The Next Door

Worst service ever! Sat at the table by the back doors. Table of ladies left after a 20 minute wait — we decided to see just how long it would actually take, which was 45 minutes. Ridiculous. Two bartenders — no servers. Manager wasn’t very concerned with taking care of it either, blaming it on a shift change.
Food is just okay — loved the stuffed dates but definitely not worth the crappy service and attitudes.

crème brûlée french toast and potatoes.
everything i picke doff my friends plates were also really good.
Slow service on a quiet sunday morning.

Had no idea this place existed until I saw it on Groupon. It’s a big space with nice finishes. It doesn’t look cheap, so don’t let the plain stripmall façade fool you. It’s a great place to go with friends or a date.
The good was quite tasty with great flavors. Drinks were strong! Give it a shot, I always pull the for the local guys. Waiter was really friendly, but service was a bit slow even though it wasn’t that crowded.

Yet another ownership change. Not looking good for longevity.
The good — it is still close to home.
The bad — where do I start.
The young, innovative chef Tony and his bold food are gone. Now going toward Italian-​American/​Sport Bar/​Cocktail Lounge — seriously? Talk about dazed and confused. The food still comes out slow.
A host that could double as a Walmart greeter — just needs a blue vest. Not sure what the point is.
No happy hour love for wine drinkers. Only 2 buck chuck clones get price breaks. Full price for wines actually worth drinking.
And what’s up with the New Age background music — just weird. The last time I was in I was just waiting for the snake charmer to show up with his basket.
Too bad. The owner really needs to visit the Cellar to see what the Next Door could’ve been.

What a wonderful treat! This restaurant is now under new ownership and will be changing their name to Zona’s Italian American Rest. What a value and great food (our compliments to the CHEF) and excellent service. The fact that they have an acoustic guitar and singer during dinner also adds a nice touch. Portions are large so be ready to ask for a doggy bag. Cocktails are reasonable and if you get there before 6:30 you can enjoy the happy hour prices. A nice addition to North San Clemente where we lack some decent places to dine.
Thanks for coming to San Clemente Mr. Zona.

I work right across the street so I come here for lunch every once in awhile. When you first walk in the décor seems like you are in a really really really upscale restaurant. Good atmosphere during the day, nice bartenders. Richie that works the day shift behind the bar is very friendly and awesome at making sure my order comes out quickly while I’m on lunch. if you work close by they will even deliver the lunch to your office. but i personally like to walk over here because I enjoy the ambiance.
I wish they had a greater variety of items on their menu. You HAVE to try the turkey chipotle BTLA with sweet potato fries… you won’t be disappointed! The burgers are HUGE too.
I think that on Friday/​Saturday nights it’s more of a bar/​club. I also heard they have a good Sunday brunch. If I lived closer, I’d try it out.

We did love the dates, but the salmon ceviche was very bland and the wonton chips that came with it were gross. My vanilla orange blossom sangria was NOT good. Our dinners tasted like prepackaged meals with sauce bought at Costco. It was disgusting. We had the flat iron steak and the pork loin.
To top it all off we had bought a plum district deal for this restaraunt and on our way home we realized they had only credited us $ 25 instead of the $ 50 we should have been credited. When I called to straighten it out they said I was wrong. I finally got them to realize that in fact they were wrong. When we returned to get our credit I expected to be offered something anything for the inconvenience, but there was nothing.
Do not waste your time or money atTthe Next Door. Go to Nick’s!

My neighborhood watering hole that I walk to on occassion, but even if I didn’t live close by I would still drive here if for no other reason than to try their bacon wrapped dates. I hated dates before I tried them here and now I can’t get enough.
The ambiance is classy, but not so much that I can’t walk in with shorts and sandals, which I do often and catch a game on the screens behind the bar.
I haven’t eaten dinner here, but it looks really good. The breakfast was pretty damn good, but a bit small in the portions, but I didn’t care because the bloody mary was perfect.
The appitizers are on point. Besides the dates, I practically licked the mediterranean plate clean. The drinks are great and the bartenders are super cool. Tell them what you want and they will make it. If it aint right, tell them and they will do it over and they wont throw attitude about it. They want you to enjoy it and come back. They have live music on the evenings; usually pretty good jam bands or a jazz band. They also get a DJ later in the night and even I cut it up a bit. I have observed a botox cougar or 2 here which I could’ve been into back in the day, but I’ll leave that to all you young bucks, just tell me about it later over a drink at the bar.

