Michoacan

Diatribe with Dave: Achiote?! Gesundheit!!, Or: Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen's Ass-Kicking Achiote Sauce

Every second and fourth Wednesday night of the month, legendary bartender/chef/restaurant insider Dave Mau hosts Dinner with Dave at Memphis at the Santora, where he treats drinkers to a free meal and live music as the evening progresses. To remind ustedes of this great night, Dave treats us eve ... More >>

Restaurant Mary: Proud Maria

[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana favorite makes homestyle Mexican food for abuelitas and families

Where to Buy Tamales in Orange County This Christmas, 2012 Edition!

This is hilarious. Every year around this time, I get asked where to buy the best tamales in Orange County. Really, the answers rarely change. Below is the article on the subject I did last year, which itself is mostly a retread of a story I did back in 2007. Other plugs I'll give right now are for ... More >>

No. 9: Farmers Market Feast at Anais

Everyone talks about eating more simply, more healthfully. Everyone talks about going to the farmers market and eating more fruits and vegetables. Then they go to restaurants and get fried meat, fried potatoes, fried fried fried, and fruit only in syrup mode.Gross.It's different on Sunday evenings, ... More >>

No. 10: Tortilla de Patatas At Ole Spain Delishop

We love our breakfast morning, noon and night. Hot meals consisting of eggs and potatoes are always welcome, so when we were introduced to one dish in particular, it was love at first bite.Noticed by Niyaz back at number 30, we were pleased by Ole Spain's cuisine. Their tapas and bocatas seem unassu ... More >>

No. 18: Meyer Lemon And Honey Duck Wings From St. Roy Chef's Pub At VINE

Wings are easy to prepare, but difficult to make memorable. I mean, how much ghost chili can one douse before there are no more stupid daring appetites left to burn? An appetizer with its own handle is coveted--even more so since it already comes sauced! Unless they are true wings, you'll likely fin ... More >>

No. 22: Fried Bologna Slider At The Burnt Truck

With everyone else going back to school, we're reminded of that cliquish time of day known as lunch hour. Deli combos, vending machines and the occasional candy gram were standard diet. By college, we were SO over cold cuts and mayo. Anything that resembled a sandwich was avoided. We had all but ban ... More >>

No. 26: Suckling Pig Dinner at Haven Gastropub

Culinarily-speaking, there are few things that make you feel as caveman/badass as digging into a whole animal. But there just aren't many places in OC going whole hog in the kitchen. One local place that does is Haven Gastropub, which, with their suckling pig dinners provide quite the feast, fi ... More >>

Notes Saying "Go Back to Baja Wetbacks" Placed on Cars of Latinos in Belmont Shore

Long Beach is a great town, a town that likes to pride itself on its diversity, unlike us Neanderthals over in Orange County. Nevertheless, it's a place that boils with racial tension from time to time, as the city has turned from Iowa-on-the-Beach to one of the most diverse towns in the country.&nb ... More >>

No. 29: Calamari at Three Seventy Common

In my circle of friends, calamari for the table is a must. Because of this little tradition, I've seen my way around more than a few plates of crunchy squid bits.It's fairly standard from place to place; you can almost always assume you've ordered a pile of fried seafood with tartar and cocktail sau ... More >>

No. 32: Mac 'n' Cheese at Chapter One: The Modern Local

Ladies and germs: it's okay to eat at Chapter One: The Modern Local again. Us Forkers had an unofficial ban against the place because one of its former partners trashed Mexican SanTana during a city council meeting last year. A terrible disappointment, because we did love Chapter One--Edwin gave it ... More >>

No. 42: Meyer Lemon Curd at Irvine's Lucca Cafe

It was May, sometime during Meyer lemon season, when we happened by for dinner at Irvine's Lucca Cafe. Chef Cathy Pavlos had made a lemon curd dessert served in a glass Ball jar to celebrate the delicately tart fruit's ephemeral appearance.

No. 43: Cola Braised Pork at Haven Gastropub

It might be fair to say that the chefs at Haven Gastropub have a hard-on for pork. Witness Haven's roasted whole-hog parties. Witness their participation in last weekend's Pig Out 1.0. Witness also their Cola-Braised Pork with Smoked Creamed Sweet Corn.

No. 45: Any Sandwich from Paninoteca Maggio

We are now more than halfway through our march toward our favorite dishes in Orange County. It's run the gamut from Japanese to Mexican, from American comfort food to post-Ramadan fast food. When we get to the end, you'll know it's time to go pick up your free copy of this year's Best Of issue i ... More >>

No. 46: Any Vegetable Platter at Tana Ethiopian

We are now more than halfway through our march toward our favorite dishes in Orange County. It's run the gamut from Japanese to Mexican, from American comfort food to post-Ramadan fast food. When we get to the end, you'll know it's time to go pick up your free copy of this year's Best Of issue i ... More >>

Potzol den Cano Has Querétaro Power

[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana restaurant is the first outpost of a Mexican chain devoted to pozole—but there's much more

Why Are Mexicans Stealing Tubas All of a Sudden?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And Will Mexicans ever see Chicanos as equals?

Where to Buy Tamales in Orange County this Christmas

​Because nothing exists on the Internet before three days ago, I'm reprinting a 2009 article I did on the best tamales in Orange County for the holidays--and I'm also ripping off a 2007 article I did on the same subject. I will also note that Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen and Taco María make great high ... More >>

Taco Bell Crime of the Week: Drunken Women Calls Police Because Restaurant Ran Out of Beef!

