Subject: Lake Forest

• Gears for Fears

  June 5, 2008

• Monday's Headlines

  Mr. Irrelevant arrives: A week of partying has begun at Newport Beach to honor Ramzee Robinson, the 255th player chosen in the NFL draft. No license, new ride: A 16-year-old Santa Ana teen's perfect attendance at school snagged him a new car. Now, if only he could drive it. Temporarily derailed: An Anaheim model train shop forced to close to make way for a real train is now back on track. Today in court: Kiley Ryan Bowers, a Texan who pleaded guilty to charges of interstate travel to have sex w

  June 18, 2007

• Wednesday's Headlines

  Dismantled Pride: The Pride of Newport, a replica riverboat that's been a local landmark for 43 years, has been sentenced to death by dismantlement — which started yesterday. Back from the border: A "career criminal" deported around a month ago is back and already stirring things up — allegedly dropping his pants before a woman in Lake Forest and peeking through a window to watch a 12-year-old boy emerge from the shower. Up, up and away: The 75-foot-diameter helium balloon that will hover

  June 27, 2007

• Wednesday's Headlines. No Surprises: California Adventure Sucks

  Disney plans Extreme Makeover: California Adventure sucks, so Disney will be pouring $1.1 billion into the park to make it more like Disneyland. That's more than it took to build the park six years ago. The Times couldn't find any of the Mouse's people to go on the record, but notes that Chief Executive Bob Iger will be holding a news conference today to provide details. Other coverage: Register, LA Observed. Teen hacker sics SWAT team on Lake Forest fam: Randall Ellis, a 19-year-old from Washi

  October 17, 2007

• Great Persian Food at House of Kabob in Lake Forest

  To unearth the biggest diamonds you have to dig deep. To swim in the most secluded beaches you have to get on a plane. And to find one of the best Persian restaurants in Orange County, you have to drive to Lake Forest. That's right. Lake Forest -- the bedroom community that's just a blip in the radar of most OC dwellers, existing only as a set of exits on the 5 South that signal you've missed the Irvine Spectrum off-ramp and it's time to turn around. But for me, Lake Forest is home to a few

  June 8, 2008

• What You Missed Over The Weekend Part XXIV

  The big news of the weekend was the OC Weekly's two wins at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards in Philadelphia. Gustavo Arellano took home the award for Best Column with "Ask A Mexican" while R. Scott Moxley bagged second place in the prestigious public service category for his coverage of the indictment of Sheriff Mike Carona. The Ink and Iron Festival in Long Beach called out to Andrew Youssef who reviewed the Black Angel's performance and chatted up some of the tatted up ladi

  June 9, 2008

• LowBallVideoChatter: Ryan Bingham

  New alt-country at its finest? Howzabout New Mexico singer/songwriter (and former bull rider) Ryan Bingham and his band, the Dead Horses, playing this Saturday night at the fabulous Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest? Dude's been on Leno and Conan, and got a nice, long profile in March from the LA Times (seems he spends a lot of time recording at the Compound in Long Beach, where LBC band Shave usually cut all their music). Really, if you need a damn good reason to escape the Turkey Day Weekend relativ

  November 26, 2008

• LowBallVideoChatter: Deccatree, "Wake Up"

  Deccatree, one our very finest local bands, are playing a show tonight at the Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest. Really, you shouldn't even have to think about this -- just go, and thank me on Monday. Here they are performing "Wake Up" at what I believe are this soon-to-be-past year's OC Music Awards.

  December 5, 2008

• Gustavo's Top Five Drinks of 2008

  Hint to restaurants: you'll get in my better graces if you offer great, non-alcoholic drinks. Beverages rank high on my palate, and I'll never forget the banana soda offered by a long-gone Honduran restaurant. Here, then, were my favorite drinks of the year.1. Maker's Mark, neat, at Memphis at the Santora. Yes, you can get Maker's near everywhere, since the cool kids want to play hillbilly nowadays (but do they know the joys of getting blotto in high school on Jim Beam while cranking "Rocky Top"

  December 31, 2008

• Boneheads To Open New Restaurant At Irvine Spectrum

  Like anyone who lives in South Orange County, I've been going to Irvine Spectrum like a lemming since it first opened in 1995.  I've got my reasons: The theaters are good for when you want opening night rowdiness and enthusiasm, even if the movie ends up sucking.  But Irvine Spectrum food? That's a different matter entirely. To put it kindly, I usually ate before I came. But much to my surprise, Irvine Spectrum's restaurant selection seems to actually be improving lately.  Fish Market,

  March 17, 2009

• Anaheim Mimi's Cafe Giving Out Free Gift Cards On Tuesday, March 31st

  Okay, you know the drill now.  Say it with me.  "Another new Mimi's Cafe, another gift card giveaway". Seriously, I've lost count on how many there have been. This time, just like the last one in Lake Forest, they'll be giving out $3,000 worth of gift cards ranging from $25 to $100 to first 75 guests who are 18-years-old or older on Tuesday, March 31st. Ribbon cutting will happen at 9 a.m. The gift cards will be handed out at about 9:15 a.m. But here's a little something to laugh

  March 27, 2009

• OC Restaurant Closures During March

  A list of places that closed in March. Lake Forest seems particularly badly hit.Islands, Laguna Hills Black Angus, Tustin and Lake Forest. The parent company filed for bankruptcy in January, although reps currently aren't forthcoming on whether other locations are on the danger list.Izakaya Zero, Huntington BeachThai Spice, Lake ForestCherry Berry, Lake Forest Wendy's, Foothill RanchSavannah, Costa Mesa (last service is dinner on March 31)If you know of any others, please chime in below. Th

