"A Victorian Tea House walks into a Spanish Bar." That is how Sherman Library & Gardens describes the design idea for Hazeltine's, the restaurant it is building on Pacific Coast Highway. The building will be two stories with its own door to the street. It is set to open in late summer 2027 and will serve brunch, lunch and dinner seven days a week from a full bar.
That plan changes which way the Gardens face. For years, Sherman's restaurant served lunch five days a week from a spot inside the walls. The rebuild moves the kitchen, the visitor center and the main entrance out to the highway, where they will sit alongside the rest of the Village. This December falls in the middle of that change. The holiday lights are on, but you come in through a side gate on Dahlia, and dinner is a taco cart.
This year's holiday nights come in from Dahlia
Merry & Bright Nights runs 14 evenings this year, from 5 to 9 p.m. Entry is at either 5 or 7 p.m. Sherman's event page lists Santa, a Wishing Tree, holiday crafts, a model train running through a holiday scene, and a dance party. It suggests planning on about an hour to an hour and a half inside.
| Week | Nights | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| First | Thu. Dec. 3 to Sun. Dec. 6 | Dec. 3 already showed as sold out in early November |
| Second | Thu. Dec. 10 to Sun. Dec. 13 | Four nights, Thursday through Sunday |
| Third | Thu. Dec. 17 to Tue. Dec. 22 | Six nights, the longest run, ending three days before Christmas |
Tickets cost $45 for members and $65 for everyone else, and children 3 and under get in free. Members got first access on October 5, and sales opened to the public on October 19. The money side is stricter than at most December events. Tickets can't be refunded or moved to another night, and the event goes ahead rain or shine. A holiday ticket also doesn't cover a daytime visit. Regular hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day, and that admission is sold separately.
Sherman also sells bundles that pair holiday tickets with a year's membership:
- Family Package: $335 for four tickets and a one-year Family Membership
- Adult Dual Package: $230 for two tickets and a one-year Adult Dual Membership
- Senior Dual Package: $205 for two tickets and a one-year Senior Dual Membership
Sherman's homepage says the entrance is on Dahlia Avenue for now, some parts of the grounds are closed off, and you may hear construction. Parking is free in two lots off Dahlia. One is at the corner of Dahlia and East Coast Highway and the other is behind the building, with street parking as backup. The paths work for strollers and wheelchairs, the Garden Shop stays open during the event, and pets aren't allowed, though ADA service animals are.
Why dinner is a taco cart
The food setup shows most clearly where the project stands. Food comes from a taco cart selling tacos, quesadillas, water and hot chocolate, and it takes cash only. A no-host beer and wine bar runs next to it, and outside food isn't allowed.
The reason is simple. Sherman has had no regular dining since its last restaurant closed. That was 608 Dahlia, which served its final meal on Sunday, October 26, 2025, when its lease ended. The Newport Beach Independent reported that chef Jessica Roy had taken over the old Café Jardin operation and renamed it Cultivar, then later 608 Dahlia. The Orange County Register also covered the closure. In the meantime, the Gardens scheduled a run of Hazeltine's Afternoon Tea events through 2026 to introduce the new operator's hospitality, with booking on Tock.
The kitchen moves to the street
Hazeltine's takes its name from Moses Hazeltine Sherman, the Gardens' namesake, and in particular from his daughter, Hazeltine. Sherman says letters and photos between the two shaped how the room will look and feel. The operator is Damian Orozco, who owns the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. The restaurant will also cater Sherman's own events. According to the Orange County Register, Orozco plans seasonal cooking built around local suppliers, with broader California and European influences. The Daily Pilot covered the announcement in late May.
Orozco's statement on the Hazeltine's page puts it this way:
"We both care deeply about beauty, tradition, community, and creating experiences guests will remember."
Here is how the move reverses the old layout. In Sherman's early days, according to its own history, the Junior League of Newport Beach served light lunches to members in the Tea Garden through a window in the old visitor center and garden shop. That building is being rebuilt from the ground up as Hazeltine's. It will be two stories, with a door on Pacific Coast Highway and a view over a fully redone Tea Garden. The old restaurant space doesn't go dark. It becomes a community building for classes, lectures and field trips all year.
What else is turning toward PCH
The restaurant is one part of a $17 million campaign called Grow The Gardens. The campaign is meant to replace aging facilities and add space for education and community use. The rendering captions in Sherman's press kit list the pieces in order, starting at the highway:
- Visitor Center and Bell Tower Entrance, a new way in from Pacific Coast Highway
- Crown of the Sea Recognition Wall, beside the Bell Tower, listing major donors to the campaign
- Hazeltine's, with a Garden View Patio and Terrace
- Central Garden Walkway, lined with an aloe allée
- Reflection Garden, with commemorative bricks leading to the center fountain
- Tea Garden, rebuilt with water, awnings and seating, and visible from inside the restaurant
Sherman's project page also lists work on the Tropical Conservatory, the Sun Garden and Shade House, and a new Story Time Corner. Put the first three items together and the Gardens' public face moves onto the highway, with a bell tower, a donor wall and a restaurant door all on PCH.
The schedule is already set. Sherman broke ground on February 26, 2026, planning an 18-month build that wraps up in late summer 2027. At the groundbreaking, the Newport Beach Independent reported that the campaign, started in September 2022, had raised $16.6 million of its $17 million goal. That puts this December about nine and a half months into the build, past halfway. Sherman's homepage gives fall 2027 as the opening window for full dining.
December 6 at the corner of PCH and Dahlia
On one day this season, the street and the garden line up. The 47th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk is on Sunday, December 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's free and has no set starting point. You just walk the PCH sidewalks through the Village. The Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce lists more than 17 local bands, Santa visits, children's activities, merchant and restaurant promotions, and a Beer & Wine Garden with dancing to the "Pinch Me" Band. One of the vendor fairs is at PCH and Dahlia, right at Sherman's corner.
New this year is a hop-on, hop-off trolley between entertainment stops. The Chamber's route map shows free trolley parking at the Civic Center.
December 6 is also a Merry & Bright night. The Walk ends at 5 p.m., the same time as the first garden entry, so one ticket can turn the afternoon on the highway into an evening inside the walls. By the 2027 holidays, both could start from the same PCH sidewalk, through the Bell Tower or the door to Hazeltine's.
At bouHAUS, we keep track of the changes that shape a Corona del Mar block. A new bell tower and a seven-day dining room on PCH and Dahlia will be one of them. If you own a home within walking distance of that corner and want to talk about how the Village around it is changing, we'd be glad to walk it with you.
