Aire Re-Visit

[torta basilica]

Awhile back I suggested Aire, in the Old Lodge in The Camp on Bristol, Costa Mesa, for a fun date night. Got slammed for that suggestion. Re-visited it on Saturday & I still stand by my rec, with a few caveats. We were promised the patio, but it wasn't available, so sat inside. The trance music goes on & on & on, but it's a nice, cool atmosphere & comfortable seating. Mojitos are tall & refreshing, but a little watery & over-priced at $12 each. Excellent wine & huge hilarious drink list. This is owned by the former Svelte owners & 2 of the things they did great at the former place are still excellent - The Magnificent Seven are seven little fried flour tacos stuffed with guac & buttery chopped ahi & sesame seed sauce. I think you only got 5 at Svelte, but here 7 for $16, normally $14, but they had ichiban grade (well, that's what my husband calls it...) ahi that was well worth the extra $2. These are scrumptious - the ahi melts in your mouth & an excellent combo. You Make Me Melt is a full size kobe burger with melted Gruyere & onion marmalade with a toasted bread bun for $18. 5 petite bites of these little babies were $35 (or was it 3 for $25?) at Svelte, which is why they're probably closed now... Juicy, delicious burger worth the trip. Great creamy mac & cheese with a crunchy crust ($12), good mashed potatoes ($5). Everyone raves about the parmesan fries $5, added truffle oil for $2 & they were ok, not astounding. Chicken Little, 3 or 4 huge pieces of roasted chicken at $11 was popular, but I didn't try. Less successful - 3 little piggies - carnitas tamales with Mexican crema & tomatillo side sauces ($12) - a little dry & really needed that sauce poured on - again, good, not great. Wrap is Up ($12) was the least favorite - overcooked beef strips with lettuce & side condiments - weak link was the dried out beef here. All in all, $241 for 6, with 2 glasses Bonna Sera @ $12 each, 3 martinis @ $9 each (we were told Skyy was the call brand, but still charged $1 extra for it), 5 mojitos (it was hot - !!) @ $12 each & 2 pomegranite martinis @ $10 each. Perhaps all that alcohol colored my impressions of Aire ;-), but if you order carefully, you can eat some good food & it's a whole lot of fun. Service was very good & friendly.

[AquaW]

Thanks for your re-visit posting. I was tempted when I first heard it mentioned, then got turned off when I saw the slam on these boards... and now may give it a go if I happen to be in the area (taking your advice into consideration).

[MEalcentric]

Looks like you faired better than I did. All things aside, I still think the food is overpriced. The $18 burger was the size of an in n out burger. Yes it had nice ingredients but fo4r $18 I expect more substance.

I am generally turned off by places that have a small page and a half food menu and a 18 page drink menu. It tells you where their head is at.

Unlike you, I had a horrible experience with service during lunch. Maybe it was an off day or something but it was comically bad and it definately put a bad taste in my mouth (along with the dirt in my salad).

But based on your report, I may need to give them another shot (on someone else's expense account of course).

[noodlegrl]

I was a really big fan of Aire because of their Happy Hour specials, always made for a fun weekly outing with the girls. But then they abruptly ended it. You're right about it being overpriced. They have also changed the menu in the last 2-3 months to be a little bit more fancy. Translation: More moola.

My favorite offering there is the Magnificent 8, little crisp wonton "taco" shells stuffed with either spicy tuna tartare and guacamole or a mayonnaisey (but still good) albacore tartare. $20 for 8 tacos. Good for sharing.

Sadly, their mini burgers are gone, as is their terrific mac n' cheese. For the money they charge, I'd rather head to Blue Coral anyday.