Brio Tuscan Grille

Decent food and service for the price in Irvine. The bloody Mary was way too peppery like it came from a grenade mix. It was awful!!! The eggs Benedict was okay, a little lacking in flavor (the eggs were poached okay). Great presentation with fingerling potatoes and GRILLED asparagus. They had more flavor.
I watched the bartender make carafes of mimosas. I wouldn’t get the mimosas. Stay away from the bloody Mary’s. I ended up with a Hendricks gin martini instead.
The atmosphere is the uptight generic sterile Irvine feel you want and love if you’re into Irvine. That’s a good thing! It could also be a bad thing. That’s up to you.
The red headed manager woman yelling at male employees is kind of disconcerting.
WiFi is awful!!! It’s 56K modem speeds and spotty despite the strength being very good??? And AT&T LTE signal is at zero bars.
Would I go back? Maybe, probably not because oif wifi, and the manager’s attutude
Would I order the eggs Benedict again? Maybe, probably not because the bloody Mary is so bad

This place is located in at the Irvine Spectrum right next to one of the parking structures. This is an Italian restaurant with nice décor: the lights, walls, floors, tables and dividers looked really good. I came here with some work colleagues for a celebration.
I ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, Campanelle Carbonera, a Caesar side salad served with bread. My drink was awesome, my salad was OK; I was surprised that that salad was served with little dressing and powdered Parmesan Cheese, not the grated cheese. My pasta had zero flavor. Although it looked good, it lacked any type of spices or seasoning, was lightly sauced and was not served with Parmesan Cheese.
For dessert we ordered a sampler and I got to try the Crème Brulee and the Tiramisu which were both excellent. At least my drink and the desserts were good. I can’t recommend this place for food but I would recommend it for drinks and dessert after work. Three stars!

After spending 2 weeks in Taiwan, I returned to Irvine wanting to eat anything but Chinese food. So we ended up at Brio, ordering noodles. I’m not good at this avoiding Asian-​ish food thing.
Been wanting to try Brio for a while so I was excited to sit down and check out their menu. Pretty expansive and all the greatest hits are there. While I’m sure the steaks are decent, I don’t hit up Italian places for much other than pastas and killer apps.
The killer app here is the friend eggplant with spicy shrimp. The eggplant, despite being doused in a peppery cream sauce, retains its crispiness. And it’s not oily at all – they prepped it right.
Pasta Toscano is their version of spaghetti bolognese. I liked it, but they use spaghettini which is like spaghetti’s anemic, really needs a Kalteen bar cousin. It kind of mushes up into a ball of pasta and sauce, stealing the joy of slurping noodles.
Wifey ordered the carbonara which was quite nice. Definitely not the heaviest carbonara I’ve had and the mushroom-​shaped pasta is a blast to eat. Eat all the textures!
All in all, solid showing. Brio is the rio deal. See what I did there?

I’ve eaten here a handful of times since it’s opening. My recent visit was a week ago. The food is mediocre. A-​ok. It didn’t get better… it didn’t get worse. It’s like a upscale Chili’s. The food doesn’t taste like it’s from scratch. The sauces and some of the veggies taste like they’re made by a «corporate» kitchen somewhere and then shipped to these chains… like a Chili’s or Cheesecake Factory. However, I am glad to see that the calorie count of everything on the menu has been omitted. This used to drive me crazy!!! Not a super healthy place, but has healthier options. If you want to have a nice meal out… you DON’T want to see the calories!!! This is a built-​in guilt trip.
RSVP…you can reserve a table through Open Table.
Seating…the dining room can be a little dim and loud. The side annex is really loud, especially if there’s a large party. The BEST place to sit is out on the patio with the built in heat lamps. Perfect for people-​watching!!! However, part of the view is the parking structure. :o/​
What we ordered…
1. Calamari Fritto Misto… Crispy golden brown, pepperoncini, creamy aioli, pomodoro… I liked this. I think that the alfredo & the marinara sauces are pre-​made, like from a jar, but it was still good. I liked the surprise pieces of battered pepperoncinis.
2. Roasted tomatoes & mozzarella with toasted bread… this was featured on the supplementary menu. This was pretty tasty. I put a generous amount of warm roasted (canned) tomatoes on the bread followed by a slice of the mozzarella. Unfortunately, the pieces of bread toward the bottom of the stack were burnt.
3. Gorgonzola Crusted Beef Medallions… Three medallions of beef with a mushroom Marsala sauce… tasty.
4. Grilled Salmon Fresca… Grilled asparagus, roasted sweet potatoes, spinach, red peppers, cilantro pesto vinaigrette, Feta, tomatoes, balsamic glaze… pretty good, but not as amazing as the server claimed.
5. Shrimp Mediterranean… Spicy grilled jumbo shrimp, orzo, farro, broccoli, asparagus, grape tomatoes, spinach, Feta, cilantro pesto vinaigrette… good but the vinaigrette tasted suspiciously of bottled Italian dressing.
6. Tiramisu… Lady fingers, coffee liquer, Mascarpone, cocoa… meh…one bite was enough.
7. Trio of 3 mini desserts… crème brulee, cheesecake, & strawberry shortcake? The crème brulee was good. The others were ok.

