Elephant Bar Restaurant

Excellent Happy Hour! I love that their happy hour is from 9pm-​close daily. The hamburger, fries and beer deal ($ 6.95) is probably best. The burger is enormous. Just wish you could substitute the beer for a margarita or something. Most of the appetizers «openers» are $ 3 off. Chicken lettuce wraps for $ 5.95!

Food was alright. Our waitress wasn’t very good. She brought us flat soda twice (& I mean like WATER flat). Service was super slow. Might try a different elephant bar.

My wife and I have now tried this place 3 times hoping for a good experience, unfortunately only one time did I even sort of like the food. The other 2 times the food was not good at all. This last time I tried the ribs and they sure looked better in the picture than on my plate, and there was no real flavor. We went with 4 other people and only 1 person liked their food. The rest were not too satisfied with our meals. Such a great menu with many things, but maybe that is their problem, they make a lot of things, but not one thing really well.

I got the Pot Roast. What is it with pot roast it never comes hot. At least it was not cold or warm.
We have a waitress that has that high pitch voice and talks real loud. Like she’s a cheerleader or something. Let’s Eat!
Service is good and fast. But only three stars.

See below the two pics of the dirty fork and managers standing around not checking on guests and just talking about Mother’s Day numbers. Our server disappeared, forgot our sauce, and came back and was a nice guy, but there was so much wrong. No manager touching tables anywhere. They were just wandering around counting booths and talking, I’m sitting with an empty beer glass right behind them. Good job guys

The food was great as always. Breanna was a great server and took amazing care of us. I love the Laguna location best. The atmosphere is really nice.

Overall not very impressive. Seated quickly but every interaction after was not quick or efficient. Craft beer special was a Cider, which I thought was odd. They were out of 2 of the beers that we inquired about. We ordered our appetizers at the same time as our food, but unfortunately i can’t tell u how the calamari was, because it was simply forgotten. Food orders seem to take longer than expected as well. Food was good quality, but nothing amazing. Cookie with Ice Cream and Crème Brulee was nice for desserts but nothing to rave about.
Overall, the restaurant has a nice ambiance and energy. It’s been over a year since my previous visit, but I suspect it will be that long if not much longer before my next visit. Mediocre service needs to be improved.

A place with a beautiful interior and good food that is shot down by really slow service. We visited last Friday after 9pm and the place was nearly empty. It was literally (not kind of, not practically, literally) 10 minutes before anyone bothered to say hi. The service remained at a very slow pace the whole time. There looked to be plenty of staff around, so no idea what the problem was.
It’s too bad, the place really does have a great atmosphere, and I have no complaints about the food at all.

If I could give zero stars I would. Terrible, slow inattentive service. Waited ten minutes for waiter to come to the table. My food was luke warm — steak was mostly fat & not really medium well. Wanted to complain to waiter but he disappeared — had to go to the bar to get a refill for my water. Now waiting for the waiter to come back & take the payment. Yes, I’m writing this review while
I’m still here. Won’t be back– won’t recommend. What makes it worse is I was here for my birthday with my family. Nothing worse than a terrible experience when you’re out celebrating a special occasion

The happy hour is pretty good! The service is great as well.
I always try new things because there menu is different. It is mixed of asian and american fustion.

Ordered one of the lunch specials. Korean beef tacos with salad and soup. The tacos were tasty with sour cream, and avocado. My friend got the Cajun chicken with veggies and also a side of sauteed spinach. I tried his chicken and was not impressed and neither was he. I would for sure get the tacos again. Great combo for just under $ 10. The service was decent.

3.5. Haven’t been to an Elephant Bar in years, due to my so-​so experiences and overall ‘meh’ feelings from various locations previously. However, received a mailer that offered up a 2-​course dinner for 2 for $ 20 last week and knowing I was going to be in the area, decided «Why not?»
Despite the crowded condition of the parking lot of the Laguna Hills mall on a Saturday evening, I was pleasantly surprised with our overall experience.
Seeing that this was only a 2 course meal with some limitations on the menu in which to choose from, we started with the wok-​fried chicken letuuce wraps as our appetizer. Very good; there were a total of 4 pieces of lettuce, but enough meat to easily fill a fith. We both found it very fresh and flavorful with the accompanying asian inspired slaw/​salsa (?).
For our main courses we splite the Island Tilapia on a bed of brown rice and a Thai-​High Chicken dish. I was very impressed with the Tilapia… it was perfectly cooked: moist, hot, perfect seasonings. Brown rice was good, but perhaps a little overboard on just plain geen beans. There were a lot of steamed green beans, but nothing really to compliment them (adding some red peppers or onions would have helped).
Thai chicken dish was very good as well, also on brown rice. Ginger sauce had a good flavor without being overpowering or smothering. Scallions were a nice touch.
So while I think the food was very flavorful and fresh this time around, I still felt something was missing from each. The veggies were either to plain to me, or the deal should have included a shared dessert or at least a beverage. IMHO, I can’t decide if teh 2 for $ 20 really is a good deal, since drinks and beverages are extra. Seems like TGIF has a 3 course meal for the same price (or maybe $ 25).
That being said, the place was busy and all the staff were working hard. Décor is nice, and place looked clean. A tad louder than average (a non-​sequiter background station plays an eclectic mix of music), and parking lot can get busy at prime eating hours since there are other places (Kings Fish House and CPK next door).

The happy hour has been changed and the deals are not that great anymore. That used to be the best part about this place.
My last visit had poor service and cold food. I don’t think I will be coming back for a long time.

