Irvine's food scene is shaped almost entirely by its demographics, which is a good thing. The city has large Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Taiwanese communities, and their restaurants are concentrated along particular strips — mainly around Culver Drive and Walnut Avenue in the northern part of the city. This is not a place where you go looking for California cuisine or farm-to-table dining; you come here for pho, Korean barbecue, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, and dim sum, at prices that reflect a largely residential clientele rather than a tourist premium.
There are also longer-established restaurants from the city's earlier population, including some solid Armenian and Mediterranean options that predate the more recent Asian influx. The Irvine Spectrum Center has a wide restaurant selection if you want variety in one place, though the quality is uneven.