One of the lowest rated restaurants in Irvine and IMO it's not even that bad. Could it be improved? Absolutely. Is it perfect fast food? No this ain't In n Out, but I thought for the most part the food was pretty good. While this ain't like Dollar Hits in LA, $29 for 4 meals of decent skewers, tilapia, and meat did its job well. Located in the Seafood City market,you'll find this spot inside the market on the right across from Jubilee. Ordering style is cafeteria style, where you can choose to get a plate a 1 person people up to 100 (catering seems to be huge) and the wait wasn't bad at 5pm on a weekday. The grill is out in the open for you to watch before you head in line too. I wanted to sample their meats, and got the mixed family platter of Tilapia (2 pieces, which is just 1 fish cut in half), 1 and a half pork liempo, 2 chicken, 1 pork, and 1 Longanisa skewer for about $29 with tax. The food is more westernized than authentic filpino food but I don't care, I enjoyed all of the dishes. Skewers: 5/5 All of them were pretty good. The Longanisa (A sweet sausage) tastes very similar to Chinese sausage if you tried that. The marinade on all of them were on point for fast food. Would go back for this. Tilapia: 4/5 I enjoyed it, despite having a whole fish appearance, is actually mostly deboned and filled with tomatoes inside. Might not be for everyone. But it's not Isaw so personally it's not a big deal. Pork Liempo: 3/5 I lied all the meats doing well, this ones the only one I didn't like. Too tough all over and was more cartilage than I wanted but then again, it was cheap af so you get what you pay for. Customer service: 2/5 Had the alertness of a sloth and the people behind the counter had no idea what was on their menu. I can forgive one person being brain-dead but the cashier too? Oh and the 3rd person? All three of them kept turning around to look at what platter I ordered which by that point I just found it hysterical. Overall, better than what Yelp says but still has issues with customer service and how little the workers know their own menu. Since Dollar Hits is so far away, I'll come back just for the skewers. read more

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Wow! I wish I had a grill city nearby because this spot was delicious. The fish, rice... kebabs. Perfection :) want to go back to try more read more

Grill City - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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This is a fast food place catered to Filipinos. Very clean. The ambience is fun and happy. Everyone enjoying the food. Love the food! But the drinks unfortunately are watered down. Mango, cantaloupe, it's yucky. I complained about it and the cashier took it back and I got sago n gulaman drink which cannot be watered down. Pleasant service. A variety of dishes offered- beef, pork, chicken, fish and vegetables. My favorite is Pork Liempo, Pork barbeques, Bagnet, Kare-kare and Bopis. I recommend this place in the Valley and in Oxnard. read more

Ordered a catering order of 150 lumpia, and it was absolutely perfect! The lumpia were a great size, packed with a super flavorful filling, and had a delightful crunch--possibly from water chestnuts or something similar--that added amazing texture. Highly recommend! read more

The food is always so good and it's so convenient because it's barely a 5min drive away from my place. I was surprised at the review about the workers giving attitude because she couldn't speak Tagalog as I've never had that before. Typically, I speak Tagalog when I'm ordering or shopping. It's not my first language, but I made it a point to teach myself. But when I'm with other people, I'll speak English as not to let anyone feel left out when I'm ordering. Everyone that works there speaks English, too, so not sure what happened that day. Or if there was some kind of miscommunication. read more

Many choices but not quality and not appetizing , like the bbq is tasteless , not marinated . Service is slow! Ambience , not good! Noisy and too open . I believe , you can do better! Customers want quality foods , even it's expensive . read more

Lots of very negative an appalling reviews, which of course I check and the people writing these reviews only have a Yelp account to write negative reviews, so your tastebuds must be very particular or you're high maintenance. BBQ tasted great to me, no undercooked food, made it out alive. Service was fine, will absolutely be back again! Also, for those complaining that the food is expensive, you're paying under $20 for a full entree with seafood or BBQ. Inflation must be very tough for you. read more

