Mastro's Ocean Club — Restaurant in Irvine

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – My Experience at Mastro’s Irvine Spectrum

We’ve been to many Mastro’s locations over the years — Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Las Vegas, Scottsdale — and every time, the experience has been excellent. Unfortunately, this new location didn’t live up to the Mastro’s standard.

The Good: The place looks fantastic. They completely redesigned the old Del Frisco’s restaurant, and it’s beautiful. We were seated immediately with a reservation, and our server greeted us right away. Unfortunately, that’s where the good ended.

The Bad: The layout is awkward. Walking to the restroom feels like navigating an obstacle course — the walkways are tight, and you practically have to turn sideways to get around chairs and servers. The design looks nice but doesn’t function well. Also, the men’s restroom has only one urinal… really? For a restaurant this size, that’s just poor planning.

The Ugly: Service was painfully slow. We had to ask three times for bread, which finally came 15–20 minutes later. Our drinks (other than water) took just as long. And when the food arrived, it was noticeably saltier and less refined than what we’ve come to expect from other Mastro’s locations.

Overall, a disappointing experience. I get that it’s a new restaurant, but this is not up to Mastro’s standards. Hopefully, they figure things out soon — because right now, it’s not...

We had the pleasure of dining at the brand new Mastro’s Ocean Club on their second night open, and wow what an experience! From the moment I walked in, the atmosphere was electric. The live music created the perfect backdrop for the evening, classy yet vibrant, setting the tone for an unforgettable dinner.

Our server, Kayla, was the true highlight of the night. Her genuine engagement elevated the entire experience. She offered excellent recommendations, and carried herself with the perfect balance of professionalism and warmth. Kayla made us feel like we were longtime regulars on just our first visit. Food wise, everything was outstanding the lobster mashed potatoes were absolutely delicious and the famous butter cake was the perfect sweet ending to an incredible night.

Mastro’s Ocean Club is already setting the bar high, and with service like Kayla’s, I can’t wait to come...

Dined there twice in the past few weeks. Casual no special occasion. Overall I to think it tried to be very high end, but food and staff need to be more sophisticated/caring (not just good looking). Food wise, I think it was just okay nothing really stands out. The smoking lemon drop was my favorite drink so far. We ordered a Manhattan once and that was too much sweet Vermouth (they made another one still too much). The other vodka based drink was just okay very watery. shrimp cocktail is good size super fresh another favorite. The American wagyu was a bit chewy. For steak/seabass I still like capital grill better, they melted in your mouth. You can really taste the freshness of ingredients. I hope they can break the curse that, when a really tasty restaurant opens a location at Spectrum, they ended up not living to the standard of the original...