Following the success of the Alessá family of three restaurants, award winning Chef Alessandro Pirozzi opened his new Mare Culinary Lounge in May 2012. Mare, the fourth restaurant in Alessandro Pirozzi’s Culinary Collection, is intimate, chic, and the perfect place to pop into for martinis and scrumptious appetizers. The hip, internationally inspired décor and imaginative cuisine brings haute dining to a piquant new culinary level. Among the recent phenomenal changes on the Laguna Beach dining scene, the most extraordinary was the late spring emergence of Mare Culinary Lounge.
"A lovely evening overall. We felt like we were back in Italy. From the quality of the food and wine to the friendliness of the staff, this restaurant matches the best you can find in Italy."
Dined on 5/15/2013
Special Features: fit for foodies, great for outdoor dining, neighborhood gem
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"Parking was easy in parking lot. Reservation was on time. Feels nice and plush inside. Outdoor patio is cute and quaint. No beach view but still get some sun out there. Food was delish. Can't complain!
We were a party of 6 for Mother's Day brunch. Mom was happy. :)"
Dined on 5/12/2013
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, great for outdoor dining, great for brunch, neighborhood gem, hot spot, special occasion
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"My wife and I had a nice anniversary dinner at Mare. We were very impressed with the food. I had the seafood linguine, my wife had their lemoncini infused pasta with lobster. Both very good! We sat outdoors in their courtyard, which is part of the pool area of the Holiday Inn--was a nice evening to be outside but a little odd having people entering their hotel rooms looking down at us and our meal from the level above."
Dined on 04/20/2013
2006
Special Features: great for outdoor dining, neighborhood gem, romantic
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"Great Restaurant experience... Food is excellent, good quality, love the décor. Will definitely dine at Mare Culinary Lounge in the very near future...."
Dined on 04/06/2013
2010
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, fit for foodies, great for brunch, great for outdoor dining, late-night find, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, special occasion
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"Service and food are outstanding. Fish is perfectly prepared and every dish was very tasty. Seven of us dined here recently and every single one of us raved about the food. Prices are very reasonable and wine selection is also great."
Dined on 03/28/2013
2009
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, neighborhood gem, notable wine list
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"It was very busy when we arrived and it took 15 minutes to get some attention but when Yvette showed up she was fantastic; extremely personable, efficient and made some great recommendations. food was creative, tasty and extremely well priced, and NO CORKAGE. Gluten free pasta available too."
Dined on 03/23/2013
2001
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, neighborhood gem
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"Very disappointed. Tacky decor, very noisy, awful furniture, food was fair. Pasta was fresh, but nothing in it that was memorable or special. Also in a Holiday Inn Express!"
Dined on 03/23/2013
2008
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"Yes, they are located in a Holiday Inn - That is where any possible negative stops. From the second you walk into the beautifully appointed restaurant to the amazing starters to the delicious homemade pasta's and the knowledgeable staff, everything is a hit. I highly recommend Mare and it will definitely be a must for me every time I visit Laguna Beach."
Dined on 03/22/2013
2009
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, fit for foodies, good for groups, great for brunch, great for outdoor dining, kid-friendly, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, romantic, special occasion, hot spot
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"Absolutely wonderful. Celebrated my 60th b-day here with family - party of 10. Service was impeccable and food delicious. Still dreaming about the burrata appetizer. Thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. Without prompting, they brought me out a birthday dessert and complimentary dessert for the entire table!! Can't wait to go back."
Dined on 03/07/2013
2010
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, neighborhood gem, romantic, special occasion
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"This was a last minute find on a Sunday night at it was exceptional. Rudy, our server, was very sincere and gave some excellent recommendations. The sea bass and lamp chop specials were excellent. We paired our butter nut squash ravioli with an italian white wine and both were delicious compliments to each other. To top it off, there was a live jazz band in the bar (only on Sunday nights). Definitely recommend this place for a date night or any special occasion. It can get crowded on Friday and Saturdays, so make a reservation. Sunday it was very mellow."
Dined on 03/10/2013
2010
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, fit for foodies, late-night find, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, romantic, special occasion
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"The food was great! Has a full bar and a decent wine list (even by the glass selection is large). The service was excellent! The ambiance is a little eh - it's nice, but cheap nice and noise carries through the place very easily so if there's a loud table you can't hear your own conversation."
Dined on 02/28/2013
2008
Special Features: late-night find
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"We requested a nice table but were seated at the worst place- in the bar. They took 3 tables meant for 2 each, and turned them sideways to smash in the 10 of us. The bar was so noisy that we couldn't hear anyone at the other end of our small table; they shouldn't seat anyone there that has a reservation. It was made worse by the awful waitress we had. No personality, no smile ever and she did not take our dinner order for over one hour. We had asked on several occasions if there any specials, and each time, she replied "yes" and then walked away. The fish and risotto entrees were good but everyone who had pasta said it was pretty bad. They didn't even have fresh paremesan, just the Kraft powdered type. The 10 of us will not return."
Dined on 03/02/2013
2008
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, fit for foodies, late-night find, hot spot
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"What a great little restaurant. Food, service, ambiance make this our new favorite neighborhood spot. The limoncello infused malfadine is a must as a great entree or to split. Go early, this place gets busy fast."
Dined on 02/23/2013
2005
Special Features: fit for foodies, great for brunch, great for outdoor dining, neighborhood gem, special occasion, great for lunch
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"The food and service from our waiter Alessio amazing. Tiramisu to die for! However,we were first seated at a small 2 top that required us to sit extremely close to the tables next to us. It was so loud inside that we were yelling just to hear each other and by the time our appetizer came out we requested to be moved by a nice hostess.The hostess in the black sweater however was a whole different story. As she walked by our table, she complained loudly about people who had also requested to be moved, "It's a freakin restaurant get over it!" (what I heard) Then our salads came out and we smelled nail polish all of a sudden. My husband went up to the hostess who rudely said "yes I spilled nail polish, it's cleaned up now!""
