Clay’s La Jolla

FYI: CLOSED TIL MID MAY FOR RENOVATIONS.
Great spot tho… we did the happy hour. nice view. excited to see what they do with the place

Great view! Friendly and attentive service! Good food!
Thanks to Travelzoo, I believe I got a great deal on dinner with the Grand Prix set. If I had to pay regular price, then I think I’d paid a little too much. Anyhow, the service was great! I made reservations at 6:30, so the sunset was occurring as we drink wine and waited for our food to arrive. The bar was on one side of the room and dinner was on the other side, so I did not think the atmosphere was «noisy» at all.
I had the Carlsbad Mussels, Organic Chicken Breast and my wife had the Roasted Corn and Poblano Chowder and Diver Sea Scallops. We both had the Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert. Everything was good (not great); but the view and the service made our night.

My wife and myself went to Clays for our anniversary dinner April 19. After valet parking our car we went upstairs to eat. We had the filet mignon. It was great and they split plate it for us and gave us each a good sized portion. Also they gave hummus besides butter with their bread which is different and tasty. Also enjoyed crème brûlée for dessert. The view was great! We got there on a tuesday afternoon at four and had the view to ourself. Our waiter was great! We will definitely return.

I’m a fan for Happy Hour from 5−7pm. Great view and delicious food for cheap. Go closer to 5pm if you want a table near the windows. Service can be slow.

Meh, I’ve experience better.
My friend brought me here because he said it had a nice view. Well, that’s about the only good thing Clay’s has to offer.
We went during HH and I was not impressed with the drinks. They were weak and a bit pricey for happy hour. I gave them one extra star because of the clever drink names (ie — dutch rudder). We didn’t get any of the appetizers because we had dinner reservations elsewhere but based on some of the reviews, it sounds like skipping the appetizer was a good idea.
The crowd looked to be mostly tourists who were staying at the hotel but there were a handful of single gals there. They were more ‘mature’ looking women but if any of you guys want a drunken cougar, you know where to go.
I gave it a few more tries because the staff was friendly, but every time I’ve visited Clay’s I was underwhelmed. It’s worth one visit for the view but that’s pretty much it.

My friends and I decided to come here for happy hour since a couple of them were in town for a couple of nights. We got there before 6:30PM so we could get our orders in before happy hour ended. We had a group of 6 so the only options we had for seating were the 2 high, round tables close to the entrance/​exit, seating at the bar, and some comfy couches toward where the restrooms are. I was happy it wasn’t super crowded and noisy for happy hour like a lot of places are.
It was a little difficult to flag down a server so we could order drinks and food before happy hour was over at 7PM. Actually, it was difficult to flag down our server throughout the entire meal and I wasn’t surprised by this after reading other Unilocal reviews.
They do have a great happy hour menu, lovely view of La Jolla, and great ambiance. I was impressed when we walked in, sat down, and checked out the beautiful panoramic view. Overall, all of us really liked our food. The crabcake was great — it had a great amount of crab in it and a thin layer of outer crust. The Ahi Tuna Tower was, for the most part, awesome. But one of us who had the tuna tower didn’t really like the consistency of the tower’s bottom layer, the purple thai rice cake. I loved the chicken caesar salad. Since it’s served on a plate that has a see-​through middle, it was trippy being able to see the table through the plate as I was eating.
Overall, Clay’s is a great secret spot for happy hour that seemingly not a lot of people know about. I hope this doesn’t change by the time I come back here.

Clay’s always seems like a great place for happy hour. It’s from 5 – 7 — a perfect time for a cocktail after a long work day against a gorgeous backdrop of LJ Cove (especially during sunset) The view is impeccable. But other than that, nothing else really WOW’ed me.
It’s usually pretty hard to get a table, but there’s bar seating and lounge sofas as well. It took a while for them to get us started, but once we met our waitress, things got a lot smoother.
Their menu for happy hour appetizers is fairly comprehensive. The Calamari is always a great choice. I’ve had the Lobster Bisque a few times, but today’s was extra salty. We couldn’t even finish it. However, it was very rich and creamy, and you could definitely taste the flavor of the lobster. I’ve also tried the SD Chili — decent, but not the best. The chunks of beef in the chili tasted very dry too.
The Lump Crab Cake was delicious! The outside had a deep fried batter coating, and the inside was flaky and moist lump crab. YUMMY! I wished the portion was a little bigger though.
The happy hour drinks are very average as well. The sangria is very watered down, and the house cabernet was pretty hard to drink. I think I might just stick to $ 3 draft beers.
Overall, it’s always been a very mediocre experience. The view and ambiance is probably the best part. Prices are bit on the higher end as well.

