Olive Garden Italian Restaurants

Marilyn Hagerty, Granny Who Wrote Infamous Olive Garden Review, Is Coming Out With a Book!

Marilyn Hagerty, if you don't remember, is the 85-year-old Grand Forks Herald restaurant critic whose Olive Garden review went viral because of the snarky hipsters who pointed at it to show how unhip she was. Backlash against the snark quickly ensued and many came to her defense, including Anthony B ... More >>

Dave Reviews OC Yelp Reviews, Part 1

I have bad news for all of you power-tripping, I'm-a-real-food-critic-now Elite Yelpoids out there: your little tales of woe are totally and completely useless. All those complaints--when I do look at them I read them aloud in a neo-Valley Girl accent--don't actually mean a damn thing, because nobod ... More >>

Upping The Ante On Free: Maggiano's Offers BOGO *And* Free Pasta Day

The seasons may not want to cooperate yet, but when "free" rains down on us, it definitely pours. Yesterday we shared our frugal finds involving both Corner Bakery and Pei Wei. Today's installment moves us to the Little Italy of chains called Maggiano's. The only location within the county is in Cos ... More >>

Five Suggested Job Requirements for the New Orange County Register Restaurant Critic

Have you read the job posting for the Orange County Register's new restaurant critic?I'm actually surprised; they're calling for a critic who will delve into Little Saigon and Little Arabia (note to the editors over there: it hasn't been called Little Gaza in years), who is at home in high-end resta ... More >>

The Mein Event: OC's Best Noodles

Noodles, noodles everywhere, from pho to pad Thai and everything else

Mangi Con Amore Is a Fellini Fantasy Come True

[Hole In the Wall] This Laguna Niguel restaurant makes great Italian food in an office park

Anthony Bourdain To Collaborate With Olive Garden Reviewer

Bourdain. Bourdain. Bourdain. The Travel Channel host, ex-chef and author people seem to like to label a "bad boy" and "foul-mouthed" has been everywhere these past couple of days. He was on The Daily Show last week plugging the new season of No Reservations, but he's also been revealing a lot in in ... More >>

Marc Masterson Shows He Has the Marc of Promise With 'Elemeno Pea'

South Coast Repertory's new artistic director will fit in just fine

OC Restaurant Recommendations for American Express' Small Business Saturday

​Most of you are probably waiting anxiously for Black Friday deals; but me, I'm looking forward to this Saturday, which is the day American Express will credit $25 back to me if I patronize a small business and spend $25 or more with my American Express Card. To get the details, click here. You do ... More >>

Mormons: A Shallow Yet Helpful Guide to See If You Should Hate Them or Not

Forget Jersey Shore, it's All About Sebastian Maniscalco

​Some might say that Sebastian Maniscalco was given his break on the Wild West Comedy Show, but in reality, he's been in this game bringing the laughs for a while. From stand-up on George Lopez to corresponding for Jay Leno and a Comedy Central special, you could say Sebastian has staying power, s ... More >>

Tilted Kilt Offers Blarney Boobage

The Long Beach quasi-pub follows the Hooters model of booze, breasts and burgers

Chili's Allegedly Serves Alcoholic Mudslide Instead of Chocolate Shake to 4-Year-Old

It was first Applebee's, then Olive Garden, and now this. Chili's is the third restaurant in the last few weeks to be accused of serving an alcoholic drink to a child. This time it's in Chicago, and the drink was a Mudslide allegedly mistaken for chocolate shake.

2-Year-Old Gets Served Alcohol at Olive Garden

Last week's Jonathan Gold article notwithstanding, Olive Garden's got a more serious problem on its hands as news broke in Florida that the restaurant served a 2-year-old sangria instead of orange juice.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Food Critic Jonathan Gold Reviews...The Olive Garden

​Sometimes an April Fools prank can backfire on the prankster. It happened to Jonathan Gold, our esteemed colleague and Pulitzer Prize winning food critic at the LA Weekly. His planned joke on his longtime food photographer Anne Fishbein to meet him at Olive Garden didn't go exactly as planned. ... More >>

Food Profiling: Maw 'N Paw Kettlekorn

​With 29 flavors available, this ain't your Angels Stadium kettle corn--Johnny Kendall makes sure of that. His Maw 'N Paw Kettlekorn pops corn every day in its unassuming Laguna Hills shop, yet passers-by have no idea it's even there. "Folks who have been going to this plaza for years stop by aft ... More >>

The Tiny Kitchen Chronicles: Five Superfluous Tools (And What to Use Instead)

