Westside Bar & Grill

Man I loved coming to this place, I started coming here when it first opened back in the «Players» days. after basketball games we used to come here. have some beers, pizza and watch the games we recorded on their TV’s. Jim and Terri where always really nice… this was my «Cheers «location… I knew everyone there. Since they shut down I actually and honestly have stopped going to bars to drink… I cannot find another location that was mellow like this place… no one caused any trouble and everyone was always friendly… Never been to the new place that took over and I wouldn’t ever go… It would be like kissing a cousin!
Jim and Terri… hope you are both doing well and hope you guys the best!

Karaōke nights on Thursday and comedy show Wednesday. Cool local spot. Watch out for the crack addicts from games plus tho… f%#^rs are sneaky! Haha
Unfortunately this place is now closed :(still watch out for the crack addicts :)

CLOSED.
Man, I liked the Westside. Good food, good drinks. Sometimes the crowd could be a little sketch (last time I was there a homeless dude got in a fight with the bartender) but for the most part this was a great place. Their weekly comedy shows were surprisingly good. Plus it’s the closest bar to my house, so hooray for being able to walk home after a few drinks. I will miss that the most. RIP Westside!

Unfortunately Westside Bar & Grill Has Closed Its Doors.
It was fun going there over the past couple of years, will miss the employees and customers!

I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to writing this place a review considering I love it so much I want to marry it. My first time there was June 24^th for a girls brunch. We rolled up in our 6 – 4 Impala and saw this place and I don’t think we thought much. We were just kind of like there it is — stick together type thing? But isn’t that how girls roll anyway?
So to the point; There are few ways to my heart and that happens to be brunch, mimosas and football. I hate dressing up with hair and make up unless it is for a special occasion. I am more of a tom boy wanting to wear sweats. So we go inside and immediately I love the place. If you have read my previous reviews, you know I am a sucker for dive bars. This place was perfect — dark and clean. We sat down and the server came up to us and at first it seemed like there was an unspoken silence between the women. Yikes. I am thinking, this is not going to turn out good. So I got the chili cheese omelet. That thing was freaking heaven on earth and God knows why I would get that. Totally out of my comfort zone. My gf got the eggs benedict which is typically my staple that I get and the poached eggs were cooked just how they were suppose to be. That is a rareity in itself. My other gf and her mom split a californian omelet and they were in heaven. Of course we all had to wash down our food with the unlimited mimosas.
So we go outside to the patio to smoke and wow, free entertainment to say the least! Sadly — it was a bunch of homeless people coming out of the woodwork. One of them even cussed out my gf — but luckily we are like the honey badger and dont give a f*ck!
The server literally would come outside to refill our mimosas and turned out to be super chill and mellow. She was bad a$$. Our mimosas were NEVER empty until we peaced out. In passing conversation and talking about football — I was told that this bar was my football teams frienly bar. So I guess we all know where I will be spending all my Sundays!!! I am going back there this weekend and seriously cannot wait and can’t believe that it is only Tuesday.

Hey, I don’t discriminate! It really helped that a few reviews warned not to let the exterior scare you cuz if it weren’t for those words of encouragement, we would’ve gotten back in the car and drove off! I’m pretty much comfortable anywhere, it’s my other half who needs the coaxing.
I love comedy and have been to comedy clubs in LA, Pasadena, Long Beach, Brea, Hollywood and Vegas so ya, those are some pretty top notch performances! So it was an eye-​opener coming here! Guess all comedians gotta get their start somewhere! Yes, there were some painful acts but hey, I respect anyone who has the courage to get up there and strut their stuff!
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here but if you’re in the area, it’s a cool spot to chill during the middle of the week and have a drink. Still wana try the much raved about pizzas!

Super burger… the buns were toasted, but still cool on top. Ask to have your bun hot. Other than that, absolutely amazing burgers. Plus, go for lunch on Saturday and take advantage of Happy Hour!
BTW. hot buns would have made this a 5 star.

