Ma’Kai Lounge

I enjoy coming here with some of my friends on weekends. It’s pretty chill and they play some pretty good music. It’s chill, it’s a cool place to be, and it’s a fun environment. Downfalls: it gets really packed and you can’t move around. Also, it will take you 20 minutes to get a drink. Other than that, I’m sure you will have a good time.

By far the worst nightlife experience to date. As a nightlife professional I have never experienced such lack of professionalism and basic knowledge from a cocktail waitress. I met some friends here this past Saturday 6÷4÷16. We had a table, and ordered solely from the waitress. The bar was packed, so I understand slow service. What I don’t understand is running into the waitress in the bathroom, while she’s texting and on Facebook, while our drinks are sitting on the bar and she’s showing absolutely no urgency or care about her job whatsoever. My friend opened a tab with her. At the end of the night we get the tab back and the waitress gave my friend’s card to another customer who had left. She also charged the other customer’s bottle service tab ($ 600+) to her card, when our tab was $ 48. Not to mention the auto gratuity, which she not only did not deserve, we did not consent to, tipping is not required and you cannot automatically add gratuity. The waitress then offered absolutely no compensation, and point blank lied about charging the bottle service to my friend’s card. She also acted like giving her card away was no big deal because it was a temporary card from the bank. $ 600 and giving someone’s card away is more than a little mistake. I also had to find the manager to tell her what had happened, since the waitress was trying to get away with it.
The crowd was scummy. People were over served. As someone who doesn’t drink, works in the industry, and went to dance, I will never be back. The girl should be fired.

This place used to be awesome and frequented by locals, long before the Taco Tuesday signs, cheesy DJ nights and suspected management/​ownership transfer. I am rating this 5 stars instead of 2 (stale rice on sushi rolls??? No service until hassling the hostess more than once???) because of Ma’Kai’s ability to provide a reliable experience even if it kinda sucks. I often get taken to places in this neighborhood based on Unilocal reviews and I so appreciated a visit to ma’kai instead. It is what it is, it ain’t what it ain’t. You won’t hate it.

Wow, where to start?
My friends and I came here this past weekend to celebrate my friend’s birthday but instead had half of my party cussed out by one of waitresses. While I do understand that the waitress felt she had a point in asking my friend to sit down instead of sitting above the booth seats, I can’t wrap my head around why she exploded on us saying «Hey get the fuck off that booth». Naturally, my friend was shocked and freaked out like is she serious? The waitress then said «Bitch I work here, get the fuck down and get the fuck out». My mind was blown away at this point, but I remained calm and just told the rest of my party to leave. The bouncers then came and kicked us all out after we asked to speak to the owner. Unbelievable. I was really anticipating a night at Ma’Kai, but after this experience, I feel the need to spread the word so no one else ends up with negative experience. I won’t say its entire staff showed bad service, but I did have the unfortunate night of sharing it with the worst staff I’ve ever met. NEVER AGAIN

Menu is overpriced for the quality of the food. Items are limited and generic. Calamari was like out of a frozen bag thrown into a fryer with cheap oil. I had a shrimp tempura sushi roll that was bland and not crunchy at all. Dragon sushi roll was also generic. The table we sat at looked dirty but the waitress said it was just old and used. For their pricing, I would expect a more presentable dinner table. I’m pretty sure this place is better used as a a bar/​night time scene in Santa Monica and less as a dinner establishment.

Very disappointed with the bouncers here. Had a very difficult time because the bouncer thought my id was fake. My id was not fake and he would not let me in. I was very upset because I ubered all the way here from downtown LA and was told no. I asked him to call the manager to look at my id because he obviously was unfamiliar with Illinois ids and he would not. Probably never coming back here again.

The first time I went here I though it was cool and they had good music .
I came back to show the place to my friends (6 girls /​all 21). The bouncer without question looks at my sister and my Illinois ID and said «You are not getting in tonight» then said the ID was fake. When asking to speak with management, the bouncer claimed he was in charge so there was no one to talk to. Even the other bouncers told him that the ID was real and he continued to not let us in. I asked for them to call the police to check the ID and he refused. I think he felt stupid that he thought the ID was fake so he just kept making excuses but was so rude about it.
Terrible management and communication. They would not let any of my friends in after claiming there was attitude .
Will never return.

