RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Forget for a minute that Javier’s is one of the trendiest spots in Newport Coast. It seemed like the minute the restaurant opened on the second weekend in February it was crammed with the hip and trendy.

Wait times for tables went into the hours. After about 8 p.m., if you didn’t have a reservation, you were relegated to waiting in a line outside.

The open air patio will host 70 people either waiting or wishing for a seat in the dining room, but on this night it seems as though there is double that number and about half that waiting outside looking in enviously.

People are talking and checking out their neighbors, while enjoying cantina food and margaritas with one of the many brands of tequila the restaurant proudly serves.

Instead of a wine cellar there is a tequila storage unit, stocked with “vintages” of Mexico’s famous alcohol. The cellar is next to another decadent feature. The Marcos Room is a private space that seats up to 14 at a long table and is adorned with mother of pearl on the ceiling and walls.

Those flashy features will get the in crowd, but they are a fickle bunch and they will eventually find a new place.

Which is good for Javier’s, because it would be an injustice for the restaurant to be labeled a hot spot de jour.

It is so much more than that and the real star is not the atmosphere, but the food.

Javier Sosa worked in restaurants as a boy in Tijuana. When he came to the United States in 1969 he got a job as a dishwasher at Tortilla Flats in Laguna Beach.

In that time, Sosa worked other jobs and learned a lot about the restaurant business. When he opened the first Javier’s in Laguna Beach in 1995, he had a specific goal in mind.

“Most of the people don’t really know Mexican food or Mexican culture,” Sosa said. “They think it is beef tacos and cheese burritos, and that is not true. We wanted to show it was much more than that.”

The menu certainly reflects that, especially the especiales de la casa (specialties of the house) and the grilled selections.

There are 13 specials and all seem to validate Sosa’s philosophy of preparing unique Mexican food.

“A lot of recipes are not family recipes,” Sosa said. “They are from ideas from chefs and my wife and other people. There are many influences in our food.”

Fish is a heavy part of the Javier’s menu. Crab, scallops, prawns, salmon and other fish are combined with ingredients such as garlic, chiles and cilantro. Some of the sauces used include tomatillo, pasilla and Veracruz.

One of the best non-seafood dishes is the Lomo Azteca. It is medallions of pork loin baked in a chipotle cream sauce and flavored with onions. The pork is so tender no knife is needed, and the flavor is outstanding.

My vegetarian friend was satisfied with his spinach enchiladas, which were stuffed with corn, black beans, spinach and covered in verde sauce. It was a light but flavorful dish, and I didn’t even notice the absence of meat.

Of the dishes I have tried so far, my favorite is the enchiladas pueblo.

Two Maine lobster enchiladas are sautéed in garlic butter, parsley and onions.

A tomatillo sauce is put on top and the dish is garnished with shredded lettuce, avocado slices, sour cream and cotija cheese.

Make certain that you finish with deep-fried ice cream, a Mexican delicacy that no one does better than Javier’s. It is vanilla ice cream rolled in corn flakes, nuts and honey, then lightly deep fried.

The wait is worth it, and diners would be remiss if they didn’t get over there as quickly as possible.

Address: 7832 E. Coast Hwy., Newport Beach

Phone: (949) 494-1239

Cuisine: Mexican

Specialty dish: “Everything;” fish vary by day.

Alcohol served: Full bar

Dress: Casual to formal

Family friendly: Yes

Credit cards accepted: American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Rating: *** 1/2

JOHN REGER is the Pilot’s restaurant critic. His reviews run Thursdays.