Maine

No Jokes, Only Free Food: April 1 Deals

Free food comes in many forms, and waiting outside of a restaurant overnight is one of them. But instead of putting you through that, we found a couple of bargains to kickoff the new month. Call it our "Surf & Turf" combo. Our fun-loving brick-and-mortar duo at Slapfish want to give folks someth ... More >>

[UPDATE: Kid Arrested!] Pot Story of the Year: Kid Takes Pot Brownie to School!

*See bottom of this post for an update.Original Post, March 13, 8:27 a.m.: Sooner or later it had to happen: a kid gets his hands on a brownie, and not realizing it is laced with marijuana, he takes it to school and shares it with a bunch of his friends, all of whom become dizzy and sick to their st ... More >>

Wild Goose Tavern's Sausage Party

The new Costa Mesa eatery knows its wieners

Is John Eastman Hiding Homo-Haters?

Former presidential candidate Fred Karger wants the former Chapman University law professor to reveal who's donating money to his fight against gay marriage

Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival This Weekend

In 2009, The Guinness Book of World Records has The Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival listed as the Most Seafood Served at an Outdoor Event. If you've always wanted to go to a Guinness record holder for anything, this one's the one you need to go to this weekend. 

Lobsterfest To Benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation This Saturday At Newport Dunes

With the glut of lobsters driving down prices, it would probably be unwise to spend the exorbitant entry fees to go to one of the many upcoming lobster-fests. Better perhaps to clarify some butter at home, put out some newspapers out the picnic table, and then buy your crustaceans at 99 Ranch.But th ... More >>

On the Line: Colleen Johnson of 50 Forks, Part Two

Even in her spare time, Chef Colleen winds up incorporating food into her hobbies. Her experience spans decades of working with great chefs like Thomas Keller. She almost gets us nostalgic for cooking class. Almost.Read our interview with Colleen Johnson of 50 Forks, Part One. And now, on to Part Tw ... More >>

On the Line: Colleen Johnson of 50 Forks, Part One

As a student of hospitality management, I spent most of my interview with Colleen Johnson exchanging industry stories. It was like gossiping, except about chefs, meals, and teaching. She would've been the ideal adviser back in school, but she's spent the past four years coordinating the student-run ... More >>

On the Line: David Man of Palm Terrace and Lounge, Part One

When you've got a resort view like that from your dining room, life should be pretty mellow, right? Yet David Man became a tad nervous when I hit the record button. He had nothing to worry about, though. Once we started exchanging Bay Area stories about our favorite ramen in Burlingame, I knew he wa ... More >>

Belgian Classics

Total Wine

On the Line: Eric Souka of Capital Seafood, Part Two

Photo by Meranda Carter​We see a recurring seafood theme as our interview with Capital Seafood's Eric Souka continues. He also hints at future expansion possibilities. For more backstory on our subject, click here to view part one. Pay a visit tomorrow for a meaty change of pace.Hardest lesson you ... More >>

Original Long Beach Lobster Festival All Weekend

LB Lobster Festival website​ Another season, another Festivus (if it has a Wiki page, does it really exist?) for the rest of us. What is there to celebrate after Labor Day, yet before Oktoberfest? Lobster Fest!. . . at least, according to our friends in the LBC.This weekend-long devotion to the cl ... More >>

Bruxie: Lobster Waffles for Fourth of July

"Yo Dawg, I heard you like lobster so I put a lobster on your lobster roll..."​What's a more American dish than lobster and waffles? Actually, lots of things. But that's how the house of Belgian waffles in Old Towne Orange rolls on this Fourth of July. It's Bruxie's take on a lobster roll, only ... More >>

#82: Lobster Roll at Lobsta Truck

ProfessorSalt.comSummertime in Maine. But in So Cal.​Few foods better capture the flavor of the New England shore better than the lobster roll. It's simply steamed, chilled lobster meat in a butter-grilled New England-style split-top roll. Portable, chilled, light-yet-substantial, it's the perfect ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: Battle Lobster Roll

The Lobsta Truck's lobster roll with mayo​For a long time, Orange County was a wasteland where no lobster rolls dared come. We saw Guy Fieri shoving toasted split-top buns full of succulent sea-cucaracha meat into his pointy blond head, and some of us who spent summers in Atlantic Canada or New En ... More >>

Lobsta Truck's OC Debut TODAY!!

lobstatruck.com​Let's finish our trio of luxe lonchera updates with this: Michelle told you two weeks ago about the Lobsta Truck coming to Orange County. Starting today, they'll be dropping anchor in our local waters. Turn the page for the locations!

