It was my first time at K1 and I loved it! Since my apartment is close by von karman I have been thinking about trying K1. Finally I bought a groupon deal. Good thing I brought one of my friend coz it seems scary at first and you need some motivation. First 3 laps was humiliating then I got used to handling and I got 3rd place! As a good driver it's not good enough but I will back with 1st place soon... read more

K1 Speed Irvine - Ready! - Amusement Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

It used to be good, but now not so much. Obviously, K1 Speed's main attraction is go-kart racing. At the time of this review, there are three packages offering 1, 2, or 3 races for $27.95, $49.95, and $64.95, respectively. The process to race is very streamlined and intuitive. You start by signing in at the kiosks near the door (which requires a $7.95 annual membership), stand in line for the cashier to process your payment and inform you of how long the wait will be, and sit around until your name is called over the intercom. While you wait, you can watch the racers race, dine at the restaurant, or buy an arcade card to play at the arcade. When your name is called over the intercom, it's typically when the race before you is just starting, so if you want to chat with your friends, finish your meal, etc. you can just ignore the first time your name is called; they won't start without you unless they've called your name several times. About the wait times, they're typically shorter than what the cashier says -- a pleasant surprise, but one that you should be aware of if you want to grab food or something while waiting. The aforementioned restaurant is awful -- think kids birthday party pizza quality, but expanded to a full menu, and very pricey. I've tried the burger and fries on two separate occasions, and the beef was bland both times and the brioche bun stale. The milkshakes are pre-packaged so when you order them they just have to blend it without portioning ice cream, milk, etc (if you've ever come across gas station milkshakes, they're the same thing). None of this is a huge deal since the primary attraction at K1 is go-karts and not the food, but I'd order food from somewhere else if I were having a birthday party, etc. The employees are the real deal-breaker for me. When I used to come around December, they were all nice, well-kept, and respectful. Now, they're unkempt, rude weirdos. The only interaction I personally have with them is when I say my name to get my kart number, but they still manage to use a rude tone in that 5-second interaction. Prior to racing, you have to put on a helmet and fasten your seatbelt in the go-kart. If you're a woman, there's like a 95% chance that they'll 'help you' (unsolicited, especially with the seat belts) fasten them, which is super creepy especially since they're pretty much always accompanied by their boyfriends. If it's a child, they'll do the same thing (which I guess makes sense), but if it's a man they'll just illustrate how to do it with air motions. At the end of the day, the core experience is always enjoyable, but pricey. It's about $2 a minute for the 3 race package, more if you purchase fewer races. There's a dedicated junior track and the employees are good at handling kids, so if you're willing to pay the money K1'd probably be a good choice for a kids birthday party. If you're an adult, it's still a fun experience, especially for the novelty factor if you're just going one time. read more

We had a terrible experience booking a birthday party for my son at K1 Irvine. Problems started at the corporate sales level: Bruno Pomalaza should not be working in customer service. He doesn't respond to messages and calls. He gave away our reservation date and time because he failed to read/ hear and return my messages. He made promises to "make it up to us" which were not kept. K1 Irvine didn't get the updates I gave him on guest # and he refused to refund me when a child didn't show for he party due to COVID. I also found fraudulent charges on our bar tab at the end of the party. No response from Bruno on my complaints. I reached out to BBB. I don't think I'll see the nearly $100 owed to me. If you are planning to book a party at k1- just don't do it. It's not worth the $$$$ and frustration. read more

You can really tell that the people that come here to "race" for a bit do not know what they're doing. Way too many kids in this location, and it messes up a session if you're just trying to get quick laps in.. too much traffic by kids, yellows flags caused by rookies spinning on the technical corners, and the setup time between each race takes a while.. they work slow. They should honestly just keep the kids on track 2 and older ages in track 1. read more

I am giving 5 stars to Ben and Matt. We had some issues with races there and both were super nice and helpful. They are a definite asset to the company. Young children were crashing into mine and they came to our help right away. You can tell they really want people to enjoy their experience at K1. Many thanks to both of you. read more

My son loves it, and we brought my nephews when they were visiting. Not that girls wouldn't love it - I just had none around that were old enough to drive!!! Have been several times, and have not had a bad experience. The staff seems to maintain good control over the younger patrons, which is great - I don't like to be over run by unruly kids. I recommend this place for family outings, a date night, and I have seen several corporate events taking place, where everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. read more

See all

We celebrated my son and brother's birthday last week at K1. Correy was our guy helping us to get checked in and explained everything to us was an amazing staff member! He was so kind, helpful and patience w us. My family members had fun while I videoed n took pictures. I just think it was too short of the session. read more