We came here for the free comedy on Wednesday and it exceeded my expectations. I got the veggie pizza and after a few bites, I believe my words were, «This is really good for a dive bar full of random Samoans.» There was a pack of Samoan guys. Not sure why.
Their beer selection isn’t very extensive — I got a Stella and a Sierra Nevada. Prices are reasonable (the pizza for 1 was under $ 10). They had all the relevant sports on TV (Stanley Cup finals, NBA playoffs, Angels baseball). The comedy show was hilarious. This is a fun mid-​week place to be.

I’m planning on going back to Westside, so I will update my review when I do. So far, I’ve only been there for Saturday lunch. It looks like they have so many fun activities– Sunday Brunch, 25% off if you wear Pajamas and unlimited champagne, and karaōke nights!
Anyway, we went there for Saturday lunch. He had the chili burger with grilled onions and mushrooms. It was HUGE!!! But amazing. I ordered a standard cheese burger, which was also a massive experience. Delicious though. I was very impressed with the menu selections. There’s something here for everyone, and the price point is very reasonable. There are a lot of drink options, and the bartender was very friendly, and made great suggestions about food/​drink choices.
The venue is very interesting. There is outdoor seating, indoor booths, bar tables, bar seating, a stage, dance floor, pool table, and some arcade games. The only potential negative point I can see is that there is only 1 individual bathroom stall for women. This could be problematic on a busy night!
Other than that, the place is great, and I’m looking forward to checking out Sunday Brunch and karaōke !

— Locale Destination —
It’s on Harbor Blvd and W 19 Th St in Costa Mesa. It’s in a skinny strip mall right next to the pool bar. Inside is kinda roomy. Décor is pretty simple and clean. Cozy atmosphere. They got shows — music, comedy etc. Service — don’t expect much. They were pretty busy with after-​the-​golf-​customers. I had to ask sugars for my hot tea (it was pretty cold day). When I tried to get the second beer, they kept ignoring me and one of the regulars helped me to order mine. Yeah, I wasn’t hungry like them but was a still customer who gave tips.
— Gluttony Expedition —
Happy hour special: domestic draft $ 2.5, pitcher $ 9, well cocktails $ 4, munchies etc
Happy hour: 3−6p (m-​f), 12−5p (sat), 10−4p (sun)
$ 15 for 2 glasses of Sierra Nevada drafts and a cup of hot tea…
Golden tee live: It’s a quite fun game!
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
This is solely on the drink experience, not for the food. I wanted to come here for their famous pizza, but wasn’t hungry then. I’m not a fan of bar but should have gotten the least amount of service. I’ll come back for the pizza, but not to drink.

What’s not to love? Westside is full of drunken debauchery and belly laughs.
Drinks were strong; the song choices were questionable at times, but nevertheless had the entire bar singing in unison with the drunko (s) on stage. And the food is sooooooo tasty!
A couple highlights of the night were:
1) a strange man, of whom they called «Ambrosio», likes to come up and dance with you, kiss your hand etc. He smells like beer and cigarettes and kind of looks like a vaquero. And for some, he may be kind of off putting/​creepy. For others, like myself, he’s fucking hilarious. He gets on stage, sings and dances, and doesn’t give two shits about it. Olé!
2) A girl teaching me how to say, «you’re a shit head!» in German. And thus responding with French profanities. It was lovely.
The crowd is a lot of fun, very friendly so get up there and have a good time!

A friend of mine is a regular here, and we decided to stop in after a morning of stand-​up paddleboarding. It may have been that I was famished, but the food was incredibly good and the prices were fantastic.
Their pizza alone warrants another visit. We were there during their pajama Sunday Brunch (sadly, I saw no pjs) hours, but opted for some items off the Happy Hour menu. We got the pepperoni pizza (pizza 4 one was only $ 5.00!) and I got the Perfect Paradise because it was mentioned in a few reviews. It was very garlicky and tasty, but on my next visit I will probably stick to my tried-​and-​true cheese. Either way, though, this is a solid choice for pizza.
As others have said, the crowd here is pretty eclectic. I saw one guy walk in with a Goat Hill t-​shirt and yeah, that seems about right.
I also like that they have a lot of TVs, but they are on the small side. We were able to watch the US Women’s Soccer team fall to Japan in the Women’s World Cup Final, but if you come here wanting to watch the game, there is probably a better screen elsewhere.

