The Blue Beet

I walked in Monday to find a dive bar with class that has a bartender named Fez that made the experience amazing and a New York steak perfectly cooked and seasoned. For someone from out of state it was nice finding a place that felt like home and service worth coming back too. My ⁴⁄₅ was mostly for my experience when I came back the next day on a Tuesday to find a bartender the complete opposite who seemed to not give a care in the world about anything or anyone. I would come back on a Monday and ignore all future Tuesday’s.

If you like live music, this is a great place to go. I don’t know how often they have live performers but we’ve been here on Thursday nights and watched 3 different performers/​bands play. There’s no cover, drinks are well priced and the staff here are really friendly. Location is a bit hard to find if it’s your first time here since its located in an alley way. But once you are parked near the pier area, you can’t really miss it. It’s a really nice bar with a good staging area and an upstairs open area that looks down to the stage as well. Women’s bathroom is very small which creates long lines but we’re pretty much used to lines anyway. I saw that they have food specials on Thursdays which I did not partake but my friend did and the food looked amazing. Parking at night in the area is free so don’t worry about feeding the meters after 6pm.

Sitting here and I’ve been here almost an hour an no one has even asked if i needed anything, bar tender not polite at all. Definitely wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone coming to Newport.

Friendly bar tenders and really, really good food. (Did I mention the really good food?). Excellent place for a low key dinner!

this place has such a great vibe on the nights when they play live music.
I love places that keep it simple like here, drinks are good (although im mainly a beer guy, so it makes it easier) however the only reason i actually did not give it a five star rating is the fact the younger newport beach crowed that makes it slightly «too much» for me, however I understand the age difference and still ove this place.
It is also my first review here, but I used Unilocal a few time in the past before and figured its time I helped ( Unilocaled) out as well.

Great drinks with the best bar tenders. Fun place to bring your friends from out of town. Sports talk and more sports talk.

The worst bar I have ever been too.
First, the bouncer asked my friend for 4
Forms of ID? Who does that. Second, asked us to pay a cover charge when they did not ask anyone else. My point being, drunk is one thing, blue beat needs to evaluate who they hire. I would never go back here or recommend to anyone. Most awful bar I have ever been too with the worst customer service. Their bouncer is a fool who is uneducated and stupid. My friends, 7 of us all left instantly. Please respond if there are further issues, however they will never be able to justify their actions based on what was seen tonight. You need to take care of your staff and their «leadership roles» prior to responding to this message.
Thank you.

Came here with some friends for some drinks and I liked the whole atmosphere including the roof top area… Will come again

Wow, rib eye. You wouldn’t think a bar like this serves good rib eye, but boy are you wrong! The rib eye was one of the juiciest I’ve ever had. The onion rings were perfect too, not too oily or soggy. The service was just as awesome!

The bloody marys were great and the sliders were pretty good too. Came during happy hour. I’ll definitely be coming back. Fun little spot kinda hidden in the alley.

The Blue Beet is… you guessed it… another dive on the Balboa peninsula.
To round out my Unilocal Crawl of peninsula dives I must include The Blue Beet. Of all of the bars in the war zone, this is the one I have visited the least for no particular reason. The usual experience is to be expected: cheap drinks (6 beers in a bucket for $ 5.00!), a bouncer, dirty floors and sticky surfaces… you know, all that good dive stuff. This particular dump features live music often, sports on flatscreen televisions and shockingly even a $ 11.95 Prime Rib dinner that you would have to be certifiably insane to dare try. One glaring difference is that the bartenders are jovial, if not entirely friendly.
The Blue Beet belongs on your crawl!

Came for the party and the drankkks! I love how it’s a short walk from the pier so it can be quite romantic, with the wind blowing in your face and the smell of the ocean… but it can also be quite blood-​pumping, with the scent of funnel cakes and donuts in the air, and sounds of laughter and shouting from all around. I got super reminiscent while walking here from the lot, and was pleasantly surprised to find that this place was in an alleyway, somewhat in the corner. There is a downstairs and upstairs area, but upstairs is where they have the rooftop patio, which is where I hung all night because inside was crowded and stuffy. There are plenty of seats, and enough room to stand around as well.
I definitely would not try the food here since the drinks were meh as well. The bar is really understaffed so two bartenders were taking our orders all night-​it took sometimes up to 20 minutes for some of us to get drinks. Ridiculo! Still, the vibes were decent and I think I would come back here if I’m in the area.

