Tai T.
Yelp
I came here with an arcade friend to celebrate his birthday. This spot was totally not how the pictures made this place seem. The pictures made it seem like the space is expansive but it's almost too claustrophobic for my personal tastes. Keep in mind, I'm a tall dude, a 6'-4" hulking asian dude. All the tables and chairs were smashed in and were very close in proximity with the one's next door, behind you and in front of you. And this is regardless of whether you sat at the main long tables at the center of the space, the high tabletops and chairs to the left of the main long tables, or the booths that ran along the walls, immediately from your right at the entrance.
The front door was inconspicuous. The signage was equally and awkwardly placed where I didn't know where the heck this spot was until I circled all around the damn building and went through a corridor that I thought was just a passthrough to the other side of the building and there wouldn't be a business midway dead smack in the middle of it. It's an oddly design building.
When you walk in, immediately to your right is the front desk where they will ID you and then they will designate a spot for you to sit on. You can get a choice of hightop tables for two, which is straight ahead of you from the entrance, the front of bar, which is immediately to your left from the entrance, and the booth tables to your right from the entrance.
The restrooms are straight down the hallway from the entrance to the left for dudes and to the right for the ladies.
It's not too often that I drive down to the OC, which I'm aware, Cerritos is not technically part of the OC, BUT because it's all the way down south and is close to Buena Park and Anaheim, I'm lumping this town as being part of the OC. That said, parking in this county is generally very easy to find. I had no issues finding parking since Harkins theatre across the street had even more parking spots if you couldn't find parking in the same plaza as Shipmates. That's where I parked and walked over to this plaza.
Drinks and food menu are on their website. There's a QR code plaque on each table for you scan with your smartphone but you can absolutely ask the front desk person who will also be your server to give you an actual menu, which she did, in my case.
They seem to have a good selection of draft beers on tap and all the popular liquor of choice. They don't have the more fancy, relatively unknown or rare liquors so don't ask for those. Maker's Mark was $11.50 for a shot, for point of reference. I basically drank a double shot neat of that all night. My friend ordered a Tokyo Tea (minus the club soda) and a couple of Mango Carts on draft.
Ambiance. This place is super loud. TV's everywhere tuned into sports--there was some type of football event where lots of people dressed in their favorite team's jerseys that night cheering when their team scored a goal. You'll be spending the bulk of the evening in very close proximity to your friends to hear what they are saying. On that note, you'll be hearing everyone else's conversations next to you, behind you and in front of you with HD clarity.
Service. It was dodgy. The one and only front desk person that also doubled as the waitress for all the tables inside--that's crazy. It's not very efficient but she was very nice and pleasant to talk to and always made sure to circle back to you even if it'll take her a long while but she'll get back to you. It wasn't really an issue for me and my buddy but it may be an issue if you're the type that wants prompt service.
My arcade friend ordered food. I didn't. He seemed to have enjoyed it. He said it was decent.
All in all, it wasn't bad. I like it enough that I would stop by again but probably not when there's a football playoff. I would still recommend giving this place a shot, despite the dodgy service that Saturday night.