Grill City is inside Seafood Ranch and let me tell you.... I get butterflies in my stomach when I think of the grilled Filipino food choices that await! I've been to the one in West Covina and this is my first time at the Irvine location. It is on my way home from work and that's a definite plus. Don't be surprised when you see a LONG line...just expect to wait awhile and heads up, keep an eye on your order. . Their ordering system is lacking and the poor servers seem completely overwhelmed and kept running into each other. It surprised me that they didn't have a food collision as they passed each other and switched places frantically as their customers pointed at the dishes they wanted to order. Ok... On to the good stuff. Grilled everything. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. How could you go wrong? You can't.... My fave is the grilled liempo (Hi... My name is Rei-na and I love pork ) but the grilled fish, squid, chicken look just as yum. The best part is that for some extra $, you can add to your order and get the other Filipino dishes for the 2nd item in your entrée. Grill City is my kind of town. You should go visit and grill it up. read more

I hate to give low ratings especially to smaller establishing places. Came here to order some BBQ chicken skewers for a potluck. First time here & I had no idea by looking at the menu there were 2 different sizes. Their menu board is kind of all over the place. The lady behind the counter stated, "You should have called in" I said, "We did 5 different times & NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE", when I was saying this the phone behind her rang off the hook & no one picked it up. I sort of laughed internally & with my eyes I looked at her like, "See what I'm saying"??? Anyway, so I'm looking at the menu & it says the skewers are something like $55 for 50 pieces or something like that. Which is totally reasonable. But when I go to order it rang up as like $120??? They said it was because they were the 12" size. I said okay so I don't want those can I get the smaller one's they said, those you need to order a day in advance. Whaaaaat??? I'm confused. She proceeds to tell me, "We have someone go in the back of the store & break the skewers in 1/2. LMAO!!! Okaaaaaaaaaaay?? The skewers themselves were okay, nothing to brag about. They're just very disorganized. Took them forever to open Seafood City & then the few restaurants I visited like Jollie Bee & Grill City are just all over the place & disorganized. Hopefully over time they will get their stuff together. read more

The service so SUPER SLOW We only have 30 minutes break not like PANDA EXPRESS service FAST read more

Dead Larva worms found in my dish. BBQ chicken was undercooked. Beware of this place! read more

Grill City - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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My advice: get the BBQ chicken and pork sticks and the juices..and nothing else! The bbq sticks are 4 for $10 or 6 for $14. Wierd rule they told us: only 6 sticks of each type of meat per household... I guess they must sell out of these really fast if they have to limit how much each household can buy! I also tried the Chicken Inasal and the Pork Liempo and they were "ok". If it was fresh that'd be a different story. But with fast food joints like this, you will usually get food that's been sittin out for a while. Calamansi Juice for $2.50 was good, just get it with ice. It was a tad too sweet for me but I just added some water and it was fine. Stick with the sticks and you won't regret it! read more

This is a very convenient Filipino spot for me as it's only 10-15 minutes away from my house. My only issue with them is that when I order on yelp website for delivery they always have an item that they don't have. I get a call and somebody will let me know what they have instead which is good. It's not a very big deal since I rarely order for delivery but I just want to put it out there for people who didn't know and mind you that's me placing my order via the yelp website. Maybe next time I will call them, save the hassle for me and the other person who will be calling me in the future.Other than that, I have no problems with the food, the way they cook the food or anything else. read more

The food is awesome, but some employees don't seems to have customer service skills. They sometimes have attitude when responding or taking orders. I usually order my favorite pancit palabok, sometimes it looks old or burned out and nobody seems to update their food. I told the manager one day that employees seems to serve the food, but don't look at what they are serving if it been there for awhile now. Very disappointing sometimes. read more

