Ivory Restaurant & Lounge

Love this place! Was recommended by a local when visiting. I had the swordfish special and was great! The ice cream cookie is fantastic!

So everything was pretty good when it came to entertainment and food. Our server Julia was not knowledgeable enough to be taking orders. When you say a tall glass of vodka soda that means just put it in a tall glass and if you misunderstand than verify with the customer. We got charged $ 13.00 dollars for one drink instead of the $ 7.00 (after ordering 12 drinks total). We understand mistakes happen but in the food and beverage industry you try and fix the problem for the customer. She seemed to be careless. Other than that, our food was good! And Ilya the entertainment was awesome.

Tried this off a deal that was posted. Fantastic dinner, sea bass was melt in your mouth, lamb chops were perfectly cooked.

Both service and food were excellent! We started with the Boom Boom shrimp which my husband and I both agreed was delicious. He had the seabass and I had the prawns and both were also delicious. Our gentleman server was very pleasant as was the co-​owner, Olga. Location is cozy and tucked in with a shopping/​business area which makes for easy parking. Definitely recommend!

Last night we had a reservation and arrived on time at 7pm. Were seated outside. All good, except we were totally ignored for 20 minutes out there, not even a greeting.
We then stood up and walked back inside and were seated at the bar for dinner. (like we didn’t have a reservation made 2 weeks ago)
Even there the service was grossly slow and the lack of serving staff made an otherwise delightful meal, uncomfortable.
Well, the food was great, but place is understaffed, on peak nights, it seems.
So sad.

Apparently, like so many other people in this restaurant, we saw a bunch of Travelzoo customers here at Ivory. If it wasn’t for Travelzoo, we would have never found this place! Loved it. Our waiter was so friendly and accommodating. We ordered the crêpe short ribs with mushroom sauce (absolutely amazing!), filet (like everyone said, cooked to perfection and very flavorful), side dishes included homemade creamy soft mash potatoes and perfectly cooked spinach. To top it off, the chocolate/​vanilla bomb was great. Thought parking was going to be a pain b/​c it’s Laguna but lot was large and had ample parking. Would definitely return and will absolutely bring/​recommend friends here. Cute place!

Restaurant is located in an almost hidden shopping center which is pretty easy to miss. However lots of parking which is always a perk.
Upon arrival, the restaurant was a lot smaller than I envisioned but very nicely decorated and it looked to be pretty happening. Our hostess (which we later found out was one of the owners), was very accommodating and went out of her way for us to have our desired table.
As for the food, I must say everything we had was hands down delicious from the complementary bread (which comes with a delicious house sauce), down to our entreè everything was exquisite. We had the boom boom shrimp (must have), kale salad with shrimp (delicious), & the pasta pomodoro with shrimp. We had also ordered the bilini however, the chefs took too long to make it and we had to cancel our order. The owner came up to us after and apologized for that and even gave us a $ 25 off certificate for next time we dinner there which was pretty neat.
The reason why I am not giving this place 5 starts is because the service seem to be lacking. Perhaps it is because it’s valentines weekend and the place was pretty full. I just feel as if they probably need more help in the kitchen. Otherwise everything was absolutely exquisite. I will update next time I revisit this restaurant.

After a much anticipated visit to Ivory, our experience was disappointing. We will not be back.
I’ll start with the pros — Sea bass was fantastic. Some of the best prepared I’ve had in my life. NOTE: I am a fisherman and love/​know seafood! Filet Mignon was fantastic, as well. NOTE: We love fine steaks, and this meat was of exceptional quality. Every bite was great — great flavor and no «stringy stuff’ or other distractions.
Cons (aka, Why-​we-​will-​not-​be-​back)
We had reservations, but still had to wait over 20 minutes for table.
Bartender was not all that friendly.
After sitting at the bar (because our table wasn’t ready for over 20 minutes), we ordered drinks — the bartender works very slowly, and it was a long time before he asked us what we had decided to drink.
Drinks were — horrible. Lemon drop was just «meh.» My martini was also just «meh.» Both tasted quite watery — regardless of how they make it, or even how much alcohol they use (or don’t), it doesn’t matter: the final products tasted watery.
Our server was quite peculiar. The other two servers on each side of us were very nice and mainstream, but ours was… peculiar. For example, when we asked about desserts, he didn’t recommend the cheesecake and made a sour face; when asked why, he said, «Cheesecakes are just weird.» Who says this kind of (personal opinion?) thing to patrons in a restaurant??! Lol.
The salad we ordered was just «meh.» Pretty much just greens, with very few toppings, etc. No big deal.
The restaurant is small, which in and of itself is no problem, but we constantly smelled a mixture of clashing food smells from the nearby kitchen.
The décor is cheap (I’m pretty sure that’s a fact), and tacky (that’s my opinion). The bathroom especially reflects these elements — it’s way «overdone.» (Again, my personal opinion. Who knows — maybe you’ll like it?).
The scallops — NOT good. We love scallops, and these ones were just not good tasting. There were also only two of them. Location — strangest place ever — not very enjoyable.
SUMMARY — this restaurant is outrageously expensive for what you get. (NOTE: We have no problem playing any $$$ for fantastic food/​experience; we are not the «cheap portions are good» kind of people.) Although the sea bass and filet mignon were fantastic, the combination of location, décor, and customer service make this restaurant an experience we are not eager to repeat. Given our geographical area, there are many other restaurants with not only fantastic food, but also excellent customer service, décor, location, and inside design. Decide as you will, yourself, but we feel this place is way overrated on Unilocal

