Mirando’s Lakeside

My girlfriend and I just got finished eating at Mirando’s. Walking in, i really enjoyed the décor. I like the fact that an Italian restaurant has actual table cloths. It’s a nice touch that seems to be missing from alot of restaurants you go to nowadays. She ordered the sirloin steak Mediterranean style. I ordered the new York strip with burgundy mushroom sauce. We started the evening off with appetizer plates of bruschetta and an order of mozzarella sticks. I tried the bruschetta for the first time because it looked amazing. From the first bite, I was hooked. It was amazing. We ate the whole plate of both appetizers, the marinara sauce was even amazing. A few minutes later our steaks arrived. Didn’t have to wait long at all after finishing apps to get entrees which I feel is how it should be. Both steaks were juicy and cooked perfectly. The combination of flavors on the plate worked to complement each other. She and I were sharing courses so we could both enjoy everything. The portions are good sized, but not outrageous, exactly as it should be. All in all, an amazing dining experience, and we WILL be back without a second thought about it.
I would like to say thank you to Tim, or server for being on point. He checked on us often enough to tale care of everything we needed but didn’t hover, which allowed us to enjoy our meals, and was very attentive and professional, with a bit of humor mixed in which made us feel at home.
Also a special thanks to Jared, who personally made sure we enjoyed everything, which to me says he cares about his business. You’re doing right, and I hope your restaurant is a staple for many years to come in Big Bear.

Weirdest. Place. Ever. It was almost so awkward, I kinda loved it in a way. It felt like going to a distant relatives house you usually try to avoid — cozy but so so strange.
My cousin, her husband, my fiancé and I came up to Big Bear for the weekend. After eating amazing food the day/​night before and hiking around the mountain and lake we were on the hunt for something delicious. We called a few of our top choices, but they were all booked or had super long waits. Then we found this place, so we loaded up in the car and started driving. It was tucked away behind a hotel in a dark parking lot. As we pulled up I thought «Oh…it’s a dive bar» normally I love dive bars, but not when I want a full meal.
We walked in and I then kinda changed my mental tune. It was actually pretty cute inside. After waiting for about 10 mins, someone finally helped us… the bartender. He seemed very overwhelmed for only having 2 people at the bar and 5 tables full out of their 20 tables. Then there was this young boy wondering around who could have been barley 13 helping bus tables.
We ordered drinks and food all at once to the fluster man. About 20 mins later out drinks came with words of apologies along the lines of «We were out of glasses». Um, what? There’s maybe 25 people in this whole building and your out of cups? Weird. Now we were worried. Hoping that the food wouldn’t be as weird as the service, we kept assuring ourselves. Now about 45 mins have passed and the bartender/​waiter comes by «Guess who forgot to put your food in… ME!» He brought us one soup. We then told him that three of us didn’t eat meat, so he brought out wilted salads and said «I usually don’t like giving people the salads, but here.» He was a real life Chris Farley from the SNL Van Down by the River sketch. He was nice, don’t get me wrong, but it was just all so odd. The food finally came (minus out appetizer but whatever). The food was bland (spaghetti and meatballs, 2 orders of manicotti) and my eggplant was so fried and the skin was tough. After what seemed like forever we were finally free! Confused about what we just experienced, but free.
More happened, but honestly, I don’t feel like typing that much.

I literally have no idea why this place wasn’t packed after snowboarding at big bear. This place was amazing. Our server kiara was also the best.

It’s a really nice Italian hole in the wallish. Nice atmosphere. Waiters are really nice. Salad was so so but i think because of the yummy dressing. I think they keep it in the freezer because the veggies are wilted. The rest of the food was great! I wish we got more garlic bread. It was the best

From our server to the bartender to Jared, the owner of this bar, we received a top notch experience after a long day on the slopes. We came to watch the Packers game and had a great time despite the loss. Fun music, cool space, and even 50 cent pool tables. By far the best bar in Big Bear, you’ll love it

A little difficult to find but the view of the lake was stunning and the service was exceptionally wonderful. The food also was extremely good! One of the best restaurants I’ve been too! They also have a full bar and karaōke nights! It’s definitely a great place to have some dinner or a night out!

This place was great! My friends and I were staying at the inn next door and they delivered food right to our food free of charge (we tipped of course!). When you’ve been cold all day, its nice to be able to stay in your warm room :) I had phoned in the order, and we had some static issues, but the guy on the phone was patient and hilariously honest when I asked for recommendations. The portions were good and priced as expected (the menu is on their website).

Checked out Karaōke Night! Guess they just started doing it every other Friday. $ 3 Margaritas and $ 5 Long Islands. Great crowd and as always great service. We had a blast!