Food was ok. I chose the adobo chicken. Since they cut the chicken in small pieces there was loose chicken bone and I almost choked on it plus it was bland. We also ordered the lechon. I was disappointed because it wasn't crunchy. I guess it's been out for awhile. The positive side with this place is the liempo and the BBQ chicken those are pretty spot on! It's a bit pricey as well. read more

Grill City - BBQ chicken - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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I just started coming here. Good Filipino food. This place is inside Seafood Market. Plenty of selection. Prices are ok. I recommend it. Also, inside Seafood Market, there is a Jollibee and Valerio filipino bakery. So, if you're into filipino food this is the place to go in Irvine. read more

I have read past reviews but wanted to try the place out anyway. Some have described this place as "homestyle" but I do don't really get that feeling. I'd describe this place more like "mom and pop". They are set up as a quick serve place but their process of getting the food and checking out customers is very slow. The cashiers handle food and money (which others have noted) and the grill located in the front seems to be a bit dirty. With all of this said, the taste of the food was okay...nothing special but not bad either. The price was on the lower side but the food quality is definitely reflective of the price. Overall I wouldn't go back, but I'm glad I tried it. A side note: I felt the need to try this place because it seems to have a few authentic dishes. I figured that these dishes aren't for everyone and therefore I needed to try them for myself. Im glad I did but I wouldn't go back and probably wouldn't necessarily recommend this place to friends and family...there are way too many better places to eat. Happy eating. read more

Ok. It's official, the food suck! LoL My service was good so they get 5 star for that but the food is just blah. I ordered Liempo and it was just blah. Absolutely no taste. It didn't even tasted like it was grilled. I asked what kind of veggie is Laing and the gentleman said it's leaves. I know it's leaves but what kind. Lol The lady who was in line had to tell me it was taro leaves. The banana cue is not even ripe and not even caramel sugar in it. The ginataang halo halo was too watery. The place does looks clean but for Filipino food in this area I will pass on this. The cashier was wonderful. She was so sweet. 5 star for her. read more

Summary: Inconsistent quality of their food. I was excited to see this place open in the Irvine area as I won't need to drive to Cerritos to get Pinoy groceries and eat Pinoy food. After several visits, I am disappointed with this place. There is no consistency in the quality and taste of the food. The pork and chicken BBQ were plump, juicy and very tasty when they first opened. After that they are always dry, shrunken and even the taste is terrible. It tastes like garlic and ketchup BBQ pork. The last six pieces I took home were left uneaten and ended up in the thrash. The last time we ate there, I had the grilled liempo (pork belly). It tasted more like sweet tocino and had a reddish color. I think the cook got lazy and did not bother to clean the BBQ grills so that everything now tasted like the BBQ pork. I had the halo-halo for dessert and even eating that turned out to be a bad experience. It came with a spoon coming out from the hole on the lid. The contents were overflowing so that you cannot take off the lid without spilling the contents. Your only option is to get to the contents using the spoon through the hole on top of the lid. The problem is that the hole is only big enough to let the spoon go through and nothing else. I had no choice but to remove the lid and let some of the contents spill. This place has the potential to be really good if they can be consistent with the quality and taste of their food. I may give them another try and revise my review if there is improvement but for now 2 stars is generous. read more

It's so great to have Filipino food within driving distance (well, 25 minutes ain't bad). The must haves would be pork BBQ sticks, pork liempo and grilled bangus. The other foods tend to be hit or miss. We were here on a Sunday night at 7:30 and there was no line. read more

This place is always busy, but that's because they serve large portions and their food is inexpensive. Only complaint is they don't have any condiments besides soy sauce packets. I love their bbq pork skewers, I highly recommend them. read more

Grill City - Bbq por skewers and pancit - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

I love getting the pork BBQ skewers and dinuguan. The dinuguan is pretty solid. Grill City feeds my Filipino food cravings while I'm away from home, where I can get Filipino food. The service can also pick up the pace, but I see that they seem to always be training someone new at the register every time I come by. It would also help to have two people serving food / taking orders when there is a line forming. I wouldn't go here for drinks. read more

my friend brought Filipino desserts from this restaurant. I enjoyed them very much. I'm Vietnamese and they reminded me of the desserts we have from our country! read more

