Aliso Viejo

Gustavo's Latest "Orange County Line" for KCRW: On The Failing, Debt-Ridden 241 and 73 Toll Roads

Insane but true: I do everything possible to avoid the 73 and 241 toll roads. For the former, I'll go down PCH or the 405 if I ever have to get to Aliso Viejo, which is thankfully almost never; for the latter, a simple drive east on Oso Parkway or El Toro Road forever will do. Really: why would I wa ... More >>

Smashburger Opens Its First Two OC Restaurants

Five Guys, In-N-Out, meet Smashburger. I believe you already know The Habit. Smashburger has opened its second planned restaurant last week in Aliso Viejo after debuting one in Mission Viejo weeks before, on November 20th. The latter was the first outlet in Orange County for the Denver-based ... More >>

Orly Taitz U.S. Senate Campaign Posts Video with Nary a Word from the Candidate

Orly Taitz's U.S. Senate campaign has released a 4-minute video that is said by orlytaitzesq.com to have "improved sound."One wonders if that improvement is there being no sound of the dentist/lawyer/real-estate saleslady/Obama denier/Zsa Zsa Gabor impersonator's voice.Apparently, Marge at the Aliso ... More >>

Panini Cafe Now Open In Irvine

​Sneaking in under the radar, a non-pho establishment actually opened its doors in Irvine at the end of January. Part of a petite chain which includes locations in Aliso Viejo and Corona del Mar, Panini Cafe is just off Jamboree and 405 in the plaza known as Park Place.

Another Fatburger Closes

Edwin Goei​There used to be two Fatburgers in Irvine. Now, there are none. The Fatburger at Park Place, on Michelson and Jamboree, is finally closed following other Fatburgers in the area to oblivion. The company had long ago already filed for bankruptcy.

Native Foods' Fashion Island Branch Sets Opening Date

​Reader, tipster and friend JB says that Native Foods in Fashion Island is just a few mere weeks away from opening. The third OC location of the restaurant can be found in the mall's Island Terrace Court. He saw that their newsletter said early February would be when it will debut; but in checking ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Roving DUI Patrols Hit Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Woods Tonight

​The Orange County Sheriff's Department holds DUI roving patrols tonight in Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel and Laguna Woods.Deputies will target areas that have a high incidence of DUI-related arrests and collisions, according to a department release.

The Gromble

Detroit Bar

James Christopher Corr Could Get Life for Wild Carjacking with Toddler and Saint Bernard Aboard

​A Mission Viejo man who allegedly stole a SUV with a toddler strapped in a car seat out of an Aliso Viejo family's garage could get life in state prison based on the laundry list of charges against him. The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) was asking for $1 million bail today at th ... More >>

LA Times Pushes Back Community News Expansion into South County and Announces OC Arts Section

​The Los Angeles Times announced today that it will expand Times Community News (TCN) coverage into Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel and the Orange County arts community beginning Aug. 26.If part of that sounds like deja vu all over again, it is--with a twist. A June 30 memo from Times Media Group to ne ... More >>

[UPDATED with Second Victim, More Feared:] German Bravo DeJesus Held for Allegedly Fondling 6- and 8-Year-Old Girls

​UPDATE, JULY 12, 4:54 P.M.: Orange County sheriff's deputies arrested German Bravo DeJesus Friday night for allegedly fondling a 6-year-old girl in an Aliso Viejo park, but the charges brought at arraignment today added a second victim: an 8-year-old girl.And the Orange County District Attorn ... More >>

[UPDATED with Final Tallies:] Fourth of July Surprise! Stepped Up DUI Checkpoints and Patrols

​UPDATE, JULY 6, 10:38 A.M.: The Avoid the 38 DUI Task Force just released the final numbers from the holiday weekend past's three sobriety checkpoints and multiple DUI saturation patrols countywide.From 12:01 a.m. Friday through midnight Monday, officers representing 38 county law enforcement age ... More >>

Soka University of America Is a School On a Hill

The Aliso Viejo college was founded by a Buddhist sect that preaches peace—so why are so many former professors alleging the opposite?

Are You Checking Your Sunday Paper? There's Free Food Inside...

Friendly brekkie, or hidden agenda?​Who hasn't been within earshot of the conference room when a working lunch has let out? Promises of catered cookies, icy sodas, and an untouched deli sandwich draw you in like a tractor beam. Or how about when a peer brings in a yummy homemade delicacy, just b ... More >>

$73 Million Concert Hall Coming to South Orange County

RMA Photography​South Orange County is getting its own concert hall.Construction is complete on a $73 million performing-arts center at Soka University, a majestic college campus in Aliso Viejo. The space, anchored by a 1,034-seat auditorium, will be used for dance and orchestra productions, plays ... More >>

Where Is Dave Eating?

Dave Lieberman​Behold the torta. Bread with some heft, beans, milanesa de res, lettuce, tomatoes, panela . . .. . . but where's it from? The fact that it's reasonably authentic Mexican tells you at once that it's not from Aliso Viejo or Yorba Linda. One guess per comment, no Weeklings allowed, and ... More >>

Dave's New Year's Resolutions: OC Food Edition

​It's not fair to impose resolutions on OC diners when I myself have failings. Some of those failings will have to stand (I absolutely despise white chocolate, for example--if a bakery specializing in white chocolate ever opens, it will be down to Gustavo, Edwin or Shuji to review it), but some ar ... More >>

South County, Tell Us Where To Eat!

