Javier's Restaurant - Newport Beach

Bright sun, surf noise and an oceanfront patio full of people who know how to spend a night out. Javier's Newport Beach trades subtlety for spectacle: a polished, tropical dining room, a bar heavy with mezcal and tequila, and waitstaff who move like choreography around large group tables. Order the pineapple margarita and you will get real fruit, sharp and sugary, and a mezcal cocktail here is dangerously smooth. The food swings between well executed crowd-pleasers and cautious safety; the birria is rich and soupy in a good way, the skirt steak arrives properly seasoned, and the street corn is worth ordering by itself. It is loud at peak times, best for company rather than quiet conversation. Book for sunset and claim a patio table, then watch the horizon change color as your chips run out and the margaritas keep coming.