Subject:

Irvine

  • Blogs

    February 13, 2012

    Is Tortillaz Aspiring to be Chipotle?

    ​ I'm not saying that every Mexican chain like Cafe Rio is trying to copy Chipotle. Even though it says it's not, Taco Bell is doing it. And why wouldn't they? It makes business sense to aspire to the same kind of success that Steve Ells Mexi-chain has achieved. There's nothing wrong with that. Bu ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 8, 2012

    Keeping Track: Where Are All The Weekly Clustertrucks?

    ​UPDATE: Anne Eng informed us that as of now, the Wednesday clustertruck is not occurring every week. They are still coordinating with other luxe loncheras for a steady rotation. Best to follow Panfiniti for updates.ORIGINAL POST: Per our friends at Panfiniti, the newest clustertruck is on Wednesd ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 3, 2012

    Is Kula Becoming The Walmart of Sushi?

    ​Some may remember that before it sold $2 sushi on moving belts, Kula's previous incarnation was as a high-priced, made-to-order sushi bar in Century City. When it failed to catch on after about one year, the restaurant made the move to the then still unproven Diamond Jamboree in Irvine. It was he ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 26, 2012

    Another Day, Another Craigslist Crime in Irvine

    ​The city of Irvine proudly proclaims itself America's safest city, and it surely is when it comes to your garden variety rapes, assaults and murders. But even America's safest city must deal with scam artists, boiler room operators and FBI informants who infiltrate mosques. Indeed, it's that ball ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 25, 2012

    Another Shabu Shabu Restaurant To Open In Irvine

    ​There are exactly three restaurants dedicated to shabu shabu in Irvine: House of Shabu Shabu at the 99 Ranch plaza on Jeffrey, Ayame Hot Pot on Portola Parkway, and SWSH at Diamond Jamboree, which was the last entrant in a city that previously only had one a few years ago.

  • Blogs

    January 23, 2012

    Irvine Loses One Vietnamese Restaurant; Gains Another

    Edwin Goei​The latter half of last year saw three new Vietnamese restaurants opening in Irvine, with Pho So 1, La Pho, and Pho Saigon Pearl vying for the wallets and mouths of the rice noodle-slurping public. It continues this year as The Irvine Company revealed that at least one more Vietnamese r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 19, 2012

    Ho-Hum, Another County Plan to Expand Musick Jail, Another Irvine Lawsuit to Stop It

    ​The County of Orange has been sued, scolded and ordered to reduce jail overcrowding for years. Just as regularly, attempts to expand the number of beds at the James A. Musick Facility in Irvine have been met with resistance--and court battles--from that city and nearby Lake Forest.It's happening ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 16, 2012

    Taleo in Irvine Closes

    ​The news came fast and quick. Shortly after our post about Fatburger at Park Place in Irvine biting the dust, two readers e-mailed us with the tip that its neighbor, Taleo in Irvine, was too, going to shutter. I called the restaurant during lunchtime on Friday, and the person who answered not onl ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 13, 2012

    Irvine Korean Festival This Saturday

    ​Dense in the head that I am, it still took me all of 3 seconds to realize how the City of Irvine came to host the Irvine Korean Cultural Festival tomorrow. Steven Choi, city councilman and a candidate for mayor, is also its founder. Why tomorrow? Well, because today, January 13th, is the day the ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 12, 2012

    Will Occupy OC Rifts Destroy the Anti-Corporate Greed Protests?

    ​Despite a reputation for raucousness, some 40 Occupy Orange County members gathered quietly outside of Fullerton city hall last night to discuss the future of the local movement after Wednesday's dismantling of Irvine's three-month protest.While two Occupy leaders outlined negotiations with Fulle ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 20, 2011

    Irvine and Santa Ana (Yes, That Santa Ana) are Dueling Safest Cities in America

    ​UPDATE, DEC. 20, 12:39 P.M.: My morning coffee obviously had not kicked in yet when I posted the original version of this item on Irvine and Santa Ana appearing on dueling lists of the safest cities in America. For, had I been fully awake, I would not have read right over Mission Viejo being rank ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 20, 2011

    Irvine Forces City Contractors to Pay their Workers a Living Wage--Unless They're Mexican Crop Pickers

    Agran (at right): Can he finally do something progressive after years of being a tool?​This summer, the city of Irvine and its apologists made much about its decision to force any contractors doing work for the city to pay its workers a living wage, that progressive wet dream in effect wherever fo ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 19, 2011

    Young The Giant at the Observatory Last Friday Night

    Daniel Kohn​Young The Giant The Observatory (formerly the Galaxy Theatre) 12/16/11 Last Friday night's gig at the Observatory in Santa Ana was a victory lap of sorts for Young The Giant. A successful 2011 saw the Irvine-based quintet tour across the globe (including many of the country's huge fes ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 14, 2011

    Mitsuwa Irvine To Host Grand Opening Festivities This Weekend

    Mitsuwa.com​Although it's technically open now, this Saturday is the official grand opening of Mitsuwa's Irvine store, the ninth outlet of the chain in the country, the second in O.C. And it wouldn't be a grand opening without fanfare and a celebrity.