​Gentle readers, we are a large and diverse county. We have enclaves of ethnic wonder: Little Saigon and Santa Ana are just the start. The problem is that these places are, by and large, in the northern half of the county (and Irvine). As such, our coverage might be perceived to have a (slight) no ... More >>

Fundraiser for Amber Pangan

OC Chili's Restaurants

What's the Cost for Police Service in Your City?

​At the most recent meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Sandra Hutchens got the five supes to approve $77 million in annual police service contracts with 11 cities throughout the county.That amount represents a slight increase (primarily due to deputy benefits) over the last ... More >>

Haven Named "Best New Gastropub" By Draft Magazine

Courtesy of Haven Gastropub​Draft magazine, a trade publication aimed at professional beer geeks and the groupies who fling themselves at them, has named Orange's Haven Gastropub as one of the top three new gastropubs in the United States.

Mom Threatened With Child Endangerment for Letting Her Kids Play Outside Gated Home

Danger! Danger!​An Aliso Viejo mom claims law enforcement officers threatened to sic social services on her for endangering her children. Her crime? Allowing her oldest kids--ages 6, 7 and 9--to play just outside her town home, which is in a gated complex.

Eat Local, Recycle Your Food Waste Miles and Miles Away

​Not to be outdone by their North County counterparts, who recycle sewage into drinking water through the revolutionary Groundwater Replenishment System, South County communities are banding together to turn food waste into compost.While the regional pilot program sounds meritorious, one thing abo ... More >>

Crime Time: Alleged Rummy Mommy, Ex-Cop Robber, Sticky Fingers, Douches on (and Taking) Bikes and Really Bad Karaoke Singers

It's the Weekly's weekly police blotter--now with more alleged rummy mommies, ex-cop robbers, sticky fingers, douches on bikes and really bad karaoke singers.MONDAY, NOV. 23 Insert car here.​That Walled-In Feeling A man crashing his black Toyota Corolla into a wall at the Shell gas station at Lake ... More >>

Drivers Ridicule Toll Road Photo Contest

Photo by Steve OngAliso Viejo resident Steve Ong's winning shot.​An amateur photo contest aimed at promoting Orange County's quasi-private toll roads gave new meaning to drive-by shooting.Folks who left comments on the Transportation Corridor Agencies--or The Toll Roads--Facebook page had other de ... More >>

Aliso Viejo to Allow Table Showers (for One Particular Business)

Soon to be legal at one Aliso Viejo business. ​Massage parlor owners rejoice! The city of Aliso Viejo is in the process of changing local law so that you and other hands-on businesses in town can operate table showers, which are just what the name implies: tables where p ... More >>

Baby Cakes Moves from Aliso Viejo to Shops At Mission Viejo

​For a short while the cupcakery was operating at both locations, but now the Aliso Viejo store is closed, as a few potential customers found out on Saturday when they pitched up there. Still, if they're that loyal they won't mind the ten-minute drive to the new place...

Scrabble Tournament

Neighborhood Cup

Crime Time: A Weekly Round-Up of OC Police Calls

The "Clean-Cut Bandit": Coming to a bank near you?MONDAY, JUNE 1Shroomin' in Lagoonan: Laguna Beach Police arrested three people at a La Mirada Street property for alleged possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, heroin, Xanax, Levitra, Alprazolam and "numerous other unknown pills." Steven Christophe ... More >>

Wider Disneyland Rides for Wider Rider Asses?

David Koenig, the Aliso Viejo author of Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland, Mouse Under Glass: Secrets of Disney Animation & Theme Parks and More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland has an interesting MousePlanet post that features an unnamed source s ... More >>

In Defense of Aliso Viejo! And Screw Laguna Niguel?

On this day of rest, when few of you will bother to check out Navel Gazing, what better day to devote a blog post to the Stanton of South County, Aliso Viejo? I wasn't too kind to the collection of gated communities and beautiful, empty sidewalks in my Orange County: A Personal History, and I still ... More >>

Slain Deputy Faced Criminal Charges

Sources tell OC Weekly that the Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy found dead in a car parked in Aliso Viejo yesterday had been the subject of a sex crimes investigation in the District Attorney's office and may have opted to kill himself rather than face arrest. Susan Schroeder at the DA's ... More >>

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Thai Tamales

The Ticket Wizard

Parking tickets are now handled by a mysterious OC company that makes justice and the law go . . . poof

Grub Guide

This Week in Cities A to L

This Week in Local Chains

Turning Japanese

Anime, superheroes and the outsourcing of the American imagination

This Week In Small-City Dining

Frozen Assets

Checklist, Please!

Five summer school spots

Dont Fire Until You See the Whites In Their I30s

A

Diary of a mad county

Bounty Killer

Aliso Viejo

The homies call it AV

Night-Lite

Cool Thing

Opah adds life to Aliso Viejo

Beautiful Lake Wilson

One of four stops on a tour of South County toxic hot spots

It Takes a Village Idiot