti, and pinot jus
COURSE THREE
Roast Duck Breast, with roasted root vegetables, arugula, and a dried cranberry port sauce
COURSE FOUR
Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs, with cavolo nero kale, cipollini onion, roasted carrots, romano beans, red wine beef jus, dijon horseradish cream
DESSERT
Spiced Fig Cake, with chocolate port syrup
All the dishes were well executed and beautifully presented. The heirloom tomatoes were awesome, as was the goat cheese polenta and the short ribs. The weakest dish for me was the duck, which I found a little tough and rubbery. But the cranberry sauce that went with it was delicious. The spiced fig cake, I felt, was just OK — nothing spectacular.
My main criticism of this place is that while I very much enjoyed my meal here, I did feel the chef was playing it a little safe with the menu. I have seen many of these dishes, or variations of them, at other restaurants before, and I wish the chef had been willing to experiment a little more. All in all, terrific food — just not world-​class food.