****Their employees don't wash their hands after using the restroom and they serve and cook food. **** They don't wear mask or gloves when serving food. They should make this mandatory! They're breathing in on our expensive fast food. Coronavirus is still around. *****Reheated food and they sell it for full price - I can tell. It was bland, tasted like they just added water and reheated. Then people pay $17 dollars for it. *****burnt food, and it's cold, and it's too expensive. I think they are thinking 17 pesos per meal. It's US dollars. $17 dollars for really bad food is ludicrous! The food quality is not there. Most of the grilled items are burnt. I bought the tilapia and pampano and I tasted the grill - it's bitter tasting. It's $10 for the fish items and it's over cooked and it doesn't taste great. Some of their food items they don't have a sign that tells you what meat is in the food. I expected to be eating beef, but it was pork. I expected to be eating beef, but it was goat meat. And these are dishes that had beef every time. I don't know how they can get away selling burnt food to the public, and the quality isn't there. read more

Grill City - Burnt fish for $15 - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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There's a new Filipina server who acts very rude when serving and also koripot, lol. I walked away when I saw her again.

Love the food! Don't like the service. First time I came. I came with a friend. We ordered chicken bbq sticks and pancit for our family. We only speak English but only understand Tagalog. When we were ordering food they tried to talk to us in Tagalog but we didn't understand them and talk back in English. The server started to give us some attitude when giving us our food. We would like to order more but with that kind of attitude and service there wasn't any point. After that experience, I called my parents and told them how bad my experience was. I get better service at HMart or 99 ranch food market than here. It's sad because I'm Filipino. It really made me feel uncomfortable and mistreated. read more

I'ma go against the grain and rate Grill City 4 Stars bc of access to Flip food in OC. Its hard to get it! This Grill City is located inside Seafood City in Irvine at Barranca in b/t Armstrong & Tustin Ranch. I ordered the longsilog ($4.99 | longanisa w/ two eggs & garlic rice). They also have a bunch of turo turo (point point items) in the deli case like palabok, lechon and ginataang. The longanisa were moist. However, the eggs had been sitting in the warmer too long, and the rice was a bit mushy. Nonetheless, at $4.99, I'm not complaining: 3.5 Stars. Regarding the ambiance, its a food court w/ Red Ribbon and Valerios next door. Jollibee has its own seating area. I really liked the variety of foods available that I don't get to enjoy unless I am in Artesia or Cerritos: 4 Stars. Likewise, the service is friendly & warm. Its what you would expect from a Filipino owned business: 4 Stars. I have to remind myself when I am by JWA, that this Filipino oasis is close by. I need to get my Filipino fix more often! read more

Grill City - Longsilog ($4.99) What a deal! - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

The bbq sticks are so good that we like coming here just to get those to take home. I have to agree with some of the reviews here about the poor service but if you don't take it personally and just expect it, you eventually will get your food and be on your way! read more

More like 2.5/5 stars. this is located inside seafood city super market. Its not bad, nor is it really that good. you pay roughly 7-10 bucks for a meat, rice and 1 side. i got the pork belly combo which costs 9.99, and i wanted to get Pancit which they had on the heat trays in front... however the people working there said no, and i didn't understand why... and rather than argue with someone who deals with my food, i went with the pork adobo instead. the pork belly was tough on the fat part... like i couldn't even chew through it. the pork adobo was good, but it was really greasy. they also ran out of the spicy sweet sauce, and i asked them for a refill. they took their sweet time and i never got it. only reason i'm giving this place 3 stars instead of 2, is that the portions you get is pretty large. i couldn't finish my whole pork belly entree, and had to bring it home. read more

I submitted a delivery order online & it never arrived. I verified that my order went through this morning with someone on the phone. I have called and called to check the status and request a refund. No one answers the line - food never arrived. Not a happy customer read more

Food was ok if you're craving for some quick filipino food, I got the grilled bangus and pork bbq it was tender but didn't really taste like it was grilled. Service was quick. read more

Food is amazing, service is great and the ambience is homey... this is a must try in the area...