Made reservation but table wasn’t ready.
Waited half an hour for an appetizer.
Fish was way over cooked.
Steak was excellent, but it came on top of mashed potatoes for some reason.
Garlic spinach side was tasty.
Food is hit or miss. Service is bad. Do not take your lady here for a nice dinner. Happy hour/​appetizers is a safe move.

Did we get the ‘B Team’? I have always loved Clay’s and thought it to be a hidden gem, but this most recent visit had me a little disappointed. We were in on the 23^rd and Clay wasn’t there. We were given the wrong menus and there was some confusion as to what we could and could not order. The service was ok, very nice but a little fumbling. Our food came out ok, kind of drowning in sauces that are usually in better proportions. But ok isn’t Clay’s. My previous experiences have been fantastic, wonderful and awesome.
I kind of feel bad writing this, I still want people to try Clay’s. I’m just really bummed that this visit was bad after so many great ones in the past.

Andrew C. had a
coupon, thus on the day of my departure, We went with two friends, Shandra and Ryen.
We got the Cobb salad, mushroom burger, sea bass sandwich, and tuna melt. The prices were from 10 – 14 dollars. Pretty avg. We got sweet potatoes fries and onion rings for the sides.
I have to emphasize, the sweet potatoes fries WERE AWESOME. i gobbled down my fries like a hungry hippo. I was so focused on finishing my fries, that i totally neglected my tuna melt. The tuna melt came in two circles, it was so cute. I managed to finish one before giving up. It was decent enough, not too oily, which is definitely a plus.
My other friends seem to be very happy with their food.
In the end, our bill came to be 27 dollars? with tip (they didn’t include gratuity beforehand, so we calculated ourselves) Which was pretty good for the portion size and the food. The service was pretty good because they kept on filling our water, but then again, there weren’t a lot of people there to begin with.
This is one place i’ll definitely go back.

I tried the happy hour here after reading the other Unilocal reviews. To be honest I wasn’t overly impressed with the happy hour specials but still thought it was a good experience and will be back.
Here are the particulars…
I was disappointed by four things:
1. Happy hour prices were not half price as other Unilocalers indicated so clearly they increased their prices but there’s no rhyme or reason to how as some $ 11 items were $ 7 for happy hour and others were $ 8.
2. Don’t order the tenderloin tips. Boring and slightly overcooked.
3. Service was slow as they were fairly busy in the bar area.
4. Only merlot or cab for red wine happy hour which was only $ 1 less than normal price ($ 6 instead of $ 7).
Now, onto the positives:
1. Friendly service (very accommodating)
2. Mac & cheese with truffle sauce — yummy!
3. AMAZING view of all of the La Jolla Shores area
4. Not very crowded and easy free parking.
So that covers happy hour. Outside of happy hour, the regular meals there are pretty good and if you use the
certificate it’s actually very reasonable. I highly recommend the warm goat cheese salad with baby greens, tangerines and maple balsamic vinaigrette.

The restaurant is located on the top level of the hotel and overlooks the ocean. I stayed at the hotel and had the privilege of eating here twice. When I was there they only opened for breakfast on Wednesday’s and Sunday’s (bummer). I ordered the pancakes and breakfast bowl. The pancakes and eggs were both very fluffy and tasteful… the food was very delicious!
Later on that evevning I ordered the filet mignon and it was just like I requested it — medium-​well with a side of mashed potatoes and veggies! They have a pretty good selection of wine. For dessert I had the crème brûlée and that was very satisfying and devine!
Aside from the delicious food which deserves 5 stars their view is breathtaking and beautiful! This is a great place to take someone on a romantic date-​to-​impress or anniversary! Highly recommend and will definitely go back if I’m ever in the San Diego Area!

