OC Restaurant Week Launch Party

So much fun!

I bought tickets to this event via Travelzoo for $ 45 each rather than paying the full $ 90. For paying half price, I would say the experience was definitely worth it. I was worried because I am rarely satisfied with all you can eat type situations. Whether it’s a shortage of food or over crowdedness, I almost always feel the admission price is not worth it. However, this launch party was none of those things. There was a lot of people there, but the lines were never too long and went by quick. A few tables did run out of food by the time I got to them, but most of them were fully stocked and giving out leftovers by the end of the day.
Thanks to the wine, beer, and cocktails I honestly don’t remember each and every dish, but overall everything was pretty good. The samples were legit samples too, not just fries and chips. Slapflish gave out small lobster rolls and Kabuki had whole hand rolls. Some of the restaurants did disappoint though. For example, Slaters ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ put out a brownie. I expected a burger of some sort. Call me crazy. One of the cocktail tables offered margaritas or you could opt for straight up shots of tequila! Plus, we got to keep the wine and beer glasses. I hesitate to call it freebies, because we did pay for admission, but getting these «freebies» was a thrill. I also love that it has a dressy dress code, complete with a red carpet and photo op. Who wouldn’t want to play celebrity for a day?
All in all it was tons of fun and I was stuffed by the end. My one and only complaint is that there weren’t enough tables. It’s pretty difficult to hold a plate with food with one hand and a fork in the other, while simultaneously juggling a glass of wine. I get it though, if they out out tables then there would be no walking space and people would be spilling food all over each other. Maybe a bigger venue next time? Considering I’m willing to spend $ 40 at a single restaurant during restaurant week, this $ 45 was really well spent. Can’t wait til next year!

My first time going to this fun event. I wanted to go last year, but tickets were sold out. I joined the OC foodies email list and they updated me on this year’s Launch Party months in advance. There was a $ 45 ticket promo code. Made you feel like a winner since the tickets were $ 95. However, in the weeks leading up to the event, Travel Zoo was selling them for the same price.
My BFF and I arrived shortly after 4pm. Complimentary valet parking. We signed in, received a bracelet, skipped the red carpet photo op, and went straight to the Unilocal table to get our swag for checking in! Thanks! That reusable bag came in handy.
We perused the room first so that we wouldn’t load up on bread-​heavy samples. We sampled shrimp ceviche, lamb ragu with polenta, beef with polenta, beef with mashed potatoes, spicy tuna hand roll, lobster roll, fresh fruit, sangria, beer, and cupcakes. I couldn’t tell you what came from where, but it was all delicious.
Event wasn’t overly crowded. Lines moved quickly. The occasional douche bag (male and female) would slide up to the front of the line and act like they were «just looking» at the samples, then snag one as if «Oh? What do you have here? My goodness, thanks. I didn’t know you were giving them away.». One lady pretended she was just asking me where I got the Stella Artois cup from, made small talk, then cut in front of me for a sample. Have some class and wait like the rest of us. The food isn’t going anywhere!
We were in and out in 2 hours. Great event and a nice way to start off OC Restaurant week.
I look forward to next year’s Launch Party.

Lexus Newport oc restaurant week launch party! sampling buffet of dessert, appetizers, entrees, wine, beer, chocolates and fruits. Was well coordinated so didn’t have to wait in endlessly long lines and plenty of everything. We even took some dessert and alcohol home with us and wine glasses. Cheers! It was an all around fun event!

Always a great time filled w/​all you can eat samples from some of the best OC restaurants. As always, there’s just never enough room for it all!
There seemed to be more options this year in variety of foods and the lines for samples seemed to move faster. Restaurants seemed like they were better prepared this year and had ample supply to feed the masses.
One of the best parts was getting to keep the Stella chalices!
Will definitely go back next year! Be on the look out for the OC Foodies deal for tickets, it’s half off =)

Wow! This was a lot of fun. I ended up with a ticket, since one of my friend’s friends had an extra.
When I first heard about this, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This is a foodie kind of event in a Lexus dealership?! sounds go strange.
I thought it was a lot of fun to sample the various food at this venue. There were some that I’ve had heard about before and some new ones which was great. Totally got me to think about expanding some of my food options when I am down there.
What I wished were there were more seating area at the venue. Us ladies get tired with our heels.
Also I wished some of the signs were better laid out. i’ve got a pretty good memory and was able to remember which food was where when we recapped it. However I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the place that had lobster mac and cheese. (Mainly since it was in a corner with a few other booths).
Oh ya. I also loved that the chefs were out plating the dishes too and talking to us.