This place degraded big time, they don't even give bagoong anymore with your kare kare and the servings is in economic recession mode already. Pam's in Lake Forest is a bit of a drive but its a much better option if you want Filipino food south of Jamboree where the real OC begins! read more

Grill City - Lunch long line - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

My family and I ordered our lunch off of Uber Eats from here because they were having a BOGO deal. We ended up getting the grilled liempo (pork belly) and tilapia, which both came with a soup and one side (we got pancit bihon and a vegetable dish whose name I can't remember). Other than the pancit bihon, which was really quite yummy, I probably wouldn't get any of the other dishes again. The pancit bihon is basically thin rice noodles stir fried with vegetables and some meat. The soup tasted like plain broth with chunks of cabbage leaves floating in it and it came with a layer of oil floating at the top. The tilapia was fine, but nothing special. The pork belly was dry and tough to chew - which is unusual for pork belly. They left the skin on, which made it difficult to chew, so I ended up cutting it all off. Even the rice was only ok; it felt a bit dry and reminded me of leftover rice. One thing that would greatly improve this spot is if each dish had a description next to it. I've tried eating at the physical restaurant and it's cafeteria style so I feel bad holding up the line and asking what each dish is, since I'm not familiar with Filipino food. Additionally, on Uber Eats, there aren't any descriptions of the dishes so I had to Google each one. read more

Food is hot and miss. The pork ears and chicken intestines called Isaw was very tough, hard to chew and a total waste. A far cry from what I've had back home. Don't order this. Stick with their pork barbecue instead. At least that one is edible. read more

Grill City - Pork Ears Barbecue, tough, rubbery, and inedible. A far cry from what I'm used to back home. - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

So I rarely post one star reviews for places I love but this location is BEYOND TERRIBLE. First of all, why would you stop cooking pork barbecue when your shop doesn't close until 9:00pm?! The line was so long and almost half of the line was waiting solely for pork BBQ and this TERRIBLE old woman simply said they were no longer making it that night. Um. It's 8:00pm. You literally have an entire HOUR before you close and yet you won't make it but you're currently grilling chicken BBQ?? It was ridiculous! They had heaps of chicken bbq and they were cooking even MORE of it and almost everyone in line was demanding pork BBQ. Maybe it's lost in translation. Maybe she just didn't appropriately say "we don't have anymore pork" because she thought that "we won't make it anymore" meant the same. But it doesn't. And it's honestly so stupid and a serious loss for the company because the employees are simply too lazy and foolish to cook more of a product that's in high demand. Not to mention how unbelievably S L O W these workers are! You have 3 employees and yet somehow it takes ages for one person to place their order. They will stand there and pour/serve your entrees as slowly as they possibly can and walk at a snail's pace to the cashier and then pause before serving the next guest. Clearly this place not only has poor employees but poor management as well. Grill City, please do something about your terrible customer service and poor business practice!! read more

Grill City - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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I can't believe some of these reviews. This place is one of the few authentic filipino spots in Irvine, and my family and I love going here. There's nothing to complain about the food, the servings are large, and we always leave with a full stomach. read more

Let me start by saying that I have been trying to be patient and understanding with this place. It would be nice if they were consistently delivering good food and service. The service is sloooooww. There's more interaction among employees than with the customers. Average time to get food is 20 minutes. It once took me 30 minutes for three combos with only two people ahead of me. Recently, I ordered dinner to go. I live nearby; I dug into the food as soon as I got home. The munggo was spoiled. It was visibly off but they still served it. The meat in the pork adobo was old- it was hard and was shiny inside. I threw everything out. I called to speak with the manager. The lady who took my call said I can have free entrée next time I visit. Hello...I just threw out $30 because you tried to feed me spoiled food. She then asked if the other items tasted ok and if it was spoiled too. I told her it's not my job to know if what she is serving is fresh and being kept at food safe temperatures. Disappointing. read more

The food is great and excellent service with a reasonable price. I've tried their adobo and Halo halo and they were both delicious. I'd highly recommend it if you are in the area and looking for good Filipino food to go. read more

A decent Filipinos fast food at reasonable price. Pork grilled on skewer is delicious. I ordered it with rice and stir fried vegetables. read more

