Any suggestions for outdoor dining in Irvine? My daughter will be starting UCI and I’d love to have a list of places that I can go to when I drop off/pick up.
2 Likes
I work on campus. The plaza with Trader Joes has a few good outdoor options. Northern Cafe, Tender Greens and Mendocino Farms.
Some other good places within ~15 mins (all traffic dependent)
Taco Maria
Green Cheek - excellent beers and smash burgers
Pizzeria Mozza - they converted half of the parking lot for outdoor seats when we went in April
Bear Flag Fish Co - great poke
Gulfstream - part of Hillstone group
Good desserts and pastries for the way back home. Some might be out of the way but worth a detour.
Blackmarket Bakery
Paderia Bakehouse
ST Patisserie
Oli Boli Donuts
Cream Pan
4 Likes
Fukada off the 405 is amazing for udon, soba, etc. Everything down to the rice and salad dressings are amazing quality for the price. They have a few tables outside but also good for to go orders.
1 Like
Just a general comment that since all commerce in Irvine is shopping center based and there are no standalone businesses fronting any street, that these shopping centers are more conducive to outdoor dining than typical city block communities.
The new Solstice on Dupont between Jamboree and Teller has a nice outdoor seating area–a bit pricey,but the food was good and parking was validated
1 Like
Thank you for all the suggestions! I suspect I will be visiting a lot these next four years and will have many opportunities to dine around Irvine.
Little Sister in Spectrum. Fable & Spirit on Lido in NB not bad.
1 Like
can I revive this thread? would love updated recommendations for Irvine outdoor dining that also match the following criteria:
- budget to mid-range, nothing too expensive
- places that have a lot of good vegetarian, seafood & poultry options since I don’t eat beef, pork or other meats
- prefer Asian, especially Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese – but open to anything delicious!
thanks in advance!
Off the top of my head for Asian, there’s Northern Cafe, NEP Cafe and Siam Station. TRADE is a food hall that has an outdoor area with Tuk Tuk Thai, Bao Chick and Sen Thai Noodle Bar. At Irvine Spectrum, there’s Silverlake Ramen and Little Sister. At the shopping centers, there’s HiroNori Ramen off Sand Canyon, Fukada and Shin Sen Gumi.
a belated thank you. ended up at fukada for delicious salmon skin salad!
2 Likes
You’re welcome! If you ever need more, I remembered that there’s also Marufuku Ramen and Kuan Zhai Alley.