Diamond District (??) off Jamboree and Alton

My review of the DJ Plaza



Traffic-Bad design. . .You have to either cut through H Mart or make a U-turn on Alton.. . . I sense Irvine Co. conspiracy :)



Parking was okay. . . but may be problematic when all of the stores open.



85 Deg. C-Awesome bread-fairly reasonable prices. Everything was fresh and warm and in abundance. Highly recommended. Closes at Midnight for all you late night snackers.



Guppy House-Packed to the rafters. . . fairly expensive. . Shaved Ice (enough to serve 2-4) was around $12. Seems high to me but maybe I am a little stingy. Food also felt about $1 to $2 more than "right". However, place does not close until 2 a.m. on Fri and Sat.



Interested about Capitol Seafood... could use a good dim sum place.



Wish list: A late night HK-Style Cafe in line with what they have in San Gabriel.
 
We went there last weekend too. H Mart is nice, but we'll stick to Freshia because it's closer. We have always liked Guppy's and will be back for more. 85C is good. But the korean restaurants seem a little pricey. At the BBQ Chicken place, I had 5 tiny drumsticks for $10. As for the waitress, I thought she was not friendly at all. The servers at 85C are much nicer/cuter. And traffic IS weird. Main entrance is through H-Mart and there are only TWO exits.



I think the ONLY thing good about the plaza is that it opens til midnight-ish. But then again, my old age is beginning to get to me. I'm in bed by 12 most nights nowadays. No more staying til 4 in the morn. :(
 
I'd suggest parking in the parking structure behind the supermarket. You can exit (on foot) right next to 85C Bakery.



For BBQ Chicken, go to the one in Buena Park on Beach Blvd. The Irvine Branch probably didn't do much employee training.



H-Mart was smaller than expected, prices are competitive with Zion but not much cheaper.
 
I have to agree with everyone on the traffic. I was there around 2pm on a weekday and there was some slow down, I can only imagine the nightmare during peak times--very bad design. It will only get worse once the other stores open up--i.e. dim sum at capital seafood. They better higher a security guard like they do at the District to help the flow of traffic before things really get bad.
 
Who keeps designing these crap parking lot entrances? First the district, then DJ. I'm pretty sure its not the same developer, but did they all go to the same engineering firm?



I anticipate this place being a zoo once all the stores are open (it's already a zoo, albeit a smaller one, not the SD zoo just yet). A place full of asian ladies going to Hmart, drunkards coming back from Chae Bahn, it's a big asian driving mess.



I'll definitely be afraid of taking my car in there. Maybe a bicycle, or I'll park at the storage facility and walk over. Driving a car in there will give me flashbacks of driving in Westminster or the 99 ranch parking lot. Scary. Better have good comp and collision insurance. Time to lower them deductibles!
 
[quote author="Shooby" date=1222827449] it's a big asian driving mess.

</blockquote>


[ this is so not PC]



but isn't this redundant? :lol:



-bix
 
[quote author="biscuitninja" date=1222836084][quote author="Shooby" date=1222827449] it's a big asian driving mess.

</blockquote>


[ this is so not PC]



but isn't this redundant? :lol:



-bix</blockquote>


Lethal combination is when you mix badly design parking lot with Asian drivers.
 
[quote author="Astute Observer" date=1222829704]For the District, however, once the Tustin Ranch Rd is completely built-out, the traffic should be 100X better.</blockquote>
I'm not too sure about that... they are still building standalones along District Drive (Ave?) which is not supposed to be the main entrance. Not too many people are going to want to go all the way down to Tustin Ranch Road so they can backtrack through the parking lot or 10mph roads to get to In&Out;, Best Buy or whatever those 2 new buildings are going to be. Parking is already a problem on that side before those new standalones... and great placement planning on that BofA ATM... not only is it not in the interior mall where most people would be walking but there is no dedicated ATM parking either.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1223018416][quote author="Astute Observer" date=1222829704]For the District, however, once the Tustin Ranch Rd is completely built-out, the traffic should be 100X better.</blockquote>
I'm not too sure about that... they are still building standalones along District Drive (Ave?) which is not supposed to be the main entrance. Not too many people are going to want to go all the way down to Tustin Ranch Road so they can backtrack through the parking lot or 10mph roads to get to In&Out;, Best Buy or whatever those 2 new buildings are going to be. Parking is already a problem on that side before those new standalones... and great placement planning on that BofA ATM... not only is it not in the interior mall where most people would be walking but there is no dedicated ATM parking either.</blockquote>


Both Diamond and Legacy are both in excellent visual exposure location seen by 300,000 cars during morning and after work rush hours. The stretch of Jamboree between Fwy 5 and 405 is mostly zoned 50 mph. It is a major artery for city of Irvine. City of Irvine will not allow both centers to take access form Jamboree thus forcing entrances on to secondary roads.