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I usually don't like writing negative reviews. But after coming here several times and always leaving disappointed, I felt the need to share my experiences. Every time I've been here, the service has been TERRIBLE! They do not greet or say hello and they are extremely slow. Once I waited almost 35 min in line and there were only 3 people in front of me. They might as well remove the "Halo Overload" dessert from the menu because the women preparing the dessert take 5 -10 minutes to make them each. I've witnessed this more than once. They move extremely slow even when seeing a long line. I recommend other restaurants if you're on the go - this place is not it. read more

YUMMY!! Surprisingly, this place is what got me into loving Filipino cuisine! They have a good selection of dishes including your classics like lumpia, pancit, palabok, Sinagang, dinaguan and kare kare. I love their kare kare, it is so thick, rich and peanutty with lots of tripe and beef. Their dinaguan is also good too! With every combo meals that you order, they give you a side of free soup if you request it! The bbq is also delicious! The pork and chicken bbq are seasoned well, grilled with a perfect amount of char and still very juicy and delicious! They also have weekday specials where you can get a family meal pack for about $20. I also love coming here for their breakfasts! They have various breakfast meats like hot dogs and longanisa. They give you too eggs and 2 scoops of garlic fried rice. If you order 3 breakfast meals, it's $12 total which is a steal! Make sure to get their vinegar sauce on the side! It is so sweet, tangy and flavorful. It complements the food very well :) Come here if you are looking for decent and quick Filipino food! Plenty of seating inside as well! read more

This is really a 4.5 star experience but I'm going to give them 5 stars for their outstanding catering deals! This place isn't kidding, it really is grill city! They have some value meals that come with a grilled meat (chicken, squid, pork, fish), rice (lots of it), cooked salad or soup or a classic entree (which can be one of their stews in the steam tray). Service is EXTREMELY slow, hence the large line. But it's all good, the food is very good! I opted for the pompano grilled fish with salad combo for $8.50. I then got a bbq chicken skewer for $2.75 more. Their chicken or pork skewers are 9" long on a stick. It's a lot of meat at an extremely reasonable price. They also have catering trays. Their 100 piece chicken or pork skewer tray is only $129! That is an insanely good deal! read more

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Service was not good as the people behind the counter didn't seem to listen or care what we customers were ordering. I had Sinigang soup which only had three tiny veggies and no meat. The grilled shrimp was dry and tough! The sisig was so dry i had to add it along with the shrimp to the Sinigang broth. The lumpia Shanghai was also dry and tasteless! Worst food from a Grill City ever and I know as I have eaten at several other locations in the LA area so I know what their food can be like. DO NOT EAT HERE! Save your money! This place is truly a huge disappointment! read more

Ordered in person - there was a bit of a line (with social distancing markers on the ground) inside Seafood City, but the staff quickly moved through peoples' orders. We got a bbq pork skewer, grilled liempo (pork belly), and 3/4 lb of pork bagnet (fried pork belly), which came with a container of cold Filipino bbq sauce on the side. The staff were nice and fast at packing up the already-cooked food - the person filling my order even pointed out that it would cost a few dollars less less to make the pork skewer and liempo into a combo (which also meant added rice!). Though I originally asked for 1/2 lb of pork belly the person cutting it up got to 3/4 lb and asked if this was alright for me, and I didn't want to hold up the line. I saw on another Yelp review they had kare-kare, but unfortunately they didn't when we went. The bbq pork skewer was flavorful and a good texture, not dry - I noticed they even added more warm bbq sauce before wrapping it up. We felt the skewer was a good amount of meat for a reasonable price. The liempo came with a sour sauce on the side and was tasty, but not that tender. The bagnet was given as a big block, uncut - though I didn't specify when ordering. We were able to cut it up at home with a kitchen knife, but if you're planning on eating it soon I'd recommend asking if they can use their cleaver to cut it up for you. The bagnet had a crunchy skin with a layer of fat and some relatively tender meat - it wasn't dry and was flavorful with the bbq sauce. Overall we liked the food and thought the quality and amount of food were relatively worth the price, if you have a particular craving for it. I might try some of their fried seafood or non-grilled options in the future - there aren't descriptions for some of these, though they looked tasty. read more

