The mouthful of a restaurant calling itself “Eureka! Discover American Craft”–the Hawthorne-based chain that has an outlet at Huntington Beach's Bella Terra (read the review here)–has opened its second OC location in Irvine at the space formerly occupied by Chakra at University Center, across from UC Irvine.
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As with the HB branch, this Eureka! has a bar specializing in beer and bourbon, thus filling the void left behind by Steelhead Brewing.
On the menu will be your usual assortment if burgers and salads.
If you haven't been to the HB branch yet, you should know the burgers here aren't of the same stock as other beer-and-burger-centered places, such as, say, the Counter. More than anything, the burgers here rely on toppings for flavor. Though cooked to spec and as thick as you would expect a $10 burger to be, I found that the patties seem to be consistently underseasoned, if seasoned at all.
At the HB branch, I thought the buns were also closer to Big Boy's than anything else. The inside is fluffy rather than substantial, the outside speckled in sesame seeds rather than waxy–more fast food than gastropub.
For more info check out the website.
http://www.eurekarestaurantgroup.com
4143 Campus Dr., Irvine, CA 92612, (949) 596-8881.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.