  • Blogs

    December 12, 2011

    Ahmad Mabrok Accused of Being Naked Hummer Limo Thief

    YouTubeThey call him the streak.​A thief was fully clothed when he stole a Hummer limo at gunpoint in Irvine Saturday night.But, as a helicopter officer informed after the man who led cops on a bi-county chase jumped out of the stretch in Whittier and started running, "He's naked!"

  • Blogs

    December 9, 2011

    Jana Marie Spires Gets Jail, Rehab, Probation to Avoid Prison for Being Irvine's Serial Arsonist

    ​Jana Marie Spires, a 39-year-old Irvine resident, convicted serial arsonist and previous Weekly Ugly Police Mugshot of the Week model, has been sentenced to a year in jail, a year in a residential drug treatment program and registration as an arsonist for a series of fires she set beginning in th ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 6, 2011

    Two Asian Concepts From the Carolinas to Come to Irvine

    Edwin Goei​Two new Asian concepts, both from the Carolinas, are coming to the Square at the corner of MacArthur and Main in Irvine, near the airport. Twisted Noodles is an import from North Carolina and will be serving Thai food. It's actually not the first Twisted Noodles restaurant to open in O ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 29, 2011

    Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot Planned For Irvine

    ​Yesterday we talked about how Class 302, the Rowland Heights staple for shaved snow, was planning a store in Irvine. Today, we talk about Little Sheep, which is to Mongolian hot pot what McDonald's is to burgers (and I mean that in the world-conquering sense, not a dig on its quality).& ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 28, 2011

    Woori: Another Korean Supermarket To Open in Tustin Where Freshia Failed

    ​Will the third time be the charm? Those who live and shop in Tustin know that the supermarket space on Redhill and Walnut has changed hands more than a library book. Up until a few months ago, it was Freshia, a Korean supermarket. Before that it was called HK Market, the Korean market that preced ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 11, 2011

    Japanese Curry CoCo Ichibanya to Open in Irvine Nov. 25

    ProfessorSalt.comCoCo Ichibanya's Pork Katsu Curry​Do you love Japanese curry but long for more heat in the otherwise-mild-mannered dish? The Japanese chain restaurant CoCo Ichibanya offers spice levels you can customize to your taste, all the way to a brow-sweating, nose-running level 10. "Comin ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 11, 2011

    It's 11/11/11: Happy Pepero Day!

    Wiki Commons​If you haven't yet decided on a way to celebrate today's weird-looking date, 11/11/11, might we suggest heading to your nearest Korean market for a snack? Nov. 11 is Pepero Day in South Korea. Pepero, for those unfamiliar, are skinny biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate and sometim ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 8, 2011

    11 UCI Students and Supporters Guilty of Being Disorderly for Rowdy Protest Near Chancellor's Office

    ​Eleven UC Irvine students and sympathizers were convicted today of being disorderly on campus, and if you think your intrepid reporter has been conked on the head and is re-reporting the outcome of the "Irvine 11" case, you are wrong.Well, you are this time.These 11 with freshly minted rap sheet ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 2, 2011

    Taiwanese Hot Pot Restaurant Opens In Irvine

    Photo from Boiling Point Website​Just in time for the cold snap (it'll be in the 60's by the end of the week), the Taiwanese hot pot restaurant called Boiling Point has opened in Irvine offering gurgling, simmering stews that on its website it describes as "So hot. So bubbly. So sti ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 1, 2011

    Occupy Protest to be Held on UC Irvine Campus

    ​It looks like UC Irvine students are going to try their hand at the Occupy game once again with another protest. The Irvine contingent of Occupy Orange County has been Tweeting support  for the event, which is set to take place Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Ring Road, the main drag throu ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 22, 2011

    Sprinklers Disrupt Irvine Protest

    ​Occupy Orange County organizer D'Marie Mullatierri said Irvine activists got a rude awakening this morning when the sprinkler system on the lawn in front of the Irvine city hall suddenly activated. This is the same lawn where the group, who is standing in solidarity with Occupy Wall Str ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 19, 2011

