Brio Italian Grille - Irvine - Spectrum Center

Review summary

1. J

   Jennifer

   VIP

   Los Angeles

   72 reviews

   1.0

   72 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   First off, our table seating was horrible. It was five of us, and we were seated in a four person booth with a seat at the end. There were available tables. It was very uncomfortable as the person in the end seat was constantly being hit or had to move out of the way for servers to come through. The food was subpar. Any of the people who had pasta with marinara there was barely any marinara in it, and there was no taste. Our waiter really was very odd and and was talking us out of items that we wanted, with real no reason other than just order what’s on the menu, it was bizarre. I would never go back again truthfully I would try the ones closer to my house in South Orange County, but definitely will not be visiting the Irvine spectrum Brio ever again. The place was chaotic with half a dozen Christmas parties going on. The entire staff seemed extremely inexperienced and very overwhelmed. It was as though high school students were running the restaurant. Get this, at one point someone was smoking a joint in the restaurant. It was the most bizarre dinner ever! We’ll definitely not be back. It’s really too bad..
   

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2. G

   Gretchen

   VIP

   Orange County

   19 reviews

   5.0

   19 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The food is consistently delicious and plentiful. The menu is varied, not only Italian pastas but chicken and beef choices as well. We go to Brio about once a month. We always have excellent service by the waitstaff. Tonight Austin was our server. He was knowledgeable about the menu and excellent in tending to us at dinner.
   

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3. N

   Nick

   Orange County

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined on December 14, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   Short staffed and poor service. We have always enjoyed food.
   

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4. R

   Roya

   VIP

   Seattle

   4 reviews

   3.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on December 13, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Terrible service. They kept forgetting our or free r and left us abandoned at the patio for long periods of time. We had to ask two or three times for our drinks.
   

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5. J

   John

   Orange County

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on December 9, 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   Went for a dinner with a friend. Dining room was noisy with a Christmas party so sat in the bar high top table. Bartender was overwhelmed with 6 people at the bar and making drinks for the Christmas party. Ordered carpaccio and it was a huge plate with 2 small crackers, had to ask for more crackers. Ordered a martini with blue cheese olives on the menu but they didn’t have blue cheese olives. How hard is it to stuff some olive if it on the menu. Ordered spaghetti carbonara with sausage.and salmon special. The pasta was fusilli not spaghetti. Christmas party left. Salmon special did not come for 20 minutes. Finally the manager came and comp the salmon and martini , that was appreciated but the entire experience reminded me of Olive Garden amateur. Brio was very good years ago when they first opened but felt like they lost business and had to cut back on staff. Used tables were not cleared and still had dirty dishes on them the entire night. I will not go back.
   

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6. K

   Kayla

   Phoenix

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on December 7, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Problems started at making a reso, missed items on drinks that the menu listed and they sat our party of 7 at two small round tables in the bar area. It was expensive for a mediocre experience.
   

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7. L

   Linda

   VIP

   San Diego

   8 reviews

   2.0

   8 reviews

   Dined on December 1, 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Unfortunately we did not have a positive experience. It was Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was not busy - only about 8 -10 tables seated although 2 were bigger groups. There were only 2 waiters and no bussers. Our waiter acknowledged us and told us he’d be back - after a bit he brought a small basket of bread with some butter (about 3 small slices for our group of 5) we had no silverware to spread the butter so we finally took a set from another table. As the waiter passed by us several times, I asked for silverware but didn’t receive it until I asked again. He finally stopped to take drink orders so we ordered drinks, appetizers and our meal in case we didn’t see him again. The drinks and appetizers came but then we waited a really long time for our food. We were seated near the kitchen so I saw our plates go up on the counter under the warming lights - it was at least 20 -30 minutes later that he finally picked them up and brought them to us. He did not offer Parmesan cheese (we all ordered pasta so I stopped him again as he rushed past us and asked for it - a few minutes later he came by with some) we had finished our mango ice tea way before the food came so I asked for refills - he eventually brought a carafe of plain tea - no ice, and never refilled my water. This is a nice white tablecloth restaurant but they are not staffed to provide service. The table next to us never got cleared in the 2 hours it took to get and finish our meal. Also when I made reservations I mentioned it was my granddaughter’s birthday- no mention was made and no one offered for us to even order desert. I was really hoping this would be a special birthday lunch for my granddaughter- the food was good but portions were small. I would not recommend, especially if you are looking for a special place to celebrate. It could be a nice place to eat if they were able to adequately staff it.
   

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8. R

   Richard

   Los Angeles

   7 reviews

   5.0

   7 reviews

   Dined on November 30, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very good service and excellent food with generous portions. I love the ambiance.
   

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9. M

   Meghan

   Orange County

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on November 18, 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Our first time was fantastic. Our second time we had to wait 40 min just for someone to ask us what we want to drink and served us water. An hour for bread. The people that came 30 min after us got their order taken and water within 10 min of being seated. After the bread we waited another 30 min or so for the food. I had to get up and ask the server for steak sauce and a steak knife.
   

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10. M

    Mark

    VIP

    Orange County

    2 reviews

    2.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on November 13, 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3

    Service was not good. It was slow, food came out cold. We ended up leaving without one of our meals ever being served.
    

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