Best of Orange County 2021: Best bar

1. The Country Club

330 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa; 949-281-2582; countryclubcm.com

No, you don’t have to know the secret password to enter this Costa Mesa landmark. It only seems like that once you step inside the A-frame building set amid this city’s restaurant and bar strand.

That’s because the moment you walk into this nearly 3-year-old establishment, you’ve gone back in time to the 1920s. There’s the 80-foot long marble bar, the rows of light bulbs, the classic tchotchkes lining the walls and the dark woods throughout that immediately put you on the lookout for Jay Gatsby, Al Capone or Lucky Luciano.

Owners Mario Marovic and Andrew Gabriel designed The Country Club as a time-machine establishment. They wanted to create a luxurious restaurant and bar that gave customers the feeling of being in a private club or speakeasy.

“It’s the only country club where everyone’s a member,” Gabriel told The Register not long after The Country Club opened in December 2018.

There’s a story there too. Marovic and Gabriel opened The Country Club on Dec. 5, 2018: 85 years to the day after Prohibition was officially repealed by the 21st Amendment.

What they created is a dinner club/social club establishment. The Country Club serves a dinner menu with the requisite steaks and salads. But there’s also roasted jidori chicken, Scotttish seared salmon, crab pappardelle and gourmet sandwiches, such as a delectable prime rib dip and charred chicken sandwich.

The Country Club offers Sunday brunch and a Happy Hour menu.

Libation-wise, The Country Club features several old-fashioneds, martinis and Manhattans, which makes sense here. The Smoking Jacket is particularly intriguing: bacon-washed bourbon, pecan tincture, maple syrup, chocolate bitters and smoked Applewood. Jay Gatsby may not have enjoyed one, but you will.

2. La Vida Cantina

1870 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa; 949-612-2349; lavidacantina.com

Before we describe the various drinks at this Costa Mesa restaurant/bar in the heart of The Triangle, it bears mention how serious La Vida Cantina takes its cuisine. On the menu is a list of five sauces you pick from for your various dishes.

Yes, La Vida Cantina serves dinner and brunches, with a workmanlike offering of entrees ranging from $12 to $27. But it’s the lively atmosphere and extensive drink menu that put La Vida Cantina in this company.

There is a spacious outdoor bar, complete with five fire pits for the chilly winter and early spring nights, and two palapas that dominate the scenery. The drink menu features 11 different margaritas: seven blended fruit, four fresh fruit. That includes Tamarindo and Cactus Fruit Margaritas.

If you love your tequila outside of a margarita, La Vida Cantina puts a variety of tequilas, mezcals and cocktails at your disposal. And the restaurant offers a wide selection of most popular Mexican beers.

3. The Cellar

305 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton; 714-525-5682; cellardining.com

No, that’s not Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in the next booth. But you can sit in the same booth that Richard Burton proposed to Elizabeth Taylor in. That is, if you can find this Fullerton institution that comes to you straight out of 1920s Los Angeles.

Located in the former basement of the Villa del Sol, The Cellar spent its first life as the California Hotel, which served as a hangout for various celebrities attending events and the Fox Theater, across the street. In 1969, the restaurant with its red velvet booths, cavernous walls and L.A. Roaring ‘20s ambiance opened. That ambiance was brought to you by Gene White, better known as one of the craftsman who created Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

There is an extensive dinner menu that — along with the ambiance — reminds you of old-school Hollywood establishments like Perino’s and The Brown Derby. One rich with fancy appetizers like escargot, fried sweetbread and steak tartare, and entrees like steaks, Chateaubriand, maple leaf duck, venison and roasted pheasant.

But the drink menu also plays for keeps. There is a $100 Manhattan named “The Boss”, and a $70 XO Sazerac, starring 18-year-old Whistle Pig Rye and Remy Martin X.O. Cognac.