Great place to dine! It’s good for groups, couples and families. There’s also a bar if anyone is interested for drinks before and/​or after your meal.
I had a fabulous time here tonight. Our hostess was super attentive and made sure we were comfortable. I was surprised that our order came our fairly quickly. (they were pretty busy tonight).
They were also great at accommodating us.
I would definitely come back and do recommend everyone to at least try this place out!
If it’s your first time here, you can’t really go wrong with your selection. Why? Because their food is AMAZING!!!

3.5 stars
Service was an A+. The happy hour prices are amazing, definitely worth trying at least once.
The food was mediocre at best. Luckily, my friend and I went during happy hour and sat at the bar. He enjoyed the black pepper shrimp dish. He said that the sausage and pepperoni flatbread tasted more like Doritos.
I ordered the crispy Tuscany tots, the inside was very mushy but I did like the flavors. The Campanelle Carbonara had barely any bacon and a lot of fatty chicken in it, it kinda ruined my appetite… especially since the dish is almost $ 20.
The caramel marscarpone cheesecake was delicious. I would get that again.
The cool part about this place is that it has their own app. After multiple visits, you can accumulate discounts with a purchase of an entrée.

Food: ²⁄₅ Everything was mediocre at best. My MIL had to send her Bolognese back because it was a mushy mess. The second fire was even worse. My entrée, salmon, was nothing special. In fact, it was a little cold. Portions were not reflective of the price or quality.
Service: ²⁄₅ Friendly but slow, granted, we had a large party. However, drinks were scarce to come by and there wasn’t a lot of check-​in to see how we were doing.
Ambience: ³⁄₅ Pretty but extremely loud.
Overall, I don’t think we’ll be returning. There are a lot of better restaurants in the Spectrum.

I came here for a Sunday brunch with a couple of my girlfriends. It wasn’t too crowded at all and we were able to get seated right away. We sat in their patio area which was super cute. The seating outside during lunch time was on a first-​come first-​serve basis. You can either choose to sit on the tables or on their couches. Great ambience for a sunday brunch on a sunny day :)
Pasta Alla Vodka: All of my friends and I were in love with this dish! It is a ricotta filled pasta with a delicious cream sauce. They are also fun to eat since they are dumpling shaped haha. Love it because it is a unique pasta dish
Pasta Brio: My friend enjoyed the pasta alla vodka better but I honestly loved this dish too! Loved the creamy red sauce on it
Bruschetta Quattro: Sooooo delicious. This is a must get. It was perfect to get a little sample of their different housemade bruschettas. So many different flavors, I honestly didn’t even know what I was eating. All I know is that I liked every single one of them and their unique flavors.
Grilled Salmon Salad: Loved how it was light and refreshing. The balsamic vinaigrette dressing went well with it. Shared it with my friends as a side to feel a bit healthy haha :)
What topped off the great food and nice ambience was that they even allowed us to bring a bottle of wine without a corkage fee. Would definitely come back and recommend to my other friends :)

«SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-​nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.»
– Ambrose Bierce (from: The Devil’s Dictionary)
Sauce: Brio does sauces right. When I visited last month with friends, it is the one common theme everyone agreed upon… Our dishes had damn delicious sauces.
The Pasta Alla Vodka is their most popular dish. (Ricotta-​filled pasta, crispy pancetta, basil, spicy tomato Parmesan cream sauce $ 16.75) It is a heavenly combination of creaminess and tartness, with a smooth vodka finish. It is a simple dish that they knock out of the park every single time.
Pasta BRIO, their signature pasta dish is also quite tasty! (Rigatoni, grilled chicken, seared mushrooms, creamy roasted red pepper sauce $ 15.75) I loved their roasted red pepper sauce. It makes the entire meal.
The Grilled Salmon Salad looked amazing. (Mixed greens, tomatoes, asparagus, Feta, crispy shoestring potatoes, balsamic vinaigrette $ 15.95) I did not order this but my friend who did, remarked that it was indeed, quite delicious.
The Lobster Bisque Soup, at $ 6.95 for a generous cup, is a steal for how good this was. I highly recommend starting with this! One of the best bisque’s in town.
Service is friendly, the ambiance is bright and clean, and the location is very convenient to a parking structure. Park at the Nordstrom parking structure, and find a space closest to the northern end where you see Forever 21 /​Old Navy. Brio will be at the foot of the stairs as you descend.

Happy hour at the bar only!
We came without rezzies when it was packed (yes, a bad idea), but luckily nobody wanted to sit outside so we snagged seats on the patio. They had heaters so it was actually fairly warm.
The food comes out so quickly which would, in other places, be questionable but because we got pastas, I didn’t mind. My pasta brio was absolutely phenomenal and although I thought I wouldn’t finish, I put the whole godarn thing in my belly.
I know others complain about the service here but our man was great and we were in and out of there within an hour. It’s busy so you can’t expect constant babysitting– which means you shouldn’t come with more than one or two other people.

The place is nice, but service and food quality really awful last night.
We were seated by the kitchen. It’s a busy place to sit, very noisy with all the waiters running by us. But the worst part is the smoke from the kitchen infiltrated and soaked us. Not good.
Our waitress quickly took our order. No pleasantries. No offerings of side. Just our order and she was off. We barely saw her again the whole evening. We had to flag down others to get any device.
The food — very mediocre. I had the crab and shrimp crusted salmon. Very dry. Nothing special. The lasagna — just bad. Shrimp with pasta, dry and bad. Filet mignon and pork chops were mediocre.
Busy place. Lots of large parties celebrating here. Service was really poor. Food was uninspiring. I’m not coming back.

I come here very often to eat or just enjoy a few drinks for happy hour. This is probably my favorite place for happy hour in Orange County aside Canaletto in Fashion Island.
Brio has nice décor and an elegant atmosphere. Plenty of tables (I don’t have to wait to be seated) and chairs are comfortable. Seating in the patio is even better!
Brio has numerous cocktails at all great prices for happy hour! My favorites would have to be the White Peach Sangria and the Cosmopolitan. I like how most of these are also custom-​made, most of the time I tell the barista how sweet I want it and my requests are always listened to. Service is quick as well. And I also appreciate their reasonable prices for the drinks– they don’t go overboard. Quite a lot of delicious appetizers too– pepperoni & sausage flatbread, margherita flatbread, and the tater tots are some I would highly recommend. The prices for the appetizers during happy hour are very very affordable!
Check out Brio during happy hour– it’s very satisfying!

Not bad! We came here on a Friday night, and the place was packed! Noise levels were off the charts, so if you are aiming to enjoy the atmosphere and relax at some quiet place, this isn’t for you.
We tasted some of the bruschetta, and they were pretty good! Nothing super memorable, but it was a decent appetizer. The broiled beef paparadelle was phenomenal! Pasta Pesto (light option), however, was a little bland in both of our opinions, and it seemed as though there was a severe lack of chicken.
In the end, we wanted to split the check with the other couple at our table, but the waiter zoomed by to pick up the check, didn’t ask how we wanted to do it, and split it right down the middle. We ended up paying $ 70 (with tip) on what should have been a $ 40 dollar tab. Didn’t want to make a big deal about money, but it would have been nice to be asked beforehand.