Great restaurant with a party vibe. Food is excellent and reasonably priced $ 20 corkage fee

Pros:
1. Great parking
2. The service is spectacular. The owner and waiters were attentive.
3. Most of the food. The best items were Blini, Braised Short Ribs, and the Chocolate BOmba.
COns.
1. The organic chicken kiev was a let down. The chicken was dry. For the price the chicken better be cooked to perfection!

We will be dreaming about the appetizer we ate here. The rest of the meal was good as well, and we would go back. We ate:
Short rib blini — if you’re nearby, stop reading, and go eat this! It was a Ukranian crêpe, with short ribs and mushroom sauce. AMAZING! This was honestly the best thing I’ve eaten in a restaurant in a while. Light, airy and delicious crêpe, with tender, juicy short ribs and a creamy mushroom sauce. Just awesome.
Sea bass — perfectly cooked, tasty piece of fish. Very good. Served with mashed potatoes that were good as well.
Chicken Kiev — this was a bit of a mixed bag. Perfectly cooked, juicy chicken, but lacking seasoning. A bit more flavor on the meat and the breading, and this could have been great.
It’s in a strip mall, and seems like a starter restaurant, but it’s nice inside, and they can definitely cook. Seems like a promising spot.

My husband and I just enjoyed our first dining experience here on New Years Eve. My only thought was why have we not eaten here sooner??? It is quite hidden surrounded by many small art galleries, so I feel this newer restaurant has yet to be discovered. This is a positive as when word gets out on how delicious the food is here, it will be hard to get a reservation. The ambience is very romantic, and décor tastefully done. Is a bit on the smaller side so call ahead and put your name down to avoid a wait. We were warmly greeted and had a very attentive and accommodating server. May I say the Chilean Seabass with lobster sauce was out of this world? I am VERY picky when it comes to the preparation of this fish. Ivory served it cooked to perfection and slightly crispy on the outside. Well done on the Boom Boom Shrimp as well. Can’t wait to dine here again!

I took my husband here for his birthday dinner and after seeing good reviews I thought it would be a fun new place to try. The décor is nice inside modern style, which I liked.
The food is just good, nothing horrible but honestly nothing knocked my socks off. The brie appetizer was lack luster and the toast points were worthless.
My seabass was slightly over cooked but still good. My husband had the short ribs and he said they we ok, again nothing that knocked our socks off.
For the price I’d say you can get a better meal elsewhere.

I do not understand why this place has high reviews. We made a reservation and had to wait about 15 minutes upon check in even though there were empty tables just because it was so disorganized. Service continued to be slow throughout the night. The décor is tacky and cheap. The food was also terribly disappointing. The location is not good also as it is not near anything except the festival of the arts. Shr

This meal just kept getting better and better! We started with the baked brie, delicious! Lobster ravioli, Chilean sea bass, shrimp with risotto, and the espresso ice cream dessert were all absolutely perfect. This was probably the best meal I have had in two years, and I’m just thrilled that it is a local gem. Thank you for the great food, great drinks, great service and atmosphere. We’ll be back soon, trust me.

I will round up on this one to 3 stars, but it is probably 2 ½. There is nothing wrong with the place, the food is fine, but that is about it, just fine. My wife and I went there for dinner, and we were running a bit late for our mid week reservation and the restaurant called to make sure we were still coming. They said it was fine we were late, but there was only one other table in the place when we got there, and they were wrapping it up. Kudos to the staff for not making us feel rushed.
The food though is just ordinary. Not ordinary in that it tastes bad, but ordinary in that it just is not interesting. I had the sour, which was a cream of asparagus, with the emphasis on cream. My wife had the beet and goat cheese salad, and both dishes were exactly as they would have been served in a fine dining establishment 20 years ago.
My rack of lamb was properly cooked, but again it was something straight out of a «Continental Dining» menu from the 90s, or earlier. Not everything has to be edgy, but staid does not cut it either in this day and age, especially not at these prices.

