The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar

For a Newport Beach meal built around contemporary Californian steak and seafood with an exceptional wine program, The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar is a sensible booking when the occasion calls for something polished but still smart casual. If the plan is a wine-led meal, or a table where steak and seafood need to share the spotlight, it fits especially well.

Book it for wine-led steak and seafood

Newport Beach has dining occasions where guests want seafood, steak, wine, enough polish for a celebration without the stiffness of formal fine dining. This restaurant is built for that lane. The concept is contemporary Californian steak and seafood, with an exceptional wine program as part of the identity rather than an incidental add-on. That matters because the meal makes more sense when wine is part of the plan.

The price point is $75 per person. Expect the value to come from the full package: contemporary California cooking, a strong wine focus, a smart casual setting. The named dishes point toward a broad, high-comfort menu, including slow-braised Angus beef short ribs, venison chop with huckleberry red wine reduction, crispy Kurobuta pork belly lollipops, seafood tower, saffron-marinated sea bass cioppino. That range makes it a useful fit for groups choosing between steak and seafood.

The Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence (2026) gives the booking extra credibility for anyone choosing a restaurant with wine in mind. This is not just a steak and seafood restaurant that happens to pour wine; the wine program is part of the venue’s identity. For a guest who treats the bottle list as part of the decision, that is one of the main reasons to choose The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar.

The wine program is the smart lens for understanding the room

The clearest cue is the restaurant’s positioning: contemporary Californian steak and seafood with an exceptional wine program. That makes it useful to think of the meal as wine-led rather than as a simple steakhouse booking. It is polished enough for an occasion, but the smart casual dress code keeps the experience from reading as formal fine dining.

That wine-centered identity is useful for diners who want the bottle decision to shape the meal and for Newport Beach visitors who want a refined steak-and-seafood restaurant.

For food, the safer ordering strategy is to lean into the restaurant’s strengths: steak, seafood, richer dishes that can stand up to wine. The seafood tower, short ribs, venison all point to a menu with both celebratory and hearty options. The saffron-marinated sea bass cioppino keeps the menu anchored in seafood without forcing the meal into a seafood-only box.

Who should say yes, who should skip it

Say yes when the wine program and contemporary Californian steak-and-seafood format are part of the value. It is especially useful for tables with different tastes because the menu direction covers both steak and seafood without locking everyone into one narrow format. Smart casual dress is the right read: polished enough for the room, not formal enough to make the meal feel stiff.