Lawry’s Carvery

3.5 stars
No wait at 6pm on a Saturday evening. Order at the front, get a pager, find a seat.
8 oz. Roasted Prime Rib ($ 26): Tender prime rib with port with au jus and a side of horseradish we did not use. The 8 oz. was more than enough. Comes with a side of coleslaw and any signature side. We opted for the creamed corn which was a little too sweet for my tastebuds.
Roast Beef Au Jus ($ 16): Thinly sliced roast beef with perfectly roasted red onions served with coleslaw and a signature side of choice. Went for the mac & cheese! Pretty hefty portion of the mac & cheese and good flavor although it was a bit too oily.
Bread Pudding ($ 4): Wish this came out warm/​hot! Felt like the bread pudding was sitting out for a few hours before serving. Definitely cheap for the portion they give if you are really craving for bread pudding.

Yikes.
I had somewhat high expectations of Lawry’s, especially based on their prices, where they were located, the atmosphere, etc.
When you walk into the «line», you can pick up a menu along the way before ordering. If you’re not sure what you want, don’t stand in line! Just mosey over to the side with the menu, decide what you want, and then get into line. When the cashier calls you, put in your order, pay for your order, get your order number, and then sit down. Wait isn’t too bad for your food.
Hubby ordered their prime rib sandwich with the au jus. I ordered the Cobb salad. The prime rib was perfectly fine on hubby’s sandwich. The bread, on the other hand, was rather dull, as it wasn’t grilled or even had any butter. Hubby had asked for the horseradish spread on the side, as he’s not a fan of the horseradish. Otherwise, there was nothing but just bread and meat. The chips weren’t anything that spectacular, either.
As for my salad, it would’ve been great to know that they didn’t have any more egg for the Cobb. So, did I just give the business an additional $ 2 for a, basically, chicken bacon salad? They couldn’t tell me that they were out, or provide a substitute before letting me pay? I know there were egg shortages at some restaurants, but at least those restaurants had the decency on letting you know upfront that there is a shortage. Thank you to the server for letting me know, but it’s the responsibility of the restaurant, not you. The chicken was extremely dry, the greens were somewhat fresh, the dressing was fine, the bacon was okay, but there was no eggggggg. Hubby can tell you that eggs are one of my favorite foods, so I was severely disappointed that I was told last minute that they didn’t have any more, and there weren’t any substitutes.
Overall, I guess it’s a convenient place to just get something to eat. Price-​wise, what a rip-​off. It wasn’t a bad or horrible experience, but it was just disappointing. Del Frisco’s would be better and a much more enjoyable experience. Service was great, but there was SO much to be desired from the foods.

I have never been a fan of deli sandwiches as I really don’t like any kind of processed meat. So an Original Prime Rib sandwich from Lawry’s sounded like an excellent idea when I was somehow craving for a sandwich instead of a burger or dim sum (my Unilocal friends and followers will find this pretty strange).
The full prime rib sandwich is $ 16 and a half sandwich with a cup of soup is $ 13. We were not really hungry but were just looking for a place to rest our feet and grab a snack after hours of shopping so we opted for the soup and half sandwich combo.
It was good but not impressive for the price tag, especially for a Panera Bread kind of outfit where you order at the counter and it’s not even full service.
There were only a few thinly sliced pieces of prime rib in the sandwich, but I have to say that it was tender, flavorful and delicious. The dipping sauce was yummy too.
The beef barley mushroom soup was very good but the French onion soup was just ok.
The worst part of the meal was the coffee — the coffee was absolutely horrible. Please, if you are selling $ 16 sandwiches, you’ll need to serve much better coffee than this. If you can’t get some decent coffee, I have a solution for you: Just serve Starbucks coffee like many restaurants do.

I come to this place just about once a month. We always order the same thing — the prime rib sandwich. When I first used to come in (I was dragged by another fan), it was «meh» for the price ($ 17 for the sandwich). But the more you come, the more addicting it gets. The bread for their sandwich is really good, not to mention the prime rib. Even the chips are above average (kettle chips). When I’m feeling especially gluttonous I order the creamed corn. We have a VIP card and you can earn a few free sandwiches a year.
You can’t forget a strawberry lemonade and extra au jus.

