Royal Hawaiian

went there after visiting the art galleries and shops at Laguna Beach and had a very refreshing and quite strong Blue Hawaiian for $ 5, which the bartender diluted with more pineapple juice upon request. The free nut/​pretzel/​chex mix munchies were great as well. Wasn’t planning to hit up a bar that day but since I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was really into all things tiki I said what the heck :-) The subtle tiki décor was much appreciated! So sorry to hear that the place closed down!

Yeh yeh
Bring prahu to me.
Can’t believe they closed this place after being open for over 60 years :(

Sadly after 65 years the Royal Hawaiian has closed its doors. Laguna Beach won’t be the same without it.

Never ate any food here, but the bar is great and the bartenders have always been nice and provided good service. Lapu Lapu is worth $ 5 or $ 10 depending on the size you get. I always go for the larger one and all you need is one and you’re good. Tastes great and is strong!
It’s a good local spot and the interior is nice. Next time I’ll have to try the food.

4 stars for drinks and atmosphere!
3.5 stars for food — i’m from hawaii so a bit pickier
4.5 for great staff — they opened up the kitchen when a party of 20 arrived at 9:45
4 — portions — moderate… not overwhelming
went there for food week and after the art walk — never had their food but had the maui onion soup — and it was quite yummy

So I am sort of torn on this review. I want to give them 4 or 5 stars, but I find myself checking 3 stars. Why, their service was really good and our waitress was excellent. Their alcohol was awesome! Had a large Lapu Lapu and loved it! It’s potent and delicious.
So the 3 star rating is for a different factor. Their prices. I know it’s Laguna Beach, but seems ridiculous the cost of their food. Average plate is somewhere around $ 23. We had a group of 7 and I saw lots of different plates ordered and none seemed worth that price. Nobody seemed to rave about the food. I actually went cheap and ordered a pulled pork sandwich, which I thought was good, but not sure it’s $ 14 good.
Go there to drink, its fun and I can see how its a local spot. But there are too many great restaurants in Laguna to spend your money here. Sorry Royal Hawaiian.

Wowza! I can’t believe that I have neglected to review the best dive-​tiki bar in the OC.
This is quite possibly the best place to watch football in the entire world. There is something about football and tiki, football and dive, and football and booze that is the perfect combination to make the perfect weekend.
The service is excellent. I have had the same waitress/​bartender since I moved her over a year ago. She pours stiff drinks with a smile, you can’t ask for anything more than that! She also, sidebar, a Steelers fans. So Steeler nation, I am sure your drinks are extra strong!
The second best thing to watch at The RH is, of course, the shall we say eclectic crowd. It is a ripe mix of former frat boys, the friendly neighborhood beach bums, the requisite OC cougar, and anything else you can dream up in the perfect people watching cocktail. I like the table by the window for full view of the bar and the room.
As for the boozery, the lapu lapus are strong, extra sweet, and the large one is priced to knock you out. The food is delish. Always order a house salad with your burger (I like the basic veggie), the dressing is glorious and tangy!
They had a very cool band when I went on a Saturday night, but the downside is that there is nowhere to sit as the seating area turns into a dance floor, where the cougars and fratty boys can dirty dance in paradise.
Aloha!

We couldn’t find a place open late, so I looked up this place. It was 10pm or so. Me an my boyfriend got filet migon. It was so good. Friendly staff. Karaōke. Fun, good food,

I’ve been coming to Royal Hawaiian since college… the 90’s. It’s always been a mellow place to come and hang out. The remodel made a big improvement, but the vibe is relatively the same. RH is a place you go to take it easy, watch some games, check out the music, and grab some drinks.
The Lapus are still great! And they have a good beer selection too.
I can definitely say the food has improved by leaps and bounds since the original RH — especially the appetizers. The Poke is delicious, as is the Royal Hawaiian Burger. And the Tacos on Taco Tuesday are great (and a good deal).
Give it a try…

This review is based on one experience for a birthday party. They were able to provide our own room upstairs, which was cool. The tuna poke was awesome. I can’t speak for any other menu items. They have an 80’s cover band on Saturdays which is pretty cool.

The drinks are perfect. The food is really good, the appetizers are tasty. The service is slow, but it’s a good time.
We ordered apps and drinks at the bar. Maui onion rings a dirty martini and a skinny margarita; none of which could have been better. All was made super fast.
Then our party came and we were seated, everything slowed down a bit. The drinks were still delicious! I’m going to say the prices are «elevated» for the food (in lieu of «overpriced») because of the location. And with that in mind, go and totally enjoy yourself.
This is an adorable tiki bar. They had a live cover band there doing 80’s music while we were there, fantastically entertaining.

