Reviews for Rusty Pelican in Newport Beach, CA
Impressive location but mediocre food. Service was excellent though. Brenda was very friendly and had a lot of patience in... giving us the intro to the food. This restaurant is on the strip that’s right on the harbor where you can watch the boatssail by into the sunset. This is a beautiful location, best for a date or celebrating special occasion. We were here to havedinner before the jazz concert at the Hyatt Regency Hotel that’s 2 miles away. We had their halibut special with butter sauceand shrimps and a scallop on penne pasta. The butter sauce was heavenly with the shrimps, but the halibut was kind of tough anddidn’t have much taste. I was a bit disappointed on the fish. For the pasta, the cheese was stalled and clumped on top of thepastas. It was not too appetizing with the look. But the scallop and shrimps were cooked well with tasty seasoning. The savinggrace was their mud pie. This is a must have dessert. One of the best. We finished the whole thing even though we were prettyfull by the time the dessert came. Parking is valet only for $7. Read more
I gave 5 stars even though my halibut was a bit over cooked since the waiter quickly took care of it to my satisfaction and... everything else was great! I was with 6 other people and everyone loved their meals. The tacos were a hit. Great appetizerstoo! Also Loved their clam chowder. We sat upstairs and had a beautiful view of the water. Read more
We ate dinner here after our day trip in Catalina island. This place was recommended my locals on the boat. Food was delicious,... service was great. The view was awesome. Would definitely recommend for fresh seafood! Read more
We had just been married on the beach and were looking for a nice place to have dinner with our kids (ages 16, 15, 14, & 8). We... just so happened to drive by the Rusty Pelican and decided to check it out. Parking in the area is nuts, so valet parking is amust. We’ve never used a valet before, so we were happy to find out they accept card. When we pulled up to the valet, we askedif the restaurant could take the 6 of us (it was 8:30 and the restaurant closes at 10:00). One of the valet members ran insidethe restaurant to check and came back with great news. They were able to take us. We walked in and were immediately greeted andseated. We sat upstairs with a window view of the dock. Almost immediately after being seated, our amazing waiter brought ussome iced water and answered our many questions about the menu. Three of us ended up ordering coconut shrimp, two orderedswordfish, and the youngest ordered a cheeseburger with fries. We also got some crab bisque and clam chowder. The swordfish wasso soft and delicious that it just melted in the mouth. The coconut shrimp was the best coconut shrimp I’ve ever had. Everyoneat the table was over the moon happy with their food! When we were just about done, the waiter brought us out somecomplimentary champagne to celebrate our marriage. It was so nice! We had a wonderful celebratory dinner as a family! We are sohappy we chose the Rusty Pelican. Read more
The food and the location are great, but the service is awful. The interior is beautiful, rich, the design is great, the seating... is comfortable, and the view of the marina is amazing. The food we ordered was delicious, except the caprese because we triedbetter a million of times. Risotto with shrimp and scallops was fabulous and the swordfish was very well-cooked. What was offmenu-wise is that they were out of oysters, first time we face such an issue in a seafood restaurant. The biggest problem inthis restaurant is that the service is unprofessional. It is the reason our experience is not rated 5 stars. First of all, thewaiter didn’t come to our table at all throughout the visit. We ordered a beer and they didn’t bring it for 25 minutes, andwhen we reminded them, we already started eating, so we had to cancel that request. Also, we only had one set of utensils, andwe had to take another from the neighboring table, since there was nobody around to ask for it. Moreover, we had one dish to go,and they brought it first, 20 minutes before the food we were going to eat at the restaurant. This is the first time somethinglike that occurred, we think it’s quite logical that the to-go order has to be brought last. They also don’t have a normalparking, just valet, which we paid $6 for, even though we parked the car ourselves. Overall, it was a good experience, but theservice definitely caused the 4 star review. Read more
The food and ambiance are amazing and the service is prompt and perfect. We got both soups that were delicious—clam chowder... was close to New England and the lobster bisque had some chunks of lobster. One note: it would’ve been nice to see some dropsof sherry and a little green in the center or chunk of lobster/croutons. Their Chilean sea bass was amazing. Thai basil vinegarsauce and perfectly cooked fish. The garlic bread was so good we took home a to-go order. The calamari was thick and tender andnicely breaded with a delicious aioli. If you’re visiting, it’s a must stop restaurant. Read more
It was our lunch for the first time at Rusty Pelican. The space and atmosphere were great. Our table was outside, the sun and... the view were perfect. We were recommended the daily specialty, scallops with risotto, grilled asparagus, the scallops were alittle bit salty but combined with risotto got a better balance, the salad with swordfish was great, the fish was fresh and wellseasoned and cooked. The desert was cream brûlée, the cream was great but the sugar coating was a little too thick compared tothe underneath cream layer. But we will definitely come back for more. Read more
We went to the Rusty Pelican for a date night. The atmosphere was nice and it was on the water. The food was amazing, we ordered... the Coconut Shrimp, Striped Sea Bass, Lobster mac and garlic bread, it was phenomenal. As drinks we had the blackberry lemonadewhich was ok, nothing crazy. Tables are pretty close so you will overhear conversations. If we're ever back in the area thiswill for sure be a spot to go to. Read more