You may want to check out Taquiero Taco Patio in Irvine. It's not quite as cheap as a taco truck but the tacos have plenty of meat and they have some rare choices like cochinita pibil (spicy roasted pork).
If you don’t want to go too far from UCI, taquerio taco patio and puestos los olivos are pretty good. For more authentic mexican food gotta go to Santa Ana/Costa Mesa.
There are so many good Asian places in Irvine, it would be hard to go wrong. But I have some recommendations that are a little different:
• Brewery: Hangar 24 Brewery. It's a little weird, because it's in an office park and you have to go through a gate to get to the parking lot (don't worry, the…
I think Taquiero in campus plaza is pretty tasty. Expensive but it scratches the itch if I don’t have time to drive out. Their salsa macha is super good