This review is for the Taco Tuesday only.
The taco Tuesday at Royal Hawaiian is very good. The tacos are reasonably priced at only $ 2 and they are fantastic. The tacos paired with the location make this one of the best Taco Tuesdays in OC.

Solid 3.5 stars.
I used to come here all the time with my whole family when I was little. I heard about the change of owners and a little change of the menu.
The interior is much nicer and a less cheesy Hawaii feel which people may or may not like.
I have seen a lot of negative reviews about service, but we had a large group and the service was very attentive and prompt.
I ordered the shrimp and rib combo which comes with they famous onion soup and salad with ono ono dressing.
The soup came out and it was much better than it used to be. Had a nice bread croûton in it and was super cheesy.
The salad was just like I remembered. The ono ono dressing is rich and creamy and it tasted good!
The ribs are pretty dang good. The BBQ sauce is what makes it. Also relatively tender.
The shrimp was also good. Fried to perfection and went well with the horseradish ketchup.
Overall this place brought back so many memories. All the food tasted exactly the same or even a little better than it used to. Food is not life changing, but you have to take it for what it is. I may not be back often, but I will definitely include it in my monthly eating schedule.

Drinks-​10
Food-​8
Service-​3
No matter what you get here, it will most likely be delicious. We got the Ahi Poki appetizer, ribs & butterfly shrimp combo, halibut steak, french onion soup and blue cheese salad. All of it was great but it took a total of about an hour and a half for the waiters to get us the main dish. It even took about 45 min just for them to come take our order. For the most part, though, and because we weren’t on a strict time schedule, the food was well worth the wait.

I was literally in tears the last time I walked into the Royal Hawaiian. Junior, where are you?
I remember as a child coming to this amazing restaurant with old Hawaiian decorations and it just had this amazing vibe to it. The RH is sadly a mere shadow of it’s former self, not just with the ambiance but the food as well. For years we ordered nothing but the ribs. They were always HUGE and fell right off the bone delicious! The new ownership totally killed the recipe and the ribs were about half the size that I remember them being. The whole experience was just a disappointment for me…
Now this review may be biased since I have been coming here for the past 25 years but I know many of you out there know what I’m talking about when I say that this place has lost its «magic touch». Good service and my lapu lapu saved me from giving this place a one star review.
And Junior, if you’re reading this, my family from LA PAZ misses you and the old RH!

I want to start off by complimenting our AWESOME waitress Katie — who is a DOLL, and WAY TOO GOOD FOR THIS PLACE!!!
It is because of Katie, and her sharp no-​need-​to-​write-​anything-​down order taking, and her sweet demeanor, and her attentiveness, and her willingness to take 3 separate pics with 2 different cameras of my pic-​loving family that this is even a 2-​star review. Because otherwise, it would be ONE STAR.
Hear that, Royal Hawaiian? Please thank Katie for that.
I came here today for lunch with my parents and sister. When I placed my order, Katie told me that the kitchen ran out of what I ordered (½ roasted chicken) YESTERDAY, so I had to choose something else.
Okaaaaaay…no chicken on a weekend…
I ordered the Spinach Salad ($ 8), add chicken (+$ 3) and shrimp (+$ 5).
About 5 minutes later, a guy comes out of the kitchen and apologizes profusely, but says they are out of spinach.
Are you serious? Aren’t you a restaurant? And didn’t YOU decide on what to put on the menu?
But about 5 minutes after that, he comes back out super happy, and says that they found ONE bag of spinach, so I can stop looking at the menu once again and stick with the salad order.
He, like Katie, was super nice.
The salad, by the way, had an awful bottled-​tasting balsamic, a tiny bit of chicken and shrimp, and blue cheese crumbles. This was not a good salad.
The rest of our order took a might bit long for what we got — going on 20 minutes-​ish — and also considering we were one of only THREE tables occupied (not including the few people drinking at the bar).
Soup (always french onion) and salad (iceberg, red cabbage, blue cheese dressing ($ 6) — the French onion soup had SHREDDED mixed jack and cheddar cheese (unmelted) floating in it, with a couple of big croutons. And the watered down (and surely bottled) blue cheese salad dressing was the most entertaining thing about this boring iceberg salad.
Pulled Pork Sammich with fries ($ 10) — my mom and sister liked this, but I did not. Shredded pork, sticky and soaked in sauce on a burger bun. I usually like a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce, but this was all sweet — TOO sweet even for me — and NO spicy. Plus the sammich and fries were on the cold side of room temp when they landed on our table.
Fish and chips appetizer ($ 11) — this was the best thing we ordered today — it was tasty AND a large portion for what they labeled an appetizer. Four pieces of fried fish, a pile of fries, everything tasted pretty good — and even though it was room temp also, it tasted okay like that. The tartar sauce was particularly good — chunky, like they actually made it and didn’t just scoop it out of a jar.
We liked it so much, we asked for another order of this, and the 2^nd order came out much darker and crunchier. We didn’t mind it that way, but the cooking of the 2 same dishes was so inconsistent!
I really only have 2 things to say:
1) Gordon Ramsay would kick your ass and then tell you to f*&% off, whoever is in charge of the kitchen.
2) Give Katie a raise, and a big tip!