This place was wonderful! We only went for drinks and to check out the place, but the service was outstanding and the view is wonderful!!! It will be spectacular when the lake is more full! They’ve got a real winner of a place here! The restaurant has great ambience & décor. The game room is off to the side & would be great for people with kids if the adults want to have a little alone time. It’s really a great setup the way they have it designed!!! We had their soup of the day which was a spicy Italian sausage soup, and it was AMAZING!!! Can’t wait to come back for dinner!!!

Hands down the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. We should have noticed that something was off when we pulled into the parking lot on a Saturday night and there were only three cars. When we entered the restaurant there was no one to greet us. This is because the poor waitress is the hostess, the bartender, the server, the busboy, and the janitor.
The dining room is lit like the produce section of a supermarket. The lights were so bright during dinner that it gave the place a stressful atmosphere. The second server contributed to the stressful mood by running around the restaurant yelling at the bartender and continually referring to her as «babe» or «honey». This place is in desperate need of a real restaurant manager.
During our dinner two groups of people were sat for dinner and left after not being approached by a waiter after at least 20 minutes. The wait staff was so overwhelmed that they didn’t even notice.
We asked for some bread, and after about 15 minutes we got a few slices of bread put in the toaster as a consolation prize because they were «making» garlic bread and it was not yet done. We finally did get the garlic bread, the cook unceremoniously stacked them on top of my husbands entrée.
I ordered the salmon and my husband ordered the chicken Marsala. Let me preface the description of my meal by saying that I have never had to use a knife to slice a salmon steak. This salmon was so overlooked that it was chewy. The dill sauce had the consistency of paste. The rice was dry, tasteless, and inedible.
My husbands chicken Marsala had cream sauce, and half of it was extremely salty, and the other half had no sauce at all. The sauce was dry and pasty. His lemonade was obviously made from a syrup because the top half of the glass was watered down and the bottom tasted like sugar water.
I seriously felt like I was in an episode of Restaurant Impossible.

I have never been so compelled to write a review in my life. My husband and I were in no way were expecting to have the best Italian meal of our lives. Simply some good food with a killer view.
I apologize in advance for the lengthy review, I simple do not understand how this place has 4 stars.
Now let me start with the positives. This restaurant is in a wonderful location. Any seat in the house will give you a view of the lake. Their patio is dog friendly. Our waiter right a way made sure to get our pup some water even before taking our order. We received menus right away and our waiter took our drink order in a very reasonable time. After returning with our drinks he took our food order.
We kept it simple, I ordered the manicotti, my husband spaghetti and meatballs. He figures if an Italian restaurant can’t make spaghetti and meatballs, then they can’t make Italian food. We ordered the bruschetta as an appetizer and both had the salads with our meals.
And here it begins… They just «ran out» if Caesar dressing so hubby got balsamic instead.
Salads come first, prior to the appetizer, weird but ok. Salad consisted of Iceberg lettuce that looked as though it was hours before the bag was to be tossed into the trash, and grated carrots. I glanced at the table that was seated AFTER we were and they got their salads slightly after we did, their salads had croutons on them. We finished salads and our waiter passed by our table a couple of times promising that our bruschetta was on its way out, never taking away the finished plates.
Flash forward about 15 minutes and we get the «bruschetta». Not traditional what so ever. Picture 6 toast medallions, about the size of a half dollar, drenched in balsamic vinaigrette, with diced tomatoes sprinkled on each one (if you put the sprinkles together you would get the consistency of less than your average sized tomato and melted cheese. No basil. The center of the plate was garnished with hot lettuce.
AND THEN WE WAIT… AND WAIT… AND WAIT!
We waited so long that the table that was seated before us ate, paid their bill and left before we were served our dinner.
The dinner:
Waiter comes with wrong food first and blames the kitchen for the mix up. Total understandable mistake.
We get our meals. Waiter swiftly gets us the red pepper flakes we requested and garnishes my husbands spaghetti and meatballs with cheese.
The manicotti:
Was loaded with so much cheese. It was not made with manicotti pasta, but two lasagna noodles rolled up. It lacked sauce and flavor. It was also stuffed with ricotta cheese and some large bits of garlic and zucchini. At first taste I thought there was a mix up and that I was eating lasagna. If it was supposed to be a vegetable lasagna then it failed. As a manicotti dish it also failed.
The spaghetti and meatballs:
Meatballs tasted like they came out of a bag from the Stater Brothers down the street. Sauce tastes like it came out of a can, they warned it up and never added any other seasonings to it. The plate was loaded with water. Pasta must have not been drained properly prior to placing on plate.
I could have made a better meal from bagged meatballs and canned sauce at home.
Our waiter did apologize for the delay. Stated that they had a rush of tables suddenly and the kitchen never takes so long. I went to the restroom prior. They had 4 tables occupied inside all without food and two outside including ours. He attempted to offer us dessert that they normally make but didn’t today and wine as a compensation to our wait.
Even if we didn’t wait so long for our food, we still would’ve left unsatisfied.

