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OC Restaurant Week "First Bites" Launch Party

4.5 (10 reviews)

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Stephanie C.

It's that time of year again for OC Restaurant Week! This was their 15th anniversary and my second time coming here. It is a unique experience where instead of you having to go to various restaurants to try their food... the restaurants are here for you!! All in one spot!! The tastings are a perfect sizing -not too big and not too small to allow you to get a taste of it and still enjoy all the other offerings. As for the drinks? They do not disappoint! There was something for everyone... wine...cocktails...beer. I do wish it was longer since those 3 hours fly by! Will definitely come to next year's party As for parking... the place (near Wall Writers) to park is across the street from the hotel. It was $10 for parking which I believe was cheaper than valet parking at the hotel.

O.C Restaurant Week Launch Party !
Tamara T.

I attended the OC Restaurant Masters VIP party at the Marriott Irvine Spectrum on Saturday and was amazed at how cool the event was and how many restaurants they managed to squeeze into two conference rooms and a hallway! Each restaurant station featured appetizer sized bites and/or cocktails and were fully staffed with personnel to tell you about their restaurant. There was also a NFT scavenger hunt which was really cool, but it was so crowded and there was so much alcohol, I might have forgotten to participate. Oops! The event flowed out to the hotel lawn where there were standing cocktail tables, an ice sculpture, more restaurant stations and a guitar player that did his rendition of 90's alternative songs. The vibe was definitely a trademark Orange County function with people wearing everything from designer basics to full on gowns with mink stoles. I really enjoyed meeting the people working the different restaurant stations and learning about them. I definitely need to venture to south county to visit a lot of these places because their food was excellent. My favorite's were: Hive & Honey's Clarisa cocktail, Villa Roma's empanada and paella, Mamon's Philly Me Up slider and their banana pudding, Il Sole's meatball, Tanner's HB's lamb, wagyu albondigas, Curry up's butter chicken, Bru Grill's chicken skewers and lemon drop, Great Maple's lavender lemonade, Scratch Bakery's cake pops, Maker's Mark ginger beer concoction and Grey Goose's spritzer, hornitos pineapple agua fresca. The attendees were all really nice too (everyone's nice when you have good food and free alcohol)! Thank you Hayley from Yelp OC for the tickets to this event! I'd definitely recommend getting a ticket for this event before they sell out, which they do every year.

Trina D.

Review #2400: It's OC Restaurant Week and I was fortunate enough to attend the launch party at the Irvine Spectrum Marriott as a guest of a ticket winner. Thanks to Pete S. for his extra ticket. We arrived on time and they started letting people in when the vendors were ready. There were quite a few participating restaurants this year, along with alcohol vendors. Maker's Mark had the most impressive display of donuts I've ever seen at an event like this. I had the pleasure of trying: Davios, Tommy Bahama's, Piccolino's, the Yellow Chili, Hendrix, Great Maple, Chambord, Hornitos, Maker's Mark, Hive & Honey, Kabuki, and many more. The event is a showcase of what OC restaurants have to offer for their restaurant week menus. If you haven't been out to try any of the restaurants yet, you still until March 14th to take advantage of the special prix fixe menus. Support the local restaurants if you can.

Janel G.

This was the last yelp elite event before the covid pandemic shut everything down. I am so happy I was able to go out w a bang! I had an amazing time sampling all the offerings for the upcoming Restaurant Week that did not come to be. :'( Here we are, 12 weeks after this event. My review draft sat all this time because I didn't know what to write. We all brushed shoulders, shook hands, hugged and kissed, sampled food and drink without a care in the world. We didn't know to consider all the "droplets" that could be infecting us as we innocently grabbed a sample off the table or tray. It was an amazing event. And I look forward to the day when I can attend such a gathering again. Of course, next time I may have gloves and a face mask on, and there won't be any tasters. We'll just get to look at pictures of offerings and assume that it's all as good as it looks.

OC restaurant red carpet
Jenny B.

What a great event. Really good food coming from each vendors. Beautiful setting but down side is valet parking

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Balboa Island - Yummy cookies from Dad's Donut & Bakery Shop.

Balboa Island

4.4(265 reviews)
5.2 mi

What a cute and quaint little island! I really loved visiting. There's plenty of free parking if…read moreyou drive down the residential streets, and you can see plenty of cute little homes. This would be a lovely place to own a vacation home. I absolutely love driving over the bridge with American flags flying on both sides; it's something you don't see often in SoCal. There are several cute shops on both sides of the main street, and there's really something for everyone. The island is known for two things: chocolate-covered frozen bananas and Balboa bars. I apparently missed the memo on the Balboa bars, but we got to visit both Dad's Donuts and Sugar 'n Spice for some frozen chocolate bananas, and they were lovely! I recommend coming in the morning to beat the rush. We brought lunch and went to the beach for a picnic on the park benches. It was a lovely day with family! I look forward to coming back to Balboa Island in the future!