Almost, Maine

Hunger Artists Theatre

Food-By-State Map (Spoiler: We Get Grapes)

I Can Haz Cheezburger​How can a food blog offend an entire nation? By creating a food-by-state map.My Food Looks Funny, the "noms" section of I Can Haz Cheezburger, took it upon itself to select a food to represent each state (click for the enlarged image). Some picks were easy-peas ... More >>

Whole Foods Recalls Ginger Bread House For Possible Bacteria Contamination

Flickr User Andrew Kelsall​If you think it's safe to chow down on that stale gingerbread house you've been eyeing for the past month, you may want to just let it foreclose. On Christmas Eve, Whole Foods Market recalled the houses made by Rolf's Patisserie, a Chicago-area bakery and one of its sup ... More >>

John Dow, Maine Driver Involved in Car Crash That Killed DREAM Act Activist Tam Tran, Indicted for Her Death

​As supporters of the DREAM Act furiously work the phones to try and get the bill passed in the Senate this week, nearly all keep the memory of Tam Ngoc Tran near to them. The Santiago High and Santa Ana College graduate was perhaps the nation's most prominent Dreamer--but she was tragically kille ... More >>

Five Great Regional Burgers McDonald's Offers That They Should Offer Everywhere

Flickr user fugutabetai syashin​If you spent your youth with the McRib, you're just happier than a hog in slop right now with the re-launch of that sandwich at every US McDonald's franchise. I admit it: I liked them as kid, but I've since learned about real barbecue, and welcomed the news with a s ... More >>

The Maine's Jared Monaco: 'I Started Playing Guitar Because My Parents Never Let Me Get a Drum Set.'

Courtesy of Warner Brothers RecordsPhoenix-based band The Maine are no strangers to Anaheim, and have come a long way since their days playing at Chain Reaction. (They played at the Bamboozle festival in May at Angels Stadium as well.) The pop rock five-piece will play at th ... More >>

Local Spiny Lobster Season Opens Today!

Flickr user baxterclaus*Florida stunt lobster -- not actually Aliso Creek​ Shellfish lovers: the commercial season for spiny lobsters opens today! Recreational divers and sport fishermen got a head start, literally grabbing bugs by hand from our local waters since last Saturday.  Those of u ... More >>

Chiddy Bang Talk the Hip-Hop Talk

Can the teenage rap duo live up to it?

At the Farmers' Market: Blueberries

Ten years ago, the only blueberries consumers could purchase were trucked in from the East Coast; they were awful, lifeless, wooden facsimiles of the fragrant lovelies of the Northeast, sold at a premium to gullible shoppers willing to pay $5 or more for a half-pint of nothingness.Dave Lieberman​

Five Real Mexican Drinks for Cinco de Mayo

Let's just get this straight right away, OK?Yes, Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. It's a Mexican holiday the way Patriots' Day is an American holiday. Patriots' Day is only observed in two out of the 50 American states (Massachusetts and Maine, in case you were wondering); Cinco de Mayo is only o ... More >>

Special San Diego Edition

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Smells like more Know Nothing myths!

OC Activist Compiles Prop. 8 Trial Tweets

​Anyone who thought the trial in the federal lawsuit challenging California's ban on gay marriage would be a dry, legalistic affair has been proven wrong by accounts of the first two days inside the San Fransisco courtroom. It's a case about the constitution, but the testimony thus far has delved ... More >>

Angels and Airwaves, the Maine, Say Anything, Many More Added to Bamboozle California

​Tom DeLonge's much-loved side-project Angels and Airwaves (pictured) will join finally reunited OC band Something Corporate and AFI, which we blogged about here, at this year's Bamboozle, taking place March 27-28, Festival Grounds at Angel Stadium, Anaheim. Today's announcement also includes the ... More >>