Other than occasional traffic lights allowing traffic from the collector roads intersecting Jamboree driveways to commercial and residential development is forbidden due to traffic safety issues such as decelerating car driving on to driveway may cause rear end collisions. The driveways we see out there today were approved before 1985 when Jamboree was a dead end road ending at Barranca Tustin bound and Fwy 5 Newport bound.



Marketplace was built in 1985 when Jamboree was a dead end street. TIC got away with multiple driveways on to Jamboree. City of Irvine has favoritism and they are not Legacy and Diamond.



The Tustin and Irvine Market place have a total of 28 driveways exiting on to the perimeter major blvds so cars do not have to drive across the parking lots heading to the same exit.



I will explain in a layman term. When a theater is on fire and patrons are in a panic situation rushing to the same exit accidents will bound to happen like pushing, trampling and crushing people that fell. For safety reasons theater must have at least 3 exits to avoid danger and the same should apply to small shopping centers.



Size of Legacy is a performing arts stadium and not a theater and should have 28 exits but it has just 3 exits to the perimeter blvds. Everyone driving to the same exit meant a long line of cars blocking traffic.



Diamond Plaza is just as bad and will get worse when all the tenants move in.
 
All I can think of is that these parking lot designs are to prevent crime, but also prevent some shoppers from even going to their centers because of the inconvenience. I mean if you were to rob one of these stores and leave by car, it would take you 15 min to escape. There's no easy way out. And the stupidity of drivers these days certainly doesn't help. Or rudeness. I spent this past week in Irvine and lost count the number of times I was backing out of a parking space with my car almost fully out of the parking space and people were still driving up and down the isle behind me just missing my back bumper. I've never seen more rude drivers, and what's with experience in New York and Boston.
 
Tried to go to Tokyo Table at lunch... too crowded... almost 40 minute wait time. But the menu looked interesting.



What's strange is the only outlet is on Alton so it's like all the cars are trapped inside the center.
 
Just checked out <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/crepes-de-paris-irvine#hrid:4BL8Oi2RAQbWuJHKDbVRVA">Crepes de Paris </a>at the Diamond Jamboree plaza? up until now, the only place the wife and I know to get great crepes was <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-creperie-cafe-long-beach#hrid:QFdyhU5XZAZ5IfdoLC66Fw/src:search/query:Le Crepre Cafe">La Crepre Ca</a>f? 2nd street in Long Beach? Now we don?t have to drive that far, cause, this place is as good, and a little less! The menu and atmosphere is similar and simple; just tried the savory crepes, can?t wait to try the sweet stuff? see you there!
 
They use nutella for the crepes, very good!



I'm less impressed with some of the restaurants in Diamond Jamboree. The Thai place is... ugh.
 
Last Friday I drove into the H market and another driver plowed through the stop sign and almost broadsided me. Then as I continue on looking for a parking space, another idiot backed out of his space and nearly hit my car.
 
[quote author="reason" date=1250072985]Last Friday I drove into the H market and another driver plowed through the stop sign and almost broadsided me. Then as I continue on looking for a parking space, another idiot backed out of his space and nearly hit my car.</blockquote>


r... sorry, man,, I keep telling my mom to pay attention and stop pretending that it's Taipei...
 
[quote author="roundcorners" date=1250074140][quote author="reason" date=1250072985]Last Friday I drove into the H market and another driver plowed through the stop sign and almost broadsided me. Then as I continue on looking for a parking space, another idiot backed out of his space and nearly hit my car.</blockquote>


r... sorry, man,, I keep telling my mom to pay attention and stop pretending that it's Taipei...</blockquote>


Haha! No problem. I adapted.
 
[quote author="roundcorners" date=1250070537]Just checked out <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/crepes-de-paris-irvine#hrid:4BL8Oi2RAQbWuJHKDbVRVA">Crepes de Paris </a>at the Diamond Jamboree plaza? up until now, the only place the wife and I know to get great crepes was <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-creperie-cafe-long-beach#hrid:QFdyhU5XZAZ5IfdoLC66Fw/src:search/query:Le Crepre Cafe">La Crepre Ca</a>f? 2nd street in Long Beach? Now we don?t have to drive that far, cause, this place is as good, and a little less! The menu and atmosphere is similar and simple; just tried the savory crepes, can?t wait to try the sweet stuff? see you there!</blockquote>
Did you happen to notice if the revolving sushi place is open yet? I think it's called Hana. I need me some conveyor belt sushi!!
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1250072600]They use nutella for the crepes, very good!



I'm less impressed with some of the restaurants in Diamond Jamboree. The Thai place is... ugh.</blockquote>


for great french crepes, visit Lulu's Cafe in laguna hills. charming lil place run by a husband and wife team. the restaurant's namesake, lulu, is a french lady who was the former owner, but is usually still at the cafe. you'll find her taking orders, sitting at a table in the corner polishing silver, and just hanging around with patrons.



<a href="http://www.lulus-cafe.com/">http://www.lulus-cafe.com/</a>
 
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