Still Water Spirits & Sounds—Anything But Still

A fun happy hour spot is always a great find. We found one this week at . Located at Del Prado and Golden Lantern in Dana Point, Still Water is on a sunny, tree-lined corner and has a large, semi-enclosed patio.

Tables, colorful umbrellas and heaters are scattered throughout, and the centerpiece of the patio is the large, rustic bar. There is also a big metal still on the patio, which serves as the sign for the restaurant. Indoor seating is also available, but the night we were there, the weather was too nice to go inside.

We chose a small table. From there, we could see all the way to the .  We were given the happy hour and dinner menus along with a wine list. The bar was almost full of patrons and quite a few of the patio tables were taken also. There is a big screen television hanging over the bar where you can watch some sports. 

We checked out the wine list, which has a variety of reds, whites, and sparkling wines by the bottle and glass. The happy hour cocktail specials include house wine, well liquor and domestic beer for $3 and Hess Chardonnay and Cabernet for $5. Happy hour food specials range from a half tuna melt with cup of soup for $5, to calamari, shrimp scampi, clams and fried chicken and jack cheese sticks. Each are $9 or less.

The dinner menu is small but interesting. They offer two salads, which can serve as entrees if you add the optional chicken, salmon or shrimp. There are soups, which were chili and chicken noodle soup the night we were there. Entrees include a burger, free-range chicken with oven roasted potatoes, seafood pasta, rib eye served with mashed potatoes, and Pacific grilled salmon.

Sadly, for us there was not time to linger the night we visited, so we skipped over the cocktails and wine, and both ordered iced tea. It came, served with a slice of orange, which was a lovely touch. We decided to start with the half pot of clams from the happy hour menu. My husband chose the burger and I must have been craving some comfort food and selected the half tuna melt and cup of chicken noodle soup.

The clams arrived in a sleek white bowl. The menu had described the dish as fresh clams steamed in ginger, garlic, white wine reduction and turmeric broth. As you can see from the picture, they came covered in cilantro and other greens and were served in a broth over toast. The presentation was pretty and they were good. The broth was not as flavorful as we expected, but it was a nice start to the meal.

Our entrees arrived next and looked appealing. The burger was enormous and was covered with vegetables. It was served with a Portobello mushroom, roasted peppers, caramelized red onions, jack cheese and shredded lettuce, all on a huge rosemary bread bun. Alongside the burger, were roasted potatoes and tomatoes. Even though the burger seemed almost too big to eat, it was delicious, and all of the extra veggies were a great addition.

My tuna melt was quite tasty. Unlike the burger, it was simple, just tuna salad and a little cheese on sourdough bread. The soup tasted homemade and was classic chicken noodle. It was great, especially for only $5.

We enjoyed our visit to Still Water Spirits & Sounds. Its location is perfect for grabbing a drink and a snack or a meal, and just hanging out. In checking out its website afterward, I learned that Still Water offers live music nightly. You can check out who is playing each night at renaissance-danapoint.com .

Still Water is closed Mondays, but offers Taco Tuesdays each week and offers regular happy hour Wednesdays-Fridays from 4-7 p.m.  Its is aopen from 3 p.m. to close Tuesday –Thursday and from 12 p.m. to close on Fridays and Saturdays, and open for brunch 10-2 p.m. on Sundays.

I give Still Water Spirits & Sounds 3 ½ Patches out of 5.