Came here on a Friday night with reservations for 7:30pm. Not sure if reservations were necessary since the restaurant was probably 70% full.
I did like their bread basket. They have these herb and cheese triangle crisps that were nice to much on. The sourdough also came out warm.
We started off with the lobster bisque and the black pepper shrimp. Both of these seemed to be a favorite among over reviewers so we decided to try it. The shrimp was nicely cooked as was the eggplant, which was nicely crispy and rich in texture. I wasn’t impressed with the level of black pepper in the sauce though. I feel like they could’ve definitely ramped it up. The dish overall was on the salty side. As for the lobster bisque, it was more creamy than flavorful. We couldn’t really taste the lobster at all.
In terms of the entrée, the fiancée ordered the chicken Milanese and I ordered their chicken quinoa salad. His chicken was nicely fried and the dish was good overall, but felt like something we could’ve made at home. For the salad, it was definitely overdressed and the chicken was overlooked. Otherwise, I think the flavors in the salad would’ve complemented each other well.
Overall, we were a tad disappointed. We didn’t try dessert, but from the ones we saw on the way out, they did look good.
The ambiance was actually more cheesecake factory than wine bar restaurant, which was also disappointing. Good for families, but not for dates.

I’ve only been to Brio during lunchtime when shopping at the Spectrum, fortunately there was not a crowd and we have been seated right away.
I’ve got to say that although this beautiful place is welcoming and seems to have the right idea, I just have not been impressed. I mean, food is good and all but it’s nothing off the charts.
Appetizers:
**Sliced Steak Bruschetta — crusty bread served with a chunk of sliced tender and seasoned steak, greens, Gorgonzola, grilled tomato and some Parmesan cheese. There were 4 of us and 6 pieces… there were some leftover. Needless to say, it was good but not worthy of seconds. $ 12.95
**Spicy Shrimp & Eggplant — a thin slice of crusted eggplant topped with seared shrimp, diced tomatoes and green onions with a black pepper cream sauce. No real outstanding flavor here but still very good. I would have liked to have a thicker piece of eggplant though. $ 10.95
Main Dishes:
**Pasta Alla Vodka — cheese filled tortellini type pasta in a creamy, zippy Parmesan sauce, sprinkled with a touch of cheese, thick pancetta and some tomatoes. I really enjoyed this dish and would definitely have it again. $ 15.95
**½ Chicken with 2 Sides — I’m not sure what the sides were supposed to be (I think you could choose from a list) but my friend ordered this and got only veggies on the side as requested. She raved about the chicken being tender and the vegetables seemed to be fresh and a nice variety.
**Wedge Salad and Lobster Bisque — basically, this is what it seems to be. The bisque was flavorful and creamy with some chunks of lobster tossed in, went nicely with the chosen wedge salad which was sprinkled with bacon and chopped tomatoes and lightly smothered in dressing.
As I mentioned, the food is okay and maybe a bit on the ho-​hum side, but not disappointing at all. I will say that on both occasions, the bill had been wrong and we had to actually track down our server to fix the problem. Although we were quick to get seated the wait-​time for beverages, orders and the bill were extremely too long.
I don’t think it will be a chosen spot for me on my next visit, however. I came, I saw, I experienced and that’s about all of that.
There is a Light Menu and also a Gluten Free Menu as well as desserts, brunch and «bar food».
CHEERS!

So glad I tried this place. We had them in Ohio & it’s been like 9yrs since I’ve been & it’s so much better! Wow! Dining room had 1 to 1&½hr wait so bar it is!
Last night of OC restaurant week & I was too full from lunch so we split the calamari & Shrimp & Lobster Fettuccine! I missed the lobster risotto in February — please bring back!
The bread was good & warm. Calamari was good but we were lacking in the marinara sauce. The lemon sauce was ok. We split the Shrimp & Lobster Fettuccine! Soo yummy! Creamy & loved the little kick in the spicy lobster sauce! So good. I’ll definitely be back! Manager even stopped by our table 3x to see how everything was & we were at a table bar! Impressive!

