Chart House

Reviews

• HS

  Hamidreza Samadzadeh

  Feb 16, 2026
  1.0
  I made a reservation for 9:30, and I was seated at 10. However, it took 16 minutes for the server to come and greet me. It was cold outside, so I asked the server several times to turn on the heat. Apparently, he had a more important job to do and decided to walk around instead. When he finally attempted to turn on the heater, it was out of propane gas. He didn’t even bother to request someone to change the propane tank. After another 15 minutes, he dragged one of the table heaters and placed it next to my table. I don’t understand when restaurants are not capable of having more then 4 tables capacity why they over book and make people nights miserable and end of the day that server look at you like it a whol, and end of the they they don’t even care about your existence.
• BG

  Bettina Giovanni

  Feb 15, 2026
  2.0
  We had a reserved VIP table for our party to celebrate my husband and I just getting married. Was a larger party of 9. Service was fine at first but about 40m into service became *extremely* slow. Hour and a half into service we're all kinda getting ready to leave. I, being the bride, wad asked to have my 'special desert', our table had a few lava cakes they wanted to go since we were all getting tired. The waitress said it'll be "really quick" since she sensed my hesitation. *30 minutes later* I finally get the 'special desert' which was just a slice of ice cream cake basically... really? Why did thay take so long? What a stone cold lie lol. We constantly felt like we were forgotten about. The worst part was the food was actually kinda bad. Really wasn't expecting that. I've been here before maybe a decade prior, I didn't remember the food tasting bad. I had lobster risotto and the I love lobster of course. But the lobster smelled... really fishy and weird. I shouldn't have eaten based on that but it tasted.. okay. Did NOT scratch my lobster itch. In fact, I don't think I'll order lobster again for a while at any restaurant. I didn't know it could even taste that bad. How?? I didn't get sick, so I guess that's good. My husband also didn't like his meal at all. He had some sort of macadamia seabass with thai flavors and "mango sticky rice"... umbrella NO. The rice tasted fine but there was no mango, no stickiness. Did not resemble mango sticky rice *at all*. Husband was excited because we both love mango sticky rice. Oh also, when it was nearly 2 hours in, before we got our lava cakes to go and the special desert, the manager comes out and thanks us... but then starts selling some rewards program to my parents, forcing us to sit for 20 more minutes to just listen to this scam when we've been over it and done for more than 30 minutes. Left the place 2 and a half hours later when we probably could have been served/handled to leave in one and a half. Was pretty unpleasant, honestly. Place has clearly gone down hill and it's such a shame with that beautiful view.
• GT

  Galen Thomas

  Feb 14, 2026
  5.0
  We made a reservation (definitely recommended) and visited on Valentine's Eve. We had the choice of outdoor seating or indoor, and we chose to sit outside on their grass terrace. They had plenty of heaters and in fact, we were actually a little too warm! Thankfully they turned the heat down a little. What a spectacular view of the harbor lights! I ordered the filet and lobster bisque and the filet was tender and cooked just right. My wife started with their beet and carrot salad and I thought it was one of the best presentations I've seen! She loved it. For her main course she ordered prime rib. She likes it brown which is not easy for prime rib, but they cut a piece and cooked it just right. We enjoyed and finished with dessert. I had the famous mud pie and my wife had their creme brulee flight. It was the first time I'd been there in decades and I didn't know what I'd experience but it was just as good as I remembered! Because it was Valentine's weekend I had to park quite a ways away and took a 5-minute walk to get to and from.
• CJ

  Christine Joley

  Feb 7, 2026
  3.0
  My husband and I just had a milestone Anniversary, and the Chart House in Dana Point was where we had our first date 47 years ago! We no longer live that close to the restaurant as it's over an hour's drive away. We had a reservation for 5pm. Traffic was on our side so we were 20 minutes early, and thought we could enjoy a cocktail at our table before dinner. The restaurant at that hour is at least 90 percent wide open, as the bar was full. Our "host" would not seat us. He wouldn't even seat us 4 minutes before 5 when we asked again if we could be seated. He said our reservation is for 5!!! What a Napoleon attitude! Set the stage for my critique of the restaurant because now I am annoyed. I ordered a Cosmo which was the worst one I have ever ordered, and so was the "chopped salad" which wasn't chopped, wilted lettuce in chunks, drenched in dressing. My husband was much luckier with his meal as everything he ordered was to his liking. The saving grace was our server who couldn't have been better, and more attentive. Her 5 star service made up for the "host" who I feel does not represent The Chart House good service.
• AA

  Alan

  Feb 2, 2026
  5.0
  We were looking for a place to host my wife’s birthday celebration and had narrowed it down to 3 venues. Melissa Carter at the Chart house was the first to respond with email information. However we wanted to check out all venues physically before making a decision. We did view a venue which was really nice before going to check out the chart house. We arrived unannounced but Melissa took the time to show us the venue, the Aloha room and garden. We were sold on seeing the venue, was perfect with wonderful views of the Dana Point Harbor from the garden. As this was taking place in January there were space heaters and tall tables set up outside and we had a great size room inside. We met with Melissa to hash out hors d’oeuvres and menu items and possible table setups. She was extremely knowledgeable and provided great suggestions and advice on selections and also listened to our thoughts. My wife had some email correspondence on table seating that were responded to promptly. We had 45 people at our party including 5 children. We had one vegan and a. Children’s menu was available. The event was a great success due to Melissa and her team. She was working the event the whole evening and would prompt me when appropriate, toast, birthday cheer etc. The food was fantastic and the open bar worked out a great choice. Many guests commented later that the servers were constantly ensuring their wine glasses were filled. All the staff at the Chart House were super friendly and helpful. We also hosted valet which is contracted separately with Kyle, Melissa provided phone # and that worked out great with him and his guys. All in all it was a fantastic evening. Definitely a great place for an event. it was only 2 weeks from looking for a venue to the actual event!

Frequently Asked Questions About Chart House