The food here was mediocre. The calamari was standard — nothing too special. Fish tacos were small but was overall tasty. The fish itself was a little bland but the mango salsa gave the fish a flavor kick.
We also ordered the chicken breast dish which turned out to be chicken leg meat. Kind of a bummer.
For drinks, we tried the sugar cane mojito. The first one was good, second one was way too sweet. Their sea breeze was also a little bitter. Overall, could have been a much better experience. With all the other food options nearby, I’ll definitely just stick to going to Ma’kai for drinks with friends from now on.

Everything about this place is 1-​star quality. The food was just horrible. The fish tacos were way too small and tasted like cardboard. The ceviche was ok but low quality compared to lots of other ceviches. The burger tasted like burnt hair. The truffle fries had a very «chemically» taste to it.
Now to the crowd… Where do they find these people? I’m no Zoolander, but wow!

Nausea.
Thats what i experienced after eating the food here. the burger was not good, the fries were decent. dont even bother, for your own sake.
the environment was horrific. it was like havign dinner at a club. i get that its a lounge but it just felt dirty, looked dirty. the server wasn’t that great either. just an overall miss.

I’ve been here on multiple occasions and my experiences have varied. Their food is very mediocre. I ordered the sliders and I feel as if I could make better ones.
During the summer they have salsa nights which are such a blast! I highly recommend checking this place out during those times!

I would give this a negative star but it wouldn’t let me.
The bouncers at the front that would no give their names are absolutely rude in fact they called us «bitches» when I asked again for their names they said fuck you and get out of here.
I have never been treated so poorly in my life.
They also said no matter what they can say and do what they want. They treat you poorly and not to mention racist. They made it a point that they were racist.
If you are looking for a great time this will not be the place for you.
Management needs to reconsider their security staff because they will loose a tremendous amount of money, I wanted to purchase a table and a bottle and I will never give this place my business.

If I could give this place ZERO starts I would!
I don’t even know where to start! I called to make reservations for my birthday on a Saturday night, they told me a table would be $ 1000 but I could invite my friends to just dance. I told them about 40 of my friends would be there and ask if there would be enough room for all of us they said of course! I show up to the place at 10pm and it is jam packed with a bunch of 19 year old college students! I thought this is a classy restaurant that they turn into a lounge, not a frat party!
Second, I asked them if I could bring a cake for my birthday they said it’s ok and that there is a cake cutting fee which is $ 3 a slice! I had agreed to this fee, but I was horrid when they brought out pieces of my cake on plates and sang happy birthday to me with a piece of chocolate! I Could Not believe they cute my cake before I could take pictures and sing happy birthday! I spoke to the manager and he said it was our policy… their policy is to cut the cake before they sang happy birthday!!! Are you kidding me? They never told me this, and the guy was a complete a$$hole!
I have never been treated soo poorly, and it was my birthday!
Do not go to this place, rude management, frat house with people sweating cause it’s wayyyy too hot, no room to even move!

Oh man! I wasn’t really a huge fan of this place. I mean you would think because of the location that it would be a cool spot to hang out at, grab a few drinks and eat some good food. Well unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
We ended up coming here for a friend’s birthday at about 6pm and the plan was to wait until the DJ got there at about 10pm and we couldn’t do it. The only thing that saved that place was the football game was on and that was pretty exciting. We decided to order off of the happy hour menu that didn’t have happy hour prices.
FISH TACOS — the fish tacos were the best out of everything we ordered. They get a ⁴⁄₅ because these were delicious. The fish wasn’t fishy and the mango salsa they added was perfect.
SHRIMP TEMPURA CUT ROLL — These might have been the worst sushi we have had. It was extremly bland to me, the rice was chewy and my fiancé said they were too fishy for her. We ended up sending them back and getting the sliders.
SLIDERS — the sliders were ok but for the price it definitely wasn’t worth it. It was just a bun, a square of cheese and a drop of ketchup. The meet was really good but the burger as a whole was dry and plain.
VEGGIE EGG ROLLS — I had a piece and passed on the rest. I let my fiancé devour those because I knew she wasn’t happy with the rest oft he food. Plus, I wasn’t really feeling them anyway.
So long story short, we probably won’t be coming back here and after we left my fiancé wanted a Big Mac. Happy birthday to my boy though!
OOO
3 out of 5 Afros

