Paradise Cove Beach Cafe

Came in with another pair of friends on a WEEKDAY - yes the place is crowded which is fine, but with whole bunch of empty tables we had to wait... Waited about 45 min to be seated. This is not all ... when seated ... waited another half an hour at least for a waiter to stop by and say hello to us (actually had to start waving at them randomly) ... they were confused who should service our table !!! Finally one nice waitress ... liked us . The food was just ok - yes overpriced but this is not the point... I don't recommend this place during summer - seems to me that these people can't manage more then 10 customers at a time. more

The Paradise part that is. Pros: it used to be nice Cons: it's not anymore more

First off, the portions are HUUUUUUUUUGGGGE!!! The bucket of mussles is really a BUCKET. they definitely want to give off value for money, sinc the menu doesnt come cheap. Sit at the beach when there's warm weather (very cold wind when the sun goes down), your feet will be in the sand and you can watch the ocean. We even saw a wild sea lion. Which was a highlight of my drive down the PCH. Service is pretty slow, since the girls are overworked and it seems the restaurant is consistently full. Parking is $3 with validation from the restaurant. nice place to bring tourists who want to see what malibu is all about. Pros: Sandy Beach, Mussles' Sauce Cons: Service sllllowwww more

We just got back from my 6th visit to the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, we always try and take out of town visitors here as we have never had a bad experience. We were a little worried this time as we had not been for a while and the previous reviews painted a pretty bleak picture, and although it was not quite as good as we remembered it certainly was not as bad as some of the other reviews made out. We went on a Sunday lunch time on the first real day of great weather so we fully expected it to be busy,,,and it was..very busy. We did not make a reservation and were told the wait would be 2 1/2 hours. This is when you need the laid-back beach attitude. take it in your stride grab a Mojito and sit back and relax (don't go here at the weekend if you are in a hurry). This is a place to kick back, relax and forget about the daily grind. We sat at a table in the entrance, people watched and sipped our Mojitos. Just as we finished the first round a delightful waitress came by and asked if we wanted another round... so don't read to much into the reviews which slate the service. She chatted with us and brought the next round promptly. Before we had finished our second drink our delightful plastic lobster pager flashed to life...we had waited less than an hour. The restaurant was loud and lively with every table occupied and the staff moved quickly and efficiently. We got a nice booth and I highchair for our baby. The waitress was lovely and took everything in her stride. We got our drinks and appetizers very quickly. I recommend the oysters here, they are great and the horseradish certainly has a kick as my wife discovered. As always we had the hot and the cold sampler which although not quite as good as I remember is still good value for money...especially if you like calamari. After lunch we took as stroll down the beach before heading home. Overall another wonderful experience Pros: The view and the atmosphere. Keep your eyes open for famous people who we have often seen here at lunch times Cons: It's busy more

Paradise Cove is exactly what the name says: Paradise. If you're driving from LA, not only is the drive on the way down absolutely gorgeous, you get the same view while you eat dinner! I've been there for just dinner, and then I recently went for the day where I layed out at the beach, drank some margaritas (which were AMAZING, btw), and then had a late lunch... I love the relaxed, beachy atmospher...and the fact that you can get a tan while you wait for a table. The calamari, crispy skin salmon, crab cakes, fish tacos...all amazing...and I'm sure if I've tired other things, they would be just as tasteful! Beware, the portions are HUGE. Pros: Food, view Cons: Expect a wait more

Such an incredible location with such awful experiences. We tried it twice and here is why we will never come back. Pros: still alive Cons: sleazy, dirty, poor service more

My husband and I LOVE this place-- especially for breakfast on Sat or Sun. Food is good (not 5 star or anything, but good-tasting and satisfying). Can't beat the location and view. We even took my mom-in-law when she was visiting and she loved it. I don't know what it's like at night, only been for breakfast and lunch. Pros: VIEW Cons: Can get crowded more

I was excited to try Paradise Cove this weekend and was expecting more than I got. Granted the view is lovely, however the servers are just plain rude and unfriendly. The legendary Mojo was horrible, tasted like cheap rum. In fact all their drinks were tasteless. The food was so-so, overpriced for what you get in quantity & taste. Outside seating with a server is on a first come, first serve basis. My suggestion, skip the restaurant, get the take out & a beer or glass of wine, grab one of the recliners on the sand and enjoy the view, because that is the only good part about this place. Watching the sun set and dolphins play while enjoying a Corona & the sounds of the ocean was the best part of this location. Pros: View Cons: Service, Taste more

I am a long time Malibu resident being that there are not many restaurants in Malibu on the rare occasion my friends and I will go to Paradise Cove. Well this will be my last trip there. We came in prior to Noon time when they stop serving breakfast, the place was not busy and the host told us we could not have breakfast. We went there for breakfast. After speaking to the manager who was unprofessional nothing was resolved. We were able to order breakfast but the food was horrible. Everything there is deep fried and tasteless. Since the new Management took over this place has gone down hill. It used to be great, now it's just a tourist trap with bad food, bad service and a good view. I will not be going back there again. Try Geoffreys. more