The rice to meat ratio is toooo high. Came on a weeknight and there was a decently long line, took about ~10minutes to get my food. The store is inside of Seafood City. Pros: + Cafeteria style so you can see your options before you choose. + Pork/chicken skewers are pretty bomb. + Ube shake wasn't bad. +/- Beef ribs are impossible to eat without getting messy, but they are pretty tender. BUT there isn't that much meat on them. Cons: -- Skewer combo comes with ONE skewer. Wuttt. - Beef rib combo came with an entire to-go box full of rice. It came with 3 beef ribs, and it was a little more pricey than the skewer combo. Overall, I'd come back to get a skewer by itself and eat it with Jollibee across the hall. read more

Skewers: pork bbq - nice, tender, marinated and flavorful chicken bbq - some parts were overcooked and burnt, but the unburnt areas were good as well, just like the pork pork liempo - non-skewered item, i actually like this with and without the lemony dipping sauce the rice for the value meals were plentiful, almost too much the mango smoothie was on the sweeter side along with the jelly condiments added read more

Coconut swordfish skewers with fresh grilled veggies is perfect for brunch. Alacarte $5.95 steamed rice $1.95, calamansi juice $2.50 - a tad too sweet must add water. EAT WE'LL my friends. read more

Grill City - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

My sister and I ordered the Grilled Mixed Platter for Thanksgiving lunch, and it's awesome that you can upgrade the tilapia for the pompano for a $1 extra. Their halo halo is a good treat as well. I'm still trying out their menu, and by far it's been consistent. Keep it up, I'll still try out more stuff on your menu! read more

It is okay. Portions are decent but service is so-so. Ordering here can be crazy and the staff is not quite up to par still considering they have been open since Nov. 2014. The food can be really greasy and salty which is typical Filipino but what can you expect. Once in a while this is okay but watch your portions! One thing that makes me come back here is the bibingka which is must better than Valerios! read more

Grill City - Grilled pork liempo with sayote guisado - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

If I could give this place 0 stars I would have. This place had NASTY Filipino food. Their bbq pork stick was so dry, chewy and flavorless! The rice was so hard and crunchy. We also got their pansit as a side. It was also very gross. It tasted as if it was at least 1 day old if not more. They are also very expensive and stingy on their portions. There was only two other families ahead of us but it took us over 30 min to get our food (which was already made). The customer service here is very poor and they don't acknowledge you. Over all they were rude and the food was very disgusting. Go to another "real" Filipino food place if you're hungry. read more

Grill city is my go-to for a quick casual lunch. Mainly because the variety is so vast. Although I may be bias because Filipino food is my favorite cuisine. However when I want grilled squid and rice or if I want Pinoy BBQ skewers they have it all. My favorite thing to get there which is definitely a guilty pleasure, are their fried chicken skins with a side of their signature vinegar for dipping. The prices are good, and for Pinoy fast food place the food it pretty great quality. They also have a sitting area with a few tables if you chose to sit down. read more

