Urban Plates — Restaurant in Irvine

Through my experience, the business at this location is under disarray. I downloaded the Urban Plates App a few months ago and ordered a family dinner for pick up. The order arrived incomplete. I called the restaurant and spoke with a gentleman who oversaw the Take-out operation. He apologized and indicated that he left a gift card under my name at the location as service recovery. I went to the restaurant in person to place a take-out order yesterday. When I requested the server to apply the gift card under my name, she was not able to locate it in their system. She didn't smile or appeared to be sympathetic. Instead, she nagged at me for my last order, what was missing, who took the order, how much was the gift card, etc. I attempted to use the store app to locate the last order, but there's no records under the "Previous Order". I stood in line for 10 mins. with multiple customers behind me. The server kept staring at me and expected me to solve the issue. She didn't complete the intake of today's order either. I finally told her that as a customer, I should not have to go through this chaos to place a new meal order with a credit. The server kept talking into her earpiece with someone else, instead of communicating with me. I finally walked out of the restaurant with my family member without accomplishing anything. I deal with customers all day in my line of business as well and I felt strongly about my experience at this Urban Plates location. I called the restaurant on my way home and requested to speak with the manager to provide feedback. On the first attempt, a man placed me on hold for an extended period of time after I indicated my intent. I hung up and tried again. On the second attempt, a lady transferred me to the "manager", who shared with me that the general manager only works at the restaurant two days a week. I guess yesterday was my "unlucky day" that he is not there. I politely requested the lady to pass on my contact information to the manager upon his return for a callback. At this point, I have no faith in a returned phone call. Is it too much these days to expect good customer service and a welcoming environment besides just good food at a restaurant? There's another restaurant location at Irvine Marketplace. With the negative brand image I have now, how likely do you think I will venture to the...

EDIT. Do not order takeout from them. My first experience below should have taught me something, but I thought we'd give it another try and used uber eats to order our favorite plates. Steak was good, but my seared albacore although looked beautiful and fresh - was very fishy. I couldn't even finish half the slice. This is so frustrating that this restaurant cannot be trusted with takeout. Dine-in in only from now on.

Original review.

First time we tried this place by picking up the order and eating at home. I was not impressed, because steak was overcooked, sea bass undercooked and the braised beef stew did not taste half as good as it looked. Also they forgot to include dessert we paid for. The manager reached out to me and sent us a gift card, so we could come back and try it again. We gave it another chance and I can confidently say that dine-in experience is absolutely perfect and I would come back times and times again, because everything was outstanding: the food, the service and the ambiance. Every item was cooked and seasoned to perfection and we could taste freshness in every dish. Mango tart was absolutely HEAVENLY. Portion sizes and quality of food are really worth the price.

I highly recommend...

This review is for Fatima, who helped me out today- THANK YOU FATIMA! Fatima was super kind and patient while I explained how big of a fan I was of Urban Plates' peanut butter chocolate pie. This seasonal dessert menu item was available through Uber eats a few weeks ago; I ordered it and fell in LOVE. I went to this physical location to see if they still had it, and if it was available in other sizes/styles (I was planning on ordering some for Friendsgiving next week because SEVERAL of my friends really wanted to try it after I showed them pics). Unfortunately, it was swapped out of rotation, but Fatima recommended me their new banana pie. I got one and tried it- it was delicious as well! I really appreciated Fatima's kindness as she even went as far as asking one of the chefs/managers in the kitchen for more details on the peanut butter chocolate pie (its availability, seasonal rotation, etc.). I look forward to the next time this pie is in rotation!!!

Aside from their dessert menu, all of the other savory items are really tasty and dependable choices. My go-to's are the roasted brussel sprouts, mac 'n cheese, chicken tenders, mashed potatoes w/gravy, tomato soup, and chimichurri...