Subject: Restaurants and Food Services

• Karaoke: Cruel and Unusual

  As home to the country's largest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans, any story about Vietnam is liable to generate strong opinions in OC. But regardless of how one feels about the current government of Vietnam, I think we can all agree that a story in today's Long Beach Press-Telegram shows that, at least in this case, the government has a shockingly poor understanding of human nature: "Vietnam Bans Alcohol in Karaoke Bars". According to the Associated Press, "Karaoke bars in Vietnam will no

  February 17, 2006

• Crazier than Crazy Bread

  As soon as I read this story last Saturday about Pizza Patrón, a Dallas-based pizza chain that primarily caters to Latino communities, accepting pesos as payment, I wondered how long it would be before I read a story about the company getting death threats.  Answer:  six days. The Associated Press reports: The death threats and hate mail poured in almost as soon as the pizza chain's new promotion rolled out: accepting Mexican pesos as well as U.S. currency as payment. "This is

  January 12, 2007

• Drinkin', drivin'

  As you can see in GO! to this blarney-stone encrusted timepiece's right, the Fenians are in town to provide the soundtrack to your St. Paddy's Day overindulgences. If that's too loud or too sold out or too bar-fight-leading-to-parole-violation worthy for you, you can see how much tolerance you have for green beer at Silky Sullivan's in Fountain Valley, the Harp or Skosh Monahan's in Costa Mesa, Muldoon's or Malarkey's in Newport Beach or any Insert-City-Name-Here Brewing Company near you. The ea

  March 17, 2006

• Steal a Base, Steal a Taco?

  Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. announced this morning that it will give a free taco to "everyone in America" if any player steals a base during the 2007 Major League Baseball World Series, which--as usual--won't include the Dodgers. The item at stake is the crunchy beef taco valued at 77 cents. Here's the particulars: If a base is stolen in games one or two, the free tacos will be available on Tuesday, Oct. 30. If a base is stolen in games three through seven, the tacos will be available on Tues

  October 22, 2007

• Pesos-Loving Pizza Chain Invades Santa Ana

  Remember Pizza Patrón? Only if you're a Know Nothing. Last year, the Dallas-based pizza chain infuriated conservatives after announcing it would accept pesos in lieu of dollars at their locations. Lost in the debate was whether their pies were any bueno. We'll find out soon enough. Across the street from Weekly world headquarters rises a new, faux-brick building. One of the businesses is Pizza Patrón's first Orange County outpost and just their fourth California location. Will Pizza Patrón d

  December 4, 2007

• Anaheim GardenWalk's Garden Party Music Series

  Looking for an excuse to finally check out the new Anaheim GardenWalk? Their free and outdoor Garden Party Music Series starts tomorrow, Saturday, September 6th and will continue every Saturday until the 27th. Click HERE for the schedule and more details on the acts. Even if you've seen their slate of restaurants before -- Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., California Pizza Kitchen, Cheesecake Factory, McCormick & Schmicks Grille, P.F. Chang's and Roy's Restaurant Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine -- free entert

  September 5, 2008

• Taco Bell Crime of the Week, Part I

  A weekly series in which we scan police blotters across the world to find the craziest crime occurring at an outpost of Orange County's most infamous fast-food chain... From West Virginia: A late night trip to get some fast food from Taco Bell in the Kanawha City area of Charleston, W.Va., landed a Boone County man behind bars. State troopers say Jonathan Ball was waiting in the drive-thru lane. When the vehicles ahead of Ball moved up, he sat still. A trooper went to check on him and said h

  October 6, 2008

• Satisfaction's Michael Rosas Acoustic Tonight!

  If you need to get your Satisfaction fix, good news: front man Michael Rosas will be performing tonight at Alta Coffee in Newport Beach, which has to be one of the coziest little coffee houses in Orange County—let alone Newport Beach. Rosas goes on at 9:20 p.m. and he promises to get his "acoustic soft jam on" with his personal mixture of Satisfaction material, covers and original songs. Michael Rosas at Alta Coffee House, 506 31st St., Newport Beach, (949) 675-0233; www.myspace.com/altac

  November 18, 2008

• Life of Pie

  NEWS ITEM: Don Callender, founder of the Southern California restaurant chain Marie Callender's, has passed to that great pie shop in the sky.. . . AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY: The mortuary will return a small fee to the grieving family once it gets back the tin receptacle holding the deceased.

