Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers in Costa Mesa
Knife Pleat in South Coast Plaza, Vaca in Town Center, Mastro’s Ocean Club in Costa Mesa, Ospi Costa Mesa in Paseo 17, Il Girasole in Costa Mesa and Verde Restaurant in East Side Costa Mesa carry exceptional wine programs on this list.
ANQI in South Coast Plaza and Mastro’s Ocean Club hold a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Citywide, our guide counts four venues with that award and one venue with a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. List styles here include Vaca's extensive list of sherries and Spanish wines, extensive lists at the French and Italian rooms, sake and craft cocktails at ANQI, and craft cocktails at Verde Restaurant. Ospi Costa Mesa cooks modern Italian trattoria food, including house-made pasta from biodynamic wheat, beside its extensive list.
How this list is chosen: Restaurants holding a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award or rated as having an exceptional wine program, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
ANQI
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
ANQI has earned consecutive recognition on the Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America list from 2023 through 2025, making it one of the more consistently cited Asian fusion addresses in Orange County. A 4..
Il Girasole
Exceptional wine program
Il Girasole on Hyland Avenue sits within Costa Mesa's quietly ambitious dining corridor, where Italian cooking traditions hold ground alongside the city's more headline-grabbing contemporary programs. For occasion dining in Orange County's interior, it occupies a niche that rewards those who look past the South Coast Plaza adjacency and seek a table with some longevity behind it.
Knife Pleat
1 Michelin star · Exceptional wine program
Holding a Michelin star since 2024 and ranked 20th on the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants list for 2024, Knife Pleat brings classically rooted French technique to the Penthouse level of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Chef Tony Esnault's seasonal menus — spanning four- and six-course dinners, a three-course lunch, and Saturday afternoon tea — sit at the summit of Orange County's fine-dining tier.
Mastro’s Ocean Club
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Exceptional wine program
On East Coast Highway in Newport Beach, Mastro's Ocean Club occupies the premium end of Southern California's seafood dining tier — ranked #694 in Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list for 2024 and carrying a 4.,600 reviews. The menu draws on Pacific Coast provenance in a setting that leans toward occasion dining, open nightly from 4 or 5 pm.
Ospi Costa Mesa
Exceptional wine program
Ospi Costa Mesa occupies a deliberate space in Orange County's evolving restaurant scene, where Mediterranean-leaning cooking meets the measured ambitions of a city that has grown comfortable with serious dining. Located at 234 E 17th St in Costa Mesa, it operates in a tier that rewards patience and curiosity, sitting alongside a peer group that includes Michelin-recognized neighbors and well-funded independents with something to say.
Vaca
Exceptional wine program
Vaca brings the convivial energy of a Spanish mercado to Costa Mesa's Town Center Drive, earning consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions in 2024 and 2025. The menu draws on the ingredient-forward traditions of Catalonia and the Basque Country, where sourcing and technique carry equal weight.
Verde Restaurant
Exceptional wine program
Verde Restaurant on Irvine Avenue sits within Costa Mesa's layered dining scene, where the city's appetite for considered, ingredient-focused cooking has steadily deepened. With the name signaling a green, produce-forward orientation, Verde occupies a specific niche between the neighborhood's casual cafes and its formal fine-dining tier. What it offers — and how it structures that offer — is worth understanding before you book.
Planning restaurants for wine lovers in Costa Mesa
- Which neighborhoods are these wine restaurants in?
- South Coast Plaza, Town Center, the Costa Mesa neighborhood, Paseo 17 and East Side Costa Mesa are the neighborhoods on this wine list. Knife Pleat and ANQI are in South Coast Plaza. Vaca is in Town Center. Mastro’s Ocean Club and Il Girasole are in Costa Mesa. Ospi Costa Mesa is in Paseo 17. Verde Restaurant is in East Side Costa Mesa.
- Which restaurants on this list hold Wine Spectator awards?
- ANQI in South Coast Plaza and Mastro’s Ocean Club in Costa Mesa are the restaurants on this list with a Wine Spectator award. Both hold a Best of Award of Excellence dated 2026. Citywide, four restaurants hold that award and one holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. ANQI pours sake and craft cocktails with California Vietnamese cooking. Mastro’s Ocean Club is a steakhouse and seafood room with an exceptional, extensive list.
- What wine list styles appear on this list?
- Vaca in Town Center pours an extensive list of sherries and Spanish wines. Knife Pleat in South Coast Plaza, Mastro’s Ocean Club in Costa Mesa, Ospi Costa Mesa in Paseo 17 and Il Girasole in Costa Mesa each have an extensive wine list with an exceptional program. ANQI in South Coast Plaza adds sake and craft cocktails. Verde Restaurant in East Side Costa Mesa has an exceptional program with craft cocktails.
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