Bistango Opening an Irvine Branch : Beverly Hills Restaurant’s Move Part of a Growing Trend

Yet another chi-chi Beverly Hills restaurant is doing the Orange County shuffle.

Bistango, a ritzy French restaurant in the middle of La Cienga’s famed restaurant row, said Monday that it plans to open a $1.5-million restaurant in The Atrium office development on Von Karman Avenue in Irvine.

Its move will place it among a small but growing number of flashy, come-as-you-are Los Angeles-area restaurants that are opening Orange County branches. Industry consultants say that the high cost--and low availability--of choice restaurant real estate is driving restaurant developers away from cities like Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach and into parts of Orange County.

“The good locations just aren’t there in Los Angeles anymore,” said Janet Lowder, manager of restaurant and food service at Laventhol & Horwath, the Los Angeles accounting firm.

Lured by New Buildings

But most restaurateurs say that it is not the cheaper real estate or choice locations that are attracting them here, but the onslaught of offices and hotels in Orange County.

“The whole Irvine area is becoming a business center,” said Toross Simonian, secretary and treasurer of Bistango. “It’s ripe for quality restaurants.”

Expansion at other retail centers is also expected to attract more big-name restaurants to Orange County.

For example, both South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and Main Place (formerly Fashion Square) in Santa Ana are likely to lure some major restaurant tenants under their current growth plans. Also, a new restaurant pavilion planned for an area next to Fashion Island at Newport Center is a prime candidate for some tony restaurants.

Industry consultants and restaurant executives say that the high caliber of the new restaurants could drastically change the traditional image of Newport Beach as a mecca for diners seeking ocean views but not necessarily fine food. Said one Newport Beach restaurant owner: “Now, we have to put the value on the plate.”

Recruits Top Chef

So serious is Bistango about the quality of its food that it has recruited its Irvine chef from the exclusive Los Angeles restaurant Ma Maison. Dinner for two at Bistango, with wine, will generally cost $50 to $60, Simonian said.

The 180-seat restaurant is scheduled to open in January, 1987. Bistango, a French slang word that means bistro, has leased 10,027 square feet on the ground floor of the 10-story Atrium.

Despite the added competition in the area, rival restaurateurs generally view the arrival of high-caliber restaurants such as Bistango as a positive sign that Orange County is evolving into a major restaurant market.

“It’s much like when one fine clothing store attracts more fine clothing stores to an area,” said Enzo DeMuro, manager of Prego, the popular Italian restaurant that also has a Beverly Hills location and opened a 225-seat Irvine branch in March. “The more quality restaurants you can put in an area, the more business there is for everyone,” DeMuro said.

Ritz Was the Beginning

Industry executives say the trend toward these upscale but informal eateries in Orange County began four years ago with the opening of the Ritz, a 250-seat, continental restaurant at Newport Center.

Hans Prager, owner of the Ritz, says he cannot afford to ignore the oncoming competition. “Every time a major new restaurant opens in the area, we feel it,” he said. As a result, even though the Ritz is still relatively new--and very profitable--Prager has already begun to redecorate the restaurant’s interior.

“The competition is forcing me to be sharp,” Prager said. He is now spending thousands of dollars to put in new carpeting and to reupholster all the chairs. “Nothing is worn out yet, but with the competition, we can’t afford to let it get to that point.”