Tender Greens

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irvinehomeowner

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
Been meaning to go here for a while:

Tender Greens
31 Fortune Dr
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 679-9135http://www.tendergreens.com

It's at the Irvine Spectrum next to the old Food Court and Cucina Esoteca. It's casual fast dining, you order your meals at the first station and then get drinks and desserts at the last station where you pay.

It's supposed to be farm to table food and it's basically salads, soups and grilled steak, chicken and fish. They do have fried chicken which is what we tried and I'm glad to say we finally found a place that had good hot fresh fried chicken:
l.jpg

(image from yelp)

The drinks are teas, juices and organic sodas (free refills) and they have different desserts that change. Most of the plates, whether it's a sandwich or plate is around $11 (expensive for fast casual) but they are good. A plate consists of a protein, mashed potatoes and a salad,

Yelp reviews are pretty good:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tender-greens-irvine-2

Service was a bit spotty when ordering (they messed up our order twice) but the bussers are pretty good at getting you refills and clearing your finished plates.

And yes PS9, they do have kids meals. We will probably put this in our rotation of regular places to eat.

EDIT: Typos.
 
Thanks for the update, could use a decent fried chicken place, since we only got KFC in Irvine.  Spectrum has been spotty for us, cucina enoteca was decent, but all the other places made us regret not eating at Fukada across the way (they also have good tastsuta age)
 
Have gone here 2 times now.  Love this place.  Have had 2 sandwiches, steak and bratwurst, both were damn tasty.  Wife has grilled vegies and specials.  Bit on the pricey side, but well with the tariff IMHO. 
 
Had the fried chicken there and thought it was the opposite of Jollibee's chicken.  The fried chicken at this place is non-greasy, light, but moist enough to not be dry.  Jollibee fried chicken is delicious because the grease is dripping off the chicken.

The kitchen is set up to be efficient, but the operation is not.
 
momopi said:
Had the fried chicken there and thought it was the opposite of Jollibee's chicken.  The fried chicken at this place is non-greasy, light, but moist enough to not be dry.  Jollibee fried chicken is delicious because the grease is dripping off the chicken.
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Ooooo... Jollibee... need one of those in Irvine. I heard they opened on in Anaheim... anyone been there yet?
 
Ate here recently, food was decent, we actually ate healthy. Price was a tad on the high side, fried chicken was good, I think they must brine it to keep it moist.  I would eat here again if I was already at the spectrum, otherwise to us it's not worth the walk from the parking structure (yes I'm that lazy).  And Fukada is so close...
 
We ate there again over the weekend... tried the steak but the portion was small.... making it really expensive.

Interestingly enough, the kids plate is only $6 and a good portion... almost as big as the adult portion... makes me wonder about their margins.

We usually park at the office parking, closer to Javier's, Cheesecake and the other than the parking structure.
 
The Tender Greens at the University Center finally opened... about a week and a half ago.

Much bigger eating space than the Spectrum one... easier to park (well... not on the Trader Joe's side) and easier to get to. This is probably where we will go whenever I crave fried chicken (I must be from the south).
 
We went to Tender Greens for the first time, but we were not too impressed with the menu. We might be biased, but prefer Urban Plates for the selection and prices ($10 vs. $11.50). Overall, I thought the Tuna Nicoise tasted great, but probably won't return as I was underwhelmed with the experience.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The Tender Greens at the University Center finally opened... about a week and a half ago.

Much bigger eating space than the Spectrum one... easier to park (well... not on the Trader Joe's side) and easier to get to. This is probably where we will go whenever I crave fried chicken (I must be from the south).
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Ok let me get this straight ... Did you just say Tender Greens have FRIED CHICKEN?  Is it better than Popeyes or KFC?
 
Well... it might be healthier.

It's all boneless (which KFC doesn't do anymore) and I like it.

But TG is pricey... so take that into account.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Well... it might be healthier.

It's all boneless (which KFC doesn't do anymore) and I like it.

But TG is pricey... so take that into account.
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Thank you. I will have to go try it. I've never been to TG, I thought they were an all veggie restaurant like Veggie Grill.
 
We've been to Urban Plates once and Tender Greens once.  Never had the urge to go back.  Same price as places with table service AND freshly cooked food instead of the glop they pile onto plates from the heat trays.  Or better yet, reheating meat back onto the grill.  I like my steak without juice please. 

Cafeteria style food belongs in schools, prisons, cruises, and the Nostromo.  Period
 
We went tonight, got lucky in parking, and the fried chicken was sooooo good.  Totally hit the spot.  But it is pricy for the amount of chicken I got.  Too bad I can't order fried chicken as a side dish.
 
ZeroLot said:
We went tonight, got lucky in parking, and the fried chicken was sooooo good.  Totally hit the spot.  But it is pricy for the amount of chicken I got.  Too bad I can't order fried chicken as a side dish.
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I agree with ps9 on the price for food that isn't table service and more like steam table to table than farm to table.

You can order an extra side of chicken if I remember correctly... not sure how much it is though.
 
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