The manager does not know how to control the flow. The line is building and few customers take over ten minutes to order. It is a express dining and not full blown Lawry’s restaurant so order quickly people instead of trying to act like you are paying $ 100 for a plate. However, manager should open more registers or help the illiterate of westerners.
The food does not disappoint the diner. The prime rib melts in your mouth and salad is fresh.
The chips are crispy with little salt for balancing. The turkey is not over baked, Garvey not salted, and cranberry not so sweet. Food deserve five stars however manager kills the stars because of poor traffic flow.

I have to say I do enjoy their prime rib! It’s pricy but good. Took my niece & she loves steak so I knew I had to order her her own meal. Ask for the kids meal menu, they do have 1 but you’ll have to ask. Got her kids prime rib with mac& cheese and a drink for $ 11! A bit pricy since my full size salad with roast beef was $ 12. My niece ate her whole steak & only a little of the Mac & cheese left. My salad was good but I got a few end pieces that wasn’t up to par & im surprised they served it actually. I like the horseradish salad dressing!
I would not recommend the soup, I’ve gotten it twice because I forgot I got it. Chicken/​turkey rice soup-​soo salty!!! Would not do that. Stick with the prime rib.

This place has great food however…(Get to the food in a sec)
We paid 80.00 for a great meal however at that price you would expect a few things such as a clean restaurant. The first thing I notice is that the floor is covered in crumbs, trash etc. I get it, people come and eat and leave a mess but come on 80.00 for a meal for two and you can’t sweep the floor? Obviously that ir rated me but other than that the. Food was excellent. Prime rib awesome as well as the chili! The place is pricey and you have to order your own food at the counter but the staff is friendly and polite.

Not bad… but if you’ve already experienced the real Lawry’s restaurant then keep on trucking =)
The food wasn’t bad per se, it was just after going to the real deal I wanted to go there right after ha.
We ended up getting one of the beef salads, the meatball sandwich, as well as the chicken thai salad.
If you’re on the go this wasn’t bad. You should definitely go to Lawry’s if you have the time, and the finances ha.

I took an old friend shopping for his birthday and stopped here for some dinner. He recommended I get it with double meat, and I am glad I did. I ordered the french dip, he something else. It is pretty pricey even without adding double meat. But I thankfully wasn’t paying. I did manage to hook him up a little with my mall discount.
Sandwiches came out pretty quick. Big juicy sandwiches with perfectly cooked meat. and by perfectly cooked I mean perfectly medium rare. The Au Jus was a little synthetic/​overwhelming tasting. But it was good regardless. Served with chips and a pickle. No real complaints. I would come back, but probably not by myself for lunch, a little too pricey for that.

Stopped by here for lunch while Christmas shopping at South Coast. Had the prime rib dip served with chips and a pickle. Always a satisfyingly tasty sandwich. Remember you can use your Lawry’s card here to earn points!

Ahh… Lawry’s — The Famous Prime Rib (or as I would like to call it that or something else). It’s pretty much the upscale version of Quiznos if I were to go back to (Quiznos) for a steakhouse-​style sandwich. Since about 80−90% of the Quizno’s locations had closed down in the OC, this is pretty much the only choice I have. Prices for the sandwiches are a little up there, but it’s located in an upscale mall, so what else would you expect in a restaurant like that? I usually take the Original Prime Rib with STRAIGHT horseradish (the spicy kind, not the creamy kind), and it’s pretty damn tasty (especially with the piping hot au jus sauce), but just recently, I got the southwestern chopped salad, and the salad was pretty tasty as well — If you want something beefy as well as something healthy, the southwestern chopped salad is my recommendation!
The seating is a little cramped (pretty much like Vie de France across from it), so if you have more than 2 or 3 (or 4 if you’re lucky) people in your party, I suggest that you either do two people for one table and one at another table, or pick another restaurant (not saying that going with 3+ people to a small place like that is bad — If you like the food, hey, go for the food).

I frequent this place almost weekly during my lunch hour. I have tried almost everything on the menu & have enjoyed it for the most part until today. I ordered take out and got the DRIEST chicken of my life. 5 minutes after picking it up and ready to eat it. Not only was the chicken cold, but it was stale and so dry I couldn’t even chew it. I had to throw it away because the chicken was clearly old. WTF. What are you feeding your customers? Last week’s leftovers? I can’t believe I paid for food that wasn’t even edible. This place has gone downhill. The service has also gone down since I can remember. I’ve been going to this restaurant for many years now and it used to be so much better. The employees never smile and seem like they don’t want to be there. What happened Lawrys?
I won’t be back for awhile. Sad day.