We went on a cloudy weekday in late March. We parked in the parking lot on Palm street and took the…read moreferry there. At around 10:30 in the morning, there was plenty of parking available. We paid about $11 for 4 hours which comparing with Santa Monica is reasonable. On our way we also saw free street side parking , but those spots are not close to the ferries. There is a 5 minute walk from the parking lot to where the ferries are. You will have to cross a couple of streets. The ferries are pretty basic but they have capacity for 3 cars as well. Adults pay $2 each to get to the other side. They ONLY accept cash. There and back, the wait time was under a couple of minutes. The island itself is clean and serene. Other than a minimart, a fishing gear shop and a grocery store, there weren't any shops on the oceanfront walkway and no signage as to where you can find any stores. We walked for a bit and then returned to the mainland and Balboa village. Overall, we loved how clean and family friendly the beach and the pier and the island were. If we lived closer, we would visit more often for sure!

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Balboa Island
Balboa Island - The Teddy Bear House.

The Teddy Bear House.

Balboa Island - Juice on balboa

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Juice on balboa

Maggiano's Little Italy - Chicken Parmesan

Maggiano's Little Italy

3.9(4k reviews)
2.3 mi
$$

I decided to bring my mom here for Mother's day and enjoyed all of it!…read more We made a reservation about a week ago just incase there was a long wait. I highly recommend making a reservation before going because when we arrived, the line was down to the parking lot. It was packed! We instantly got sat and our server, Alex, stopped by with some water and greeted us. We were informed on Mother's day, they have a set menu. It was 2 salads, 2 apps, 4 entrees and 3 desserts for $55 per person. This was a lot of food! We honestly got full after the apps hit. Everything was sooo delicious and yummy. Alex, was extremely nice and friendly throughout the entire experience. They were very busy and all the servers were running around so we understood if he fell behind. We felt bad because the table next to us was giving him a hard time and being rude about the menu and how they didn't like certain items on the menu yet Alex stayed very professional and helpful with them. 10/10 food and experience, i will forsure be back to try more food and cocktails and request Alex's section!

We have been coming to Maggiano's for years and at today's luncheon with my son and Grandkids I…read morehave noticed a big change in the portion sizes. My Chicken Marsala was "Kid size" and so was my wife's Entree. Very disappointed with the size and the taste! Didn't taste the Marsala in the sauce? They also cut back on the spagetti that comes with it too! For a $30 you should get a descent size piece of chicken. I've had bigger pieces of chicken at McDonald's. We will be looking for a different place to eat at in the future more.... I figured it out. My wife told the Server "both of us will have Chicken Marsala" and we will split a salad. The chicken was split and the salad came out whole. Unsure how the bill came out as my son paid and no receipt given.

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Maggiano's Little Italy - Interior middle

Interior middle

Maggiano's Little Italy - Vera's Lemon Cookies

Vera's Lemon Cookies

Maggiano's Little Italy - The Finest Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp

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The Finest Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp

Luna Rossa

Luna Rossa

4.1(1.4k reviews)
2.1 mi
$$

We sat outside on a Sunday and it was beautiful. Service was quick and attentive and there was a…read morelive musician who came on at the end of our lunch. I highly recommend the main courses and appetizers. Everything was hot and fresh and delicious and the flavors were amazing. The sole was perfectly tender and the citrusy flavor was amazing with the capers. The pizza was also great. The crust tasted home made and was baked to perfection. I would skip over dessert next time. The custard in my caramel brûlée was grainy. The chocolate mouse cake slice was ok, and the vanilla ice cream was sugary. We will definitely be returning for the pizza and mains!

Great food on Mother's Day, not cheap, some misses on service…read more A wall makes it hard for the host to see people waiting for a table. If the host is not at the front, then ring the bell. A potential customer rang the bell to attract attention, no one appeared, and she left. Liked the food: fettuccine ai funghi porcini, seven lobster ravioli, and panine or sandwich with meatballs and fries! The lobster was finely ground but might have had more flavor if it was coarse ground. Host seemed upset that we had no reservations, even though there were several unreserved tables. The waiters were friendly. Our breadbasket was not refilled. Plates were cleared quickly. We were not asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu. So, we did not ask for the dessert menu and left.

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Luna Rossa - Ambiance...note the authentic Neapoliean wood burning oven. One of the best pizzas in the SoCal area!

Ambiance...note the authentic Neapoliean wood burning oven. One of the best pizzas in the SoCal area!

Luna Rossa - Tortellacci, Polpette Alla Marinara, Spaghetti alle Vongole, Luna Rossa Le Pizze

Tortellacci, Polpette Alla Marinara, Spaghetti alle Vongole, Luna Rossa Le Pizze

Luna Rossa - Storefront

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Storefront

OC Restaurant Week "First Bites" Launch Party - localflavor - Updated May 2026

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