    Lawyers Guild Offers Assistance to Occupy Protest Groups

    National Lawyers Guild​Assemble the lawyers: The Mass Defense Committee of the National Lawyers Guild sent out a press release this morning announcing their intentions to help Occupy groups in what co chair Mara Verheyden-Hilliard called "The single largest support effort for protesters since the ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 19, 2011

    Irvine 11 Team Appeals Conviction

    Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​​Just as they proclaimed they'd do after hearing the guilty verdict last month, the 'Irvine 11' defense team has filed appeals on behalf of the 10 students convicted of disrupting a speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren. Attorneys contend that the Californ ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 12, 2011

    [UPDATE: New Details for Irvine Protest] Occupy Orange County to Descend on Irvine's Financial District on October 15

    ​UPDATE, OCT. 12, 12:35 P.M.: Occupy Orange County announced further details for this Saturday's Irvine protest in a press release sent out yesterday afternoon. The action is set to kick off at 9 a.m. at 1 Civic Center Plaza, followed by a march to the city's financial district and an overnight oc ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 4, 2011

    Reason No. 247 Not to Trust a Man in a Pony-Tail: He Touches Little Girls Inappropriately in Irvine

    ​That kid from The Wire who was too much of a pussy to be a gangsta has been annoying little girls in Irvine. Well, at least that's who the person depicted in this composite drawing looks like to me. He's described as black, age 20-26, 6 foot, 180-190 lbs. with a muscular build, brown eyes and bl ... More >>

  • News

    September 22, 2011

    Who's Gagging Whom In the Irvine 11 Case?

    The First Amendment, academic freedom and Islamophobia collide in an OC courtroom

  • Blogs

    September 21, 2011

    Irvine 11 Trial: Verdict Expected Soon

    Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​Closing arguments concluded yesterday in the Irvine 11 trial. Twelve jurors are in deliberations, weighing about a week of testimony.    The defendants--Mohamed Mohy-Eldeen Abdelgany, Khalid Gahgat Akari, Aslam Abbasi Akhtar, Joseph Tamim Haider, Taher ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 20, 2011

    10th Annual Irvine Global Village Festival October 1st

    ​Orange owns Labor Day weekend. February is all about Tet in Westminster. Fullerton puts on an estimable New Year's Eve party. But late September to early October is Irvine's. It's the time when the largely master-planned community puts on its own outdoor fete.As with every year since its inceptio ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 16, 2011

    Irvine 11 Trial: 'Put a Straitjacket and Muzzle on Them?'

    Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​Was there an explicit rule against the Irvine 11's act of protest at the Israeli Ambassador event?  The defense argues there was not, and witnesses have testified that at such controversial events, it may be impossible to enforce one.  Sociologist Steven Cl ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 15, 2011

    [UPDATED with Corrected Day, New Earthquake:] Today's UC Irvine Chaos and Mayhem was Expected

    ​UPDATE, SEPT. 15, 7:23 A.M.: Um, you know those emergency exercises at UC Irvine I reported were happening Wednesday? Major brain fart: the drills are actually TODAY. Just apply the details from the original post on the next page to today, Thursday. But, here's the weird thing: when I thought&nbs ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 13, 2011

    [UPDATED with I.D.:] 77-Year-Old Sung Lee Run Over Surveying Crash He Caused

    ​UPDATE, SEPT. 13, 9:31 A.M.: The 77-year-old man killed in a freak traffic accident in Irvine Monday morning has been identified as Sung Lee. The Irvine resident was standing on Summit Road assessing the damage from a collision caused when he drove his Lexus SUV into a parked and unoccupied garde ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 13, 2011

    Irvine 11 Trial: Defense Compares Protest to Comedy Club Heckling--'Rude, Not Illegal'

    Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​"Of course it was planned," said defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman in her opening arguments today, addressing the charge that the so-called Irvine 11 (now 10) conspired to disrupt a public speech.     "They conspired to obey the law, which is the opp ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 18, 2011

    Chef Hung Opens in Diamond Jamboree

    ​The long-awaited, and purportedly award-winning, Taiwanese purveyor of beef noodle soup called Chef Hung is now open at Diamond Jamboree in Irvine. I have not tried yet myself, but my Taiwanese restaurant informant and friend said that it is already drumming up a lot of business. He saw lines out ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 15, 2011

    [UPDATED with Delay:] "Irvine 11" (-1) Case Heads for Trial

    ​UPDATE, AUG. 15, 2:33 P.M.: The "Irvine 11" trial (now with one fewer defendant) was scheduled to begin today in Santa Ana.That didn't happen.Trial has been rescheduled to Aug. 29, which is when jury selection is scheduled to begin.

