Because One Cocktail is an Intention. Two is a Commitment.
Newport Beach and Corona del Mar remain Southern California’s last strongholds of the two-martini dinner. These are establishments where ordering a cocktail before the menu arrives isn’t rebellion but ritual, and the second round signals commitment rather than excess. Down here, the ritual was held. The rooms are still dark, the bartenders still know the build and the second martini still feels like the point. Best Martinis in Newport Beach
This field guide covers Newport Beach and Corona del Mar’s most iconic cocktail-forward restaurants, listed alphabetically with martini recommendations, ordering intel and the clientele you’ll encounter. From Hollywood legacies to modern harbor-view haunts, we saved the one that started it all for last.
A.
A Restaurant, The Oldest Room in the Game
Orange County’s oldest operating restaurant has been on West Coast Highway since 1926, and the room still earns it. Dark wood, leather booths, a fireplace and a bar that has seen decades of Newport regulars all set the scene at A Restaurant. The River Jetty group has several locations of this amazing restaurant but this is the original. The polish carries across all properties, but the original A Restaurant carries more history. Order the Salty Pear Martini, and let it set the tone. On Monday and Friday nights, the kitchen makes the viral chicken pot pie, a puff pastry- topped house classic that earns a second martini all on its own.
Who you’ll see: the Newport old guard, longtime regulars and anyone who knows that the best rooms in town don’t always need a view…