The folks at Mesa invited Allison from Sweet Potato Bites to try a few new things on their menu. She was super nice and awesome and invited me to be her +1.

I know I usually do recipes and such on this blog, but I have to tell you guys about it because it was pretty fun and clearly I love food.

Mesa is a Bar/Lounge/Restaurant located in Costa Mesa.  I’ve seen it a bunch of times, because it’s right next to the CAMP but never went because honestly it just seemed a little too swanky for me.  But after this visit, that myth was sort of dispelled.

This place is definitely the kind of place I want to go for an awesome drink, but the food was also awesome.  We got there at 7 (which is when they open), and it was still light out.  The place has an awesome retractable roof so you feel like you’re outside without having to deal with heat or wind.  FOODIE BONUS: natural light is great for food photography.

Upon arriving we ordered some drinks.  Allison and I both got a glass of wine (after all it was a work night, couldn’t go too crazy), but they had an awesome array of cocktails.  I would love to go back someday for an afternoon Negroni.

The staff at Mesa was super nice.  They told us about the hand-drawn “secret menu” that included special cocktails and small plates.

 

We ended up ordering a bunch of things to share.  All in all, it was quite a spread for two ladies…

(note the food blogger in action)

We tried the sweet potato fries

Because Allison could never pass those up.  Seriously guys, they were amazing.  Perfectly crispy and I loved the spicy dipping sauce.  Normally, I prefer regular fries to sweet potato fries, but I would definitely get those again.

Smoked Chorizo Meatballs from the secret menu.

Delicious.  Loved the little spicy kick to them.  And the grilled bread they came with… Delicious and eaten entirely by me since Allison is avoiding gluten right now.

Free-Range Chicken Breast with potatoes, mushrooms and a delicious cream sauce

This was seriously tasty.  I won’t lie.  The chicken was chicken; I really only wanted to eat the potatoes and mushrooms, because they were awesome.  I would order that again just for the potatoes and mushrooms

Roasted Beet Salad

I’m always a fan of anything with beets and goat cheese.  This salad had feta and roasted hazelnuts.  Super tasty and light.

For dessert, because we know I can never pass up dessert… we got the ice cream trio.

Vanilla Maple Ice Cream with bacon, Blackberry Sage and Espresso Chipotle Stout.  These were all awesomely intense flavors.  Allison and I both agreed the maple bacon was the best.  It’s definitely on my list of things to recreate.

They also made us a special after dinner cocktail.  It was super intense but delicious.  I probably could have drank the whole thing but decided to keep it classy…

I wish I could remember all the things in there but it was amazingly herby and sweet (maybe a little too sweet).

Overall, it was a fantastic meal.  I wish this place was open before 7pm, because it would seriously be the perfect place for weekend (4pm?) afternoon cocktails.

Thanks so much to Allison for letting me tag along with you and thanks to Mesa for taking care of us.

Ok so tell me.  What was the last great meal you had out?