The best little hike to unwind. Love this little park with all its sculptures. You park at the…read morecivic center and hike for five minutes to this little area. It's perfect for Easter. Happy Yelping!

Do you love rabbits? There's only one acceptable answer here…read more.. This public sculpture is so cute! It's like, "What are they doing? Are they swapping tales of how they con the humans out of extra snaccos by using their cuteness?" But in all seriousness, you should stop by Civic Center Park if you're ever in the area. There's plenty of free parking (both structure and outdoors). It's a nice and easy path, great for an evening stroll. And if you're lucky enough, you may even catch a glimpse of hares around the Bunnyhenge! Picture Tip: If you like a nice aerial view of Bunnyhenge (or other parts of the park) be sure to utilize the elevated walking path at the intersection. You can walk up (or use the elevator) and it will take you to a lookout platform that will give you an amazing shot.

The Irvine Civic Center is an amazingly beautiful place and hosts medium sized events really well,…read moreis a great vote center, and is also right next to the enormous and incredible Bill Barber park. Likewise, the city of Irvine itself is my absolute favorite in the entire country, and probably the world, so I'm grateful to be able to live here now.

It is a great place to hold a community event. Lots of parking, clean restrooms, beautifully kept…read morelawns. The photos are from the Out of the Darkness Walk by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). I do this walk every year in honor of my oldest daughter who passed away in 2017 by suicide. Not much help was available back then, but more support and information has since that time, mainly due to the deaths of Robin Williams, Kate Spade (yes, the creator of the purses), Anthony Bourdain, and many other celebrities. Suicide loss and grief is unlike any other death. Survivors live with the pain and guilt for many years. Many survivors live with their guilt for many years. Know that you are not alone. ;

An amazing experience here! Easy online ordering, absolutely the best sandwich selection and…read morefreshest ingredients in all of Irvine. The restaurant is newly decorated and clean. The staff makes you feel like a valued, regular customer from the get go, calling you by name. The staff is professional, friendly and customer centric . The only place to go for authentic, fresh, Italian food.

The scrumptious, warm, crunchy focaccia was the ideal bread for a memorable caprese sandwich. The…read morefocaccia inside was soft and chewy. The focaccia was the perfect size; not too thick or too thin. It firmly held the mozzarella, fresh, peppery arugula and flavorful tomato slices so nothing escaped. The mozzarella was creamy, silky and oh-so delicious. Pesto was the only other ingredient in the sandwich and we appreciated the simple tastiness of each ingredient. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Ask for Alex if you want an Italian's recommendations. The space is bright, clean and welcoming.

Really enjoyed looking at all the art sculptures walking an approximate of 1.5 mile loop. The trail…read moreconsisted of cement and gravel paths. The flowers around the path were also in full bloom. There is also a cool sky bridge to take in the beautiful scenery. I could see the ocean! Parking is free and trail head starts at the beginning of the parking lot. There were also two small dog parks within the loop.

Wow, this is a great park!…read more There's a bunch of fun sculptures throughout this nice park. Bunnyhenge is probably the biggest one. There's also a dog park here for small and large dogs. I like how there's an accessible elevator for the bridge to connect the two parks so you don't have to cross the street. Parking is also easy since it's at the civic center. Do yourself a favor and check out the Newport library too!

I wanted to send some love to our other neighbor Santa Ana. Downtown Santa Ana is still overrated…read morein my opinion. But people are starting to notice the fun things to do and see here now. I feel the Downtown area is becoming a familiar destination for some. Lots of events are performed here almost every month. I love the food and coffee shops here. Santa Ana still has some of the best Mexican and Latin foods here in my opinion. They also have museums of art, and Car shows here. No crime here hardly, its safe to hang out in Downtown Santa Ana, believe it or not. So, I love it. Gotta start coming out here often to spread my love for the city.

The 2024 independence day parade, was awesome, the downtown is beautiful full of restaurants,…read morefamily places like ice cream stores, for all tastes, vegetarian and vegan restaurants also, clothing stores, shoes, jewelry, bride dresses and accessories, music, kids clothing and souvenirs, everything you need you can find it at the 4th st. There's parking on the streets also parking structures. Banks, church, all very convenient. If you want to know Santa Ana and Mexican stores and Hispanic you get to visit the downtown. I love this place and highly recommend it to you all.

