Umami Burger — Restaurant in Irvine

DO NOT GO HERE! If I could rate this place 0 stars, I would. I came to this Umami Burger location a few days ago with a friend and the customer service, dining experience, and food quality were HORRIBLE. We arrived and sat at the indoor booths area , and our server was a tall and slim man with long hair that was in a ponytail. Immediately after we were seated, a large rat ran across my foot and off into the restaurant. The server then proceeded to laugh and say “oh my gosh, i’m so sorry!”, yet he showed no urgency of trapping the rodent to get it out of the indoor dining area. We moved back to the outdoor seating and ordered our food. The first shake was brought overflowing, sticky, and dripping over the sides of the cup onto his hands and the table. The server proceeded to messily wipe the outside of the cup with a small napkin, which was gross and unsanitary. Despite the fact that there were only two tables seated, one of which was nearly done eating, the food took very long to arrive. Even simple requests like a side of sauce or a water refill took unnecessarily long. The food was brought cold and the order was incorrect. My friend ordered the Truffle burger, which is advertised as having “Truffle Cheddar.” The server and cook both confirmed that their truffle burger comes with yellow square cheese, yet my friend received a burger with white and round cheese, which was confirmed to be provolone. After explaining this to both the chef and the server, they continued to “gaslight” us, or try to trick us into thinking we were wrong. The two burgers we ordered and the fries were brought cold and the meal was flavorless. Throughout this whole process, the servers and the manager never attempted to make things right. When we confronted the server about the customer service and the wrong order, he stood there saying “um… um…” and continued to stand there without saying anything for 2-3 minutes. Eventually, he asked if we wanted him to do something about it, to which we requested a discount on the food items that were made incorrectly. The server did not reply, and left. Later, we were approached by the manager, who was a light skinned lady with straight black hair and dark black eyebrow makeup, who said she had spoken to her staff and they denied making the wrong burger. Several reviews describe her as rude and condescending, and I agree. Our entire experience including the wrong order that we received was caught on camera, so we requested the manager review it and she said no. She would not listen to any of our concerns as she had already gotten false information from her staff. We again requested a discount on the food items that were made incorrectly, to which she said no because it’s their policy. She was unable to show the policy in writing or any proof that her statements were not made up. After aggressively denying a partial discount, and without providing any solutions for the matter whatsoever, she said “if you aren’t going to pay, i’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Note that we never denied paying, and my friend even said to her, “we want to pay for our food but we expect a partial discount for the food items that were made incorrectly, because I didn’t get the food that i ordered.” As a manager, she has authority and should have morals to make an exception for our experience. She didn’t care. She then kicked us out of the restaurant by telling us again we need to leave. As we left, she shouted at us to never come back. I would not recommend this place for anyone. The service is beyond unprofessional, the food is gross, and it is really unsanitary and has rats. They should...

3 years later now that we all know the word Umami we can still clearly see that most people still don’t know what it means. To the public I just give up and call it “meaty”, but it’s more savory and earthy than that.

I’ve watched them explode all over socal and seen them get too big for their britches and carry unsustainable growth. The reason for that was location. Irvine is well thought out, large and in an established mall, unlike many of their first LA shops with no parking, small and unequipped to handle the crowds. This location has also aligned themselves with The Improv group of theaters, also longstanding in the community.

I generally come here before the shows nextdoor and I usually eat outside since the weather is nice in socal usually. The bartenders outside are friendly and make strong drinks, but could be a hair more attentive.

They do NOT do subsitutions, but they are also the only place that has a chicken breast offering like standard grilled or fried versions with bacon.

My way of getting around the no substitution is to not eat alone and buy each thing I want and kind of Frankenstien it. It’s expensive and a bit of a waste, but when in Rome, right?

The grilled chicken sandwich special is moist, which is hard for a breast since they tend to be leaner and usually are skinless. The maple glazing sauce counters the natural flavors well. The bread holds up well to the weight since it’s probably messier than the beef burgers. The fried version is hefty and the bacon they put on top is delightful without being overwhelming. Country fried steak sandwich-esque. They don’t offer the smushed potatoes like at other locations. Truffle cheese uses synthetic truffle oil in the cheese and needs a gravy. House fries are thin. The onion rings have an extra sweetness with the batter.

House ketchup is good, not too sweet. The fried cheese adds texture and crunch. Throwback is probably my go to for light fare. Hatch for normal eating and Manly for when I’m feeling extra testosteroney. Medium rare is fine here, no need to go rare or medium well since they use good ingredients, grind the patties in house daily.

Eating in the main dining room is dark. Pricing is a little over $20 for burger, side and drink, so the value is maybe not quite where you’d think. It’s not quite Slaters sized, but will fill you up. They’ve got a solid operation and a contemporary décor, but cater to a large audience. I had to deduct a star for the no substitutions. Sorry guys, your not a fixed menu 3 star and your items aren’t that refined to not allow some customization. It’s good for a fix, but not a destination. I kill time, get dinner, mingle and pre party before the...

I am not typically this person. However. It’s been sitting with me since yesterday.

Inflation is one thing… however, the dip in quality of product AND hidden up-charges is another.

Where to begin…

The Up-charging: We ordered two soda waters (the “out of the fountain”, “bar fountain gun”) and were charged $6 EACH for them. $6 FOR WATER. We were also charged for a mysterious 3rd fry sauce we didn’t order, yet showed up at our table anyway… which leads to an entirely different complaint. Once-upon-a-time the sauces were included with the fries. Now there’s a charge…and the “price” isn’t on the menu. $.75 each, fine whatever. But the principle of not listing that DOES sit weirdly in my stomach.

The food: I used to see Umami far above a fast-food burger. But what we experienced yesterday swayed more towards “expensive McDonalds”. Admittedly, it’s been a few years since my last Umami Burger, but this was a noticeable change.

After an under-cooked, meat burger at Umami (not at this particular location, so this doesn’t apply), I lost my “taste” for their meat burgers. Easy switch the The Impossible. HOWEVER. The Impossible burger, once resembling the thickness and juiciness of their meat burger, is now paper thin. I couldn’t understand why every burger now had a “double” option… those burgers used to be so thick! I was curious to see if it was just the Impossible burger being effected. The neighboring table ordered meat burgers and the thickness looked to be about the same as ours.

To all OG Umami truffle fries fans, they were at 1/2 portion size and no longer have the melted truffle cheese over top. We used to be able to order these as an appetizer/side to spilt between two… definitely not the case any more.

It wasn’t the Umami we knew and loved a few years ago. Unfortunately, this is likely the last time we’ll venture into one. Between the food quality drop, $6 seltzer, $.75 sauces… it’s just not...