Mama Ma’s Kitchen

Irvine’s University Park Center is best known for Persian supermarket Wholesome Choice, but residents have long relied upon the plaza for donut, acai bowl, taco, burger, and pizza spots – as well as Taiwanese boba tea shop Class 302 and its upleveled successor, Ever After Tea Room. When Ever After closed in April 2026, Mama Ma’s Kitchen wasted no time opening in its place, preserving most of the prior light wood, tile, and faux brick decor, as well as wooden tables and chairs with capacity for roughly 50 people, while replacing signage, light fixtures, and the entire menu. Foregoing traditional full table service, Mama Ma’s has dine-in guests order at their tables using phones and QR codes, with runners dropping off dishes as they’re finished by the kitchen. That means ignoring the conspicuous “order & pay here” kiosk up front, as the big touchscreen is only for take-out orders; to-go guests wait for their food at tables inside or outside, then pick up bags at the front counter.

Though Mama Ma’s menu devotes a section to “Sichuan-Hunan fusion cuisine,” it also offers some Chinese-American and Taiwanese options, including at least a few items (fried vegetable spring rolls, fried peanuts, and the locally uncommon East Coast favorite General Tso’s chicken) that appear only on its smartphone/digital menu rather than the laminated placemat-sized cards that are left on tables. Printed menu categories include steamed buns ($10 to $17), boiled dumplings ($13 to $15), a catchall category labeled “specialty flour based snacks” ($2 to $15), spicy hot pots ($17 to $39), two sections of mostly vegetarian appetizers ($7 to $15), a Sichuan-Hunan fusion entree collection ($14 to $27), soups ($10 to $17), and noodles and rice bowls ($14 to $16). The digital menu adds “frozen takeout series” as a place for bulk dumpling and wonton orders; a selection of “dessert” smoothies were not actually avaiable when we visited.

Virtually nothing here will seem surprising or novel to those familiar with other Chinese restaurants in Irvine or Orange County, generally; Mama Ma’s offers a hodgepodge of many stir-fried offal, braised pork, and chili peppered dishes from Hunan restaurants like HN Chiliking, a smaller number of boiled and pickled fish options from Sichuan establishments such as Kuan Zhai Alley and Yonny, and the chow mein/orange chicken offerings of Chinese-American takeout places including Hong Kong Express. Think of it as a slightly more Americanized Northern Cafe and you’ll have the right general idea, though items such as Taiwanese braised pork rice ($15), steamed fish head with chili peppers and noodles ($25), and Chongqing grilled fish hot pot ($39) defy such simplification.

[It’s worth a brief note that Mama Ma’s also has a lot in common with another Irvine restaurant, Tai Chi Cuisine, which has operated for a dozen years at Jeffrey and Walnut’s Orange Tree Square plaza. They turn out to be commonly owned: Mama Ma’s menu is basically a cut-down version of Tai Chi’s, seemingly adapted to the smaller space. In an apparent effort to build customer loyalty at the new location, Mama Ma’s posted signs promising one free tea-boiled egg (value: $2) to anyone with a “continuous 30 days of in-store spending.” We’ll admit to being very curious about why that promotion was chosen, and how it will ultimately work out.]