Came her on a whim cause my girl and I can't decide what to do on a Easter Sunday evening. Wow, I was glad we made this decision to spend a few hours at K1. This was my first time doing any go-karting. The young lady checking me in was nice and friendly. She pulled up my girlfriend's account even though she hasn't been to k1 in years. The young lady also introduced me to k1 by giving me a big overview of the prices and registration process. Afterwards, she told us that per new registration and policy, we are able to select our own balaclava to be used underneath the helmet. They had pink, yellow, black and I believe blue to choose from. Afterwards, she said we are complete with the check in and they will call our names as soon we it was our turn. Since It was Easter Sunday, there wasn't that many people in attendance. We waiting one race before our names were called. The gentleman supervising the track said since it was my first time so he asked if I needed instructions on how to drive the cart and what each flags represented. We spent about 5 minutes going over the rundown and we get to pick out our helmets. Yellow helmet = Small Red helmet = Medium We had the whole track to ourselves and it was a blast. They provide race timesheet print out at the bar/lounge. I did both the easy and intermediate track. The easy track has more longer straights and is less technical. The intermediate track has more technical turns and less straights. Both were fun tracks but I enjoyed the intermediate track more. Great customer services from the staff and overall a fun experience. Paid $35 per person for two races. Easter special. Regular $40. Single race is $19 per person. read more

Very bad employees with attitude carts doesn't go fast you wouldn't enjoy your time at all the one at Anaheim much more better and faster carts not worth the money at allll, I've never wrote a report before good or bad but this one really frustrated me $250 for none fun read more

Very unorganized. Group events are a joke. Expect long ways and very little communication

Not a fan of this location as staff isn't knowledgeable about services, and consistently misinformed about so called policy. Annoying and frustrating to say the least. read more

Review is for Matt. Learned a lot through this lesson and was also very fun. He helped fine tune some of our racing skills and introduced us to the competitive karting community which I'm interested in becoming a part of. Highly recommend read more

So we arrived to do two races and we're told it was gonna be a 40 minute wait we told them we were in a time crunch. It ended up being an hour and 15 minute wait for our kids to do the two races. I asked the pit crew and the front desk these races are gonna be back to back we need to hurry we're in a time crunch. I was told yes they will be back to back races they will not get out of their cars. When the kids came back from their first race they had to get out of the cars and then wait for somebody else to race that's delaying us an additional 10 minutes. When I spoke with the manager about the issues he did nothing to compensate us, showed zero remorse, and all he was trying to do was your jam pack the track Rather than doing what he and his staff said would happen. I asked the manager due to the severe delays and being lied to you about going back to back races we should get a second race for free. He would not do anything to help or compensate. All he would do is refund our second race which is required by law. Not very impressed with the management and operations at this facility. If you come here and have a horrible time don't expect any compensation they don't care about you. Horrible customer service and horrible management. It's like amateur hour over here horrible customer service. read more

We had our son's 10th birthday at K1. It was absolutely awesome! Danny was the best and most accommodating manager that we could ever dream of. The kids had so much fun, as did the adults. The staff were helpful and nice. Everything we needed or wanted was immediately addressed by the staff. I would highly recommend this place for a party or just some fun races. Thanks again Danny, you made our son's 10th birthday a memory he will never forget! I would give 10 stars if it was possible. read more

Does K1 Speed need a yelp review? Great fun place to go with your significant other, family or friends.

I did a couple of private training lessons with Matt Pinto, the racing instructor, and within just a couple of hours of driving around the track, I went from being an inconsistent and sloppy driver to being significantly smoother and more precise. Coming into the first session, I was expecting him to follow a one-dimensional protocol that he uses for all his other clients. It turned out to be quite the opposite. He fine tunes the way he instructs his clients depending on their strengths and weaknesses, which makes it feel like he isn't wasting time going over things that don't need to be worked on. I recommend Matt to anyone that would like to take their go-kart driving skills to the next level. Not to mention, he has plenty of experience driving and winning go-kart races at a professional level. read more

PSA: This is not Tokyo drift, and you are not the DK. Use your breaks at appropriate times. Lesson learned. Groupon had a deal for 2 memberships and 2 races for 2 people. It was a lot cheaper than purchasing individuals races. When they called our names, one employee gave us a spiel on the workings of the car and race, but seemed entirely too bored to care. Enthusiasm out the door. Get in. Strap in. Go. Don't die. I did enjoy receiving a print out of our race and all racers involved with scores. There was that. I'd like to rate it higher, but if the only thrill of the K1 was the actual go-karts and nothing else then boo. There weren't too many other things that made it a solid 4 star for me. Certainly could have been a better experience for the price. read more

