Paul Martin’s American Grill — Restaurant in Irvine

Visited on mother's day for the first time, and had the worst experience, to the point I thought I was being pranked and there had to be on a hidden camera. To begin, I ordered their Paul's omelette with no mushrooms. After 15-20 minutes all the dishes were brought out to our table except mine, a few minute later I asked the waitress about my food, which she seemed a little surprised and went to check in the kitchen. I was then told because I ordered without mushrooms that it was taking a few minutes longer. Finally about 15 minutes after everyone else at my table had received their food my omelette arrived. And to my surprise the fried potato side was refrigerator cold in the center and the omelette was entirely undercooked with running egg white on the inside and laughable the avocado toast was just some guac. It was clear then that they rushed to make my dish after forgetting but instead blamed me ordering without mushrooms for why it was so late. I sent the food back because it was really inedible, and asked instead for the Belgium waffle thinking that would be quick for them to prep since my table was mostly finished with their food. When I received the waffle I was completely surprised to see the it looked like an eggo waffle! It was a tiny thin waffle with a couple pieces of fruit and a tiny dollop of whip cream...for $19!! I thought for sure this was a joke or kids waffle, but at least it was edible and I was starving and just wanted to hurry up and be done. Completely underwhelming and disappointing food and service for what I thought was supposed to be a nice place! I will say they other at my table that ordered the eggs benedict looked really good, so that would probably be the best bet...

Happy Hour = 3p - 7p, everyday

This was the case where the ambiance was 10 times better than the food. Nothing wrong about palatable food, but restaurants generally want you to be wow'd, unless it's Dennys. It would be harsh to compare this place to a big brother Flemings, so I won't. I had a 10+ group on a pretty dead Sunday night. I would arrive at the tail end of Happy Hour, but too bad I didn't just stay at the bar.

-=-Sunday Only 3 Course Prime Rib Dinner-=- It's prime rib and this deal is only on Sundays. You get a soup or salad, mash potatoes, your meat, and a dessert. There was interest at our table about the Monday Fried Chicken, but as the name implies...it's not just a name. I asked for as rare as I can get it, which was medium, already off to a bad start. The creamy horseradish is a joke - definitely request for raw horseradish which comes with Tabasco. The meat didn't quite wake up with the horseradish kick. At this point, I'm telling myself well...meat is meat.

-=-Mashed Potatoes-=- Not bad, not awesome. The pool of butter in the crater was dreamy to look at. I think the special thing about these is that they were whipped. No other noticeable flavors.

-=-Caesar Salad-=- My favorite part of my meal. Imagine that. It was not quite a wedge salad, but close. The dressing was light, but there was a good crunch and flavor in every bite.

-=-Banana Cream Pie-=- Wasn't too banana-y, wasn't too creamy, not sure about what happened here. It was OK to eat and had the right elements of dessert. Just not sure if I wanted to spend my cheat...

Friends were visiting us from LA to celebrate my bf's birthday, so we found ourselves at Irvine Spectrum to find something new. We decided on Paul Martin since the menu had steak and a diverse menu to appeal to everyone.

The ambiance is dim and a little noisy, but the booth seating was spacious and plenty of room to fit many shareable plates for appetizers, dranks and everything else. We shared a plate of calamari to begin. Lightly breaded and served with your option of house cocktail sauce or chili aioli. A little spritz of lemon works great for me, but I think the cocktail sauce was the table winner.

For our main course, I wanted something light, but still wanted a little bit of meat to hold me over. I had a feeling the bf would get the steak and not share, so I figured I'd get the Steakhouse Cobb so I could get my cake and eat it too. The salad was nicely presented with each ingredients placed strategically for visuals, but I would have preferred it mixed together for optimal flavor. The steak was cooked medium rare and cut into big chunks.

Boyfriend got the steak with a side of fries. We actually substituted the side for fries, so that's always an option to keep in mind if you don't like what it's being paired with on menu. Overall, it was filling and I enjoyed our selections. Menu can feel a little limiting if you prefer something on the lighter side, but then again, it's not really that type of...