Grill City when all is said and done for me is just OK. I am not a fan of "turo turo" (point-point) cafeteria style Filipino places, which is what you'll find 90 per cent of the time.Most of the time, the food sits and sits. Someone please open up a sit down, cooked to order Filipino restaurant in OC...is that too much to ask? But I digress.. Grill City is like its competitors like Goldilocks. Yet another tutro turo place. Then you have the long line. It took 15 minutes to get through the line at 7 PM. On weekends, it probably takes a lot longer. The first thing we did was snag a table...It was dirty but the only one available. Fortunately, I carry alcohol wipes with me and cleaned off the table. The people around us had fish, pancit,and pretty much everything on the menu. http://www.grillcity.com/menu/. On a Tuesday night it was still crowded until 8 PM. Shortly thereafter, the place seemed to empty out as if Manny Pacquoa was outside. Speaking of outside, parking can be non existent esp; during busy times. It shares a parking lot with Wal Mart, the Habit, Taco Bell, Staples, etc. Food is decent for the price. For me, the highlight is: the on site grilled chicken and pork. It's fun to watch it being cooked, especially for little kids It's got a slight marinated taste to it. The most popular item is the 1 item plate. I chose the pork skewer served with a pile of rice and so called salad which is boiled vegetables with a sugary taste for about $7. I did not like it-it was too sweet, I want to taste the vegetables as is with a little salt. The pancit wasn't bad. The noodle dish had some veggies and is very popular. There are lots of other choices but I decided not to try other menu items.such as fish, squid, etc. My friend, a white guy who is an adventurous eater liked Grill City and said to him it was a four star place. We agree to disagree. I am glad it's here as some of my friends like this place a lot more than I do. It's also very cool this place is right next to Seafood City, Valerio's Bakery, Red Ribbon Bakery, and Jollibee. read more

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For lunch, we ordered combination 2 & 6. Combo #2: rice, 1 BBQ chicken skewer and a thin mussel soup. They gave you a generous portion of rice. I'm a professional rice eater and I like my rice cooked just right, the rice here is not quite mushy but you can tell that it has a bit to much water. BBQ chicken taste good but not memorable. Mussels were tough from being heated several times over, broth does taste good. Combo #6: rice, grilled squid & salad. Salad is more like a mix of cooked vegetable & tofu, not really a salad. Grilled squid: well, just stay clear of it. Egg rolls: 4 for $2.99 - each the size of a cigar, and it is good. Grill city is in the food court of an Asian supermarket/Seafood City. I have yet to understand the long line. Flame Broiler or similar food at other food court is more memorable. This one just doesn't do it for me. read more

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Unfortunately I am going to have to bring them down 1 star because of service and organization alone. You start off ordering your food and you literally have to keep an eye on it because by the time you get to paying, it could be completely lost. I have come here several times since the opening hoping for a better system but it still remains the same. Not sure why it gets so confusing but for starters I think what gets confusing is there are too many people helping. So food gets piled up at the very end and there is almost always 1 cashier. They usually point or ask which one is yours, whether they speak to me in my native tongue (Tagalog) or in English it just never seems to be smooth sailing. Maybe take some tips from Panda Express as the way its set up is similar. That said, their food is excellent and I am really hoping for improvements in the service area. read more

I ordered the shianghai lumpia for the holiday party. I was able to order online and pick up the next day. I ordered 10 of the lumpia for a total of 80 lumpia. Picked up the lumpia and they weren't crispy at all. They were super soggy and didn't even last until the party. Ended up throwing the whole platter away. Very disappointed in the quality. But I do praise them for the convenient online ordering process. No hassle picking up the item. read more