Surprised my son with indoor cart racing for his birthday, This is an experience we will remember forever. Fast cars friendly staff and nice facility read more

K1 Speed Irvine - Race time - Amusement Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

Used to love coming here but the last 3 times have been a joke. Zero communication among staff who seem to not know what's going on. Last time I came, I came to drive the VR, which was closed. No big deal. Called today prior to showing up to not have the same thing happen and I was told that it was open. I show up and after standing in line 20 minute while the group in front couldn't figure out what they were doing, I get told it's not open until 1pm.. roughly an hour later. So I wasted a 20 minute drive and 20 minutes in line just to find out it wasn't open after being told less than an hour earlier that it's open. As somebody who routinely goes once every month, it seems like something is always messed up every time I go. No attempt to fix anything either; just a shoulder shrug and a sorry. I guess I'll just stop going, as it's not worth the time or the money to show up and have subpar experiences every time. read more

When you show up at 7pm on a Saturday night 11/9 and the guy takes your money and then says "ok the jr race will be around 9:30pm". Are you serious? 1: why wouldn't you tell us that beforehand 2: who is the fool in management that ok'd renting the whole track for 2 hours on a Saturday night? I get it , but private events shouldn't be on Saturday night. This place sucks as far as the service and everything else. The only reason I go here is because it's the only place around read more

First of all I want to say that we have been coming to this place for a long time and I even had some corporate events there. My son has been racing here since he was 5 years old. My past experience made this review a 2 star instead of 1. During my recent visit I brought my 7 year old daughter to race. Based on their guidelines of 48 inch height she was a few millimeters short. The person at the desk was very adamant about it and marrying her. That was not really an issue for me but the fact that the kid before was new as well and was not even l measured and similar size. I asked her about it but she said he was there before. However, when he raced with my son he told them it was his first time. So I was clearly lied to. I was also told that it was a safety issue for my daughter because of her height not quite there. I was told she would slide in her seat a lot even with a booster. Here I see this other kid riding in the cart without a booster at all barely touching the gas pedal. Really good safety!!! Way to go K1speed. If you have standards you need to follow them... read more

it was my first time ever and it was really fun. my friends and i called ahead to see if they had a wait and the worker said that there wasn't. we went in about 30 mins after and the registration + payments went by super fast. the workers were super helpful as well. a couple of my friends and i checked in on yelp and got 5$ off! there's a 6$ membership fee that you must purchase in order to race. one race is approximately 14 laps, and it's 22$. it's not too bad! i had a lot of fun, i was dead last and all my friends passed me like 4x but it was still super fun hehe. also they have a bar and restaurant inside which is pretty cool, my other girlfriends who didn't race ate and drank while we did our laps. they had pretty good happy hour deals for food and beer so i'll definitely come back again soon! read more

I've thrown corporate parties here. I've thrown birthday parties for my kids here. They need to significantly improve customer service with returning calls and emails regarding group party events. Over the recent years, I will have to call and email multiple times to get a return call. Everyone has been effected with the COVID pandemic, but Corporate should enhance their technology and procedures to deal with reservations, checking in, ETC. Perhaps they could implement an online reservation system. like many other entertainment establishments. read more

I had so much fun here for my birthday. l brought a couple friends we did a couple laps and man was it a good time. Bella was amazing and also Amy's pretty great too. bella really made the experience for us and we are totally stoked on getting privwte driving lessons from mathew. I recommend going there and having a good time! read more

PLEASE LISTENExtremely upset. I took a group of kids from ages 12-17 the 12 year old girl crashed into the sidelines twice. The first time she did this the manga her himself came and started raising his voice at the 12 year old girl (and it was her first time on the track they did not give her any directions or guidance) using his hands and being aggressive. Yelling at her at this point keep yelling and i was right there listening to the whole thing. I understand if she makes a mistake and they have to correct her but the manager who's name is DANIEL was unacceptable. That's not the worse part we went another round and she crashed again. When this happened you can see his whole expression and voice becoming scary they kicked her out and I went out with her since i was right next to her when it happened and saw what happened, she looked frightened and said it was ok but then walked away and cried. After the rest of the kids finished racing my sister and I went ti the manager to have a CALM CONVERSATION keep in mind i am 19 and my sister is 17. From the start he was using and waving his hands in our face not letting either of us talk and talking on top of him. We both had ti tell him to stop being sgreesice and let us talk. We would never dare be impolite or rude to anyone in general we know that we have to respect those older than us but this was the first time we both became furious with someone in public with this and at this point both sides were raising voices. We asked for an apology and he told us sorry but then we asked him not yo apologize to us but instead to the 12 year old girl and he said sorry you felt like that. He did not apologize or mean it he kept defending himself and yelling at the two of us. At the end i asked for the girl and i to get a refund since we variety got time on the track but he said we are closing you need to leave and your your business is not welcome here. I am so incredibly at a loss for words i've never had such a bad experience. I would also like to add my sister talked to one of the coworkers asking why is he like this i understand why she got kicked out but why did they treat her like their and he apologized and said that he's just like that and apologized on his behalf. Another time my sister came here before we did and said he treated his coworkers with so much rudeness and in front of everyone when he was trying to explain something to a new employe. We WILL be sending a letter to corporate and be taking care of DANIEL the manager at the irvine k1 speed. read more