Upon entering, I knew this place had a good atmosphere and friendly staff.
The bar had all the ingredients for a drink that I tend to have a hard time finding, which earned a star from me.
We tried 2 salads– sun dried tomato Caesar and the field harvest salad. Both were very tasty. The Caesar was definitely not typical — with pepperoncini and a very different dressing than I’m used to, but I really enjoyed it.
I ordered the Bourbon Babe– pork loin with bourbon sauce, apple slaw, and muenster Mac n cheese. I’m a Mac n cheese fanatic, and few things disappoint me more than cheap cheese-​product Mac n cheese… which this wasn’t — it kept me happy. At least 1 more star.
We also ordered the Ciao Bella– bowtie pasta with mushrooms and asiago crème sauce. I was jealous and will be getting this next time– the few bites I stole were not quite enough.
Overall, outstanding value for very good food.

Went here today after a recommendation. We walked in and it looked like this was going to be quite a pricey experience, but in fact it wasn’t.
The food was excellent and I would def. go back.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 starts is they forgot the chicken on my friends salad and the service was pretty slow at times.

First off: the reason this is three stars is because the service and the beer/​wine list are both excellent. If you want a drink and a good experience getting one, go here.
On to the food…
We’ve eaten brunch here, and enjoyed it greatly. The potato gratin is cheesy goodness. YUM. The omelets were well prepared, and the crabcake benedict was pretty tasty.
Dinner…not so much. We ordered three small plates: firecracker shrimp, the trio of hot wings, and bacon-​wrapped dates. The dates were stuffed with bleu cheese and were one-​bite pieces of bliss on a drizzle of what the menu called cinnamon-​apple jam, but let’s be honest here — it’s apple butter.
The bleu cheese was an interesting twist (usually I see stuffed dates stuffed with parmesan), but you couldn’t really taste it. All in all, though, this a palate-​pleasing appetizer.
The hot wings sampler ranged from average to meh. The cilantro-​lemon sauce is definitely meh — I don’t know what the cook is going for, but it’s nothing outstanding, and not worth trying. The sweet-​hot asian wings were similarly bland, but better than the cilantro-​lemon. The regular buffalo wings were actually fairly good for a buffalo wing. Overall, they were the only ones worth eating. If you want beer and you want wings, get the buffalo wings and be happy.
The hot wings had a secondary problem, which wasn’t the sauce — they weren’t quite fully cooked. There was a touch of rawness to them that made them unappetizing.
Last, the firecracker shrimp. This was just a confused plate of «what?». Boiled shrimp with… some sauce and… peppers? I guess? Is it supposed to be spicy? (It wasn’t.) It just sucked. Would not order again.
We also had a market salad, which I liked because it was not too heavily dressed, and was chock full of «goodies» (dried cherries, apples, glazed pecans). My dining companion complained that the vegetables were a little too hard to eat with a fork. Valid complaint, but it was still tasty.
Last, the oreo cheesecake bars, apparently made in-​house. Was not wild about ‘em. The cheesecake had no zing, though the oreo crust was good. Plated, it just looked ugly — bars of black and white with some white whipped cream and one sad little mint leaf. Could have benefited from some sort of compote or fruit garnish.
It’s definitely a mixed bag, and some of the dishes don’t quite tie together. I think if you’re there for what we were (drinks and a few bites to eat) it’s not bad. And admittedly, we did not order any entrees. But after the disappointment of the apps, I’m not sure I want to.
In short: good drinking spot, some good small plates, we’ll definitely be back for the beer list, but the food won’t call us back anytime soon.