Been wanting to try Oliver's Trattoria in Irvine for a while and finally managed to get a…read morereservation for Friday evening at 6:30pm and the place was packed. We were seated on the outdoor patio, which had the perfect ambience as the evening started to settle in. We started with the Fritto Misto, which was awesome. The calamari and shrimp had just the right amount of breading, and the arrabbiata sauce pairing was spot on. For dinner, the three of us decided to share a few dishes: the Branzino al Sale, Margherita pizza, and Spaghetti allo Scoglio. The Branzino al Sale had a great tableside flame presentation, and they deboned and filleted it for us, which was really impressive. We were super excited for it, but unfortunately it was way too salty for our taste. We mentioned it to our waiter, and he handled it really well by switching it out for the lamb chop special of the day. That ended up being the star of the night, honestly one of the best lamb chops we've had. Perfectly cooked, flavorful, and tender and love the chimichurri sauce with it. The Margherita and Spaghetti allo Scoglio were both very good as well. To finish, we shared the Affogato, Panna Cotta, and Tiramisu, and all three desserts were amazing. Despite the issue with the branzino, the service was excellent, the patio ambience was great, and this is definitely a place we'd come back to.

I love Italian food so I was excited to try out this restaurant, but I was severely disappointed…read more Aesthetically, the restaurant is pretty cute. Seating had a more casual vibe, but the chandeliers and lighting give some elegance to the room. To start, the Focaccia bread and Insalata Cesare were both delicious. The three entrees we ordered fell short though. For mains we ordered the Lasagna Classica, Tortelli di Erbette, and the Branzino al Sale. The Lasagna was very meat heavy, which was great, but there wasn't much cheese. The Tortelli di Erbette was very bland and the portion was very small. Finally, the presentation for the Branzino was top notch. The server poured vodka and lit the fish on fire before dissecting it tableside. The meat was very tender and delicate, but it needed some kind of sauce, which I think the server forgot to place on the table. Overall, most of the food was pretty lacking in flavor and the portion sizes were small for the price. The service wasn't great either so I doubt I'd return here any time soon.

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!

Omgggg!! This place is amazing. Great humongous cookies. I love that their cookies are baked to…read moreperfection just the way a cookie should be-- crunchy in the outside and gooey chocolate in the inside. They give just enough chocolate chips and dough ratio. Their ensaymada with cheese is so nice and fluffy. This is my go to place if you're craving for a nice comfort cookie day.

I already knew I loved Paderia for their banana pudding (very similar to Magnolia Bakery's famous…read morebanana pudding), so I was so excited to be apart of this event. I tried the pistachio latte and the walnut chocolate chip cookie. The pistachio latte was good! It was pretty sweet and the pistachio flavor is very strong, giving it somewhat of a salted taste. But let me tell you, I am OBSESSED with the walnut chocolate chip cookie. It is very, very similar to the cookies at Levain Bakery. I'm not actually sure I can taste a difference. But since there aren't any Levains near me (that I know of), it's nice to know I can get my cookie fix at Paderia. The interior is also so beautiful/modern and the staff is really friendly. I could see this being a great place to grab some sweets and socialize. Thank you Yelp & Paderia for the experience.

Forgot to take pictures because we started eating right away. The food was really good!…read more They recently remodeled the restaurant and it looks so much nicer. The new booths, hardwood floors, and updated look make the whole place feel fresh without losing its cozy vibe. I had the Rigatoni D and it was delicious. The Chicken Marsala was also really good. They brought out their new honey bread with sea salt butter, and honestly, that was so good too. We came here on the Fourth of July and had a great experience. Everything from the food to the atmosphere was enjoyable, and we'll definitely be coming back.

I just had to write a review because our experience was too funny! The family meal was epic-…read more My friends and I use to celebrate every occasion here as a silly tradition but stopped coming after they got rid of the buy one take one home deal. We reunited with Maggiano's last Sat, the first time in over two years! We were planning on ordering normally, but someone recommended we do the Family Meal for just a couple of more dollars to get salad, appetizers AND dessert. $53.99/pp When we ordered, we were deciding between which items to choose and the waiter mentioned it was actually free refills on the items you order. That was when everything went crazy... For context, you can order 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 3 desserts. It seemed super doable until the food came out. TWO OF EACH ITEM CAME OUT!!! We could not stop laughing because everyone was starring at how much food was on our table. Even the dessert was a crazy amount. MVP of the meal was certainly the Chocolate Lava Cake! Anyway, the food was delicious and we left with 15+ to-go containers, enough leftovers for the week for all of us. This is an amazing deal, we have no idea how they made money but glad we got to experience it. Our waiter (didn't get his name) was also our favorite one out of all our visits! Excellent service.

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.