Don The Beachcomber

I am here now at don's restaurant. Just had the best ribs in town. Was passing home to Irvine from Long Beach meetings. Saw this place on urbanspoon phone app. so much fun here. friendly people, great atmosphere. defiantly coming back! more

We had our wedding here on august 20th. They did a great job on the food, the venue was nice. That is where the nice part ends. We were told we could pick up our wedding cake at any time, they instead threw it away. They don't regulate the regular patrons of the establishment, we had wedding crasher signatures all over our guest book, and gifts missing due to that. Drunk people roaming all over our party,taking advantage of the free bar, etc. Dont book your party here, I spoke with,the owner who continually giggled about the situation while I was crying. He offered to make me a new cake. Seriously!? My best friend from high school made this cutting cake, you can't just replace. That was the only remedy he offered for all these terrible things. Shame on you dons. You can't just say you aren't responsible for peoples gifts, etc when they pay you $5k, and every other time I have been to this establishment they have someone regulating the door. Had we been given a specific time frame (we showed up less than 48 hours later) we would have set something up to make sure our cake had not been tossed. Andre, the coordinator, said nothing directly to me of this situation. So i will not remember this any other way than that the owners of Dons were (literally) laughing in my face as i was terribly upset and crying about the occurence. We personally asked the uninvited guests to leave. When Andre left, it was difficult to find the new attendee in charge to even just dim the lights let alone take time away seek her out for more. I never would have been into their bar, after our event, with my mother (who paid the large bill-and mind you we were paying customers again at this point) had i known how many gifts i was going to need to account for later. Shame on them for continually playing the blame game here and not taking any of this on themselves. I will be contacting BBB, and every wedding referral site possible to make this right since they have chosen only to offer 'a new cake'. Steer clear!!!!!. more

My girlfriend and I have been several times in the last few months, (Mar. - May 2010). We go for the surf music and drinks. They have some of the best surf music around, if your a fan it's great! The drinks are well made and the wait staff is on the ball. It has always been a good experiance. Pros: Great music and drinks. more

My family and I went to the Sunday Brunch for my sons 23rd birthday. After reading the unfavorable reviews I was I was skeptical of spending that much money. I was very pleasantly surprised with the deco ,food, entertainment and service. The bad reviews I read must have been from the previous establishment. Our waitress was very attentive and polite, our glasses were never empty. They had a very wide variety of breakfast and lunch food. The Moco Loco was the best and the carrot cake was to die for. The entertainment was high energy from the start. The only complaint I have is a large party sitting in the front decided to get up and say their goodbyes while the dancers were still performing. I guess some people where never taught manners. I would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone. It truly makes you feel like you are in Hawaii. Pros: great food and entertainment Cons: rude patrons more

The owner of Don the Beachcomber is making serious changes to what used to be KONA. The owner in my opinion has the vision for Beachcomber that Don had back in 1937. His intention is to stay true to the ways of the past that made the place famous in the first place. I wish them luck and I think other fans of Tiki should check it out. Pros: Owner has the vision for the future straight from the past Cons: Remains to be seen. You be the judge. more

ADDENDUM - THIS REVIEW WAS FOR THE PREVIOUS RESTAURANT KONA Pros: Hawiian Ambiance was off the hook! Cons: I cant think of any. more

What a difference a new owner makes! We went to Sam's shortly after they ""re-opened"" last summer. Too much for too little! We learned from local friends of ours that another new owner took it over in late January. He must have been listening. My wife and I decided to give it one more try and we are very glad we did. She tried the Salmon, now at $16.00, and it was at least 8 oz. I tried the Flank Steak. Both were prepared perfectly. I can't say if I've ever tried flank steak but this was very flavorful and tender. Definitly something to come back for. They are now serving Hawaiian sweet bread and butter with all the entrees. My waitress was so pleasant and informative. She informed us that the new owner will be changing the name to Kona because Sam's reputation is a bit tarnished from previous ownerships. They almost doubled the wine list and even added my favorite wine by the glass. The restaurant seems to be a great value, and kid friendly too. Something you don't see enough of on PCH. Pros: Food quality and portions. No valet parking hassle (and charge). Huge parking lot. Cons: Some tables are dimmly lit. A little bit of noise from the Tiki lounge. more

It was pretty expensive for the portions they served. We had the ahi poke tacos and potato fries which were really good, but the fish entrees were overpriced for a 5-6 oz portion. Very disappointing that they didnt have any bread to start the meal. Soup and salad were ok. I'd go back for the appetizers only. Pros: appetizers Cons: overpriced entrees more

My wife and I ate at Sam's last night, because we've read in our local paper how great it was supposed to be. We walked in and the ambience was great. There's a tropical/hawaiian feel to the place. The candle-lit dining room with flowing jungle fountains sets high expectations of a wonderfully rich dining experience. Pros: Great ambience Cons: Bad food quality, small portions, disappointing service, no complimentary bread, come with a FULL stomach and FAT wallet more

This is the first time I have written a review for anything online but I was compelled after the horrible experience my husband and I had at the ""new and improved"" Sam's. The food was awful, as was out waiter. First I asked our waiter what vegetarian options I had and he quickly said ""none!"". I then went through the menu with him and asked specifically about a couple appetizers and salads and he said ""oh yeah"". I asked if the salad was dinner size and he said ""it's a pretty good size"" so I ordered the Sam's salad and some mango and brie quesadillas which sounded awesome. Well the salad was barely even a side salad (like 4 forkfulls). The quessadillas were completely flat - if there was any cheese in them I couldnt taste it (my husband suggested they melted it down and spread on enough for a thin glue to hold it together). There was no mango to be found. I am guessing the little orange dots of sauce decorating the quessadillas was supposed to represent mango. I felt like i just ate a nicely decorated green tortilla shell. Needless to say I was still hungry at the end of the meal. When the server came by nervously to ask about the salad, I commented that it was smaller than I expected (based on what he told me!) and he said ""oh yeah it's just a side salad! He then asked if I want to order more food and I declined. He quickly walked away without commenting or apologising. My husand got the Salmon, an $18 dollar menu item. It was visually very pretty but he said it was not fresh. He did like his small bed of veggies that the salmon was placed on. It was a very small portion placed on a very large dish and he was not satisfied. The server left us the bill but did not ask how we liked out meal. Neither did the young hostesses who waved at us as we left. We will never eat there again. On the plus side the ambience is nice and it may be a fun place for drinks and enjoying the music they have there most nights. Just come with a full stomach! Pros: Nice ambience, live music Cons: terrible food, terrible service more

This is the first time I have written a review for anything online but I was compelled after the horrible experience my husband and I had at the "n... more

The character and charm of Sam's invites you into it's space and the delicious food and friendly service should keep you coming back. I had to come back the next week because I couldn't take it all in in one sitting... the food and the space. Sam's is huge! It was a fantastic night out with my family who came to Sam's when it was in it's earlier hay day. (they loved it too.. wished it was a little brighter) I couldn't keep my fork out of their plates... trying things I always said ""never again"" to, the calamari was fantastic and the pork was juicy and tender with generous portions. Pros: food, fun drinks, service, affordability more

I have had the pleasure to dine at Sam's for over 50 years. My parents took me there frequenely in the 50's when we lived in Sunset Beach. I have returned on a regular basis and still find the food and memories wonderful. There seafood has always been prepared properly and the service is very friendly. I highly recommend this establishment to all. Pros: Great food more