Not happy about the experience . Waitress took to long to serve us. The food was a long wait . The portions were disappointing. I came to spend money and I would have enjoyed my evening more if I had better service and quality of food. There are so many options for restaurants around here and I am sad to say I won't be coming back .
Erika
We had a 6:30 reservation and were seated within 10 minutes. Our table for 2 was very tiny and we were scrunched against two other tables. So close that I had trouble hearing my husband as opposed the person sitting next to me. We dined here last summer and enjoyed the menu so even though the menu wasn't the same now we figured it would still be good. Wrong. We order the biscuits and immediately sent them back after a few bites bite. They were so bland and tasted like dough. I'm not sure they were cooked thoroughly. The waitress didn't inquire as to why we sent them back. Next we the ordered spinach and artichoke dip. I put so much salt and pepper in it to make it taste like anything. It was so bland! You're better off getting the microwave version from Trader Joe's. My husband ordered a steak and mashed potatoes opting to add the butter topping. I order the marinated skirt steak and green beans. I'm not sure what the steak was marinated it but it was very oily. I had to use my napkin to soak up some of the oil before I could eat it. The green beans were good but again needed a ton of salt and pepper. I'm not sure if we ordered the wrong things or what but it was like this restaurant had never met a spice cabinet. Everything was so bland and lacked flavor. The crowd skews older so perhaps that's the taste preference for their typical clientele? There are far better options at the Spectrum, we will not be returning to Paul Martin's.
SallyD
I ordered medium rare steak. It came medium well. Waiter took back to replace, then brought back same steak stating chef said was medium rare. We disagreed. It took 20” minutes for me to receive my medium rare steak. That also was after we informed the manager of the problem.
JackieD
Lunch specials are my favorite. Fresh pasta, salmon perfectly done, portion size just right to go back to the office and finish the day and not feel stuffed. Highly recommend for a business lunch
Chris Wheeless
Great prices for Happy Hour.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger
JB
Celebrating a milestone anniversary with a large group. Service (impatient young man) was initially horrible until we spoke with the manager and requested a new server. The new server (young lady) was more efficient and pleasant.Great location while staying at the nearby hotel. The food was good (be sure to ask for fresh biscuits - ours were stale and tasted reheated in the microwave), but to be called seafood pasta, there should be more than shrimp in the dish. The braised short ribs were tough/chewy. The portions are very small for the pricing.The experience was a little choppy. I wished it was a lot smoother. Thank you to the manager on duty on Saturday, February 24th, at 6 pm for trying.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
RhondaS
Delicious simple American food. I had a great cheeseburger. My friends had the French dip veggies were delicious and so was the spinach artichoke dip appetizer. Impeccable, friendly, accommodating service, and the beautiful restaurant made for a great meet up for me and my friends.
Daryl Yokochi
Went for early valentines dinner. Great place to hang in the bar area. Noticed lots of office staff relaxing after work “talking shop”. Very pleasant place. Dinner was tasty but not special Would be a great place to have a drink and visit with coworkers or friends.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
JT2seven
Valentines Day here was quite a letdown. They had a limited menu that did not include many of our favorite items. Instead we got expensive steak dishes that were surprisingly bland and lacking in flavor. The ribeye tasted like it was from a Chili's. Cooked to medium but tough, chewy and flavorless. Very disappointing night here when I know they normally offer much better dining experiences. Service and ambiance of the restaurant were nice but I am quite disappointed in the kitchen. Do not get the ribeye, it's a waste of $50.
It was a great experience. It was rocky at first because one of the waiters didn't show up for our area but the manager quickly helped and the waiter was amazing. Didn't skip a beat and made everything wonderful
We went on Valentines Day at 1pm for lunch. It wasn't very busy. The best way to describe this meal is that the food was good (as always) but the staff were distracted and bored I guess. Hostess and server were “uninterested”. Made our orders and husband ordered a glass of wine. Never delivered before lunch was served. I ordered special Lunch fried buttermilk chicken. Was delivered I think a fish or a grilled chicken with shrimp cocktail sauce. Took awhile to hunt any worker down to tell them I received the wrong item. When they returned with the right item, they left the shrimp cocktail sauce on the plate instead of hot honey. Nobody was paying attention. Wake up Paul Martin Staff! Too many other choices at the Spectrum to deal with this.
SylviaM
I went to Paul Martin's for a steak. The quality of the Rib Eye steak was mediocre, thin and flat. I gave it the lowest rating because the medium rare steak while seasoned nicely, was overcooked. There were grill marks that were pressed into the meat that indicated that the meat was pressed down onto the grate on both sides. The steak was very thin, about 3/4 inch uncooked, arriving at my table about 1/2 thick. I was told the steak would be pink to red in the center but that was not the case. Only a small amount of pink was left in the middle thickest part. I did not bring this to the attention of the server because I was the guest of the person who was paying the bill. Had I been the one paying, I would have been more assertive. Tosh M.
seth aptaker
Great service Great workers food is phonemal best place to eat food in town portions are a very good size and not a noisy restaurant onlyat the irvine spectrum !!!!!Wheelchair accessibility: No stairs very easy to get in and out
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Butter Cake
Martin L
Consistently one of best restaurants in the area.Parking: Valet parking across the street
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Butter Cake, Salt and Pepper Shrimp
KathleenP
I've been to Paul Martin's many times for dinner and drinks and apps. This was the first time I ordered fried calamari and when the server brought it to the table it was actually greasy. That's not the way calamari should be served. I was disappointed because I was there with a friend and convinced him to try the calamari as it was something he had never eaten before. I ordered the fish tacos for dinner. They were ok and I've definitely had better. I would say they were just average. I've eaten there so many times that I think I was expecting a little something special with the tacos. The service was very good and the server was very attentive.