I think this place can do so much better. I’ve been here half a dozen times but only because one person in our group is in love with Westside even though for the life of me I can’t figure out why…
For example, let’s break down the Wed night comedy special they run. Here’s a tip: hire a good comic once in a while and pay that comic some money. I know it seems counter-​intuitive to pay when it seems like almost anyone will work for free. But that’s your problem. Almost anyone will work for free. Even if they’re not funny which is likely to become a problem once they get a mic in their face and a captive audience at their feet. Book a solid act as often as you can afford and pretty soon you’ll build a solid reputation for entertainment instead of being just so-​so, not quite here, not quite there. Same attitude with bands that I’ve seen here. Everything is just so amateurish and there seems to be no pride in bookings at all.
The reason I bring up the sad entertainment is because there is so much potential that can be brought out in Westside. I love the open layout of the place, I find the food better than most bars’ and I’ve been blown away by several of their drinks. Actually, one drink in particular knocks me out and stops me from whining about how it is we’ve ended up at Westside yet again. I’m talking about their spicy bloody mary. THIS they have down pat and this has just earned them a star on top of the two that I think they justly deserve. I don’t know what they put in it but it’s phenomenal: very horse-​radishy, very spicy and strong. I usually get two as soon as we get here and that, with a slice of pizza, is how I get through a night at Westside.

I was very excited to try this place after reading all of the reviews on Unilocal and also hearing about it from a co-​worker! We wore our Pajamas and walked in for brunch on Sunday but felt silly right away as NO ONE else was wearing PJ’s!
Also, the games were on but surprisingly, the restaurant was pretty dead. There were maybe 3 other families/​groups at tables in the restaurant and a few at the bar.
It was very very quiet until we asked them if they could turn the volume up on the game. The tv’s are quite small so it was hard to see the game. The volume atleast reduced some of the awkward silence in the restaurant.
The food was good but nothing exceptional in my opinion.
They forgot to bring my sister her bread and hashbrowns.
The waitress was nice and accommodating.
Am I glad I tried it? Yes.
Would I go back? Probably not.

I had read good things about Westside on Unilocal and had been wanting to check it out for a while. There were a good mix of people there. Many were there watching football. If you come in PJs on Sundays for brunch, you get 25% off (we were lame and didn’t come in sleepwear).
Their Sunday football brunch seemed like a good idea. It had football for the boyfriend and bottomless mimosas for me. Our waitress, who was also the bartender, was good but a little off that morning. She said she had worked the night before and it had been a hectic night. Considering she was pretty busy, she did a good job of refilling my mimosa and I was able to get my $ 7 worth. The only issue was we had to ask her like 3 times for water.
I ordered the bacon and avocado omelette which came with hash-​browns and toast. The food was alright. The eggs were a little dry. A table next to us had gotten pizza and that looked really good. We stayed for a good amount of time watching football and drinking. You wont find me here every Sunday but I will come back to this joint.