So I go here for an office outing with coworkers, and our firm buys a lot of races. Whose idea was that, you are welcome K1. So I am 4 races deep and this broke down Mr. Miyagi track lacky staff member says something incredibly rude to me after witnessing me driving with one hand. Oh I'm sorry, i missed the instructions you offered, oh wait you just shuffled us into cars without direction, that's right, WAX ON. How about you ask nicely, I'm reasonable and this place is getting a lot of our money. Shocking what people think they can get away with, you bet I verbally undressed the karate kid after the race, WAX OFF. His manager also heard the news, this guy needed it bad and unfortunately my spinning heel kick was holstered because it was a work event. You can't miss this guy, chubby asian dude with a dirty beard. read more

They fixed up the restraunt real nice! gave us free tshirts! great place for the whole fam! read more

See all

the guys inside were so rude to us and they weren't paying attention to the people bumping. Even they slowed us down so people can pass us and they even kicked out my cousin. I wanted to put 0 star if it was possible .btw the staff were very disrespectful and mean . read more

My boyfriend and i were notified that our race would begin in about 20-30 min, and we were completely fine with that eta. We waited for almost an hour just to be told that our names were removed on accident, due to a system glitch. They told us, because of the mistake, the earliest we can race was in 70 min. Us being patient, we told them that is fine. We wait about an hour and came back to ask when we are up, and the worker says the glitch happened again and that we would have to wait another 50 minutes. That is when we gave up. I wished they offered some kind of compensation. Don't get me wrong, the staff are sweet, but the system runs horribly. read more

We registered online however we were minors (16-17). Two out of the four weren't allowed to race because we didn't have the waiver. We called our parents the lady at the desk said they needed to be present with us. We eventually did the waiver and the manager helped us he even printed them out for us and we were still denied even with a signature from a guardian. Won't be coming back anytime soon. read more

My incident occurred in Gardena but this review is towards corporate for not helping me out at all. I've been wanting to come to k1 Speed for about 2 years and I finally had the opportunity to come last weekend for my birthday. I had made reservations for about 10 people for the location in Gardena and spoke with a rep. to set up the date. Unfortunately by Saturday (the date of my reservation) almost everyone in my group was unable to go so I went to the front desk to let them know. The front desk said that I had to pay a cancellation charge of $150 so I spoke with the manager. I had asked the manager," Why is it that the sales rep did not explain to me anything about a cancellation charge and I have to find out about this AFTER I gave the rep my debit card information?" They responded that it was explained to me in the confirmation which I NEVER RECEIVED. They told me to get in contact with corporate to refund me the $150 which I did. I called corporate in Irvine three times this week. The first time, I left a voicemail about my situation and no one got back to me. I called again either Wed. or Thurs where a representative from corporate transferred me to leave a voice mail to a "Gary" who is a sales supervisor or something like that. Gary never called me back. I called again today. I didn't even speak to anyone and was sent to another voicemail. To summarize, I have mistrust in this company because: 1. They did not tell me anything about a cancellation charge during my phone call before I gave them my card information which comes off sketchy and unprofessional 2. I never received a confirmation or anything until the date of my arrival 3. I try to reach someone to help me from corporate 3 times and no help 4. They did not even make any attempt to contact me after almost a week of my situation I can say k1 itself is a fun activity but the staff in corporate are very unhelpful. I'm going to continue calling them until I get my refund because this is unacceptable. So for those that are setting up reservations, know ahead of time there's a 25% cancellation fee if they fail to tell you. read more

