Good View, Good Music Worth Newport Glitz

Newport Landing has that slightly glitzy look you can’t seem to escape in Newport Beach. On the other hand, you get a great view of Newport Harbor and the ferries shuttling back and forth from the Balboa Peninsula (where you are) over to Balboa Island.

The waitresses are friendly if a trifle slow sometimes, especially when the place is busy. It’s busy quite a lot. This is a great place for parking yourself on a Sunday afternoon. Get there early so you can grab one of those seats on the deck.

The crowd tends to be well-but-casually-dressed, the drinks moderately expensive and the bar menu mostly undistinguished, with the exception of a couple of really good items (the fried calamari and the Cajun fries--not recommended, however, as the base for a night of serious drinking).

The music is usually pretty good; it runs to the two-guys-with-acoustic-guitars kind of thing, but that seems just right for this place. Extra bonus attraction on weekends are the fabulous Girls, three very talented women who can jump from Motown to Bonnie Raitt without any mishaps.

On a scale of three, give it a two-and-a-half for the view and the Girls.

Newport Landing, 503 E. Edgewater Ave., Newport Beach (on the Balboa Peninsula overlooking the Balboa Ferry). Open daily till 2 a.m., Mondays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m., Sundays from 9 a.m. (714) 675-2373.