I do believe this is a nice express version of Lawry’s, but I would definitely prefer the bigger restaurant than this version. There are good things about this place and things about this place that I would rather not touch with a 12 foot pole or even longer.
*Roasted Prime Rib — If i were to go here everytime, I would pick this everytime. I am not here for sandwiches and the other stuff and this is what carries this place, and the also the name. The Prime Rib is just as good as what they offer in the bigger restaurant, except for the sides. The sides are something different in quality, but doesn’t mean that it’s bad. The prime rib being exactly like it’s more expensive counter part says a lot. This isn’t a cheap beef either. $ 26 for a 8oz and $ 33 for the 12oz.
**K-​Town Brisket Sandwich — My dad got this is did not finish, not because he was full, but because it was just not good. A mixture of coleslaw making the meat cold and the beef just not enough to salivate for. I am a meat person and I need to see meat juicing out. This was hiding in the coleslaw.
I would go here for the Prime Rib, not go here for the sandwiches. Some people like the sandwiches, but I am not one of them. This place make it AOK.

So I’ve been coming here for years and years and have always been happy with their prime rib dip, but the past couple years have shown a few disturbing changes.
1. They stopped giving you horseradish as a default but asked if you wanted some.
2. They stopped giving you horseradish and they stopped offering. You had to ask for it.
3. Potato chips were suddenly consistently stale.
4. On my most recent visit, the potato chips were good but the dipping sauce was suddenly a thick, gelatinous goo that tasted like it came out of a squeeze bottle then stirred with hot water. Extremely salty and very unpleasant.
But they offered horseradish without my having to ask.
Meat was still tender and flavorful. Bread was still soft and chewy. But what makes a prime rib dip is the dipping sauce, and after my second bite, I was seriously considering ketchup.
Don’t worry, I didn’t.
Man. I really hope this was just a fluke because it was terrible. 3 stars for that, but hopefully an improved update soon.

Here’s another hidden gem, tucked away inside a mall which I would’ve never found had it not been for my foodie cohort in gluttony dragging me through crowds to get to, and ignoring my «no good prime rib can be found in a mall» pessimism. Lawry’s has by far, some of the BEST prime rib you can get on a consistently tasty and tender basis – regardless of the location. Who would’ve thought you could get this from an open mall/​air lunch spot at South Coast Plaza? I frequent this spot regularly and will never miss an opportunity to bring my co-​workers or friends here because I know they will find it as rewarding and gratifying as I do.
I’m all about the original prime rib sandwich and I will get that every time. The sandwich comes with some wonderful chips and I normally add a side of their tasty slaw. I can tell you confidently that if you have not tried Lawry’s before, then this would be the perfect one to begin your journey with. For the sandwich I paid only around $ 17, but had I gone to their Beverly Hills restaurant that number would’ve probably quadrupled.
Needless to say, you cannot go wrong here. Wonderful inside seating where people watching in the mall is a blast, or if the weather is nice (almost always in Costa Mesa), the outdoor seating is awesome. (located on a less used entry to the mall)
Thank you again Lawrys! Can’t wait to return…

My sister loves lawrys bbq beef brisket sandwich so we decided to have dinner here. I haven’t ate here in a while so I was thinking everything would be as good as when I last had it.
I ordered a three green market salad with brisket. The salad was 6.99 and three dollars for brisket. They really give you about three pieces. So the description was so vague when they said three greens I thought maybe mixed greens but it was iceberg, some other green, and four pieces of asparagus. They forgot the asparagus after I questioned them about the salad and they brought it out. This is definitely the world’s saddest salad. Definitely not worth the amount.
My sisters bbq beef brisket sandwich looked like pulled pork? They tried it and said it was pork. The waiter and manager/​cook? Defended that they now shredded their beef brisket who would shredded brisket? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. Even if they did they should list it in their description. Our service was terrible it was so different from the past when we had food there.
The food here isn’t worth the high price. Terrible service terrible food.

Took my family here to try, but everyone left unsatisfied and disappointed. You order first at the counter and then they bring the food to you.
** feeling healthy? substitute chips out for coleslaw.
don’t substitute for crispy onions! they’re NOT crispy, but rather stale.
1. Green Peppercorn Dip ($ 9.99)– Roast beef with (not-​so) crispy onion inside a french roll with a peppercorn dip on the side. NO. The dip was simply gross and watered down. The bread wasn’t toasted or heated at all!
2. Prime Rib Bleu ($ 14.49)– Prime rib with bleu cheese spread, tomatoes, argula and crispy onions. Just okay, nothing too special. The bread wasn’t warm or anything either. Prime rib definitely taste a little better here than the roast beef.
3. Creamed Corn ($ 2.99)– Best item of the night. Portion is small.
4. French Onion Soup ($ 4.99)– Way TOO salty. Don’t try this, I’m warning you!

