Today was my first time eating at Urban Plates and it certainly won’t be my last! I ordered the chili glazed grilled tofu with a side of roasted brussels sprouts and sesame broccolini - all of these items were 10/10! Very tasty a good healthy meal! As a vegan, I appreciate the many options that cater to different preferences and allergies. There were many options for vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, and dairy free diets with everything marked on the menu which is always a plus! Also, a special shout out to Fatima who was very helpful and gave me excellent customer service. Thank you Urban Plates!
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm writing to express deep frustration and disappointment following a visit to your Irvine BJ's Restaurant on May 22nd, 2025, for my wife Roz’s birthday celebration. We had a party of 13 and called ahead, only to be told the wait would be 30–45 minutes. Instead, we waited over 2 hours while being repeatedly given conflicting and inaccurate wait times (20 mins, then 5 mins, then 15 mins, etc.). It was only after escalating the issue to a manager that we were finally seated — a full 45 minutes after being told our table was "being cleaned."
The service did not improve once seated. Staff were rude and dismissive — not just to my wife, but to multiple members of our party who politely asked for status updates. At one point, BJ's attempted to offer "lobby pizza" to the waiting group, which would have been appreciated if they had respected dietary restrictions. My wife has celiac disease, and we explained she could not eat gluten. Despite this, we were told there would be no accommodations — even if we were willing to pay.
To make matters worse, Roz also suffers from hypoglycemia, and being forced to wait that long without food triggered a medical episode. This was not just inconvenient — it was dangerous and negligent.
When we were finally seated, the experience did not improve: only one overwhelmed waitress was assigned to our large group, service remained slow and unfriendly, and to add insult to injury, an 18% gratuity was automatically added — despite the substandard and outright harmful service. Our total came to nearly $800, and every single member of the group was charged that gratuity — regardless of their experience.
This was meant to be a celebratory evening for my wife’s birthday. Instead, it was a source of anxiety, frustration, and actual physical harm. We expect a full apology and request appropriate compensation for the unacceptable experience we were put through.
Sincerely,
Mario A.
First time here. Food and service was great. One gluten free patron in our party (celiac) and staff was very understanding. Carlos made the experience wonderful with checking in frequently!
They are the worst customer service and knowledge bout gluten free allergies and definitely have No business getting advertise as such. I called and once I arrived I asked again. I ordered and paid and then she told me she was out of gluten free buns so I am getting toast gluten free burger ITS DISGISTING. Not what I asked for, I DO NOT WANT FING TOAST FOR A BURGER. I could have gotten somewhere else. I’m traveling and Not alone. I truly hate this people. LIARS. SO GROSS!!
I was asked how my food was and I told this lady gross and unsatisfactory She acted like I didn’t say ANYTHING so I repeated to her and again just ignored. DO NOT ASK HOW MY FOOD WAS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR THE CUSTOMER S ANSWER. 🤮
Overall, this place was really good. I did make the mistake of going on a weekend so it was incredibly busy, but they still seemed to be getting food out pretty quickly and it didn't feel like a huge weight. When we did get the food even though it was busy. It was absolutely delicious and well prepared. They even went out of their way to make sure that my gluten-free Burger was kept away from other things due to my gluten allergy which really impressed me because not a lot of places do that. I will have to say the staff was exceptionally nice. They were delivering food having fun at work, but they were also engaging the guests and cleaning tables in between to make operations go a lot smoother. I've been to many shake shacks not one this busy and considering how well everyone seemed to be working and how quickly everyone was getting in and out. I was pretty impressed