My hubby and I love to have fun and we are always looking for new ideas for date nights as we like to change things up in our schedules so that things stay lively! Just recently we were invited to visit the Irvine Improv in its’ new, larger location at the Irvine Spectrum. Attached to the Improv was the ever so famous and delicious Umami Burger and we had the opportunity to enjoy dinner and a comedy show!
I was so very impressed with the design of the Umami Burger restaurant and how it connects to the Irvine Improv! Umami Burger has a large interior of indoor seating as well as a fabulous patio with outdoor seating, a great bar and a fire pit to lounge and have cocktails and food preshow or after a comedy show next door. It was an awesome setup! See my photos! 🙂
To start we went to dinner at Umami Burger for a 7:30 reservation to accompany a 9:45 pm show time at the Irvine Improv to see the famous comedian, Charlie Murphy! We were so excited to see him as he was a special event entertainer that we absolutely love. As a cast member of one of our favorite comedy shows, “The Chappelle’s Show,” several feature film’s screen writing credit and more, he was certainly a treat to see live!
Upon arriving at the Umami Burger we ordered a few cocktails and appetizers. To start we had the Ahi Poke ($11) (It is also available for only $6 at happy hour 7 days a week 9pm to close!) This ahi poke was delicious and was prepared with sushi grade ahi, sweet soy, sesame, green onions, guacamole and house made potato chips! This was one of my more favorite poke creations!
A second appetizer we ordered was an exclusive off the menu option that you must request and it is well worth it! This item was the Cheese filled tater tots covered with shredded parmesan cheese! These literally melted in your mouth with warm gooey cheese and flavorful potatoes. A trick is to dip these babies in your favorite house made dipping sauce.
House made sauce options to use on all burgers and appetizers at Umami Burger include Jalapeno Ranch, Garlic Aioli, Spicy Diablo and House Umami Ketchup, which is prepared with two special ingredients, soy sauce and truffle…Mmmhhhmmm…My mouth waters just thinking of it! 🙂
To accompany our appetizers, I ordered the cocktail “What Happens” which was prepared with cherry and blueberry vodka, lemon juice, cranberry juice and sprite. This was a perfect cocktail to wet my palate and was not too sweet which is the way I like it. 🙂 My hubby opted for the Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale which had a sweet and fruity malty character with a hint of coriander.
Next up for main courses, we each selected a different burger. It was difficult to make a choice because everything on the menu sounded amazing, but I was in a total truffle mood, so I opted for the “Truffle Burger” which was prepared with truffled aioli, house made truffle cheese, and truffle glaze. I was told by our waitress that this burger had just the right amount of truffle flavor and that it was not overpowering and that is what sold me. I am proud to report, she was totally right because this burger was pure perfection up to the last bite! 🙂
My hubby opted for the “Manly Burger” which also was prepared with a cheddar beer cheese made in house (all of the sauces and cheeses are made in house at Umami Burger…We both loved this feature! They are all delicious as well!!) In addition to the beer cheese, this burger also was prepared with bacon lardons, smoked onion rings, Umami house ketchup and mustard spread. The presentation of this burger was fabulous and blew both of us away in terms of appearance and flavor combinations!
To wash down our burgers, I opted for a glass of the 2014 Dona Paula Estate Malbec from Argentina and my hubby had the Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout. We were both quite happy with our selections and they both paired well with our food! 🙂
Lastly for dessert we each got an ice cream sandwich and even though we were super full, we both gobbled these babies up! My hubby chose a more traditional chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich with vanilla ice cream, while I opted for a salted caramel ice cream sandwiched between two mouth watering snicker doodle cookies! YUM!!!
Upon finishing our meals, our tummies were stuffed and our hearts were happy and we made our way out of our booth and slowly head over to the Irvine Improv to be seated for our show! The manager, Fabio at both Umami and Irvine Improv greeted us at our seat with his fabulous friendly smile! Fabio truly provided first class service! 🙂 He was quite lovely to converse with and we enjoyed his company dearly! You can see our photo below!
Something important to remember about the Irvine Improv is to make sure that you arrive early prior to the show to get in line because seats are on a first come, first serve basis and they do fill quickly and the line does get long!
For the purposes of this review, they had reserved the best seat in the house for me which I must recommend! Head straight for the center of the top part above the stage and lower level seating and there are about 5 booths. We sat in the one in the middle center and could not be happier with the view and the service at our table. We chose to order a bottle of St. Supery Cabernet Sauvignon, which I definitely recommend if you have never tried it! This is a full bodied wine and we have enjoyed visiting this winery on our journeys to Napa in the past! 🙂
With full bellies, delicious wine, and one of the funniest comedians headlining on the stage after two other opening acts, we were feeling pretty good! If you have never seen Charlie Murphy, I definitely recommend him as there were parts of his show where we were almost falling out of our seats laughing! I definitely recommend the Irvine Improv and Umami Burger as an awesome date night with the one you love, a fun night out with a bunch of friends or even a family event! The new theater is gorgeous and the food is divine! Please feel free to share about your experiences at the Irvine Improv and Umami Burger at the Irvine Spectrum below!
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Tip #1: If you get there too late to be in the front section, sit at the rail right behind the booths. You can see over everyone’s heads and you face straight ahead so you don’t have to twist your body like when you sit at the lower tables.
Tip #2: Sign up for the Improv’s email list. They will sometimes offer free tickets for shows.
Tip #3: If you don’t have enough time to eat at Umami Burger, the Improv’s food menu is a smaller version of Umami Burger. They share the same kitchen. And try the onion rings. They are awesome.
Great tips Alex! Thank you for for his! I agree with you about the email list! I love receiving tickets for free shows! 👍😀