I came here with a group of coworkers one night when we happened to be in the area. After walking around the Santa Monica Pier we all had built up an appetite. We were seated almost immediately and the place didn’t look crowded at all. For a place that didn’t appear to be too busy, our server wasn’t incredibly attentive. What disappointed us the most was the amount of time it took for the food to end up coming out. We waited around 40 minutes or so. As a couple others have pointed out here, the food came out warm, not steaming hot. The presentation of the food looked great which heightened everyone’s expectations. It also had good flavor for not coming out hot. I know it’s hard when you’re cooking for a crowd of 8 to get everyone’s dish out at the same time and have it all the right temperature.
When you’re experiencing a long wait time and you’re hungry you are hoping that the food doesn’t disappoint. It wasn’t a complete disappointment on my end, but I was expecting more for the price of the dish. It’s more than obvious here that the owner knows the restaurant is at an ideal location for locals and tourists. They’re milking you dollar wise. You aren’t getting the best tasting flavored food for your dollar here. Take into consideration that rent in this area is really high, and they’re doing what they can to make profit. Next time I’m in the area, I may give this place a second chance and come back and edit my review. It’s not a definite from my end though considering there’s so many other places to eat in this area, and my first time around failed to impress.

Food was good. Not great. Portions were decent and dishes very presentable. Service was good. Food could have been more flavorful.
This is better as a bar than great dining experience. Would not repeat with all the avaliable choices in the area.

Not all to special truth to be told.
Ma’Kai offers a bit of everything it seems, which can be nice if a decision can’t be made about where to eat. I came on a Taco Tuesday for a small lunch with my friend and we ended up getting a taco of each of their offering. Fish, chicken, and beef were the options. The chicken taco was plain, very uninteresting and the fish the same. The beef was seasoned well unlike the other two and there were nice chunks of meat.
Mostly we were killing time so that traffic would die down so we ended up ordering a few drinks as well. My friend ordered a dirty martini and myself a Sapporo. The prices are a bit expensive and I would have gave this place a 3 star but a manager comped us a second round so +1.
We ended up ordering a bit of seafood as well to accompany our drinks with the Ahi Poke on Wonton, Calamari, and Spicy Tuna cut roll. Sadly they weren’t all too amazing. It did pair nice with the Sapporo though.

Not meant for a nice ocean view dinner!
Incredibly noisy on a Sunday night. And not in the form of a crowded establishment with many dinner goers enjoying conversation. It was loquacious and sloppy people all over the restaurant.
The host was pleasant but also seemed nervous and unsure of what to do about the unruly patrons. She happily moved our seats once when we tried to go to the patio to alleviate the noise at least a little bit.
Food was mediocre, fish was burned on the bottom. Would not recommend to visitors!

Came here for dinner and just drinks before and love the décor. Plus, you can’t beat the view of the ocean and outdoor seating. They have one table that’s on the patio with a fire pit in the middle which is great when having dinner.
They also have a DJ at night so a good spot for dancing as well!

I came here with a group on a saturday afternoon around 2:30pm. It was pretty empty, so we were able to get the table with the fire pit. It was a cold day, so this was a huge plus. We all ordered drinks, and I highly recommend the «white orchid sangria.» By 4pm (when happy hour started), the place was packed with lots of good looking, young people. It was a great, fun vibe.
Cons: I came here for my roommate’s birthday celebration and I went up to the waitress and ordered the molten chocolate cake for us since we were celebrating a birthday. I waited over 30mins and it never came… and then we all decided to leave to go somewhere else. Very disappointed! If it wasn’t for the cool vibe and good drinks, I would have given 2 stars.