Eats >>

• Best Coffee (1 Comment)
  Kéan Coffee
  The only downside to Kéan Coffee is that it's not a countywide or nationwide chain like Diedrich Coffee or Starbucks, which is a shame because unless you live in Newport Beach or Costa Mesa, you're probably going to settle for a more generic cup rather than battle the traffic on... More >>
• Best French Toast
  Starling Diner
  Eeeeevery now and then, it's okayto treat yourself to some nostalgically wonderful, sugary confection of a breakfast food. Especially if it's the Broiled San Francisco Stuffed Toast from the ever-adorable Starling Diner. The place is decorated with all sorts of precious tchotchkes and... More >>
• Best Croissant
  Le Croissant Dore
  When you're looking for a good croissant in Orange County, go to Vietnam. A mix of Parisian and Vietnamese tastes makes the meaty croissants at Le Croissant Dore in Westminster's Little Saigon something of a cross between a hearty Chilean empanada and a flaky Turkish baklava. In addition... More >>
• Best Bagels
  Blue Mountain Bagels
  Who doesn't love a good bagel in the morning. And Blue Mountain Bagels knows how to bake a killer bread circle. Try their cranberry bagel. Cut in half and toasted, then topped with cream cheese, tomato slices and lemon pepper, it's a bagel-lover's dream. They also make some killer... More >>
• Best Bakery
  JJ Bakery
  Here's a bakery that does it all and does it well. The petite cakes are topped with fresh fruit or layered with ganache; neither too sweet nor too rich. The fried bread is stuffed with breaded pork cutlets, and the white bread loafs have their crusts already removed. Airy buns are glazed to a... More >>
• Best Boba Tea
  TenRen's Tea
  No doubt you've heard the array of monikers (tapioca ball, pearl tea, black pearls, boba, bubble, milk tea) that make ordering that milky, pastel-colored cold drink with a fat straw and dark marbles on the bottom of the cup a little tricky. The craze was born in Taiwan about 25 years ago,... More >>
• Best Non-Chain Chai
  Tandoor Cuisine of India
  Forget the watered-down Starbucks bastardizations of chai. Or the powdered Trader Joe's, for that matter. If you're going to do chai tea, do it good and proper. Tandoor Cuisine of India has the right idea with their masala chai, or "spiced tea," boiled to perfection with milk,... More >>
• Best Snacks That Look Like Your Grandmother
  BeBe Kho Bo Snacks & Candies
  Isn't it ironic how the folks who eat prunes the most tend to look just a little bit like them? Perhaps it's for that reason that some stores have taken to calling the withered snacks "dried plums." Whether you're a youngster who actually enjoys such things, or an oldster... More >>
• Best Baguettes
  Zon Baguettes
  This place serves a variety of French-influenced Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and noodle specialties, but it makes our list because here's where you can find the freshest, biggest, saltiest and Frenchiest baguettes in Orange County. A large loaf will put you back just $1.75. Just make sure you... More >>
• Best Crepes
  Crepes del Mar at Felix Continental Café
  This Orange Circle staple serves up a delicately chewy confection stuffed with crabmeat and drowning in a slightly spicy Cajun broth that's crave-inducing. (The broth also adds zing to the dish's accompanying Spanish rice.) More >>
• Best Snails
  Food Court at Asian Garden Mall
  Orange County isn't immune to the frozen-yogurt craze sparked by LA's Pinkberry. And this is even before Pinkberry has had a chance to open a single outlet here. With lines akin to geeky movie premieres, Yogurtland is fast becoming Orange County's own fro-yo phenom. There is the original store... More >>
• Best French Fries
  Houston's
  Fries these addictive should not just belong in a restaurant like Houston's. They should be sold on every street corner and for pennies, not as a side to a piece of steak that will cost significantly more. But we suppose it just provides an excuse to eat the steak. Houston's fries are of the... More >>
• Best Chicken Wings
  Wingnuts
