Two businesses opened within months of each other in central Laguna Hills this year, and they disagree about something fairly basic: whether you actually want to drink.
Bardega opened its doors on Alicia Parkway in February built around the idea that the answer is increasingly no, or at least not always. Docent Brewing followed a few months later on Avenida de la Carlota, built around the opposite idea, that a well-made pale ale still has plenty of room in this town. Neither business is wrong. That's the interesting part. Laguna Hills didn't pick a side this year. It got both.
The Bodega Betting You Want to Drink Less
Bardega took over the old Stefano's Golden Baked Hams space at 24781 Alicia Parkway and held its ribbon cutting on February 4, with Laguna Hills Mayor Don Caskey on hand to cut it. Owners Cory Danger and Matt Sharp built the concept as a hybrid: a corner market stocked with wine, snacks and lottery tickets on one side, a full restaurant and bar on the other, all under one roof they're calling a neighborhood bodega.
The bar menu is where the bet becomes obvious. Bardega pours full-proof cocktails right alongside low-ABV and zero-proof versions of the same drinks, treating both as first-class options rather than an afterthought for designated drivers.
"The palette for drinkers is changing, and we've been seeing it happening in recent years. They want to drink healthier. If that means no alcohol or lower ABV, or even less sugar, we want to fill that niche."
That's Danger, describing the reasoning to the Orange County Register before the doors opened. Social Hour runs daily from 3 to 5 p.m., and the space functions as easily for a quick bottle of wine on the way home as it does for a full sit-down dinner.
The Brewery Betting You Still Want the Real Thing
A few minutes away on Avenida de la Carlota, Docent Brewing moved into the space GameCraft Brewery vacated. Co-founder Brian Hendon told local press the team was targeting a May 1 opening, and the brewery's own site now lists Laguna Hills as its fourth taproom alongside San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Carlsbad Village, where founders Hendon and Bryan Giesen started the brand back in 2015.
Docent didn't soften anything to make the jump south. The Laguna Hills location carries the same food-and-beer pairing menu as the other three, built around a Korean Reuben, smash burgers, tacos and quesadillas. The beer list leans on the brewery's track record rather than novelty. Its Double Nickels pale ale won gold at the World Beer Cup in both 2024 and again in 2026, plus honors at the Great American Beer Festival, the kind of recognition that travels with a brand rather than resetting at each new address.
Here's how the two stack up if you're deciding which one fits tonight:
| Bardega | Docent Brewing | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 24781 Alicia Pkwy, Suite A | 23301-C Avenida de la Carlota |
| Opened | February 4, 2026 | Targeted May 1, 2026 |
| Previous tenant | Stefano's Golden Baked Hams | GameCraft Brewery |
| Concept | Bar, restaurant and market, full and low-ABV drinks | Craft brewery with full food menu |
| Known for | Social Hour, 3 to 5 p.m. daily | Double Nickels pale ale, Korean Reuben |
Neither restaurant is trying to be everything. Bardega wants to be the place you stop for a bottle of wine on a Tuesday. Docent wants to be the place you sit down for a pint and a burger on a Friday. Laguna Hills now has both answers within a short drive of each other, which is a different situation than having one big new opening and calling it a trend.
The Older Names Didn't Move Either
None of this displaced what was already working. Ironwood is still serving its seasonal New American menu from a full bar and open kitchen, with a heated patio that looks out toward the Saddleback Mountains, a view that doesn't come standard with most restaurant patios in this part of the county. King's Fish House has been doing fresh oysters and daily-changing seafood near the mall since 1997. Habana has been running its Cuban-inspired menu and cocktail program since 1995. Mint Desi Craft Kitchen has covered Indian and Pakistani food since 2016 and still shows up as a regular pick on local delivery apps.
That list matters because it shows what actually happened this year wasn't a changeover. It was infill. The corridor along Alicia Parkway and Avenida de la Carlota picked up two new anchors without losing any of the ones that were already drawing regulars, which is a healthier pattern for a restaurant scene than one flashy opening replacing a beloved closure.
One More Project Still Filling In
There's a third piece still in motion. Public filings show a trademark application and alcohol license request tied to a project called Tiller House at the Laguna Hills Inn at Irvine Spectrum, the three-star hotel at 23061 Avenida de la Carlota, the same street where Docent Brewing just landed. Revisions to the food establishment plan were still being submitted as of this summer, and no opening date has been announced. It's the kind of project worth watching rather than planning around. If it lands, it adds a third profile to a corridor that's already showing it can support more than one idea of a good night out.
What This Means for Your Weekly Rotation
The practical takeaway for anyone who already lives here is simple. You don't have to choose a lane. If tonight calls for something lighter, or if someone in your group isn't drinking, Bardega's Social Hour and its zero-proof menu give you a real option instead of a soda water afterthought. If tonight calls for a proper pint next to a menu built on twenty years of steady expansion, Docent Brewing gives you that without a drive to San Clemente or Carlsbad. And if neither new opening sounds right, the restaurants that have anchored this stretch for decades, Ironwood, King's, Habana, Mint, are all still exactly where they were.
That's the actual story here, and it's a better one than "two new restaurants opened." Laguna Hills spent 2026 proving it can carry two competing theories about what people want from a night out at the same time, in the same few blocks, without either one crowding out the other.
Curious what a shift like this says about property values and buyer interest along Laguna Hills' commercial corridors, or thinking about what a move within Orange County actually looks like this year? The McGuire Team has spent decades reading exactly these kinds of neighborhood signals across South Orange County. Contact us to talk through what's happening in the areas you're watching.