Not happy about the experience . Waitress took to long to serve us. The food was a long wait . The portions were disappointing. I came to spend money and I would have enjoyed my evening more if I had better service and quality of food. There are so many options for restaurants around here and I am sad to say I won't be coming back .
We had a 6:30 reservation and were seated within 10 minutes. Our table for 2 was very tiny and we were scrunched against two other tables. So close that I had trouble hearing my husband as opposed the person sitting next to me. We dined here last summer and enjoyed the menu so even though the menu wasn't the same now we figured it would still be good. Wrong. We order the biscuits and immediately sent them back after a few bites bite. They were so bland and tasted like dough. I'm not sure they were cooked thoroughly. The waitress didn't inquire as to why we sent them back. Next we the ordered spinach and artichoke dip. I put so much salt and pepper in it to make it taste like anything. It was so bland! You're better off getting the microwave version from Trader Joe's. My husband ordered a steak and mashed potatoes opting to add the butter topping. I order the marinated skirt steak and green beans. I'm not sure what the steak was marinated it but it was very oily. I had to use my napkin to soak up some of the oil before I could eat it. The green beans were good but again needed a ton of salt and pepper. I'm not sure if we ordered the wrong things or what but it was like this restaurant had never met a spice cabinet. Everything was so bland and lacked flavor. The crowd skews older so perhaps that's the taste preference for their typical clientele? There are far better options at the Spectrum, we will not be returning to Paul Martin's.
I ordered medium rare steak. It came medium well. Waiter took back to replace, then brought back same steak stating chef said was medium rare. We disagreed. It took 20” minutes for me to receive my medium rare steak. That also was after we informed the manager of the problem.
Lunch specials are my favorite. Fresh pasta, salmon perfectly done, portion size just right to go back to the office and finish the day and not feel stuffed. Highly recommend for a business lunch
Great prices for Happy Hour.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger
Celebrating a milestone anniversary with a large group. Service (impatient young man) was initially horrible until we spoke with the manager and requested a new server. The new server (young lady) was more efficient and pleasant.Great location while staying at the nearby hotel. The food was good (be sure to ask for fresh biscuits - ours were stale and tasted reheated in the microwave), but to be called seafood pasta, there should be more than shrimp in the dish. The braised short ribs were tough/chewy. The portions are very small for the pricing.The experience was a little choppy. I wished it was a lot smoother. Thank you to the manager on duty on Saturday, February 24th, at 6 pm for trying.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Delicious simple American food. I had a great cheeseburger. My friends had the French dip veggies were delicious and so was the spinach artichoke dip appetizer. Impeccable, friendly, accommodating service, and the beautiful restaurant made for a great meet up for me and my friends.
Went for early valentines dinner. Great place to hang in the bar area. Noticed lots of office staff relaxing after work “talking shop”. Very pleasant place. Dinner was tasty but not special Would be a great place to have a drink and visit with coworkers or friends.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Valentines Day here was quite a letdown. They had a limited menu that did not include many of our favorite items. Instead we got expensive steak dishes that were surprisingly bland and lacking in flavor. The ribeye tasted like it was from a Chili's. Cooked to medium but tough, chewy and flavorless. Very disappointing night here when I know they normally offer much better dining experiences. Service and ambiance of the restaurant were nice but I am quite disappointed in the kitchen. Do not get the ribeye, it's a waste of $50.
It was a great experience. It was rocky at first because one of the waiters didn't show up for our area but the manager quickly helped and the waiter was amazing. Didn't skip a beat and made everything wonderful
Restaurantji Recommends
We went on Valentines Day at 1pm for lunch. It wasn't very busy. The best way to describe this meal is that the food was good (as always) but the staff were distracted and bored I guess. Hostess and server were “uninterested”. Made our orders and husband ordered a glass of wine. Never delivered before lunch was served. I ordered special Lunch fried buttermilk chicken. Was delivered I think a fish or a grilled chicken with shrimp cocktail sauce. Took awhile to hunt any worker down to tell them I received the wrong item. When they returned with the right item, they left the shrimp cocktail sauce on the plate instead of hot honey. Nobody was paying attention. Wake up Paul Martin Staff! Too many other choices at the Spectrum to deal with this.
I went to Paul Martin's for a steak. The quality of the Rib Eye steak was mediocre, thin and flat. I gave it the lowest rating because the medium rare steak while seasoned nicely, was overcooked. There were grill marks that were pressed into the meat that indicated that the meat was pressed down onto the grate on both sides. The steak was very thin, about 3/4 inch uncooked, arriving at my table about 1/2 thick. I was told the steak would be pink to red in the center but that was not the case. Only a small amount of pink was left in the middle thickest part. I did not bring this to the attention of the server because I was the guest of the person who was paying the bill. Had I been the one paying, I would have been more assertive. Tosh M.
Great service Great workers food is phonemal best place to eat food in town portions are a very good size and not a noisy restaurant onlyat the irvine spectrum !!!!!Wheelchair accessibility: No stairs very easy to get in and out
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Butter Cake
Consistently one of best restaurants in the area.Parking: Valet parking across the street
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Butter Cake, Salt and Pepper Shrimp
I've been to Paul Martin's many times for dinner and drinks and apps. This was the first time I ordered fried calamari and when the server brought it to the table it was actually greasy. That's not the way calamari should be served. I was disappointed because I was there with a friend and convinced him to try the calamari as it was something he had never eaten before. I ordered the fish tacos for dinner. They were ok and I've definitely had better. I would say they were just average. I've eaten there so many times that I think I was expecting a little something special with the tacos. The service was very good and the server was very attentive.