By ELISE RIO
Staff Writer
The Irvine Spectrum is a common meeting place for high school students who want to spend time with friends, especially during the weekends. The restaurants within Irvine Spectrum range from fancy and expensive to casual and cheap. Visitors can easily enjoy a quick lunch before shopping or a nice sit-down dinner before a movie. Recently, the shopping mall has made new additions to the dining area by the carousel; one of these changes includes the new sit-down restaurant, Lyfe.
Lyfe is a nature-themed restaurant with space for both inside and outside dinning. The first thing I noticed as I walked in the restaurant was its green, earthy ambiance. The restaurant’s decoration made it look casual but still sophisticated.
Lyfe offers several types of food made with natural ingredients, including flatbreads, pasta, soups and salads. The restaurant provides vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes, including the vegetarian morning tofu wrap and vegan and gluten-free quinoa crunch bowl. The prices of the dishes range from $5-$12, relatively cheap for the variety of options and natural quality of the meals the restaurant offers. Lyfe also serves a wide range of beverages such as kale banana smoothies, mango cucumber lime smoothies and freshly squeezed orange juice.
When I went to Lyfe I ordered the fish tacos, which consist of a warm corn tortilla, cilantro, grilled mahi, chayote slaw and avocado. The tacos were dipped in a pleasantly sweet and sour salsa fresca and the portions were small enough to satisfy my hunger without being overwhelming. I also had the freshly squeezed ginger pomegranate lemonade, which was absolutely delicious; the ginger and pomegranate flavors were blended together perfectly.
Lyfe presents the perfect opportunity for a shopping break or a dinner before movies at Irvine Spectrum. The meal only took about thirty minutes to finish and the restaurant had very quick service with friendly and accommodating servers. I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone making a quick lunch or dinner stop at the shopping mall.
Irvine Center Dr, Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 727-1252
Hours: Monday-Thursday 10:00 am-9:00 pm
Friday-Saturday 10:00 am-10:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am-8:00 pm