Rare Society - Solana Beach

Absolutely amazing, cannot wait to visit again! Gabby and Christina went above and beyond for us. Highly recommend. Truffled creamed spinach and steamed clams are a must! Very fond of my cocktail choice too, Solana Highlands

Shrimp, Caesar salad, truffle stuffed baked potato, steak sampler of tri-tip, filet, and tri-tip wagyu, and Bananas Foster cheesecake. I woke up still stuffed this morning! Oh, and, I'm apparently not getting out and about often enough, because it sure seemed like everybody in there was absolutely gorgeous. LOL.

There aren't many steakhouses around, so I was really looking forward to this one. However, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The atmosphere is fantastic, and the service is top-notch. I started with the wedge salad, Parker rolls, and coconut shrimp. Unfortunately, the wedge salad was overly dressed, lacked enough lettuce, and had too much blue cheese. The rolls were fluffy and delicious, and the shrimp was good. I ordered the Associate platter, but about 30% of the meat was too fatty to enjoy. The whole lobster tail was nice, the ShellMac was fantastic, and the ricotta ravioli was good, though the whipped potatoes were a bit too salty for my taste. The butter cake dessert was not great (if you want a good butter cake, go to Nick's in One Paseo instead). My recommendation for this place is to skip the meat board and just order the cut you prefer. Overall, I'd give it 4 stars for the excellent service, but probably just 3 stars otherwise.

We visited before the Donavon Frankenreiter concert for dinner, and it did not disappoint! The grilled lobster and bone marrow appetizers were fantastic. The fried chicken was huge and perfectly crispy! I could have skipped the dinner rolls, as they were a bit too buttery for my taste, but overall, this place was incredible! Our waitress was also excellent.

I'm still perplexed by how I had such a terrible meal here. From the salad to the onion rings to the tartare, it felt like the kitchen was just guessing. Everything was either heavily over-salted or over-dressed. The salad was drenched in dressing and piled high with an excessive amount of Parmesan. The onion rings were over-breaded and undercooked. I ordered my steak medium rare, and it came out rare. These were just basic mistakes that the cooks made that night. The ambiance and drinks were nice, so I would definitely return to the bar, but I’ll be steering clear of the food.