  You can't really compete with the West Coast's first restaurant to specialize in chicken wings, one that offers 30 different sauces ranging from roasted garlic parmesan to honey mango habanero. Of course, if the only flavor you want on your wings is "hot," they can do that too—the Double Dog... More >>
• Best Pizza
  Pascale's Pizza
  Someday we'll get burned out on pizza, we're sure. It will probably be on the same day we get tired of fresh ingredients; a thin, smoky crust; a sense of authenticity; and thick, stretchy cheese that bends from here to the shores of the Mediterranean. On that day, we will stop going to... More >>
• Best Halal Pizza
  Best Halal Pizza
  Beef pepperoni. Turkey bacon. Turkey ham. Pizza never tasted so good for OC's many Muslim residents who usually have to defer to veggie pieces when ordering their slices. But San Giovanni's offers pizzas with halal-certified meat (no pork; beef and poultry slaughtered and blessed by a Muslim),... More >>
• Best Place to Drink Sake By Yourself or With Friends (If You Have Any)
  Kappo Honda
  It may sound more like a car dealership than a killer place to down a glass of sake, but don't hesitate to step in—you won't be sorry. Plopping yourself onto a chair at the counter is a capital idea if you're on your own. From there, you'll get a view of the snazzy Japanese grill master and his... More >>
• Best Cheap Drinks at Fashion Island
  Red Robin
  You don't often hear "cheap" and "Fashion Island" together. There are certainly plenty of places to drink, from the upscale Daily Grill to the seaside view of the bar in the Cheesecake Factory. And if you're a guy, there are also plenty of reasons to drink—chances are you're only there to humor... More >>
• Best Place to Get Advice About Wine
  Symposium Wine Bar
  Wine bars are making a big showing in this year's Best of OC, and there's a reason for that: It's where adults go to have a few drinks, where the floors aren't wet with beer and . . . something wet, and where a jukebox isn't blasting the immortal hits of Journey, Boston or Aerosmith. At the... More >>
• Best Ice Cream
  Strickland's
  Strickland's is the lone California outpost of an Ohio franchise. Their claim to fame: soft-serve "frozen custard" sold within minutes of churning from steel contraptions that look like they came out of a '50s sci-fi flick. The ice cream is silken, smoother than Haagen Dazs before it hardens.... More >>
• Best Pie
  Lemon Meringue at Bonert's Slice of Pie
  Driving up to Bonert's Slice of Pie's outlet store, sandwiched between factories in Santa Ana, we were skeptical. The place looked too industrial to house the best pie in town. But we were gloriously, fantabulously wrong. Stepping into the little pie shop at the side of the hulking structure, we... More >>
• Best Cheap Surprise
  Kinder Surprise Egg
  For $2.25, you can have some of the best chocolate on the market—and a wacky German toy to tinker with while you stuff it down your trap. That's the beauty of Ferrero's Kinder Surprise Egg, available by the piece or dozen at Huntington Beach's Euro Market, Bakery & Deli. Beneath the crinkly... More >>
• Best Chocolate Shop (2 Comments)
  Bodega Chocolates
  The now-famous home of the chocolate "Virgin of Guadalupe" also happens to make and sell damn good chocolate. Headquartered in Fountain Valley, the chocolatier sells dark, creamy confections that the truest connoisseur would appreciate. More >>
• Best Gelato
  Gelato Paradiso
  You can get ice cream anywhere. But gelato? No, you have to look for gelato. Why? Well, anyone with a freezer and a scoop can sell ice cream. Gelato, on the other hand, has to be made fresh on site. Gelato Paradiso is the best of those places, where it's presented in rippled heaps and in more... More >>
• Best Birthday Cake
  Marble Cake at French's Cupcake Bakery
  French's marble cake, covered in frosting and laden with twists of vanilla and chocolate sponge cake, is childhood in a box. Even if it's not your birthday today, it'll sure feel like it as you dig into those choco-vanilla (with a touch of almond) depths, watching co-workers dig plastic forks... More >>