We decided to try this place as they were offering a special which included two entrees and an appetizer for $ 20. I decided on the breaded green beans. They tasted so good, crunchy and yes they were fresh. Cooked a bit on the al dente side and served with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. The sauce was just ok, so we asked the waitress for some blue cheese dressing, which was so delicious, and worked so much better than the other sauce. I decided on the petite sirloin for my main entrée and it came with fresh peppers, onions and a half baked potato. The potato was flavorful, but undercooked. The sirloin was prepared medium rare and was very tender, juicy and flavorful. The waitress took great care of us and really offered a good insight as to what to order for the 2 for $ 20 deal.

I haven’t been there in years so I was curious how the food was. I had heard good things from other people. We got the margherita pizza appetizer and it was very mediocre, like it was frozen. We asked for a replacement appetizer so we got the artichoke dip. The server warned us about the very hot plate. While the plate was hot the middle part of the dip was cold so, once again, they must have just warmed up something frozen. It was blend and didn’t taste fresh at all.
I did enjoy my entrée, the chicken Marsala. My wife didn’t like her salmon plate. The fish was very flat and the veggies were warmed up from frozen, like something you’d get at Ralph’s.
The strawberry lemonade was tasty and the service was fine. They made us wait 15 minutes before seating us but there were plenty of empty tables. Maybe they didn’t have enough staff to fill every table. It was a Saturday night.
Overall, after a $ 40+ bill after tip I would have rather gone somewhere else that served fresher items. I noticed there were a lot of seniors from nearby Laguna woods and the place had plenty of people so maybe they are content serving bland food to the locale. My wide said when she went there 3 years ago she thought the food was much better then but we don’t plan to go back now.

Four stars because I really didn’t care for my Thai Salmon salad and my friend didn’t care for her Market Cobb. Too bad. I’ll chalk it up to a poor day in the kitchen.
I like this place. The atmosphere is very relaxing. I’ve been here for lunch and happy hour. Service today was excellent. Our server was so patient and attentive to two women that have not seen each other in a very long time and talked so much we forgot to look at the menu.
Oh, do order the Parmesan crusted green beans. To live for!

After our first visit, we’re instant fans (of the bar, at least); we far prefer this atmosphere over Irvine’s location (why did they change to those backless stools — no place to hang/​store my purse?! Outside of the bartop, the only seats with backs are teamed up with small round tables — rather crowded once topped with a couple of cocktails, waters, and a couple of appetizers)! We love Laguna Hills’ spaciousness, the deep décor (with chairs allowing one to lean back and relax), the large rectangular bartop, and the big windows (even if only offering a view of the parking lot).
The new Happy Hour daily specials are an attractive draw. Service was impressively pleasant and professional. Fun first impression! We’ll most certainly return.

We came here for lunch last Saturday. We were greeted with a smile and seated as soon as we walked in.
We ordered…
Watermelon cucumber splash cocktail — OMG! SOOOO GOOD!!!
Soy Ginger Calamari — it was good but not great.
Tempura Salmon Rolls –Delicious!
Tomato Basil Bisque — Delicious!
Our waitress, Ashley was incredible! She was friendly, helpful and fast. Made us feel welcome which is a great thing in an eating establishment.
From the time we walked in to the time we left, the staff were super friendly with a smile on their faces.
Will be back for sure!

I’ve never really been a fan of Elephant Bar. The regular menu items just never appealed to me. Our happy hour plans were to check out the taco tuesday scene at El Torito but the mad chaos was more than any of us could handle that day and we really just wanted to sit, chill, and talk immediately so we treked across the parking lot and wound up here.
We got in 5 minutes before happy hour was over and I’m so glad the waitress let us honor the 5 remaining minutes as long as we ordered immediately. We each got the raspberry lemon drop, chicken tenders, chicken lettuce wraps, baja quesadillas, and ended the night with a citrus brulee cheesecake.
I can’t really complain about their happy hour menu and drinks. Everything was perfect. Service was a little slow but that was ok. I would totally come back here again for the happy hour.

**This review is for their alcoholic drinks and Happy Hour only**
First off, the vibe in this place is really weird. It’s dark. With a random fire in the middle of the bar. A sports game playing on mute above the bar (only saw ONE TV too). No one was at the front to greet us when we walked in, so we sat ourselves. The waitress was friendly, but seemed a little distant. The table behind us had five stoned teenagers laughing up a storm, which was entertaining. Their menu seemed disorganized at best. I honestly felt like I was in a weird, messed up dream in this restaurant. Is it a bar? Is in a restaurant? Or is it a lounge? Couldn’t tell.
Other than the weird vibe, I must say their Mai Tai and Lemon Drop Raspberry Martini were delish. And for $ 12 for two drinks, it was just alright. The drinks were mixed perfectly and I hardly noticed the alcohol. In fact, I didn’t notice the alcohol at all and I didn’t realize I was that buzzed until I had this conversation with the boy when I got home:
Me: *giggle, giggle* Hey Mister Babe! *giggle, giggle*
Matt: *sigh* Baby, you’re drunk. Did you drive home like this?
Me: *giggle, giggle*
Matt: Babe, I need to keep better tabs on you and keep you safe.
Me: But, you’re hot and I’m cute, so no worries! Life is good!
Matt: Should I take that as a compliment when you’re drunk? *sigh* You drive me crazy. Just let me know the next time you go out drinking with friends so I can call a cab for you… or come get you myself.
Yup, apparently I giggle a lot and give random compliments and have no care in the world when I’m a bit buzzed. But, I have a nice guy looking out for me.
All in all… would I come back to this place for food? Probably not. The menu didn’t look appealing. Would I come back for their mixed drinks during Happy Hour? Sure, why not? They got me buzzed and happy.