Horrible customer service. When I arrived, there was only 1 person manning the food station and he was really focused in trying to place a new dish of food that was filled to the rim with hot liquid. So I waited til he finished his task to order. Once he was done, he turned back to the food station and helped the person standing BEHIND me. What a dick move. There was someone else standing at the register, so I went to her since I got dissed. I order the family meal platter, BUT ASKED if I can sub out the chicken for more pork. She looked confused then left to I assume ask? She returned then asked, "So you want more chicken instead of pork?" I said no and corrected her... she said ok and went to take care of my order. When she returned she had already put my order in a plastic bag all tied up. I didn't bother checking b'coz I trusted she did me right. Nope, I was wrong... when I got home... there was chicken in the platter. ugh. Two horrible incidents in one visit. I just can't. read more

Wala ng pagasa!!! Pambihira kyo ayusin nyo naman!!!! Grilled pork, sunog labas, hilaw un loob read more

Grill City - Pambihira wala ng pagasa etong grilled city.. Ayusin nyo naman!!!! Grilled pork sunog na un labas, hilaw pa loob.. - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

Interesting. Today is Dec. 30, 2020. Looks like I picked out buko pandan that was made days from now. Hmmm. read more

Grill City - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

We built this city on rice! These pork skewers are the best! The meat is so tender, juicy, and has amazing flavor. It reminds me so much of home! It's almost just like how mom makes it. Came here for lunch before groceries. I figured it would be best to eat prior to buying food for the home, cause we all know what an empty stomach does when you go grocery shopping...buy everything! Anyway, I got the "meal" which is the BBQ pork skewer (1 only), rice, and their salad. Everything was really delicious, but I felt that the meal was a bit overpriced for 1 skewer. I know, everyone says that the rice was bountiful, but I wanted more meat! The "restaurant" is pretty small because it is located in Seafood City. So, seating is very limited. Basically, have a family member find seats while you or another person wait in line. Overall, good food, but it is a bit pricey for what they serve. read more

Grill City - Pork BBQ Skewer - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

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This place is OK. The quality of the food could use some tweaks and they could be a bit less stingy. Quality: I ordered Ginataang Langka and the flavor and texture were delightful. Anything that eats like meat but isn't is a total bonus round. However, there was jackfruit skin/shells in my food which kind of made it tedious and difficult to eat. Service: I ordered a whole order of Palabok (one of my favorites, ever, that I will order anytime that it looks decent just to try it). The noodles were absolutely al dente, long and luxurious. The toppings? Not a single shrimp on there and a sad proportion of egg included. I asked if they added any of the shrimp and eggs seen on display to my order, but maybe due to COVID-19 masks and shields, that fell to the wayside. Either way, I feel that you should be proud of your product and serve it with dignity (read: shrimp). read more

I really want to give this place four stars, but I don't think it deserves it. When they have a long line it moves kinda slow even though it's just a pick and choose eatery. Let's just start with the bad part and get that over with. The pompano which was the main part of our meal was dry. The fish skin which is the best part of the fish was soggy. Pompano shouldn't be that hard to get right especially at a Filipino place. I was kinda disappointed. Next time I think I'll try those meat skewers they have. The pancit was also a little flat, they need to work on it. It needed more veggies in it, it was really just clear rice noodles with a plain sauce. Now the good part. I also got some dinuguan. I've only had this dish two, maybe three times in my life and every time I get it, it's always better than the last. This was the best dinuguan I've ever had. Not to salty, thick, black, bloody, fatty, porky deliciousness. It also had a light, not too strong, kick of vinegar that makes Filipino food Filipino. There were however some chewy gristly bits of pork in it that I tossed aside. The rice was amazing and every Filipino knows that rice is important. Probably the most important part of the whole meal, of the whole universe even. It wasn't soggy or mushy, neither hard or grainy. Perfect rice. So not a bad meal after all. read more

Grill City - Pompano and dinuguan - Filipino Near Me - Irvine, California

So excited to eat Filipino food last night so I went here late night around 8pm. I saw the food and I wanted to order pork liempo and bangus sisig. Problem is there was a fly by where the food are displayed. I ignored it first because I was so hungry already but the freakin fly was still there and the server was not doing anything about the fly and I don't know if she saw the fly but she was like moving her arms to get the fly out. I decided it's not worth it. I left and went to Jollibee. Also not good waited for a long time just to get my palabok. I don't want to go back here. read more