P.f. Chang's Irvine Spectrum

What a GREAT late afternoon, early dinner we had at the Irvine Spectrum Chang's! Since it was a warm, beautiful day, we elected to sit outside on their patio. Weather-permitting, this OASIS at Chang's patio is OUR new go-to indulgence! Not only was Chang's VERY UPSCALE motif/furniture carried throughout to their patio seating, but we were also surrounded by Fresh Plants and could subtly do some people watching! (Kinda like distractions for the grown-ups! LOL! Our meal of Peppered Beef, Spring Rolls, Crispy Green Beans, Mongolian Beef and Won Tons was SO DELICIOUS and cooked perfectly (our Server, Ana, was WONDERFUL! , that we ordered a bit extra of the sides/appetizers to take home w/our entree leftovers, for another meal. LOVE this Chang's at the Spectrum! Looking forward to returning!

The salad was just lettuce and dressing! The lunch special prices sounded good, but the dishes themselves were subpar. The Mongolian beef was beef with about a cup of cut up green onions.

The food was, again, OUTSTANDING and we ordered extra so that we could take some home for meals on another day. The service was very good, but the entrees came out just a few minutes after our appetizers and I had to TWICE explain to the Food Runners to take them back and keep them warm as we were just starting to enjoy our scrumptious appetizers. Unfortunately, there was a VERY loud woman (a nurse sitting at the booth right behind us and she was complaining LOUDLY to her 3 co-workers about some work experiences that she was not happy about. I glared at her several times and she either didn't care (She was young; probably late 20's. and/or hard of hearing and didn't understand. The others at her table should have said something to her, but they were pretty quiet and think that they were just hoping that she would stop. Not Chang's fault, but if they see this loud woman again, they should seat her in the bar or at an outside table.

What a WONDERFUL evening we had at this Irvine Spectrum Chang 's! Our Server, Kendall, made sure that we wanted for nothing; she was attentive and anticipated our needs, SO nicely. (She even put in extra fortune cookies in our To Go pkg. THANK YOU! It is a VERY UPSCALE feeling in how they treat Customers, yet very relaxed, experience! The food was SO delicious, we ordered more than we could eat for dinner so that we made sure to have leftovers for another meal! For a Thurs evening, we saw that the same manager that watched over/coached his team the prior week, was the one that seamlessly was making all the trains work on time including the kitchen/food Runners. For a large restaurant w/complex, ethnic foods, it was all very impressive! Major kudos to the Mgr, Kendall and the entire staff including the hostess who are very welcoming! We 've already booked another visit for next week!

Food used to be good. Now not so much now. I don't know what's changed, it tastes like its mass produced.