Food was great. Service was great. Decor was great.

Came here for dinner to celebrate a friends birthday. Had reservations for 14 people. They were a little slow to seat us due to delays but we had drinks at the bar so it wasn’t too bad. Ordered ALOT of food and everything was tasty, minus the “ceviche.” I didn’t eat it since I can’t do raw fish but my friends who did didn’t enjoy it. I liked everything I ate so for my experience it was 5 stars:)

Expected the food to be expensive, since it is everywhere. But not as expensive as it was for what we got. We actually went to Claim Jumper after "lunch" to have lunch because we were still hungry and there was no way we were driving the bill up any higher. Haven't got a lot of nice things to say about food presentation or the service either, which was a standout fail. Retraining, please.

When we visit Orange County, we typically stay close to South Coast Plaza, so Water Grill is a natural choice at some point during the trip. Prior occasions have been uniformly very good. This one wasn't up to snuff.

Service at the bar was slow, as if the bartender was more interested in getting her sidework and prop done (we were there mid-afternoon). Then she poured us two glasses of flat Champagne at $24 a pop. Come on, Jessica. A bartender should be observant of sh*t like that. If the bottle has been open for a while, even the best Champagne stoppers won't keep the fizz in. Pour a little and either offer it to the customer for approval or taste it yourself to see if it has any life left. She seemed a bit put out to have to take it back and open a new bottle. To top it off, the balance of the old bottle went down the drain, rather than to the kitchen to use in Champagne vinaigrette. Somebody needs to do some training of the bar.

We had two appetizers - garlic crab noodles and hamachi nachos. For $24, I expected more crab than noodle, but got the opposite. The $19 hamachi nachos were great, but not enough to overcome the other shortfalls and make the $100 bill (pre-tip) justified.

The building is beautiful. Structurally, it's very cool. A sort of see and be seen place. The food was good, but expensive. The seafood selection was interesting and expansive. A great place to drink and socialize. I would return for the vibe. The quality of food is available elsewhere for a better price.

Jenni our server was friendly and funny. The beet salad wedge salad and beer were good. Wine was good but very expensive for New Zealand. Fish tacos were so breaded could not taste the little fish that were in them. Big eye tuna did not taste fresh and made hubby ill.