Few people remember Russell's Seafood Palace or that it was located in the now vacant building at the corner of Main and MacArthur in Irvine. To jog your memory, it used to be behind Agora Churrascaria, both restaurants being within walking distance from John Wayne Airport. It failed despite a dim sum menu and Chinese lunch specials. Now the space it left behind will finally take up a new tenant.
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Makino is a sushi and seafood buffet that comes from the land of buffets. Yes, Makino hails from Vegas, where it has two restaurants. It is the brainchild of Kaku Makino, the restaurateur who started a little seafood and sushi buffet empire called Todai.
Will an all-you-can-eat sushi and a sort-of Chinese buffet line work when a Chinese restaurant faltered there previously? Maybe under the guidance of the guy who had success with the concept. Still, more people might remember the failure of Sumo, which shuttered two locations in OC not too long ago, serving pretty much the same kind of food.
When Makino arrives it will compete with what's left of the genre in OC in Hokkaido of Newport Beach, not to mention the remaining Todai's in OC and the all-you-can-eat meat feasts of Agora, its next door neighbor.
It will be located at 1818 Main St Irvine, CA 92614.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.