Irvine / Central Orange County
The strongest drive-thru cluster we confirmed is at University Center on Campus Drive near UC Irvine, where In-N-Out (4115), Chick-fil-A (4127) and Taco Bell (4101) all list drive-thrus on their own locators. Woodbury Town Center on Irvine Boulevard has a Chick-fil-A drive-thru at 6428, and In-N-Out opened a second Irvine drive-thru at 7900 Great Park Boulevard on September 4, 2026. Alton Marketplace on Technology Drive West groups Wendy's, Carl's Jr. and Del Taco. At The Market Place on Jamboree Road, check which side of the Tustin city line a pad sits on before assuming Irvine rules apply.
Population
311,690
Median HHI
$136,719
Median age
34
Homeownership
44.5%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Irvine Boulevard · Jamboree Road · Culver Drive · Sand Canyon Avenue · Alton Parkway · Barranca Parkway · MacArthur Boulevard
Specific shopping centers in Irvine that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
various Irvine villages
Anchors / key tenants: Irvine Company village-retail mix
Smaller Irvine Company village-retail nodes (Quail Hill, University Center, Sand Canyon, Westpark) — each serves one master-planned neighborhood with a tight daily-needs and service mix. Lower rent than Spectrum but the brand/credit bar still applies.
6200–6460 Irvine Boulevard
Anchors / key tenants: Ralphs Fresh Fare, Trader Joe's, The Home Depot, LA Fitness, Walgreens
Size: 462,000 SF
Irvine Company village-center asset serving Woodbury, Northwood, and Stonegate. Daily-needs and fitness anchors plus a deep restaurant/coffee/service-retail mix. Strong family-oriented daypart.
2961 El Camino Real, Tustin
Anchors / key tenants: Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy, REI, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sprouts
Irvine Company-owned regional power/lifestyle center bridging Tustin and Irvine — 120–140 tenants including CorePower Yoga and Lazy Dog. One of the densest experiential co-tenancies in central OC.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Irvine rents. These are publicly visible retail pad space businesses currently trading in the market.
In-N-Out Burger (Irvine)
4115 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA 92612 (University Center)
In-N-Out's locator lists a drive-thru and dining room, open since 1991. Irvine Company Retail lists it as a University Center tenant.
In-N-Out Burger (Irvine 2, Great Park)
7900 Great Park Blvd., Irvine, CA 92618
In-N-Out's locator lists a drive-thru and dining room with an open date of September 4, 2026.
Chick-fil-A University Center Irvine
4127 Campus Dr, Irvine, CA 92612 (University Center)
Chick-fil-A's location page lists drive-thru, dine-in and curbside pickup.
Chick-fil-A Woodbury Town Center
6428 Irvine Blvd, Irvine, CA 92620 (Woodbury Town Center)
Chick-fil-A's location page lists drive-thru among its amenities. Irvine Company Retail also lists Carl's Jr. (6324 Irvine Blvd) and Chipotle (6424 Irvine Blvd) at Woodbury.
Taco Bell
4101 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA 92612 (University Center)
Taco Bell's locator lists drive-thru and a Live Mas Cafe. The locator's second Irvine store, 2222 Barranca Pkwy, also lists drive-thru.
Wendy's
63 Technology Drive, Irvine, CA 92618 (Alton Marketplace)
One of two Irvine stores on Wendy's locator (the other is 14386 Culver Drive). Irvine Company Retail lists Carl's Jr. (55) and Del Taco (59 Technology Dr. W) in the same center.
Chick-fil-A (The Market Place)
13490 Jamboree Road, Irvine, CA 92602
Listed by Irvine Company Retail at The Market Place with an Irvine address. In-N-Out (3020 El Camino Real) and Taco Bell (3010 El Camino Real) at the same center have Tustin addresses.
Starbucks drive-thru stores
15433 Culver Dr (Culver Plaza); 5359 University Dr (Parkview Center); 6580 Irvine Center Dr (Sand Canyon Plaza); 13384 Jamboree Rd (The Market Place); 16567 Von Karman Ave, Irvine
Five company-operated stores that Starbucks' own locator lists with Drive-Thru. The first four are also Irvine Company Retail tenants.
01
Permit path by sub-district: in 4.1 Neighborhood Commercial, 'Drive-thru' (Section 3-37-19.C.13), drive-thru banks (C.14, prohibited in 4.1C Rancho San Joaquin) and drive-thru fast food (C.24) are conditional uses. In 4.2 Community Commercial the same uses are conditional (3-37-20.C.14, C.17 and C.32), except that drive-thru fast food and drive-thru banks are permitted in 4.2L (Quail Hill) and allowed through a Master Plan in 4.2N (Orchard Hills) and 4.2O (Cypress Village). Under Section 2-9-4 the Zoning Administrator hears 'Drive-thru' and drive-thru bank CUPs, while other conditional uses go to the Planning Commission, so confirm the hearing body for a fast food drive-thru.
02
Stacking: Section 4-4-7 requires each drive-thru lane to be separated from vehicle and pedestrian routes and striped, and requires a stacking study signed by a registered traffic or civil engineer (service time, arrival rate, peak hour and expected queue). The approval body sets the stacking capacity from that study, so the lane length is negotiated case by case rather than fixed in the code.
03
Setbacks and neighbors: 4.1 sites need 45 feet from major and primary highways and 25 feet from commuter highways and local streets (Section 3-37-19.H); 4.2 sites need 40 feet from major and primary highways (3-37-20.H). In both districts side and rear setbacks next to residential uses are two times the building height. Irvine's exterior noise standard at a residential property is 60 dBA Leq from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 55 dBA at night, reduced by 5 dBA for speech or music (Municipal Code Section 6-8-204), which applies to menu-board speakers.
04
Parking (Section 4-3-4): a permitted freestanding building inside a 4.2 center parks separately at 1 space per 166 sq ft and inside a 4.1 center at 1 per 100, unless a shared parking study sets another ratio. On its own parcel, fast food (with or without a drive-thru) parks at 1 per 100 sq ft, a sit-down restaurant at 1 per 75 up to 6,000 sq ft, and a bank without a drive-thru at 1 per 250.
05
Prior approvals and trip limits: footnotes to Sections 3-37-19 and 3-37-20 say permitted uses may have to meet conditions from earlier approvals and may need a Master Plan under Chapter 2-17. In Planning Area 12 (Spectrum 7) uses can be limited parcel by parcel under the July 31, 2020 Spectrum 7 Traffic Study, and in Planning Area 34 staff assigns each use a trip-rate category. A new pad in an existing center should start with the center's conditions of approval and trip allocation.
06
The Market Place city line: the owner gives Chick-fil-A an Irvine address (13490 Jamboree Road) while In-N-Out (3020) and Taco Bell (3010 El Camino Real) have Tustin addresses. A pad there may be permitted under Tustin's code rather than Irvine's.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.