I’ve been going to the Royal Hawaiian for as long as I can remember in my 25 years of existence. The restaurant recently went through a major overhaul which, in my opinion, made it lose a lot of it’s charm but I know it now looks much more appealing so it will probably draw in more customers. All I’ve ever eaten at the restaurant are their amazing ribs so that’s all I can speak for. The Mai Tais are also amazing. The Royal Hawaiian has become a tradition to visit on my birthday and I look forward to eating here as much as I look forward to the celebration.

User Manual: 1) Park. 2) Show ID. 3) Walk to bar. 4) Order Lapu Lapu. 5) Drink.6) Enjoy the bliss. 7) Repeat Steps 4 – 7
The Chief Lapu Lapu is hands-​down one of the best drinks in Orange County; not to mention the crushed ice REALLY rocks my world. See RECIPE below.
Royal Hawaiian is the PERFECT place for Sunday-​Funday. ((Read: live band + Lapu Lapu + teaching older women to ‘drop it like it’s hot’ = PERFECTION)). The location is great, they have a great $ 5 Happy Hour and the service is typically on par.
I did some research and (drum roll please)… found the CHIEF LAPU LAPU RECIPE! I took the liberty of copying and pasting it below for all to enjoy. As always, please drink responsibly:
1 ½ ounces Coruba dark Jamaican rum
1 ½ ounces Don Q Cristal light Puerto Rican rum
2 ounces fresh lemon juice
3 ounces fresh orange juice
1 ounce simple syrup
ounce passion fruit syrup
Place all ingredients except peel into shaker, add ice, shake and strain into large snifter with fresh ice. Garnish with orange peel. Serves one.
Passion Fruit Syrup
½ cup passion fruit pulp
(from about 7 ripe fruits; or use Goya Passion Fruit Pulp)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients and boil on medium high, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce to low and simmer until syrup is reduced to 1 ½ cups. Transfer to container and refrigerate; keeps two days.
Link to the LA Times article featuring the recipe…

Thank you for this bartender-​John-​Coltharp.

I came here for a friend’s birthday party and expected more. Walking in there was bamboo, straw grass décor and some island-​y stuff. The environment didn’t give off fine dining though. It seemed very casual. Apparently they used to serve large Lapu Lapu’s (fishbowl sized mai tai’s) but now they only serve small ones. I was on a budget and was expecting ok prices but when I took a look at the menu I was a bit shocked. The place IS nice but not that nice for some of the prices (I did mention earlier this place was casual). I guess that’s Laguna for you. The appetizers were around $ 10 and up, and the dinner entrees range from $ 30 – 60. WOW. The food itself was ok. The ribs were especially good. The meat fell off the bone which I love! The salad and french onion soup wasn’t that great.
Pluses: Service, cleanliness, ribs and strong drinks!
Cons: Expensive food for casual setting, narrow bar area (could barely get through).

The night started out calm, once we got here it was insanity all the way.
After getting out of the taxi, I had to pee immediately. while in the bathroom, I met this drunk girl who had trouble standing up and in her slurred words told me: «you gotssss do get the wopoo woopoo, drink only half otherwise you’ll do a face plant on the floor» (you mean like what you are doing right now?) I found out later woopoo is Lapu Lapu, and so we ordered a round (well, several rounds) of it. After dancing like a teenage girl to the live band playing super gay 80’s music which I love. I returned to our table to find all the guys in our group stumbling and huddled around and drinking a single Lapu Lapu with 3 straws and a bunch of really cute decorative umbrellas??? getting too comfy…
The girls decide to be responsible and dragged these drunk asses out of the bar. The night ends with a friend peeing on a random vehicle/​bushes and passing out backwards on the couch and another friend throwing up 5 times the next day… now, that’s an awesome night!!!