My bf is from Michigan and I brought him here to show off the view and what malibu has to offer. yes, fantastic view! We took some great shots. Everything was great until we got hungry and decided to eat. The hostess wasnt very accommodating. She told us that there was a two hour wait. Mistake we made was we should have asked for a list so we can verify if she was telling the truth! ANyhow, we didnt want her to spoil our night so we head off to the bar. Ordered Kamikaze and long island ice tea (a little strong but a-ok). We made ourselves comfortable and lo and behold, we havent stayed longer than 30 minutes when we noticed that there were a lot of vacant tables!!! Two hour wait? Discrimination? or what. Go to Paradise Cove for the view, not the beach bar! Disappointed with the service indeed. Pros: The View Cons: Poor Customer Service more

Sad - this used to be one of our favorite spots in SoCal for lobster and a great beachside dining experience. Here's what's happened, evidently due to new mgmt per our server. 1. Hostess is rude - call to make a reservation and you're told there's an hour wait; yet when you show up, half the tables are empty and you get seated right away???? 2. Drinks are embarrassingly bad - no explanation for why the Mojito was the worst I've ever had (even worse than one I ordered in Mykonos at a dive bar) 3. Can I get some bread?? Seriously. 4. Where's my lobster? Menu promises a full lobster with pasta in a ""tasty tomato sauce"" -- what I got was a bad plate of pasta (sause was $%&^) with one (that's 1) lobster claw that I had to break open myself (after wiping sauce off so that it didn't splatter)???? 5. When I said this isn't what I want, just bring me a lobster, I was told they only have 2.5 pound lobster now ""so that mgmt can make more money"". Who eats a 2.5 pound lobster???? STAY AWAY - this place is a disaster! Pros: On the beach, great location Cons: Service, food, drinks more

It's a mixed experience at Paradise Cove. Food, service, and atmosphere has always been great in the past, but lately it seems like the food quality has gone down a bit. It's still not bad on my list, but just not as great. Service is either poor or excellent the few times I've gone. Still it's always a nice place to relax, watch the sunset, and have a drink on the sand with friends. Pros: View. Atmosphere. Cons: Inconsistent lately? more

I love taking out of town visitors to this place because of the great location and the food is very good as well. But after this last visit it's really fallen off my list. The service was just horrible! The wait staff was rude to me and my guests because two of the waitresses were having a little territorial tiff over our table and they never seemed to get over it. I've been here before when the service has been great, but over the last couple visits it's just become too inconsistent to take guests when showing off LA with pride. Great views, good food, service with horrible attitude! Pros: location, food Cons: service more

My wife and I drove an hour and a half just to see the restaurant. The ambiance, character and view were very good, better than most. The food was lacking. I had the eggs benedict and was very disappointed in the flavor. The hash browns were like little cubes of rubber. My wife was equally disappointed with her breakfast. We will not recommend this restaurant, unless you just want to see a lot of Porsches in the parking lot. We will not return Pros: view, character, service Cons: food more

While visiting from Montana, my two teenage daughters and I went to late lunch at the Paradise Cove. We were impressed! It has a wonderful beachfront area, and even though it was fairly crowded, we had a table within 30 minutes. Until then, we enjoyed the ocean view. The shrimp and King crab were delicious...a little pricy, but that is expected for King Crab in a nice restaurant. The parking lot was crowded, but we managed to find a spot as someone was leaving. Remember to bring your parking ticket into the restaurant to get it validated before you leave. Pros: Great View, Good Service, Excellent Food Cons: Crowded Parking more

i've only been here 3 times - twice for breakfast and once for lunch. i really can't recall anything i had regarding the food. needless to say food isn't the draw to this establishment. it's the view and the location of the restaurant. it gets PACKED on weekends and holidays. Pros: nice view, beach Cons: small parking, crowded more

This is where I go when I have a few hours to just chill. It's also where I bring friends who visit from out of town. There is no better place on the beach. Food is always excellent, service is laid back and friendly. Something about this restaurant always feels special. You come here twice and you feel like a regular. I recommend it highly. more

Food is not recommended, my husband always says we get what we pay for, this time it didnt happen, I hardly touched mine and took it home for my cats to eat but they just smelled it. Cons: Expensive, Bad Food, Bad Service more

I love this place during the week when there are few people and the jazz is good. Add some of their excellent oysters, a walk on the beach, and you have the makings of a perfect evening. This is also a great breakfast place--the earlier the better. Lots of good food in a perfect setting. Pros: setting/atmosphere, jazz, oysters more

Don't even think about going here on a holiday weekend. Made that mistake over Labor Day. The service was terrible. It took almost one hour to get a couple of appetizers and sodas in the patio, then another 30 minutes to get our bill and parking validated. The $25 parking shocked us. It's free for 3 hours if you spend $15 at the cafe, but if you go over even one minute, be prepared to pay. There is NO grace period. With the slow service, it leaves little time to enjoy the beach. As others have said, the food is only so-so. The fried appetizers were over-fried, dark brown, though there was a considerable amount of food. I guess this would be a good place to go for a limited time early supper during the week, when you can enjoy the view. Pros: View Cons: , Parking, Crowded more