Flickr user stop_that​The Anaheim outpost of OC Weekly's test kitchen is a tiny place, an apartment-style galley in which it's hard to fit even two people. To say that storage is at a premium is quite an understatement; tools are only permitted if there is no other way to accomplish a task.Origina ... More >>

Cookbook Review: Cook This, Not That by Zinczenko and Goulding

​There are, it seems, two kinds of cookbooks in the world: One kind provides a thrilling sense of alchemy to cooking, opens new doors in the cook's mind, introduces new ingredients, and explores unknown techniques.The other kind makes promises of a different kind: enjoy the foods you love, but mor ... More >>

Not Lasagna and Not Cannelloni: Lasagna Rolls

Dave Lieberman​Cannelloni are Italian crepes wrapped around savory fillings such as meat purée or spiced cheese, then laid in a pan and baked with sauce; lasagna is a casserole built like stacked enchiladas, with layers of meat and cheese.Combine them, and you have lasagna rolls, David Zinczenko ... More >>

Five New Years' Resolutions for Orange County Diners

Flickr user tinfoilraccoon​New Year's Day is coming. In the interest of the gastronomic improvement of our fair readership area, I offer the following set of suggested New Years' resolutions for the diners of Orange County.

Capital Grille Has Big Meat for Big Money

South Coast Plaza's newest eatery will set you back a paycheck, but the steak will have you happy in the poorhouse

Ugo Allesina of Prego, Part Two

Kimberly Valenzuela​This week we are featuring Executive Chef and Partner Ugo Allesina of Prego Ristorante in north Irvine on the line. If you missed Part One of the interview, you can find it here. Stay tuned tomorrow for a recipe from Chef Ugo!

Pioneering Garage-Punks Pierced Arrows Target Detroit Bar

The Eddie Vedder-approved Fred and Toody Cole have finally become hip-in their 60s!

On the Line: Shewaye Zeleke of Tana Ethiopian

Dave Lieberman​That Tana Ethiopian Restaurant is on a fairly short list of places I visit frequently is due to a serendipitous trip to Portillo's in Buena Park a few years ago. I saw a sign and pulled a quick U-turn in the road, earning me the ire of a bus driver and the first of many happy dining ... More >>

Is There ANYTHING Salvageable from the Reg's Best of Orange County Food Winners?

I usually don't care for lolcats, but this one...​For 16 years, the Orange County Register's annual Best of Orange County has mystified county eaters with this simple question: are the paper's readers really that stupid and tasteless to continue calling the Olive Garden the best place in Orange Co ... More >>

Benihana--You Knew This--Sucks

The greatest shame of my life is that my siblings--raised on the stove of a Mexican mami--loves crappy food. The eldest son of the Arellano clan has covered food for the Weekly for more than six years, knows all the great joints in Orange County--but they prefer Papa John's. I urge them to visit Ruf ... More >>

No Matter the Runtime and Budget, Spike Lee's WWII Drama 'Miracle at St. Anna' Is an Epic Bore

At Michael's On Naples Ristorante, It's an Octopus'—Not Olive—Garden

The Media-O-Meter: Can a Balboa Bar save Orange Coast?

Maybe—or at least help steer OC’s 34-year-old glossy monthly magazine away from what had been a frothy, puff-piece-packed publication that featured interviews and profiles with former owner Ruth Ko’s friends, and B- (sometimes C)-grade celebrities adorning its covers who often had nothing wh ... More >>

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Caroline, Yes!

Raw Power

Despite a few missteps, don’t call the raw-food philosophy at 118 Degrees half-baked

Did You Take Your Pill?

Arnolds Buffet Restaurant: Still hot at 55!

'These Guys Are Still Alive'

Mommys Little Monster, making believe theyre Social Distortion

This Week in Local Chains

Best of OC

For Those About Duroque, We Salute You!

Show Us Your Papers

Did the Reg grope special-section advertisers?

L

Swap Meet Eats

A flea-market cuisine guide

Walk Like a Man

Frankie Valli has olive-oil charisma and spaghetti soul

Nice Dish!

100 things you should put in your mouth

Continental Drift

Brittas brings Europe a little closer

The Full Nelson

True Believers

Our encounter with authentic Sicilian

I Dined It My Way

Eat, drink and be Frankie!

Guide to Our Advertisers

Cool Thing

Opah adds life to Aliso Viejo

Guilty Pleasures

1819-1900

A Guide to Our Advertisers

Summer Eats

Part Two