The food is excellent. We took it go and it was still amazing. But if they don’t do something to promote the place, they’re gonna be out of business soon.
They have no phone number online, so you can’t order a to-​go. They’re located in the back corner of a small, dark motel parking lot (you’d think the restaurant was a dive bar if you didn’t go inside) that’s like a ¼ mile off the highway.

We were looking for a good Italian place to eat at while visiting Big Bear Lake on Labor Day, and were expecting a lot more from this restaurant judging by the reviews. However, I’m sad to say we were pretty disappointed with our experience here.
The food was lackluster – something we could have done a better job with making at home. We ordered eggplant Parmesan and the lasagna. The eggplant parm itself was okay, but the pasta and veggies were way overcooked and the marinara sauce tasted like canned tomato sauce. It did not taste fresh and was lacking in flavor. Although the lasagna had better flavor, it was WAY too cheesy and didn’t have enough sauce. Both were served with 2 slices garlic bread, which tasted good but were basically the size of large croutons. The Philly cheesesteak soup and house salad before the meal were actually better than the actual meal.
To end with the silver lining: the view was nice, the place was pretty clean, and the staff were friendly. Other than that, we were not impressed.

Oh my goodness, this place is amazing! Portions are very generous and absolutely delicious. Everyone order something different so you can share, your taste buds will thank you. It is so good we are going back next week to try some of the other dishes. Give it a try, you will be impressed!
Thank you Mirando’s for an enjoyable afternoon!

Wow. Not gonna lie but I’m suprised this place has 5 stars right now. My experience was terrible there was slow service, bad food, and an uninviting atmosphere. We asked for alcoholic beverages and it took them a very long time to deliver it. Then after also waiting a long time for our food we needed to ask for utensils and napkins a few other times during our meal (which isn’t that big of a deal but definitely didn’t help). While in the mean time we heard the staff yelling at each other. The food was way below sub par– the eggplant I ordered lacked of flavor while there was still skin on it and the meat was extremely grisly for what I prefer. The price tag on top of that is higher than other much better restaurants up here. There’s a lot of bad about this place and to be honest I think the only good thing is the location.

Really great food. Lasagna is awesome as well as the eggplant parmigiana! Right next to the lake. Perfect for beautiful sunsets and outdoor seating that overlooks the lake where you can bring your dog to sit and eat.

Love this new Italian restaurant. The location is great, such a beautiful view. Our server wasn’t kidding when they said the plates are big! We had the spinach dip as an appetizer, and I had the eggplant parmesan as my entrée. Both were DELICIOUS! Definitely recommend this place!

We’ve lived up here for many years and I must say I was so pleased to see another restaurant move in after Diamond Lils. The staff is friendly and took good care of us. The food was out on the table within about 15 minutes of us ordering. Everything was absolutely spectacular. The view is incredible as well. We had the salmon, veal Marsala, and eggplant Parmesan. The veggies that come with the meals are some of the best I’ve ever had. Every bite left my mouth watering. There wasn’t a piece of food left on my plate. If you want good Italian food, do yourself a favor and come here. The prices were very reasonable. The outside and inside atmosphere are fairly simple but don’t judge this book by its cover because the food will keep you coming back for more.

We invited our fishin’ buddy to meet us for dinner on a week night. We all liked the menu choices and given time to enjoy our drinks while we selected our dinner. We chose the NY steak, Lasagna and Chicken Marsala. Each of us were pleased with our meal which was prepared to order and beyond expectations. We also enjoyed the Portobello mushroom appetizer. The restaurant is clean and has a nice laid back atmosphere and not too fancy yet a notch above most. Our waiter, Tim, was attentive, polite and kept our drinks filled and made sure our dinner was experience enjoyable. When we arrived, they said we could pick our own seats and we chose a booth with a nice lakeview and we saw others enjoy outdoor seating. The location is nice, prices were very fair and food and service were quality. We’ll return again!

New restaurant opened around the 1^st of July. We ordered the Bruschetta, Veal Parmesan and Veal Marsala both were excellent My husband loved the sauce on his Parmesan. Our waiter was very attentive, the staff friendly. Restaurant was clean. Nice view of the lake and they do have outdoor seating as well! Owner of the restaurant checked on the customers as well.