During lunch at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, the Pacific Ocean feels almost within reach. Sure, you have to look out over a parking lot to see it, but the sea stretches far and wide across the horizon from the restaurant’s rooftop perch. From here, it’s easy to see why RH Ocean Grill is often credited with being one of the most gorgeous restaurants in Orange County. And considering that it’s located on the top floor of a sprawling RH Gallery (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) in the upscale Fashion Island mall, that’s no surprise. 

Done up in neutral tones and rich fabrics, RH Ocean Grill, which opened in 2024, is one of the luxury furniture line’s many in-house restaurants. It has locations in major cities like San Francisco, New York and Paris, wealthy enclaves like Montecito and Yountville and even exotic locales like ... Cleveland and Jacksonville. (The first RH restaurant opened in Chicago in 2015.)

In 2022, CEO Gary Friedman told the New York Times that RH’s ambitious restaurant ventures are essential to promoting the company as a luxury brand, and that each location earned an average of $10 million annually — more than 10 times the average annual revenue of an independent restaurant in America, depending on size. SFGATE reached out to RH for comment, but was told that Friedman was unavailable for an interview.

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The exterior of RH Gallery at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif.

The open kitchen at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif.

The lobster roll at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif.

As for the menu, which he purportedly developed with the advice of a top chef, Friedman told the New York Times, “Nobody cares if the room’s beautiful if the food sucks.”

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The Newport Beach restaurant certainly feels grand: It’s reachable via a double floating staircase or an elevator from any floor of the cavernous showroom filled with furniture, textiles, and rare art and artifacts. Flanked by two marble wine bars, the sprawling, atrium-style 270-seat restaurant is filled with plush chairs, white tablecloths and heritage olive trees. Impressive circular chandeliers and a cascading fountain serve as centerpieces of the impossibly symmetrical dining room, which offers impressive ocean views from just about every table.

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The crowd is decidedly monied Orange County — no surprise given that there’s a “caviar specialties” section and $65 king crab salad on the menu. It feels a little bit like the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, minus the Hollywood sparkle. Labels — Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton — are displayed loud and proud, as are large, sparkly rings that are most certainly not of the cubic zirconia variety.

The dining atrium at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif., features views of the Pacific Ocean.

The half tower of chilled seafood at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif.

Despite Friedman’s comment about the menu, the diners are there for the scene, not the food, which is probably a good thing. The menu reads as luxe but is really equivalent to standard, soulless resort fare. Raw bar towers adorn many tables, because what says “I have money” more than a whole lobster, claws pointed up, atop a bed of ice? The open kitchen also offers a buttery lobster roll piled with slightly fishy meat and a sad $38 shaved rib-eye dip sandwich that falls well short of even the Hillstone variety. There are fries, too; just don’t expect them to be hot.

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Of course, just because something is expensive doesn’t mean that it has to suck. Plenty of absurdly high-end Southern California restaurants, like Monsieur Dior by Dominique Crenn in Beverly Hills, can get away with charging $175 for caviar service because the food is thoughtful, the service is warm and you feel welcome from the get-go.

The food at RH Ocean Grill isn’t completely without its charms: A cheeky move is the menu’s selection of fancy petite baked potatoes. The Parisian version, a creamy twice-baked number flecked with chives and creme fraiche and topped with a small dollop of caviar, feels like a nod to the version at Martha Stewart’s restaurant the Bedford in Las Vegas — which, because it’s smashed and mixed tableside, is actually a lot more special than what’s offered in Newport Beach.

The dining terrace at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif.

The shaved rib-eye dip sandwich at RH Ocean Grill in Newport Beach, Calif.

So is RH Ocean Grill a “scam,” as some restaurant influencers might say? That depends on what the average diner here is after. Absolutely no one will be disappointed with the restaurant’s beauty (especially if you like beige) or the views, and even for folks with little love of luxurious dining, the people-watching is top-tier. 

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But a word to the wise: Be sure to reserve an indoor table. On a recent visit, blustery winds ripping through the rooftop and half-working heat lamps made eating outside a chillier affair than a Newport Beach socialite’s cold shoulder. A begrudging offer of cashmere throw blankets helped — but not enough to save the entire experience.

RH Ocean Grill, 1101 Newport Beach Center Drive, Newport Beach. Open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

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