11/21. Downgraded from 2 stars to 1. And to think that the usual trend is to improve, but not for this place. My daughter and I had to get some items from Seafood City and on our way out, I offered my daughter to get an order of Pancit Bihon for her dinner. When we got there, there was one lady being helped and we should be next. The lady was ordering quite a bit of food and I started to wonder why pnly 1 of the 2 ladies behind the counter was serving. The other one appears to be doing some paperwork. As we patiently wait for pur turn, another lady approached and almost instantly the other lady assisted her without asking if I was already being helped. The lady before me was still being helped and here we are getting bypassed, and for just 1 order of pansit! I was a bit annoyed but since I my daughter was with me, I still tried to be patient. Now the lady after me was also getting a bunch of food so our wait is getting too long. My daughter whispered to me that she needs to go potty and I told her that if she can hold it a bit at least until we place our order. The lady after me realized that I was waiting ahead of her and asked and I told her that we have been waiting for quite a while. The one serving her, instead of being polite and apologetic laughed and told us to go potty first(?)! At this point I blew a fuse and yelled at her that she finds it funny and we left. I don't know if maybe because the lady that came after us was white (well, she looks white)? It's just a shame..... Old review: Ordered some party platters for my daughter's birthday party - pork & chicken barbecue, pork eggrolls, pancit bihon, veggie eggrolls. When we're around the area around lunch time, this is where we would most likely to eat so we are quite familiar with their food. Their food is quite pricey but since quality is good, you get what you pay for. Not so much the same with their platters - the barbecue is less than half of what they serve for dine-in but at the same price! The bihon was salty and had some sort of sauce at the bottom that was a bit odd. Needless to say, we were very dissappointed with their platters and we don't see any reason to go buy them again. We will, however, still eat there when we get a chance. read more

Not sure what these Haoles writing negative reviews are on about. Grill city food is ridiculously good! I agree, FOB food like this is hard to find in OC and thank god for Grill City!! I'll be honest, if I lived too close to here, I'd be 500 pounds. But man it is worth the drive. It really really is. I think the best thing they have are the BBQ skewers. Smoky well marinated pieces of meat that fell from heaven. The rest of the dishes are also superb. Can't say I've ever had a bad dish here. Ever. You know it's good when you walk straight past Jollibee to go line up at Grill City. And Jollibee is like a naked Victoria Secret Model tempting. Yeah. If you're brown and non-vegan or just want some good food that isn't your standard haole bland, go grab a meal here. It may not be the healthiest of options but as the great quotes say, "I'm not here for a long time, but I'm here for a good time". Try the skewers. Don't blame me for your diabetes. read more

We got the barbecue and the gulaman, and it was pretty good. My experience here was really frustrating though, because it took a half hour to pay for and get my already cooked food. They need to organize the place better, especially since there are at least 5 people working at the front at the same time, and they're never in sync. It got to a point where my siblings left the line, got food at Jollibee, and finished eating before I even got my food. read more

Excellent value great smiling service. Sometimes not ready to serve at opening time for what's on the menu especially since it's the same menu day in day out. Someday it will be perfect! read more

Ordered the grilled chicken skewers ($11.25 for 4 skewers), a medium take-out bowl of mungo beans ($7.50), and some buko (coconut) juice ($2.99). Chicken was good but the mungo beans were super WATERY and the buko juice had so much added sugar, I had to dilute it with water and ice when I got home! Overall pricey meal and not worth the value. If you're into Filipino food and don't mind driving, just head to Cerritos. You'll get much better value (and FLAVOR) there. read more

I have noticed that they recycle their meat and put it on other dishes, Sometimes that meat are so hard to bite. They don't have that much option on their dishes, it's always the same the entire year. Prices are not that reasonable, filipino store are very expensive. read more

Been coming in for years and their customer service is getting worse. You either get ignored or when you ask a question, they give an attitude like you're bothering them. Pepsi drink has also been down for weeks. I don't understand how sell food , but can't won't even bother fixing the drink issues. It's like they're not fixing it on purpose just so you can but their more expensive juice drinks. I have also never seen some sort of manager making sure everything runs smoothly.if it wasn't for my mom liking their bangus, i would rather buy somewhere else. read more

It was the worst lunch in my life. The meal don't have flavour. And i think the "grill" squid wasn't fresh and it wasn't "grill "squid.It looks like stew...I don't recomended this place. read more