Only came here to eat because we got free complementary breakfast with the hotel stay.
The food was mediocre, nothing special. The free breakfast included 2 eggs, bacon or sausage, toast and fruit. It costs $ 10 on the menu. If it were not free, I would definitely not eat here. The eggs and sausage were super oily.
The view was amazing. The restaurant is located on the 11^th floor. You can see the ocean from there, even though the hotel is a little way back from the shore.
Parking: Plenty around the building.

We had a
coupon, so my wife and I decided to give this place a try. When we got the check at the end of the night, they had slipped an «18% gratuity» on the check (even though it was only two of us… I’ve never seen this before). The waiter made no mention of the tip already being on there, he simply said «here’s the bill with the $ 20 discount taken off». I gave him my credit card, he returned with the signature slip which had a nice big empty line for «Tip». He made no mention of it again, and if I hadn’t read the original bill carefully I would have double-​tipped the guy. Shame on Clays and the waiter for this sneaky tactic, and I wanted to give a heads-​up to others who go here. If you’re going to decide how much I’m tipping you, fine, but at least have the decency to tell me that («mandatory» tips bug the heck out of me anyway).
Aside from the tip issue, though, the experience was very nice. The view of course is amazing (10 stories up overlooking the bay). The food, despite some reviews here, was actually very good… the lobster bisque and steaks we had were all outstanding, on par with any high-​end restaurant I’ve tried. They had a band playing for happy hour, which was cool but a tad noisy (the happy hour seems to be more of their «thing»…the restaurant side wasn’t very busy on a Sunday evening, but the bar side looked fairly packed). The entrée service was a little slow, but we weren’t in a big hurry so it wasn’t a big deal. Overall, I’d recommend the place, just watch your bill at the end of the night.

5 stars for happy hour. I don’t know about the rest…
The Place– Can be tricky to find, don’t miss the turn: parking is @ back entrance. Top floor of beachview hotel– love the view!
The Service– Friendly, fairly prompt? But seemed understaffed for HH.
The Food– I liked almost everything we tried! Thought the pommes frites not worth it, wasn’t awfully impressed by the fancy mac’n’cheese.
Recommended– We went for HH, so these are all off the apps menu: the smoked salmon potato cakes, baked goat cheese (enough to be its own meal!), some kind of steak skewer with mashed potatoes (SO worth the price!) and the white sangria.
Loved it! Would def come back for HH, but at the regular price maybe not for a real meal.

Gorgeous view of the La Jolla coast, delicious food and wonderful company made me a fan of this restaurant. My fiancé and I decided to have dinner here last Valentine’s eve since we were staying at the Hotel La Jolla. I was hesitant at first reading some of the so-​so reviews but I am so happy I kept my reservation here!
We started off with the Ahi Tuna stack (with mango, Japanese cucumbers and Thai rice… so delicious!) and fried calamari (not greasy. yum). For the main course I had the Chilean Seabass which was so fabulous I still have dreams about it! I can’t rave enough about it. The fish was so fresh and flaky. Clay (who was there cooking) outdid himself on this one. My fiancé had the New York Steak which was really delicious and a decent size considering how frou frou the place was. For dessert we shared some Crème Brulee, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It had the standard crispy caramelized top with fresh raspberrys and blackberrys.
The main reason I’m deducting a star is our server had no personality and forgot about us after during the second half of our meal. What a bummer because the meal, the atmosphere, the music and the view were all superb!

