Zuni Grill: Southwestern Flair

The new Zuni Grill in Irvine is a prototype for expansion--the first, its backers hope, in a long and prosperous chain. You can tell by its location, next to a Good Earth restaurant, in the outer reaches of a mall where the main retail attraction is a Target store. And also by its prices--the most expensive thing on the menu is the $20 souvenir Zuni polo shirt.

Like any good upscale chain, there’s a fair-sized bar area, where the dominant drink is the margarita--and several of its variations. (Interestingly, especially for an aspiring chain, the slurpee style is out; tequila and its mixers are mostly served up or on the rocks here.)

The theme: the vast Southwest. This is because the chef and owner is David Wilhelm, and the Southwest has been very good to him. His interpretations of desert food have shown up at his restaurant Kachina in Laguna Beach, on the menu he created for El Torito G-R-I-L-L as a consultant, and, to a limited extent, at his Bistro 201 in Irvine.

And so, Zuni Grill has a modified desert cave sort of look. Primitive cave-like scrawls are embedded in the tables; the walls are meant to look like sandstone boulders. On the menu are Southwest takes on burritos, tacos, enchiladas, taquitos and nachos, which means there are blue corn tortillas and mesquite-grilled meat. Wilhelm’s also brought over variations of a few dishes from Kachina--honey-braised pork and warm chocolate bread-and-butter pudding, for instance. If Wilhelm has his way, diners all over California may find themselves eating in caves.

(This, by the way, is not good news for chef Judy Rodgers, who has plans of her own for her venerable Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. She is consulting a lawyer and hopes to persuade Wilhelm to name his Zuni something else.)

Zuni Grill, 3966 Barranca Parkway, Irvine. (714) 262-0864. Entrees $7.95-$13.95.