Sonder - Downtown Santa Ana

5 out of 5 stars★★★★★

“2nd time dining while in town on business ... creative menu with delicious foods. Great atmosphere with fast/friendly service. Limited wine list but will definitely return!”

2 out of 5 stars★★★★★

“Summary: Bad Food: The food was an interesting experience. We started with a variety of skewers including pork belly, beef, scallop, and mushroom. Right away something felt off. They came out unusually fast and arrived lukewarm, which made it difficult to believe they were freshly prepared. One person at our table ordered the scallop and prefers it well done. When it arrived slightly undercooked, we politely asked for it to be taken back and finished. What followed was a long wait with no follow up. It wasn't until we flagged our waiter that the scallops had never returned that someone went to the kitchen to retrieve them. We also ordered fried rice shortly after the skewers, which took quite a while to arrive, but was actually pretty good when it did. Service: This was the most disappointing part of the evening. Our experience started off well. Our original waitress was warm, attentive, and knowledgeable. At some point during the night we were switched to a new waiter without any introduction or acknowledgment. From that point forward we were essentially forgotten. No one checked on us, took our entree orders, or cleared the menus from the table, leaving it cluttered and disorganized the entire night. To their credit, the staff did seem to notice our dissatisfaction and removed one of the drinks and the skewers from our bill, which was a nice gesture. Atmosphere: The aesthetic of the space is genuinely cool and visually interesting. The one drawback is that the lighting is extremely dim. Several older members of our group could not read their menus without using their phone flashlights, which became a bit of a running theme throughout the night.”

3 out of 5 stars★★★★★

“Overall, I had fun and most of the food was good. The reason I gave 3-4 stars was because things would start off great and then there would be big hits and misses. Example the place looked great, full of energy, great decor, ok music but we ended up leaving a bit early because around 9ish the music was turned up so loud we couldn’t hear each other talk when we were sitting right next to each other. Maybe this place turns more into a bar more than a restaurant at a certain time? The waiters and hostess were great but the person who picked up dishes took some our plates that still had food on it and we were still eating from it. He took it so fast and without asking I wasn’t able to be like no we are still working on that. The person who charged us in the middle of charging us just stopped left the machine on our table and jumped into someone pictures and started talking to them. So, we were left trying to figure out how to charge ourselves I thought that was very rude. Lastly everyone kept asking if we were there to celebrate something I said yes a birthday but they never acknowledged that person’s birthday in any sort of way so why ask us so much? I thought that was weird. Drinks the same 1 out of 3 drinks were good, they looked pretty and sounded good but only 1 was worth it. Food 90% of it was great except the dessert it missing something to elevate it like texture or more interesting flavor profile. The other disappointing dish was one of our main dishes the half-roasted chicken. It came out cold so the skin wasn't crispy it was chewy, hard to rip and the meat wasn't warm or juicy. I did like that it was pre-cut made it easy to spilt up and share. It was one of the more expensive dishes so overall it was a bummer. Things kept having big misses so I couldn't give this place top marks but I also fell like it has a lot of potential and over all I did enjoy my girl’s night out. So, if you’re someone that is there for the vibes, a good time with friend, want decent food and drinks, I would recommend this place. If you are a foodie and looking for a great dining experience, I think you can find other places.”