Very nice and upscale restaurant. It is a little off the beaten path in Laguna Beach (outside of the main area), however it is worth the small detour. The food was done well and had great service. I went there with four other people and we all kind of shared each others food.
We were sitting outside and when the food came out, the plates were massive to the point of making hard to fit everything on the table. We had to move glasses and remove our wine glasses to make room. The entrée plates were very big. They were even hanging over the edge of the table for some of our party. I would recommend getting some plates that actually fit your table so the guests don’t have to play awkward table re-​arrange every time food is served. That being said, the actual food was pretty good. Here is the list of food we had.
Hors d ‘Oeuvres
— Wagyu Pomodoro (Meatballs) — I love me some meatballs and these ones were good. They had a good sauce with a great flavor.
— Ivory Crab Cakes — If you like crab cakes, I would say these ones are just okay. I find that crab cakes are typically amazing or not that amazing. I probably would not order these again.
Main Dish
— Chilean Seabass — Compared to other seabass I have eaten, this one is somewhere just higher than middle of the road. Good flavor when eaten with the white truffle risotto.
— Filet Perigoudine (filet mignon) — Great steak. If you are a steak person you will enjoy this. Cooked exactly to the temp we requested and has a truffle demi sauce that is excellent.
— Capellini Di Parma (angel hair pasta with shrimp) — This dish is kind of typical for what you would expect from angel hair pasta and shrimp. Pretty safe dish. They could have put a little more pasta in this dish.
— Sea Scallops a la Meuniere — Out of all the dishes we have tasted, I think this was the best dish. The scallops had great flavor and were pretty large and tender. I was a little envious of the friend that ordered this.
— Lobster Pasta Dish (Off menu as they ran out of the lobster ravioli) — This one was just okay too. I was expecting more out of this dish. This one was available due to the restaurant running out of the lobster ravioli so I am assuming they don’t make this one that often or it was not good enough to make the menu.
Sides
— White Truffle Risotto — Good for a white truffle risotto, however they had this as a side in a lot of their dishes, more than expected. I would say that they may want to mix it up a little more and give a little more variety.

Found this lil gem in Laguna beach! My husband and I celebrated our 12^th year years Anniversary and Valentine’s Day here tonight. It was phenomenal! One of the best experiences we had
1^st * — great location and ambiance
2^nd * — service was excellent
3^rd * — foods were exceptionally delicious
4^th * — food presentation was amazing
5^th * — great hospitality
Overall experience was a 5 stars for us. We highly recommend this restaurant for either a romantic date night or simply just a girls night out:))

The Ivory Restaurant is a great place to have a nice, upscale dinner. We came on a Thursday night, and the restaurant was relatively empty. No worries — our group provided plenty of noise and laughs throughout the evening.
We started with the boom boom shrimp (delicious sauce!), the ceviche with a variety of seafood, the crab cakes with Asian flavors, the goat cheese & beet salad, and heirloom caprese (great combination of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella). Sharing the appetizers and salads gave everyone a variety to enjoy.
Then we all had different dishes, from the house chicken curry, to the chilean seabass, to the braised short ribs, and the capellini di parma, Everything was flavorful and cooked well. The short ribs and sea bass were exalted by all.
The service was friendly and the ambiance is very nice. A welcome addition to Laguna Beach.

First, I need to say thank you, fellow Unilocalers. Your reviews inspired our visit to Ivory and it was just as spectacular as expected. Simple to make reservations via their website, by the way.
As others have said, it’s a little off the main drag and there’s quite a bit of surrounding construction that makes the initial entry confusing. However, once you’re in the lot, it’s no nonsense. Free, open lot (not sure about summer when fests are nearby?). Wow. I’m getting jaded by awful OC parking.
Anyway, Ivory is beautiful. Small, intimate, open kitchen, just the right amount of ambient light. The boyfriend was even bewitched and started talking sweet nothings… don’t tell him I told you he’s a softy underneath the scruff and tattoos.
Our server Julia brought a sample of two wines I requested to try: a Jordan and a Bouchaine. I ended up ordering the 2012 Jordan Chardonnay ($ 15) because when a restaurant offers Jordan by the glass you’d be an idiot not to order it. And because the Bouchaine was late harvest, translation: very sweet, more of a dessert wine. If the server had explained that right off the bat I would have told her to disregard the sampling.
A man, who we later found to be the owner, touched the table immediately and suggested we order the boom boom shrimp; We’d already decided that was our appetizer and it was amazing. A perfect balance of sweet, spice and creaminess.
Boyfriend ordered the sea bass for his entrée. Everything on that plate was delicious. The lobster cream sauce accompanying it is something I could drink out of a mug (says my inner fat kid). YUM.
I had initially chosen the lobster ravioli off the regular menu, but upon hearing the chef’s duck special I changed my mind. I wish I’d stuck with my original choice, unfortunately, as the duck was not cooked medium rare as it should have been. It had a nice peppery cognac sauce and a beautifully cooked mushroom risotto, though, so I looked past the overcooked protein.
We ended dinner with a couple of coffees. The owner, Gary, stopped to ask if we’d ordered dessert. We laughed and told him we didn’t have room. Well, that didn’t stop him from sending out a lovely little piece of tiramisu. Well, if you hadn’t won over the boyfriend with the bass, you sealed the deal with his favorite dessert.
Food, 4.5 out of 5 (next time I’ll stick to the tried and true menu)
Service, 5 out of 5
Ambiance, 5 out of 5
This is a little gem in Laguna. I hate reviewing it because it’s going to become like Anjin. A fight to get reservations at a small, quality restaurant. There aren’t going to be empty tables on Saturday night for long.