​Out of all the reasons to call the cops to get to a Taco Bell, I'm sure none would infuriate them more that a drunken woman calling about the lack of beef at a restaurant. Really, does this story need any other intro? She's a candidate for this year's Darwin Awards, whenever they may be held.

Metales M5

Carpenter Center

Tacos y Carnitas Sahuayo Offer Nose-to-Tail Tacos

[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana taqueria seems normal—but go with the naughty bits

Night at the Museum

Cal State Fullerton

Cinépolis of Mexico Brings the Luxury and Low-End Jobs to Hoity-Toity OC ZIP Codes for a Change

See, the Spanish juxtaposed with Captain America ... oh, never mind.​Mexicans have taken over your menial jobs, your shitty apartments and your marijuana-delivery options, America.Prepare to have our amigos south of the border take over your movie theaters next.Like an endless wave of, oh, whateve ... More >>

El Borrego Sagrado Heralds Santa Ana's Hidalgo Wave

[Hole In the Wall] Mixiote, tlacoyos and tender barbacoa are the highlights at this regional gem

'Cultural Treasures of Mexico'

Cal State Fullerton

Another Great Santa Ana Restaurant Suffers a Murder

At least when the Mafia was around, they murdered with class, according to Hollywood​Sigh...we here at SaFII know, love, extol the beauty of SanTana, the county's dynamic seat, fight the wrong perceptions of many Orange Countians that it's a cesspool, a place dangerous to visit even during the day ... More >>

OC Cannabis University Now Offers Classes En Español

​Time was, all the good weed came from Mexico. After all, that's where it'd been grown for who knows how long, up in the hills of Sinaloa, Michoacan and Oaxaca. Now, the good stuff is grown north of the border, and with the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes now 15 years in the making, ... More >>

This Week in Food: Sriracha (Again), Luxe Lonchera Disasters, and High-End Churros

Flickr user Orin Zebest​So much this week, and so much more to come after the jump!

UNESCO Names Traditional Mexican Food a World Cultural Treasure, Or: Michoacán Cuisine Finally Gets its Due

Flickr user rvacapintoAn uchepo​Much is being made of the recent report that UNESCO has deemed "traditional Mexican cuisine"--whatever the hell that means--as an intangible cultural heritage worthy of saving. But a close reading of the documents prepared for its nomination shows that most of the a ... More >>

¡Ask a Comida Critic!: How 'Bout Menudo?

​Just like the pregunta says:Where can I get great menudo?Full disclosure: I'm a pozole man, and birria second. Menudo? It's good, but not a dish I usually eat--birria is better to soak up booze, and pozole is better tasting.But you didn't ask about pozole or birria, so let's get to the menudo.

The Goat That Stares at Men

[Hole in the Wall] The La Cascada truck in Santa Ana offers birria at its best

Three Perspectives on the Closing of Pupusódromo in Santa Ana

BAD: There aren't enough Salvadoran restaurants in Orange County, and that one of the few and longest-standing has closed down means Salvis are probably leaving their traditional OC homeland of SanTana for greener, more assimilated pastures. Pupusódromo didn't serve the best pupusas, but did serve ... More >>

Five Great OC Places to Buy Tamales for Christmas

Not a local brand, but who could possibly have a problem with a rockin' tamale?​Almost three years ago, I wrote up this round-up of the county's best places to get tamales. Rivera's is unfortunately closed, and I still don't understand why Central and South Americans prepare tamales (with the exce ... More >>

Feds Finally Lighten Up on Those Who Light Up

Flickr user theskywatcher​In a move that will likely increase President Obama's favorable rating even here in conservative Orange County, Attorney General Eric Holder ordered federal drug agents to stop prosecuting cases involving medical marijuana users and providers who obey state laws legalizin ... More >>

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Special Wedding Edition

WEB EXCLUSIVE!

[Hole in the Wall] Feel the Burn at El Fogon in Santa Ana

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Missing Michoacan

[Hole in the Wall] El Chile Picante Goes Easy on the Cheesy

Gustavo's Top Five Hole-in-the-Walls of 2008

I tend to stay away from lists 'cause they're so easy to spit out, but guess what? With crazy deadlines this week, a cover story to turn in ASAP, and the fact that most of ustedes are probably too drunk to get up and read, you get lists for the next three days from me! Here's the first one: my top f ... More >>

Taco Truck Politics

Not everyone that matters in Orange County can vote, of course. I ran into Chepe while scarfing down overpriced tacos at a taco truck outside China-Mex Super Buffet in SanTana. He came to this country illegally in 1987 as a scared 20-year-old from Michoacán, promptly knocked up some chick, and spen ... More >>

[This Hole-In-the-Wall Life] Pozole Paradise

Breaking the rules at Las Brisas de Apatzingan

!Ask a Mexican!

This Week in Places

Best of OC 2004: Part 2

Ice Dreams

Chilling away the summer, Mexico-style

Taco & Meat

A Match Ordained in Heaven

Cinco de Yummo

Five Mexican Mexican restaurants to fiesta at during Cinco de Mayo

Swap Meet Eats

A flea-market cuisine guide

Taco Towns

Community through comestibles

Order Up!