Old Camp Bar and Grill

Found Old Camp Bar and Grill on here when looking for someplace close to grab dinner with my niece while she was in town. I was a little surprised to see that it was a hotel restaurant, that is until we sat down and looked at the menu. The menu had a nice variety of choices, all of which sounded delicious. It was hard for us to choose what to get. The waitress was friendly and helpful. I got the Old Camp burger and my niece got the pastrami sandwich. Both were amazing. The quality and flavor of the food are not what I'm used to in a hotel restaurant, and we both said we'd go back for the house made fries alone. All their sauces and everything are made in house. The prices were comparable to other restaurants, if not more affordable than some. Also a nice surprise being inside a hotel. I definitely say give it a try if you're in the Mission Viejo area. It was good and I'd go back.

This restaurant is located inside the Ayres Hotel and actually has a separate exterior entrance if you aren't staying at the hotel. I live nearby and finally had a chance to stop in for dinner while my wife was having a night out with friends.It's small and clean with what I call a "hotel restaurant" look. It's an open room with bar on one end, a tv on the wall on the opposite end, and a few tables in-between. The hotel hallway is off to the side. Many reviews single out the excellent service provided by Makayla and yeah, she's spectacular.I ordered a pastrami sandwich with a side salad. I really wanted fries but my wife's voice was in my head saying "you really should get the side salad" so I did. I also got a glass of Two Vines Cabernet which was pretty good.A staff person brought out my plate and I was surprised to see fries instead of salad. Obviously this was a sign from God that this night away from my wife I deserved the fries. The potatoes were cut lengthwise, like jojos, only thinner. They were crunchy outside and soft inside and accompanied by a very delicious ketchup (made in-house) that had a flavor I detected as maybe...apple (?). Anyway, I loved these fries and refused the offer of a salad once Makayla saw the mixup.The pastrami sandwich was not so great even though the flavors were fantastic. The grilled rye, mustard, house-made pickles, and swiss cheese that accompanied the pastrami made it quite tasty. The pastrami, however, was the toughest I've had in my life. Like shoe leather. After picking the sandwich up and, after several attempts, failed to bite through the pastrami I resorted to knife and fork which, at times, was still a bit of a struggle. Chewing was a challenge as you can imagine. So unfortunate because otherwise this would have been a perfect sandwich and likely a five star review.Compared to other reviews this experience seems like an anomaly so I will return at some point and try another menu item. With fries.

OMG, what a disaster.Dined here earlier this evening with friends and the experience was AWFUL. This restaurant is located in the Ayers Hotel. I had some friends come into town for the funeral of a mutual friend's father. They're staying here and the hotel is sold out. We discussed where we should have dinner and decided that for convenience, and because the place has such great reviews, that we'd just eat in the hotel restaurant. There were 9 of us in our group and the restaurant was packed. We see that there is one server (who's also acting as bartender) and one cook. On a Saturday night. During dinner rush. When the hotel is sold out. Needless to say, the experience was awful. We were seated almost right away, but then waited over 45 minutes to even place an order. Our food came out in shifts. Half the table got their food and almost finished their meals before the other half got their food. We ordered 4 BLTs, 2 mac and cheeses, a chicken sandwich and chicken fingers. Nothing super involved. My chicken sandwich was missing the bacon and swiss I'd requested. The food was okay. Not bad, but not particularly great. Probably still above average for hotel bar food.And once the food was delivered that was it, we didn't see the server again. a member of our party went up to the bar to ask for the bill.I don't blame the staff. They were absolutely drowning, but I have serious questions about how this place is being managed. Why was there no one else working during a Saturday dinner rush. Does the hotel not give you guys a heads up when they've sold out so that you can staff accordingly? Maybe I just caught them on an (EXTREMELY) bad night, but I won't be back.In response to the owners reply:Who were we to speak to? The absolutely buried server who was acting as entire FOH (server, hostess, bartender and bus boy)? The front desk? We spoke with them too. Since the restaurant is technically a separate entity, they said there was nothing they could do. There was no restaurant manager, neither were you present.As it is, I did speak to the server about the missing parts of my order so that I could ask her to remove it from the bill. Because I have empathy for the difficult position she was in, I didn't include in my initial review that she also had quite a bad attitude. We were never told a wait time, received no apologies for the wait for her to take our orders, the haphazard way meals came out or the mistake on my sandwich. But lack of ownership seems to be par for the course, because even here in your reply you haven't so much as apologized. Just excuses and blameshifting to us, the customers, for you having provided us a bad experience.