On The Line: Craig Strong of Studio at The Montage

​Top Chef fans may already know that recent winner Michael Voltaggio now cooks at The Langham in Pasadena.  Well, Voltaggio's getting Craig Strong's sloppy seconds.  Strong was the Chef de Cuisine there -- earning both himself and the restaurant accolades from Michelin, Gourmet Magazine, ... More >>

Proposition 8 Is Keeping Same-Sex Couples From Marrying, But It Has United OC's Gay Community

King Harbor Seafood in GG Celebrates 10 Years

Dave Lieberman​King Harbor Seafood in Garden Grove is celebrating 10 years in business by offering 10 percent off the check at lunch or dinner, now through Nov. 30.Right now, the house special lobster--by far the most memorable dish on the menu--is $8.99 a pound (actually $8.09 a pound after disco ... More >>

French 75 in Laguna Beach Doing "Le Taco Tuesdays"

Photo Courtesy of French 75​Korean tacos are one thing. But French tacos? C'mon! Don't we have enough reasons to make fun of the French already? "Le Taco Tuesday": That's what the folks at Culinary Adventures' French 75 are dubbing their latest promotion. With this development, I think, we're ... More >>

The Seven Year Itch

Maverick Theater

TODAY: Warped Tour Kicks Off at Pomona Fairplex

Oh yes. For the third year in a row, the Vans Warped Tour is kicking off at the Pomona Fairplex (in, uh, Pomona). It's also the 15th anniversary of the Warped Tour! Hooray.Performing on this opening gig: Bad Religion, NOFX, Less Than Jake, TSOL, Thrice, the Maine, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Meg & ... More >>

Valentine's Menus for Just About EVERY Restaurant at South Coast Plaza

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I got an unsolicited e-mail from a PR person working for South Coast Plaza's restaurants. This time, there's finally some information I'd want to share with you: the special Valentine's menus for just about every eatery at SCP. So if you were thinking of one of SC ... More >>

On-Sale Saturday: Black Lips, Shelby Lynne, More

Those wacky Black Lips! They have a show coming up on April 15 at Detroit Bar, and now they added another one, at the Glass House on May 2! And other shows are also going on sale! Yay!

Monday Night Football at The Pelican Grill? Whaaa?

The Pelican Grill at the Pelican Hill Resort is the last place I would think of when it comes to Monday Night Football. After all, this is a valet-parking, ocean-views, uniformed-waiter, white-table-cloth kind of establishment, where the customers are the country-club types, not the average Joe Six ... More >>

To Do This Weekend 7/18 -7/20

BOYS LIKE GIRLS; GOOD CHARLOTTE; METRO STATION; THE MAINE, Friday 7:30 p.m. Don't forget your eyeliner The Grove of Anaheim 2200 E. Katella Ave. Anaheim CA 92806 714-712-2750 DIRTY SECRETS BURLESQUE, Friday 10 p.m. Dirty dancing The Pike Bar & Grill 1836 E. Fourth St. Long Beach CA 90802 562-437-44 ... More >>

Sage Francis' Death Dance Tour

What: The Death Dance Tour When: Saturday June 16 Where: The Glass House, Pomona Maybe this should be called the Scions of Anticon Tour (although Alias still records for the Oakland underground-hip-hop label). He and anticon alumni Buck 65 and Sage Francis are now seasoned vets of the stage and the ... More >>

Standard Operating Procedures

There are those who say that the Department of Homeland Security, which the Bush administration frankensteined into existence in 2002, is a dysfunctional government agency, but this morning's New York Times brings evidence that DHS is clearly following in the steps of such well established and widel ... More >>

New Film Reviews

Cape of Good Hope, The Family Stone, Finding Home, Neil N' Nikki

Ah So-So Sushi

Zipangu excels when youre important, pleases when youre not

Take a Vacation. Now. Here.

State of the Union

Vacation, time to get away

MTBE Lies I Told You

An apology by Will Swaim

Penis Dentatus

Dreamcatcher is for the boys

Diary of a Mad Coffeehouse

The year in soulful scribbles

Somewhere Off Highway 60 in Arizona

The Devils Are Here