Meritage Restaurant & Bar

5 stars for service. 2 for food.
Great service. Server was very friendly and nice.
Food was okay. Regular bar-​type food. Had the nachos, mozzarella sticks, and a flatbread. Nothing special, but not worth the price. Was pretty expensive for what it was; and the nachos and mozzarella sticks were on happy hour prices as well. Drinks were also pretty pricey.
Again, great service. However, the food and the prices make it not worth coming by again.

So, this is the restaurant in the DoubleTree Hotel in Santa Ana. Unfortunately there aren’t a ton of walkable dinner options near the hotel, so I decided to just wander downstairs and check this place out. The menu looked decent, and I was excited to try the salmon.
I walked in, and there was no one at the hostess stand to greet me, and no waiters walking around or anything. I ended up just seating myself at one of the tall tables in the bar area. Finally the bartender came over. I ordered the salmon entrée, which was a fillet of salon with tomatoes and micro greens on a bed of cauliflower purée. It ended up only being okay. The salmon was overcooked, and the rest of the dish wasn’t particularly flavorful. I was really hungry so I had no problem finishing it, but it was definitely in my bottom 5 of restaurant salmon dishes. I will mention that the rolls that were served before my entrée arrived were pretty good, warm and soft.
Not gonna lie, I was lazy (and car-​less — although I suppose I could have shuttled or Über’d out somewhere) so I decided to go back to this place the next night. I ended up getting the salmon again. I don’t know why I thought it would be any better the second time around. It was overcooked again, and even less flavorful, if possible. Oh well, that was my own fault. The bartender who waited on me this time was different from the previous night, and seemed quite harried even though it really wasn’t that busy.
My meals were covered as a business expense so I wasn’t paying out of pocket. If I had been, I certainly would not have gone back that second night, as the prices were definitely not equivalent to the quality of the food. If I stay at the hotel again, I know now that it’ll be worth it to find somewhere «off campus» to eat.

The service we received at this restaurant significantly surpassed the customer service we received by the hotel staff. The servers were extremely friendly, attentive and continually sought ways to enhance our dining experience — they moved tables to accommodate us and offered coffee to go every morning. The food was good and they have good happy hour prices.

We stayed at the DoubleTree hotel where this restaurant is located. On our last day here, a Sunday, we decided to go here for breakfast. To our surprise, it ws a Sunday brunch buffet.
Everything was fantastic. The eggs were cooked perfectly, the bacon was very delicious, and the bread pudding was to die for. They also offered many different styles of muffins, a great selection of cereals, a full bread/​bagel bar, nachos, yogurt, fresh fruit, and sausage. To drink they had coffee, milk, orange juice, apple juice, orange/​mango juice, and water.
I would recommend this buffet to those who aren’t even staying at the hotel.

Here’s a short review:
Bar: Nothing special.
Food: Average bar food.
Service: Meh. No gross problems.
As a HHonors Diamond Member I have come to expect a full to-​order breakfast offered as part of my benefits. There apparently is no difference between the continental and full at this place.
The attention of the wait staff is appreciated, but it is way over the top… almost to the point that it is an annoying. The constant asking if I need something and taking dishes and silverware away before I am finished is just plain rude. This is a common practice at both breakfast and dinner, so it appears to be the instructions given.
Overall there also needs to be more thought in hiring servers who have a better grasp of speaking and understanding what is still the primary language of this country.

Worst place I have ever been. There were only four tables occupied and it took 15 minutes to get 2 diet cokes and 2 waters and a root beer after they took the drink order. The first waiter wearing the white shirt told us they had soda flavors that they did not have. Basic right? Then the waiter wearing the black shirt (who we were transfered to) came to the table with the wrong drinks. He was kind of rude too. How was he rude? We said to him we ordered a root beer for one of the drinks and he replied «we don’t have root beer so i dont know what you are going to do.» So we replied «oh our bad, the other waiter told us you had that flavor.»
Then he took our food order after the 15 minute wait for the drinks. This food sucked the highest of A$$. We had a flatbread pizza, penne vodka, wild mushroom ravioli, ceasar salad, and the sliders.
The flatbread pizza ($ 15)(meritage) looked like they put 8 saltine crackers on a plate with 4 pieces of chicken with a little cheese and popped in the microwave.
The penne ($ 20)vodka was hella bland and the parm cheese on the top of it looked and tasted like melted plastic.
Caesar salad ($ 12) was like lettuce soup with chicken shavings in it.
The sliders ($ 15)were way small. I mean SMALL! The buns were a quater of the Hawaiian sweet roll size (to give you a size comparison.) THE fries that came with it were cold and tasted like fish.
The wild mushroom ravioli ($ 24) was mediocre at best. Lack of flavor and 6 – 8 ravioli on a plate.
How is this place in a double tree hotel? And why is it still being allowed to operate?
Long wait times, horrible service, bad attitudes, ultra expensive. Avoid, avoid, avoid this place at all cost. If i could give negitive stars I would.

This restaurant is tucked into the back of the hotel, meaning you have to walk in from the front entrance of the hotel (this restaurant does not have its own entrance), pass the ballrooms, past the elevators and right past the gift shop. The restaurant has a quaint vineyard-​courtyard feel to it (décor-​wise).
Dined here on a Friday evening, when most of the business travelers were gone and the restaurant patrons consisted of vacationing families returning from the day’s outing, or elderly folks. Restaurant wasn’t busy, but it seemed that room service was, as the server was handling room service orders and the bartender was handling table orders.
Tried the following (see my photos):
*Salmon with Roasted Potatoes — good. Salmon was a well-​done, but the potatoes were almost the star of this dish. They were seasoned and cooked just right, where it had a crisp snap when you bit into them, but were easy to chew and delicious. It was difficult to finish the potatoes since they give you a hearty helping.
*Margherita Flatbread: I was in a non-​meat dish kind of mood, and this sounded satisfying. Man, was I right! It arrive not scalding hot, but warm enough that I could immediately put slices of melted cheese in my mouth. The tomato slices were large and there were visible globs of mozzarella balls freshly melted next to them. The crust was so good and cracker-​thin, that I ate the whole thing with no issue.
It’s a restaurant in a business-​airport hotel, so don’t be shocked if it’s not busy on a Friday evening and there’s only one server on hand. Our bartender-​server was friendly and helpful, and the food was good enough to go back for. In a rush? You probably won’t want to dine here, as they may be short-​staffed or take longer than you’re used to.

Worst service I’ve ever received at a bar. Overall unprofessional for a bar in a nice hotel. No clue how to make drinks on the drink menu. First time at this bar, my drinks were brought over by a patron, not a server. Second time around, not sure my bartender truly worked behind the bar or just a replacement from the staff. Both times were very awkward and bartenders did not seem confident in their drinks.

Mediocre food and horrible service. So disorganized. Can’t even get another drink or the check. I would avoid this place unless someone is paying for your meal!

Not bad. We checked in late and didn’t want to leave again, so we opted to dine here. Service was a bit slow at first because our server was also covering room service. He was very nice and accommodating, and in the end he did a terrific job compensating for our slow start. The food was passable, although I would skip the fish and chips next time. This is not a destination, but definitely worth checking out if you prefer to dine in the comfort of your hotel.

Great Food inside the doubletree by hilton just off the 55 freeway… The bartender Terri was great, made us all special drinks… they have a huge wine selection and the fresh fish was delicious… my girlfriend had a hamburger that she said was outrageously great