I had their BLT sandwich and my niece orders the mc n cheese. The sandwich was very tasty. Everything was fresh and the bacon was cooked to perfection. The sandwich also cameWith fried potatoes and a housemade tomato/ketchup sauce that was the perfect complement to the potatoes. Everything is made to order. Must try if you're in the area.

Hidden Gem. You normally try to dodge your lobby bar/restaurant or resort to it as a last resort. Came in here with this mindset. They won me over with pastrami tacos. And kept me with great service. The vibe here feels like a lobby bar. But the output is something special. Housemade ketchup? Housemade pickles? Shit now I'm having pastrami tacos and a burger. Add great drinks and service and this place defies all lobby bar logic.

Hey you know this place is like a hidden cafe. No idea it existed, a friend took me there to try it for the first time. Rolled up, place was dead. Not one person in the place but the ambiance was nice and quiet. Light music in the background and an nba game on the television. Wait service was good, waitress was nice and was quick and prompt. Food was actually good and very reasonably priced. I would go back again if I just wanted to hang out with some buddies, get some food and have a few drinks.

Horific experience. First of all I was at the table with Juanita below. My father died and my friends of 30 + years came from out of state to support me and mourn my father. We were just looking for an easy meal as you can imagine it was not an easy weekend for any of us. We waited an hour to order our food that came out at all different times, we had 2 fidgety children with us and we were completely ignored for most of our meal. We did complain to the front desk which was the only reason our order was even taken... 1 hour in. I don't blame the waitress... as bartender, hostess, and waitress she was doing the best she could.Management however... Monique E. Business Owner... WOW.... For your information we did complain and your shrewd remarks were not appreciated. You called my friend JuNita! You know my friends have stayed at the Ayres Hotel & Suites many times to visit friends and family in this area, are you prepared to lose all that business over mismanagement of your restaurant? I was disappointed before I read your response to Juanita. Now, I am angry. You made a stressful and heartbreaking experience more stressful for all of us. How are you going to fix this?Again, how are you going to fix this? My friends are coming out on December 7th to the 10th, they were going to stay at Ayres Hotel but they may move to The Hills hotel now. Can you offer a free night or discounted rate?You have the opportunity to make this right and keep our business, make the right decision.

We used Old Camp Bar and Grill for the catering services for our women's retreat last weekend. We ended up with 93 of us and we all enjoyed the food. We had the ground beef taco bar for dinner and it was very tasty and there was plenty of food. We also used their services for our reception. We had a charcuterie tray, along with veggies, and again, plenty. (And the ranch dip was incredible!) Highly recommend these guys for any event you are having in the area. Very easy to work with and Makenzie was absolutely amazing. Never had to ask her to replenish anything--she was so attentive.

Food is good, not great, but the service is exceptional. Mikayla ran the entire operation: bartender, cashier, waitress, even room service. She was extraordinary.

Hidden gem inside the Ayres Hotel. Small and cozy . Food is great. I recommend almost the whole menu. Great fries & wings. The burger is tremendous. Pastrami tacos are shockingly great. My go-to is one of their many salads or the Ahi Poki is So so good. Beer , liquor & wine plus Makayla is a Rockstar. Her warm, friendly customer service makes you feel like you've known her forever. The cook I believe his name is Juan is a one man show but that doesn't take away from the quality of the food. Everything he makes is tremendous. Also, the patio has a firepit for the cooler nights. Definitely recommend.