I wish I could be as patient as some Unilocalers that won’t write a review until having visited a place at least twice.
I reflected on that thought when I walked in here yesterday for the
2^nd time. First time was a week ago on a Sunday and the place was jammed, lively, and rowdy. Yesterday was the opposite even though it was about the same mid-​afternoon time but on a Saturday. Hello… hello…lololololo echoed my voice in the large very empty room. Me, the bartender lady, and 2 other patrons in a room that had 50? 60? ppl 6 days before. Goes to show that 1 visit should not an impression make.
Besides the emptiness of the room the bartender was very friendly just like the owners were last time, and she was a hockey fan! And an Angels fan too, so we watched and talked sports while I ate and sipped my vino blanco.
The pizza here is terrific, great not too thick, not too thin crust. All ingredients very fresh, although too heavy on the toppings for my preference. Prices are very reasonable, especially if you follow Laura S’s lead and print out the discount coupons from their website. BTW their website is worth a look for some cool historical photos of this area of CM. The calender lists some fun sounding events, pajama Sunday brunch, and live Reggae bands anyone?
The owners have been doing the lords work for many years in OC. I thought I recognized Mr. Owner Dude, and after chatting for a bit he mentioned he and the wife owned a pizza joint for several years in HB near where I lived back in my married days.
This building could use a more inviting façade as it is now very drab. It looks more like a dive bar than the family friendly (at least during the day) sports bar/​pizza parlor feel of the interior. Speaking of sports bar, they could stand to replace the «dorm size» old TVs with some flat screens.
I can see many return visits in the future for great pizza, friendly service, and hopefully some new flat screens so I won’t have to squint to follow the puck. And thanks to Mel M for turning us on to a great neighborhood hang.

I came here and shared a delicious Perfect Paradise pizza (Garlic, Basil, Mushroom, Tomato, Artichoke Heart) with my friend. Nice to know decent pizza exists near Irvine! It still cannot compare to the likes of Little Star and Zachary’s in SF/​Oakland though :). No layers of warm, gooey cheese topped by juicy tomatoes…
We came on a Thursday, which happened to be Karaōke night! Boy were the people here talented. I guess this is how Karaōke near LA works… budding stars come to test their luck? The way they rotate people is kinda annoying though. My friends only got to strut their stuff once in I think…3−4 hours? The sang Good Vibrations! We waited and waited for Round 2 but it never came. I vote for a dance floor and a disco party!

Westside Grill, oh how I could spend days and days here and probably never get tired of it. On Wednesday they have free stand up comedy. On Sundays they have live blues. And throughout the rest of the week they have other performances scheduled. But, the shining star as far as I’m concerned in Thursday karaōke with Kevin. Kevin looks kind of like Weird Al and when he started his night with Wanna B Ur Lovr I was completely enthralled. Kevin has 2 giant containers of stage props behind him for your karaōke performance. He has wireless mics so you can work the crowd. And he is pretty talented himself if you’d rather just enjoy the performance.
We tried two of their pizzas for dinner since everyone raves about them — the Perfect Paradise with garlic, basil, mushrooms, tomato and artichoke heart and the Santa Fe with spicy ground beef and jalapenos. While it still didn’t beat my favorite pie in Long Beach (Canadian Pizza) it was a close second for sure, especially that Santa Fe.
Oh, and Sunday PJ brunch with bottomless mimosas? I’ll have to try that out soon.

Used to abhor/​despise those who lolled around in their pj’s &/​or curlers while grocery shopping, dog-​walking, or anywhere in plain public-​view.
Then found out these same sub-​demographics can get rewarded here for schleping their decrepit gloriness w/​PJ CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH… then I became one myself… thanks in part to California Dream’n
Group (see pix for proof).
Yep. PJ’s – meaning anything w/​bunny slippers or semi-​fluffiness. So grabbed my least worn robe, nightie, & hair rollers to join this fun group for a super tasty brunch. Wow, they weren’t kidding. The non-​stop Champagne flow truly made me thankful to be in jammies b/​c soon after I needed a long nap from the buzz & food coma.
Pricing, service, cleanliness – very cool. Extra bonus if they allowed Pillow Fights! =P…gosh, will I ever grow up? Truthfully? nope…
As if that wasn’t enough, for kicks, the 6of us or so, shuffled our bedroom slippers across to BevMo, stocking up I guess. Kill 2birds w/​one beer bottle… as the saying goes – highly productive & dignified for our little band of looney lushes. ;-)

25% off if you wear your PJ’s for breakfast and the food is so good! Comedy on Wednesday night, Sunday brunch with bottomless champagne and last but not least happy hour Monday — Friday 3 – 6
Oh, by the way the pizza is really really good!