After seeing an ad in a local magazine, I decided to give The Next Door a try. I am all about supporting new businesses! And I was not disappointed! The inside is a little dim but well furnished with hardwood floors. We tried the crème brûlée french toast and country eggs benedict. The french toast was tasty but a little to bruleed for my taste. I ordered it with scrambled eggs and bacon. The eggs were light and fluffy and the bacon crispy but not too crispy. The country eggs benedict was fantastic except they ran out of sausage so we had it with bacon instead. The gravy is peppery and yummy and it comes with a side of this cheesy and creamy potato gratin. Service was good, too. The waitress kept coming back to check on us, clear the table, and give us our check in a timely manner. We are definitely adding this place to our regular joints list.

After a couple of friends said to check out The Next Door we were looking forward to going. We got there; we were greeted by a friendly hostess and who promptly seated in a quiet booth in the corner. The lighting was dim and soft.
The European style bottled water was a nice touch; atmosphere/​décor was something I would pick out myself.
We ordered the wing sampler «extra crispy please»… I ordered the stuffed chicken, he had the Burger. The waitress confirmed that we would like our meals after appetizers and we concurred. The kitchen didn’t get the memo. We got all of our food at once.
The wings weren’t crispy and the flavor was just okay. According to the burger connoisseur, the burger was really good, almost great… As for me, I made a couple of cuts and did my normal «stuffed chicken doneness inspection» and it appeared to be good to go. I should have been paying more attention in that dim lighting, or brought my meat thermometer form home. A nice big bite of… not slightly pink… not a little under cooked… but salmonella coated raw chicken in my mouth… the horror!
The waitress looked as mortified as I did (as I was rinsing my moth with their European style bottled water) and rushed to get the manager.
I was informed that while she was sorry that had happened and assured us we would not be charged for the chicken… She then continued with …“well you DID order a new menu item…” as if it were my fault. Chicken is a new menu item? Or is the raw part new? Thanks, but no thanks!

Last night we ended up at The Next Door when Miyako Sushi had a wait. Though my mom was said she couldn’t get her Spicy Tuna Roll, she was up for something new. My dad, though, begrudgingly went for it saying that the wait to be served might defeat the purpose of not waiting to have sushi.
My dad and I got draft beers, he the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial (9.0% alcohol much to his delight. It was very flavorful — especially on the coffee end. He liked it so much he got another) and I the PranQster which I very much enjoyed. My mom enjoyed a glass of chardonnay, but I’m not sure what she got besides ordering 2.
We started with the Mediterranean Plate which was just as delicious as the first time. A little concerned that there wouldn’t be enough for 3 as my dad and I split it last time. Thankfully, though, it was just perfect and my mom commented she could easily have that as a meal in itself.
For meals my mom got the Sliders which she just devoured in joy. The server warned her that most people request 2nds on the homemade BBQ sauce — which she also ended up requesting. My question — if this is a constant, why not give a bigger serving of BBQ sauce in the first place? She just LOVED the dish and I think if she didn’t have an appetizer could have ordered another set.
My dad repeated his order of the Grilled Salmon. Such a good dish.
I tried their Pumpkin soup and followed it with their Field Harvest Salad. You knew for sure the soup was Pumpkin because it almost tasted like pie. It wasn’t too sweet and I quite enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds. A cup was just enough.
The Field Harvest Salad was an amazingly good deal for $ 7. It was HUGE and delicious. A little on the sweet side, but I enjoyed its hardy good portion and all the little treats of dried cherries, green apples, sliced grapes, and candied pecans. I especially enjoyed the touch of scallions. Gotta love me some scallions.
Didn’t have any room for dessert this time, but the meal was so good as was the service that we were happy. Props to the waiter and kitchen for putting out food promptly. Anything to keep my dad happy kept the rest of us happy.
Looked like the place was very popular for a Friday night. A great sign. Keep it up!

I wasn’t overly impresses with the food. The portions were great, and the service was good, but for the money I wanted more flavor. I had the Chicken Pot Pie and it was dry and it lacked seasoning. My wife had the Beef Dip and she said her meal lacked seasoning too. We also had cocktails, and they were very weak, I only tasted the soda mixer, no alcohol.
I recommend trying different meal items and getting beers… You can’t water a beer down ;-)