To dress up and stuff face: D That was insanely fun!
This was our first time going, and our friends were really excited about it too since they failed at buying the first time around but jumped on the TravelZoo offer.
I’ve also never been to this Lexus dealership so didn’t realize how HUGE it was.
More room to pack the vendors in woohoo!
Even though I took a gajillion photos I have barely any recollection of where each was from unfortunately: P
Maybe they should have printed plates with their logo since all my pictures were of the food on the plate: P
My absolute favorite was Paul Martin’s though since it was a cheese, meats, and olives spread. Raaaaaawrr!!! I visited twice. The 2^nd time after I was full but wanted more!
My least favorite was Scot’s Seafood with the Shrimp Salad. The shrimp just tasted OFF for some reason.
I also liked that there was a Tangerine/​Mandarin Orange booth. We were able to grab some to take home and they were soooo sweet! :)
It became a game to point out who wasn’t dressed enough for this event too while we were eating. Like really? Jeans and UGGS? Maybe they were workers/​helpers but come on!
Will see you next year OCRW Launch Party!

Thank you so much for this wonderful event!
It was great being able to sample foods from places I had never been too, with decent size samples too. Not little measly Costco size samples, but ¼ of a burger from Slater’s ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ (this really happened, and if you have been to Slater’s, you know how big their burgers were).
This was a great experience for my first time, and I can’t wait to go back again next year! Such a tasty event!

What a fun event. I’m only sorry we didn’t know about this last year.

STUFFED. Literally. I ate so much, I had to get help to get my dress zipped up in the bathroom! :(How embarrassing, but totally worth it. Thank you to the ladies who helped me out! D:
This is my second time going to an event like this – my first being OC Decadence in 2011. The amount of vendors here was perfect and the variety of beverages (aka alcohol) here was great. You could have everything from wine, vodka (Chambord has a vodka line mmm), tequila (Patron had an elaborate set up here, where you could get an engraved juicer and try a variety of mixes), and beer (if you came early enough, you may have lucked out getting a Stella Artois glass!).
The food itself was great – everything from casual dishes like burgers, shepard’s pie, lobster mac-​n-​cheese, empanadas, to upscale dining samples like beef polenta, pork belly dishes and more. My favorite vendors there were Paul Martin’s (they had a prosciutto and cheese plate and a delicious beef dish I went to for seconds), Orange Hill, and Savannah Chop House (their beef wellington was a fav amongst my friends).
Dessert was diverse as well! Molten cake from Jazz Kitchen, cupcakes from frosting’s and Chambord, fondue from Melting Pot, cookies macaroons and more at Blackmarket Bakery, peanut brittle and more… And the Farrell’s Ice Cream team was amazing, singing songs and super friendly and outgoing.
In the middle of it all was Sadie Baking Co., with a nice array of bread samplers and a mini baguettes too! My fav from them was the cranberry bread. Also, Melissa’s Produce table was a pleasant surprise, and they gave out fresh Asian pears and I got to try their delish unique product – a kiwi grape!
I would definitely go again. I loved the Unilocal Photobooth too! I would advise coming early, because food did run out at the end, and with the amount of food there, you would have to wait until you got «unfull» again before being able to try everything!

This was my first year going to this event and can I just say, WOW.
What I loved about this event was the variety of foods available and how restaurants still managed to maintain presentation while serving at such rapid rates. Hands down the best way to sample some greats of OC. My favorite part was the fact that I had SO many desserts to choose from (if only my stomach let me) and each was so different — like the jalapeño tequila sorbet from Landmark. Definitely glad I bought a ticket, which by the way was only $ 27 bucks online and well worth all the food you receive in return.
I hope to come back to this every year now that I know about it!

Awesome event! Complimentary valet parking, fast checkin and then flash! It’s picture time! We got to the event right at 4:00pm and there were already quite a few people inside. The food and drink vendors were already serving it up! One of the first booths we saw was the Unilocal booth. I finally got to meet Ryan, our Unilocal Elite Community Manager! It seemed like many of the participating restaurants were present at the event. It was held at the Newport Lexus and the venue was definitely large enough to host it here. Cocktail attire was recommended and for the most part, people dressed the part. It was a nice event and it was great to sample many of the foods from the various participating restaurants. I’ve already made my selections as to which restaurants I’ll be visiting this week, and because of this event, I may actually attend a few more! Great job, OC Restaurant Week, for organizing and putting on such a successful Launch Party!