Instagram: @koganei037 First Impression: 1st time coming here. Bigger than I imagine it to be for an indoor place. Race Impression: Each race consists of about 12 laps max of 8 racers at a time. One loop takes about average of 30secs. You may think it's short bit towards the end you will find yourself thinking when is this going to be over. The race itself is fun but even better if you race between friends and take the whole stage as 8ppl who knows each other. Let your competitive spirit roar!!! You can actually drift a bit if you punch the brake then gas in succession and at the right time. Price Impression: Single race costs $19.99 2 races $35.00 3 races $50.00 Plus an annual membership fee of $8.00 which includes a black head cover to put on your head before putting the helmet in. That will cost $2.00 if you forget to bring it next time you race. The races you purchased do not expire so if you know you will come back, buy the bulk races for higher discount. Overall Impression: Cost for a race is reasonable, one race does take a toll and since it's indoors, it does get hot. So prepare to sweat lol. It's worth coming here with a group of friends for some fun. read more

Terrible service. We told the woman when we check in we only had two child drivers. She said there might be a half hour wait in between our races because of a kids bday party. Half hour? No problem. It's been almost 1 AND A HALF hours and still no clue as to how much longer my kids will have to wait. Absolutely wasted my time and that of my family. Don't come to this K1. read more

K1 Speed Irvine - Still waiting. Wish we were told the TRUTH about the wait. We might have been able to make a decision that didn't waste our afternoon. - Amusement Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

K1 Speed is the best place to travel to if you love racing and have a need for speed. They have great weekday deals, occasional Groupon and special discounts a good majority of the time. They provide a head sock and helmet, also they encourage using your go-pro camera if you own one. They have helmets with the go-pro camera adapters and allow people to use the cameras on the karts itself. There are 2 track layouts which offer several tight turns and straightaways to keep the racing easy and exciting. However, at times the track can seem quite crowded when the place is busier and has more karts on the track at once. Usually racing once or twice is enough to satisfy any adrenaline lover. I highly recommend visiting this place at least once!! :) read more

K1 Speed Irvine - Guys night out for go-karting! - Amusement Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

Electric indoor go kart racing is the best idea ever, that said, we were VERY disappointed, karts are beat to death turtle chasers and the young immature staff was rude. I was shocked to watch the staff be a bunch of condescending @ssholes to a VERY RESPECTFUL group of children. You losers will be making minimum wage your whole life if that's the attitude you carry. I'm also ashamed to say they were all white guys and I don't want to be grouped in with these chumps. I am friendly and hard working and expect the same at least when i'm spending my money somewhere. Get your sh!t together fellas. Don't spend your money here. read more

Worst system ever conceived. 1 HR and 30 minutes to get through a line with ten people in front of us. Manager was who-knows where, cashier was clearly new or clueless and there's a total disregard of customer satisfaction here. The POS system they have is woefully inadequate and extremely tedious. This is my last time coming here. read more

Well let me say I've never been to K1 and I wish I didn't buy the package for 3 races because now I have to come back to use them seeing as I can't get my money back for the races I didn't use. This location is terrible. The young ladies at the front have bad attitudes! We walked in signed up and signed in for two races. Apparently when she told our party that we were signed up for both tracks she forgot to mention to come back to the front after the first race. Never being there before maybe that was my bad? Maybe? So we signed up for the second track, well that's what we thought. She walked back up and then asked again if we wanted to do track again. I guess walking up pissed off the first time after waiting 30min we weren't clear that we wanted to still race. The manager on duty at the front did nothing but roll her eyes. The restrooms were dirty, one door barely shut and the other filled with poop. The pit cafe is hardly a cafe. Only chips, candy and Gatorade the other machines were turned off. Hopefully the Anaheim location is better, because irvine you suck! read more

Get ready for some yelp math: 14 laps=$20-yelp's $5 off promo code+$5.95 license fee for first time racers We waited about 25 minutes to race our 14 laps, which was about 12 minutes long I was paranoid that race demons would clip my car & send me into a tailspin, but thankfully that didn't happen. I think the bf spun out on purpose a few times. He came in 3rd; I came in 8th (last!) The bf said K1 should combine the 2 race tracks to make 1 gigantic track. P.S. I apologize for leaving my lipstick mark on the yellow mask you wear under your helmet. It's a bright red, courtesy of MAC. For the record, that kiss mark is NEVER coming out *muah* read more

The wait time is excessive and was not close to accurate compared to we were told upon check in. We were told 50 mins and it was 100 mins before we could race. There is no board or tracking system for wait times and the overhead is very difficult to hear so you are constantly checking with staff on whether or not your kids name was called. K1 Speed please do better with your wait times as the actual product and the staff are great. read more

first time visiting the K1 speed. Ride is very fun but course is too short and price is little expensive than website. overall not bad not great read more

K1 Speed Irvine - Amusement Parks Near Me - Irvine, California