Dined on 02/15/2013
2010
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, special occasion, scenic view
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"Amazing Italian food and excellent service. Well-rounded list of wines to choose from; by the bottle or the glass. The only negative is the decor. It was out of place; no connection to the Italian food. Having said that, we will definitely be back -- often -- for the food and service."
Dined on 02/12/2013
2008
Special Features: fit for foodies, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, great for lunch
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"We went for Valentines. They had a set menu reasonably priced ($49) with an entree , main course (filet mignon and lobster among the choices) and dessert.The food was really good. The place is a cool place. The servers were also good. It was not too noise either. Need to come back to give a full appreciation revue (I was having a good time with my wife, so everything else was secondary) but above all I had a really good feeling about the place."
Dined on 02/14/2013
2012
Special Features: neighborhood gem, hot spot
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"The pre-fix menu was simple. Going out on Valentine's Day is always a bit of a mess. It was crowded. I wish I had went when there was no pre-fix. I was surprised it was apart of the Holiday Inn Hotel, but didn't seem like it. The interior is quite nice."
Dined on 02/14/2013
2012
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, neighborhood gem
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"I took my wife to Mare for her Birthday on Friday night. She's an amazing cook herself so good food reviews are a must. Mare meets its billing as a culinary lounge! The peppers stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts and the fish carapacio were perfect starters to an outstanding meal. The service was outstanding as well. Our waiter was from Italy and nothing tops off a great food experience like a regionally relevant accent, The biggest surprise is the location, took us a minute to locate the front door. We've been to Cucina Alessa and this newest location is equally as good yet a completely different atmosphere. Bravo Chef!"
Dined on 02/15/2013
2010
Special Features: fit for foodies, notable wine list, hot spot
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"We went here for the first time and it was excellent on every level. The heirloom tomato salad was exactly what we like to eat -- quality vegetables, creamy burratta and high quality prociutto. The staff was attentive and helpful.
Great dining experience."
Dined on 02/16/2013
2005
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, fit for foodies, great for outdoor dining, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, special occasion
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"We went on a Sunday night to listen to jazz and dinner.... There was a large party..... Restaurant very noisy and out of items we wanted.... And music was too loud.....apparently trying to drown out the large party noise..... They should have told us when we made reservation"
Dined on 01/27/2013
2010
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"Overall a very good place. The food is awesome. My fist visit was great and prompted a second visit. The second visit proved that they still have to work on service a bit. I had to wait quite some time for our server and others to attend to us. I am hoping it was just an off night. Since the food is so good I am going back but if I get the same service then I might look for another place. It did get a little noisey once the bar filled up and the noise flows right into the eatting area. So if you are looking for something intimate this is not the place."
Dined on 02/09/2013
2010
Special Features: fit for foodies, neighborhood gem, special occasion
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"We were very disappointed about this restaurant after several people recommended it. We had previously been to another Alessi restaurant in Laguna Beach and it was good. The service was awful; the pasta seemed to have been recooked or reheated and the pizza was disappointing."
Dined on 02/09/2013
2012
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"Don't let the location in the holiday inn deter you from eating here. Went there for the first time for lunch last week. The food was amazing. Luigi, our server was as good as it gets....very attentive, very knowledgeable about the menu, provided great recommendations for what to order. he really made the experience wonderful. started with vegetable soup and buttnernut squash ravioli. had the fish special of the day. luigi sent out a variety of desserts so we could have a small taste of everything. everything was delicious! can't wait to go back!"
Dined on 02/04/2013
2005
Special Features: fit for foodies, great for brunch, great for lunch
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"We had a nice dinner here. The only feedback that was negative was we ate here on a night where they were having a cooking class, so we were seated in the bar area instead of the restaurant. It was not the experience we were used to here. We were waited on by the bartender so the service didn't feel like it usually does. The food is really good, but we didn't care for the Caesar salad because it tasted too much like anchovies. (The menu did warn us, but we tried it anyways) We will go back but next time we will ask if the dining area is open."
Dined on 01/28/2013
2004
Special Features: neighborhood gem, hot spot
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"The atmosphere in the restaurant was very nice but the food was just ok. Our service was good despite the servers slightly irritating personality. Out of our group, 2 people liked their food, 1 thought it was ok and 1 thought it wasn't good. They should definitely improve the bread that they provide. Perhaps something more rustic instead of what are essentially oversized crutons."
Dined on 01/26/2013
2010
Special Features: vibrant bar scene, great for outdoor dining, late-night find, hot spot
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"Top notch food and service from the folks that bring you Alessa. This attempt at up-market dining seems to be working and working well. Ive been there a couple of times and have tried a few menu items and have consistently been surprised at the quality and taste. The servers have also been trained well to match the upmarket food. A great dining experience...a great night out"
Dined on 01/25/2013
2012
Special Features: fit for foodies
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"The food was excellent! We started off by ordering two appetizers: calamari and carpaccio - both fantastic, especially the dipping sauce for the calamari that had a slight kick to it! We also ordered two salads -- ceasar salad was traditional, and radicchio salad was perfect, very refreshing and light! They brought out fresh, warm bread - so delicious with the basil/oil pesto dip!!! For entrees, my niece and I had the lobster limencello pasta signature dish, and it was fantastic (fresh pasta infused in limencello); my niece's boyfriend had the lobster ravioli (he polished off his plate); and my sister had the seabass special with eggplant tapenade - she said it was melt-in-your-mouth good, cooked perfectly. Highly recommend!!!"
Dined on 01/19/2013
2013
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, neighborhood gem, special occasion
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