BOOTYFUL VIEW! Absolutely gorgeous panoramic view of The Jewel and its beautiful coastline.
Even after the renovation, Hotel La Jolla looks like some 1980s holdout hotel and you would never know that Clay’s has such a stunning view of the Pacific.
Wall-​to-​ceiling glass windows and the illusory effect is just magnificent as you feel like you are in a postcard with the ocean just at your fingertips.
The food was okay.
My friend got the crab cake and mac n’ cheese. She gave me a piece of her crab cake and it tasted fishy (I think they used blue crab) but nonetheless, it was decent. The mac n’ cheese was delicious since it was crispy and chewy on top and drizzled in tongue-​tantilizing truffle oil.
I had the tandoori chicken and an order of truffle fries. The fries were absolutely disgusting. They were labeled pomme frites on the menu and that’s pretty insulting to culinary institutions around the world. I think they were Sysco fries with parm. cheese and truffle oil. These fries are ~$ 8 regular price and I would have expected house-​cut, dehydrated fries. Yuck, never ordering these again.
The tandoori chicken was good and for the price, very decent portions. It came with four chicken skewers on top of a mango risotto which was better than I thought it would be. It also came with a yogurt-​based condom which was cool and refreshing. I didn’t think it was necessary though since the tandoori wasn’t heavily spiced.
I’m definitely coming back for the view and good prices on drinks. As for the food, I’d try the burger or mac n’ cheese again but their food is a pass.
Mixed feelings about the décor. Contrasting shades of medium tone to dark woods and stainless pole lighting which makes everything casually elegant but there is this GIANT nasty area of 1980s carpet at the entrance of Clay’s. We cringed just talking about it.
I’ve lived near Clay’s for years but always avoided it because a lot of reviews stated that it was pretentious but that’s unfounded. It’s very relaxed and you can come in shorts and sneakers although you’re in La Jolla so I recommend you dress up a little bit (jean are perfectly OK). Also, the food was blah and no restaurant can actually and genuinely be pretentious with a bad menu.
On draft they had Clay’s Pale Ale (yuck, it tasted old and watered down) and Droptop Ale (that was decent). They also have Widmer Hef and something else I can’t remember. $ 8 house wine which I think is pricey for house wine so I didn’t bother.
Service was decent but could have been better since it was at ~20% capacity.

Took a friend here last night for happy hour to celebrate his bday. I’ve been here a few times for their HH and it’s such an incredible place — but NOT b/​c of the food, service or even drinks. Just the view itself is worth it’s price in gold.
It’s not worth coming here if you can’t make the HH (it ends at 7p I believe). The appetizer prices, if they were full price and not on HH, would be insane. Maybe b/​c the food portions are small or maybe it’s simply the food tastes so-​so.
We had:
1. Chilean sea bass skewers: tiny portions. Didn’t taste all that fresh
2. Lobster Bisque: not bad for $ 5. Mostly just a rich broth w/​very little lobster pieces
3. Burger: um, BORING. Asked for it to be medium rare, it came out well done… They charge an extra $ 1 for cheese so beware. The fries that come on side were nice and crunchy though.
4. Scallops: Not bad. 2 semi large scallops served on top of mashed potatoes or something
5. Crab cakes: also not bad. A bit too much breading for me but overall, they were ok.
6. Crème brûlée: this was pretty good. Again, tiny portion, and it wasn’t on HH so it cost about $ 8 or so.
The wine was $ 6 during HH — the pours weren’t terrible but not exactly generous I guess. I think we had about 5 glasses of wine b/​w the 2 of us.
Total bill for the night was around $ 85 w/​o tip. So it was kinda pricey, considering it’s HH right? But honestly, the view — my goodness — is breath taking. The place did get pretty packed (mostly w/​women) by 6p so try to get there early to get the best seats.

Clay’s is located on the top floor of Hotel La Jolla and has spectacular views over the tree line toward La Jolla Shores. An unusual place for a Meetup, our small group of San Diego young professionals seeking personal development decided to drop in for a casual meeting over happy hour drinks and appetizers.
I ordered the pommes frites of Parmesan cheese and white truffle oil along with their local brew pale ale. I was a little disappointed by my fancy, overpriced fries since the combination of the cheese and oil made for a greasy and stale combination. The pale ale was a little bitter for my tastes, but I am by no means a connoisseur. Having it around to wash down the fries was quite welcomed however.
The bar should really be rated on its luxurious and romantic ambiance and view rather than its glorified bar food. The beer selection was extremely limited, but as a meeting space to kick back and chat with friends, it served that end well. Go during happy hour to nab some good deals on snacks and drinks an enjoying it all in Clay’s classy lounge.
Food: ⁶⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁸⁄₁₀

I read some reviews complaining about the service, but the staff was friendly and attentive when I visited.
It was a bit empty on the happy hour side, but it picked up a bit later on in the night.
Pomegrante Bliss cocktail was tasty, but kind of watered down with juice.
Ahi Tuna Tower was good. A nice combo of silky ahi, sweet mango, chewy rice patty thing, and crispy cucumbers. The scallop was good. Only two scallops though. The baked goat cheese was alright — too much tomato sauce, I wouldn’t get it again. The scallop ceviche was okay, but the bass ceviche was better.
Live music. Great view of La Jolla. Good amount of parking. I would go back.