I was buying lunch today and in front of me were 2 guys that bought the breakfast meal for $3.99 each. One of them clarified that this meal was indeed a breakfast meal for $3.99 and the server said yes. When they got to the counter, the cashier was giving them a hard time about the price and claimed it's now noon and it counts as a 2-item meal. The guy told her that he specifically told the server that if it wasn't a breakfast meal, he wouldn't buy it. The cashier even called the server to ask her if she really told the customer that it was $3.99. Long story short, the cashier seemed irritated but ended up caving in cuz the customers weren't backing down. I hope this gets to the owner of Grill City. I think you should pick your battles. You really want to lose your customers over $3? For 2 customers? You decide. read more

I want to go everyday. I am so glad this is in Irvine. The horrible thing is, there is always a long wait. ALWAYS. Though, I think the wait is worth it: the bbq skewers are super good and OMG the Lechon is addictive. The buko drink took me back to when I used to live in Walnut, Ca and could go to the many Filipino places around, though it did not have shredded coconut in it read more

I would give 0 stars if I can. Ordered bbq here last week for pickup to later found out that they resold my bbq. Poor customer service whatsoever. Now they tell me after waiting for more than 30 minutes that after 1 hour you're not here, they would resell my food. BS They also ALWAYS run out of Hot Taho. read more

Should have checked yelp first. Only thing I had that was good was the rice. BBQ pork skewers we're fatty and chewy, longonisa was tough and dry, egg rolls were soggy and all I could taste was the wrapper and lastly the pork sisig was not as good as other places I've had. Oh and one of the cash register ladies... so rude. read more

I bought some taho and it tasted horrible. It has the after taste, meaning that the taho is old. I also bought some Ube Halo Halo Shake and it was slimy. Department of Health regulations that you have to clean out the container every night. Another item I bought was the sesame balls (buchi). It was old and the taste was horrible. I will never go back to this store ever again. I hope the Department of Health will be informed of these issues. read more

Been coming here once or twice a week but for some reasons, morning employee are rude. They don't like being ask. After they ring my food they just turn around and walk away and I was asking them for a straw cause there no straw on the dispenser and the lady that ring my food didn't even turn back or ask what ever I need before she walk away. The other lady that help me is rude too, I ask for a big straw and she points me to the small straw and with an attitude. If they are going to do this every time to a customer, they will slowly shut down. No hospitality at all. Pros: good food Cons: rude employees, don't know the meaning of hospitality read more

I have been here a few times and I must say it seems to be getting worse. I had the unfortunate experience to order the fried calamari. I did not know calamari could be made that tough. Imagine breaded thick rubber bands, inedible. I know that Filipino food is notorious for being overcooked but this was certainly way overboard. Fried Calamari should be in hot oil for no longer than 35-40 seconds, these were cooked well beyond that and I couldn't seem to be able to chew on them. If the breading does not cook in that time, replace it. I had had great flash fried calamari in many places in the Philippines. Please stop the overcooking, the chicken inasal is sometimes like jerky and the lechon kawali is about the same. The Chicken BBQ is usually great but also add more sawsawan. What's up with the lemon sauce for fish? That's not real Pinoy, Where is the spicy suka and the kalamansi toyo? Perhaps a side of chilis? And thank you for adding Patis, it did take a while though. I go here to eat food I grew up with and wold love to have great Pinoy food cooked with love and not disregard for the guests. Oh and when the cashier has to make halo halo or help with a catering order the guests have to wait 5-10 minutes just to pay for food. Also, everyone asks if I have a Suki Card but no one ever asks me if I wanted one. Thank You read more

Chicken and pork sticks are to die for. 3 stars because I wanted to make a large call ahead order and called numerous times but no-one answered the phone. Got there and was told that I should have called ahead........ok.....Despite that, lucky for me they had the quantity I needed. Also ordered the roasted pork which was good too. read more

The chicken and pork bbq are delicious. I'm giving two stars because the pancit was dry and old and when I asked for lemon for it, the cashier gave me attitude. Also I ordered Crispy Pata and I asked for Mang Tomas and was directed to a table with sauces, where none was to be found. read more