This place is a jewel in raggedy clothes. So much going for it but it’s positively filthy! It’s Rad ocean view deck has gross tables, disgusting old sticky carpet that has a lawsuit-​in-​waiting tear in it. (the pic is showing there’s no bussing or service on the deck, those plates stayed on that table all day into nighttime) Every couch & seating hasn’t seen a cleaning in forever and I’m just too afraid to sit anywhere. Even the stair rails are grimy. Ugh. They have great live music and it’s such a great place to come to, I just don’t understand why there’s obviously ZERO attention paid to the cleanliness of it?! Owners??? What the hell?!

Great place! Our food order got mixed up and the owner made it right. I was really impressed with the drinks, food, and service. Great view of the ocean from the roof.

Came here for some drinks and to check out their Sunday band, FlashPants. Had it not been for he band I probably would never have come here because from the outside it looks like your basic Newport bar– most likely crowded, overpriced, and full of people pumped full of silicone and Botox wearing cheap disposable weekend wear. Thankfully it was none of those things as the crowd was less plasticky than anticipated, it wasn’t too crowded for a Sunday afternoon, and the bartenders were super nice. The drinks were good and reasonably priced for the area. Had some nachos which were really good– cheese, salsa, guac, sour cream, yummy corn chips (they could have used some beans though) — and my friend had a burger which she enjoyed. Go hungry as the portion sizes are quite large. They have veggie tacos for all my fellow vegetarians out there! Next time I go I’m totally trying them!
Just know that parking in the area is terrible.

Great location, great vibes. If you’re in the mood to dance the night away, this is your spot.
Pros
*Rooftop Patio — This is what makes Blue Beet stand above the rest — literally.
*Location — Right off the boardwalk next to the the pier.
*Music — Fun bands and DJs — especially on Sundays.
*Magic — Somehow this place has love in the air. I know two happily married couples who each met here.
Cons
*Cover Charge — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been with a big group of people that are immediately discouraged from entering due to a $ 5 cover (only when they have music). I get that it’s for the band, but we would have easily made up for the cover with what we ordered. It’s too bad.
*A little ghetto — The place just all has an all around divey /​dirty feel to it. Much of that is due to the age of the building, but I wish they would put a little effort into keeping it updated.

I have gone to the B B since 1988 … good times — fun people — good location … I will go again
2– I have an OLD Blue Beet T-​Shirt I wear all the time … ANY BODY WANT IT? I moved to lake arrowhead 13 yrs ago and don’t wear any more
its listed on C L
;-)

I’ve been here a few times during law school. Went here recently with some people. It’s a very chill area that has a roof top patio area. The bar gets super crowded, the drinks aren’t too bad. They had a live band the last time I was there and they played some nice throw back songs. It’s fun to hang out here and the type of people that it attracts. Do be careful, there were some young guys who were pretending to be older than they were. Also, there was a cover Saturday night I was there.

I highly do not recommend coming here. The staff here are unfriendly douchebags and are unreasonable. The drinks are watered down and too expensive. THIS PLACE BLOWS
Haters gonna hate hate hate

We came here after a day on the beach. Our bartender was super nice. I asked if the black beans were made with chicken broth (#vegetarianproblems) and he asked the chef and straight up brought out the can of black beans and explained how they make the nachos! So nice.
Drinks were good and under $ 10 each — perfect for a quick stop in. We also ordered nachos and onion rings and it was your typical bar food — nothing amazing but good to fill a tummy with too many drinks. ;)
If you’re eating, make sure to check in on your food. We didn’t get ours for 30 minutes because our bartender forgot about it until we reminded him. He was really nice about it though and comp’ed my friend’s vodka drink.
I highly recommend sitting on the 2^nd floor or rooftop as the first floor made me feel a bit claustrophobic. Keep in mind there are quite a few smokers on the rooftop.