My 100^th review!!!
Last Sunday evening, I decided to try this place called Brio Tuscan Grille which is located at Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, California. I actually picked a perfect time and day to go here and got seated right away without even knowing.
As I was looking at the menu, I found they have lobster bisque soup and some other items that have lobster in it. Even since I’ve started eating lobster recently, I was craving for it. That’s exactly what i wanted for dinner. I ordered the lobster bisque soup ($ 6.75), and Lobster & Shrimp Ravioli ($ 20.75). Oh, and the server brought me complimentary bread.
Lobster Bisque was excellent. Hot and tasty, very creamy, has great flavor, very amazing soup.
Lobster & Shrimp Ravioli, very nice presentation. Before, I even started eating it, I didn’t see any lobster so I cut the piece of the ravioli to see if the lobster is in there. And it was in the ravioli, so I took a picture of the lobster in ravioli in case you are wondering where’s the lobster before you start asking the server about that. As far as the taste and quality goes, tasted very nice. I really like the idea of having lobster in the ravioli, very good ravioli with the lobster. Shrimp was excellent, the spicy black pepper cream sauce was spot on. That’s very nice.
The cost of my dinner including a drink came out to be about $ 33 – 34 bucks, plus $ 6 tip for excellent service I received. A little bit high, but it worth the money.
Overall, it was worth driving a little over 30 minutes to Brio in ISC for delicious food like this. I’ll be trying other food here soon.
Thanks for reading!!!
Christopher M.

2016 Unilocal 100 Challenge ²⁸⁄₁₀₀
One of my favorite spots for Happy Hour. They serve great appetizer dishes that are as good as meals at a fraction of the cost. They also have some good drinks on special as well.
While the Happy Hour is one of the best deals in town, their regular prices are also unexpectedly lower than you think. I had always thought they would be pricy because of its location and upscale design.
However, the prices are much lower than you’d expect for this caliber of a restaurant. I have paid far more at far inferior establishments so they get a bonus for that.
Another great thing about the place is its awesome outdoor seating area. It’s really large with a ton of comfortable chairs, lounges, couches and even a fire pit. It’s the perfect setting for the many perfect weather days we have here in So Cal.
On top of it all, the service is superb, especially Alex P., and the food is delicious.

We had reservations here for 8pm on Valentine’s Day. The restaurant was pretty full, but not too many people waiting in the lobby. We came a little early and were asked to come back closer to our reservation time. When we returned we were seated pretty quickly.
The compimentary bread basket comes with two kids of bread. One is similar to a french roll and the other is a thin herby crunchy bread, which created a lot of crumbs. I didn’t want to spoil my appetite, so I barely ate bread… but my boyfriend really enjoyed it. He ate practically the whole basket by himself!
Pasta Alla Vodka: The ricotta filled pasta was good, but the real winner in this dish is the sauce. The spicy tomato parmesan cream sauce in this dish is amazing. AMAZING. I was blown away at how much I liked the sauce.
Brio Pasta: This dish was also very good. This had a roasted red pepper sauce and came with grilled mushrooms, chicken, and rigatoni. The sauce in this dish was also very good.
White Peach Sangria: Refreshing and delicious. I could barely taste the alcohol in this.
Service: The service could be better… The night started off not too bad. We were able to get our drinks and order in, but towards the end of the night… it took awhile to get our check. The server also kept referring to my boyfriend as «man» which I thought was kind of weird… since Brio is a pretty nice restaurant.
I love Italian food. I had Mama D’s a few days before coming here, so I tried to keep my expectations low. Mama D’s is one of my favorite restaurants ever. I was really impressed with the food and drinks at Brio. I will definitely be back in the future.

Decent Italian food at not typical Italian restaurant food prices… I’ll take it.
Celebrated a friend’s birthday (actually this is the second time I’ve been here for a birthday so it seems to be a good spot for it since it can accommodate a number of people). We split the calamari and spinach dip appetizer. Pretty standard but still good. My dish was a salmon crusted with crab and shrimp served with quinoa and other veggies. Pretty decent.
All around, seemed like people enjoyed what they ordered as well.
A little out of the ways to go to but if I get invited to another bday dinner here, at least I won’t complain about it.