  March 27, 2009

• [Sound Guy] Recent OC Transplant Gives an Outsider's Perspective on Our Live Music Venues

  January 1, 2009

• Venus Infers

  December 4, 2008

• [Food Issue 2008] For Our Recessionary Times, 54 Orange County Meal Deals Between 99 Cents and $15

  August 7, 2008

• [This Hole-In-the-Wall Life] A Rose by Any Other Drink at Cafe Matinee

  May 29, 2008

• Gringo Holidays

  May 1, 2008

• [This Hole-in-the-Wall Life] Chinese Three-Way at Formosa Chinese Restaurant in Lake Forest

  April 24, 2008

• Boneheads in Lake Forest May Be a Chain, But It's a Good One

  March 20, 2008

• Grub Guide

  August 2, 2007

• Grub Guide

  July 6, 2006

• Grub Guide

  December 7, 2006

• Grub Guide

  October 26, 2006

• Grub Guide

  August 10, 2006

• Grub Guide

  May 4, 2006

• Locals Only

  The Soft Hands

  April 6, 2006

• Hey, You!

  Improbable Cause

  December 22, 2005

• This Hole-in-the-wall Life

  October 27, 2005

• Lake Forest

  October 20, 2005

• VCA Arroyo Animal Hospital

  July 14, 2005

• GET OUT!

  Shnockered!

  May 26, 2005

• The 80s Are Way Back

  Jungle-green-is-the-new-orange back

  November 25, 2004

• Smoking in the Boys Room

  Can a girl get a hook-up?

  May 13, 2004

• Another Great Band Bites It

  April 15, 2004

• Who Stole Christmas?

  Grinch and bear it

  December 18, 2003

• E

  October 24, 2002

• L

  October 24, 2002

• Shoestring Financing

  April 25, 2002

• These Lips Arent Sealed

  March 7, 2002

• Lake Forest

  September 27, 2001

• Extreme Holiday Gift Guide

  December 16, 1999

• Utah-Based Chain "Cafe Rio" To Open in Lake Forest

  Cafe RioAn observation: Lake Forest seems like it's becoming prime proving grounds for out-of-state chains. Don't quote me on that. I really only have one other data point to support my argument: Boneheads, which is based in Georgia.Now, there's Cafe Rio, which reports that it has just signed a ten-year lease at The Shops in Lake Forest.  It's address will be 24312 Rockfield Boulevard.  The Mexican eatery will, coincidentally, be right across the street from Boneheads.  An

  May 14, 2009

• [Hole in the Wall] Chon Qing Mei Wei Heats Things Up

  July 16, 2009

• The Living Suns

  July 23, 2009

• Parents Blog, Email, Twitter, Telephone and Rally to Save Lake Forest Preschool

  ​Parents who have mounted a blog/Twitter/old-timey-telephone campaign to save a Lake Forest preschool from closing say their efforts are working. To prove this, they have posted letters from board members who say they are reconsidering plans to shutter the nationally accredited Lakeview Learning Center after a 15-year run. Parents learned in a letter their children brought home Wednesday that the preschool is planning to close its doors Aug. 28 due to financial reasons. A refund for the parent

  August 14, 2009

• Showgazing: The Delta Mirror at the Gypsy Lounge

  ​Last night the Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest hosted Locals Only veterans the Steelwells, the New Limb and We Are the Pilots, who were, of course, reliably solid. But the real discovery, to both the audience and the other bands themselves, were trio The Delta Mirror, who played third on the bill.

  August 27, 2009

• Crime Time: Beer Bandits, Blood Drippers, Ripped-Off Stripper Drivers, Bowling Alley Knife Fights, Men With No Pants Roaming San Clemente

  It's the Weekly's weekly round-up of local police calls--now with more beer bandits, wild chases, ripped-off stripper drivers, bowling alley knife fights and men without pants.TUESDAY, SEPT. 8Strippers' Backup Needs Backup A man who told police he was hired to be a driver for strippers met with another driver who pulled out a knife and took the first driver's wallet containing cash around 10:30 p.m. in the 7900 block of Edinger Avenue in Huntington Beach. The knifeman then drove off in an older

  September 15, 2009

• [Hole in the Wall] Beautiful Burgers at Lake Forest's Burger Town USA

  October 8, 2009

• Updated: DUI Crackdown In OC's Three Biggest Party Towns Tonight

  ​Watch out, sinning citizens of OC's sinningest towns. The OC Sheriff's Department will be on the streets tonight looking for drunk drivers as part of a federal anti-DUI program that targets "areas that have a high incidence of DUI related arrests and collisions."So, naturally, they're headed for the county's three biggest party zones: Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Magarita.That's right. Those of you drinking Patron with your pies at Cocos off Crown Valley, beware. Think twice be

  October 16, 2009

• Cafe Rio in Lake Forest Not Open Yet...But There's a Sign

  Edwin Goei​ Among all the posts that I've written here this year, none have gotten more comments and curiosity than the one where I announced that the Utah-based chain Cafe Rio was opening its first California outlet in Lake Forest. Nevermind that there's already excellent Mexican all over our fine county -- people seem to want this place to open, and to open quick.

  November 2, 2009