Not a terrible option for lunch within SCP, it’s very casual without a lot of fanfare. Knowing that it’s the order, pay, sit down and they bring it to you option keeps things in perspective while you can still get prime rib for an inexpensive amount…
We found the Carvery Combinations to be a good price/​value choice, particularly since they were offering beef barley and French onion soup soup du jour on that particular day. There was an absence of excess seasoning on our prime rib cuts in our sandwiches, perhaps by design as people are more concerned with their sodium intake these days. The cup of beef barley soup was only minutely more interesting than the classic dip half sandwich but I thought it took the two together to make the meal. The au jus was mildly warm but provided the necessary extra saltiness to the sandwich. I barely noticed the horseradish that was suppose to be in the sandwich. I think the chips that were provided also added some saltiness to the dish so that overall there was a balance…
My wife thought the Prime Rib Bleu combo half sandwich was more interesting, certainly in texture as it included arugula, tomatoes, and fried shoestring onions, along with the bleu cheese spread. The cup of French Onion soup was no more, no less than I expected from a cafeteria style presentation and was halfway decent actually, it was only missing a little depth in the broth…
I also found it nice that there was no wait here on a recent Saturday afternoon as compared to the line waiting to get in the nearby Vie de France…

Lawry’s Carvery is for those that take lunch very seriously.
Many will tell you the best part of a workday is lunch. It could be construed that only a lazy person would say that but Lawry’s Carvery would prove you wrong. If Prime Rib was on the menu for any day’s luncheon, why wouldn’t lunch be the best part of a workday? Disclaimer: I am a card carrying Lawry’s VIP member and always look forward to a trip to Five Crowns in CdM or Lawry’s in Bev Hills. Honestly, you should be too! Who doesn’t love Prime Rib?
I could go over the diverse menu but you don’t care. If you are not ordering a Prime Rib sandwich you are doing Lawry’s wrong and may as well have hit Panera. They do offer Roast Beef sandwiches as well as Prime Rib but you will end up writing a 3 star review because you are a cheap bastard. So that brings us to two options: The Prime Rib Original and Prime Rib Bleu. Both come with perfectly prepared medium rare Prime Rib and Ciabatta squares. The Prime Rib features creamy horseradish and a cup of robust au jus while the Bleu boasts a Bleu cheese spread, tomatoes, peppery arugula and crispy onions.
Which is better? BOTH.
The question really is if you feel tangy, funky and smooth or bold, robust and OG. If the funk beckons, hit that Bleu baby.
I know this sounds like a sure-​fire 5 star classic but it isn’t. First, the Ciabatta is far too dense and chewy so I usually end up discarding it within 5 to 8 bites and eating the Prime Rib bread-​less. More importantly the sandwiches are no joke in cost. $ 16.50 for the Prime Rib Sandwich is formidable even though the delicate meat warrants a high price tag and although the Bleu is a dollar cheaper, neither would be considered a «steal». Keep in mind this is a fast casual setting. What is worse the prices seem to up yearly higher than inflation.
Look, I love Lawry’s Carvery and chances are you do too. Anything worth loving will have considerable investments, right? Go have a lunch worth talking about.

Carvery is known to be a comfortable, casual version of the upscale restaurant. So, if you have never tasted Lawry’s The Prime Rib, you may possibly rate Carvery a tad higher. In comparison, the quality of Carvery’s prime rib lacks greatly and just does not cut it for me.
The taste and quality of the prime rib has sadly decreased over the years. It is usually dry, overcooked and there is fat in almost every bite. Lawry’s Prime Rib Original hand carved sandwich (6oz. prime rib on ciabatta bread) is filling but nothing too special about this dish either. The sides, the creamed corn in particular, is delicious and tastes similar to the original. Platters include one Signature Side and Carvery Coleslaw; you can substitute the Carvery Coleslaw for chips.
You pay upfront at the registers, find an open table, and your food will be brought out to you when ready. The food comes out quickly and the servers are friendly.
People, people you get what you pay for. Yes, the food is more expensive than that at a typical food court but much cheaper than Lawry’s The Prime Rib for a reason. Located in South Coast Plaza, so a very convenient location if you’re doing some shopping.