  • Blogs

    July 29, 2011

    [UPDATED with Early RSM Nod:] Banning Pervs in Parks Sweeps OC

    ​UPDATE, JULY 29, 9:41 A.M.: The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council voted Wednesday night to move ahead with a ban on registered sex offenders in city parks that is similar to the county law enacted in April.The council agreed that banning only those who have preyed on children would leave kids v ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 25, 2011

    [UPDATED with More Victims Sought:] Travis Dewayne Batten Jr. Popped for Rapes Dating Back to 2005

    ​UPDATE, JULY 25, 7:56 A.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) is seeking other possible victims of suspected serial rapist Travis Dewayne Batten, Jr. of Irvine.The 29-year-old is facing felony counts that could put him behind bars from 157 to 204 years with a conviction.The OCDA ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 22, 2011

    Assi Natural Market To Replace Stein Mart in Irvine

    ​Last week Anne Marie told us that the Mitsuwa was opening its second OC store in Irvine. Now comes news that Irvine is going to get a lot more where that came from: that is to say another Asian super market is coming to town. This time, it's Korean. Assi, which has a market in LA's Koreatown, wil ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 4, 2011

    "Boiling Point" Taiwanese Hot Pot Restaurant To Open In Irvine

    Photo from Boiling Point Website​What you see above is a Taiwanese hot pot from a restaurant called Boiling Point, a popular San Gabriel mini-chain that started sometime around 2007 specializing in the Sterno-heated dish. There are stores in Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, and Monterey Park, not to men ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 1, 2011

    Restaurant Roll Call for June 2011

    tk_burger_anaheim.JPG Photo Courtesy of TK Burger's Facebook Page​It's the end of the month, so it's that time again: time to take stock of the restaurant openings and closing we observed here on the blog in June. There were quite a few debuts this month, and fewer shutters than usual.The list aft ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 21, 2011

    [UPDATED with Defense Motion Denied:] "Irvine 11" Case Heads for Trial

    ​UPDATE, JUNE 21, 11:51 A.M.: An Orange County judge last week denied a defense motion claiming 11 college students cannot be prosecuted criminally for disrupting an Israeli ambassador's speech at UC Irvine.Attorneys for the so-called "Irvine 11," who are enrolled at UCI and UC Riverside, argued t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 17, 2011

    This Week in Food: Cone-Ing, Breastaurants, and Tamal vs. Tamale!

    ​Always awesome weeks here, so jump after the jump to learn what made us jump this week!

  • Blogs

    June 16, 2011

    BREAKING: Woman Shot and Killed in Irvine's Turtle Rock Community

    The shooting occurred in Irvine's Turtle Rock community. ​A woman was shot and killed this afternoon in front of a home in Irvine. The suspect is in custody, according to news reports.   Just after 2 p.m. today, officers responded to reports of gunfire around Turtle Rock and Almalf ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 1, 2011

    Second 85°C Bakery Café Location to Open in Hacienda Heights

    ​Usually, it's LA County that imports its Taiwanese eateries to OC, not the other way around. For two examples of this, see Liang's Kitchen and the recently opened 101 Noodle Express in Irvine.But now perhaps the biggest of all--the Taiwanese answer to Starbucks, no less--85°C Bakery Café will ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2011

    Jana Marie Spires, Suspected Serial Arsonist of Irvine and One Ugly Police Mugshot Model

    ​Jana Marie Spires has been tied by authorities to a half-dozen fires in Irvine over the past 10 months, but missing from the list of charges is suspicion of posing for one ugly police mugshot.I mean, look at that kisser. Don't bother throwing the book at her, someone already has!At the 39-year-ol ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 11, 2011

    Symposium Plugs in to Hybrid Automobile Future

    ​Hot on the tire tracks of announcements that Volvo is road testing its V60 Plug-in Hybrid, Volkswagen will soon have plug-in Golf and Jetta hybrids and Toyota will offer plug-in options for all Priuses by 2014 comes an all-day symposium in Irvine today dedicated to the hottest automobile market.C ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 15, 2011

    Irvine 11 Plead Not Guilty to Misdemeanors; No Ruling on Defense Motion to Remove OCDA

    ​Dressed in formal suits, button-up shirts and neat ties, the young men dubbed the "Irvine 11" appeared in court today, pleading not guilty to misdemeanor charges of both interrupting and conspiring to interrupt a lecture held last year on the UC Irvine campus, in which Israeli Ambassador to the U ... More >>

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