  January 13, 2009

• Taco Bell Crime of the Week!

  This one is from last week and involves Taco Bell itself!A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Taco Bell is solely liable for $42 million in breach-of-contract awards to two Michigan men who created the diminutive mascot that starred in the Irvine fast-food giant's hit $500-million advertising campaign in the 1990s.Yo quiero appeal. And you know what's most offensive about the campaign, especially in the original ad shown below? The music? If Taco Bell's going to hawk bad Mexican food, at le

  January 29, 2009

• McDonald's Makes The Grade; Others Must Try Harder

  A few weeks back we brought you news of a survey of America's healthiest fast-food chains (Panera Bread topped the list). Now comes the reverse: America's unhealthiest fast-food restaurants. A report by health and nutrition experts David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, authors of "supermarket survival guide" Eat This, Not That!, gives a big fat D- to Baja Fresh, Romano's Macaroni Grill and On the Border, while Chevys, Uno Chicago Grill and Chili's fared only slightly better, with a D. By compar

  March 26, 2009

• Red Night Club Grand Opening

  March 12, 2009

• Hot Quirky Freaks

  May 22, 2008

• Looking for a Place to Be

  January 10, 2008

• News Events

  July 6, 2006

• Goofy Oversight

  October 3, 2002

• Rats and Rat Shit Everywhere

  September 19, 2002

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  March 15, 2007

• Episode 3:

  August 28, 2003

• Where the Boys Are

  November 2, 2006

• Star-bucker

  February 2, 2006

• In the Kitchen, With a Knife

  September 8, 2005

• Suspicious Minds

  March 24, 2005

• Now We Have Faith

  March 17, 2005

• Here Comes A Regular

  July 1, 2004

• Beefer Madness

  March 4, 2004

• Adobo a Go-Go

  May 30, 2002

• Whos Acai Now?

  August 9, 2001

• TGI Friday's Goes Five-Dollar (and Five Cent!) Crazy

  Subway has been flogging its five-dollar foot-longs for ages--I'm sorry, they should be paying us five dollars to eat that slop--but now TGI Friday's is joining the gang, meaning we we eat out for around the same price (or thereabouts, if we're frugal). I'm not a big fan of the chain, I admit. Call me fussy, but it might have something to do with the fact that, on my last visit, the server let her long, twisted fingernails hang into my food as she brought the plate to me. Anyway, that was about

  April 29, 2009

• It's Official: This Recession May Make You Fat

  Today is Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday), so it's fitting that I'm writing about how unhealthy we're becoming as a nation - indeed, as a planet. According to the Guardian, the number of new cases of diabetes being diagnosed in the UK is growing at a faster rate than in the US. Now that is depressing. And when I read the headline in the LA Times yesterday--"Fast food restaurants and stroke--a link?"--I was so bummed I nearly reached for a second tub of Ben & Jerry's.We could soon see more panic-

  February 24, 2009

• TK Burgers Refuses to Conform to the Numbing Sameness of a Fast-Food Chain

  July 9, 2009

• Reminder: HB Restaurant Week Starts Today!!

  Since I last wrote about the event, which runs until June 2, it's more than doubled in size, with 27 restaurants, pubs and bars confirmed, including Duke's. There are brilliant bargains to be had (check the website for details), and, even better, this chowing is for charity!

  May 26, 2009

• Taco Bell Crime of the Week!

  ​A faulty sewer line isn't a crime per se, but how lousy is life in Macomb, Illinois, that the following is a news story--or that "several excited Taco Bell fans camped outside the restaurant in anticipation of" the restaurant reopening?  Camping overnight for Taco Bell? God should've smote those sad, sad souls on sight. Anyway, the dispatch:Mexican fast-food fans looking a Taco Bell fix will have to wait a little longer for their Burrito Supreme. After sewer problems were discovered Frid

  August 24, 2009

• The Capital Grille Coming to South Coast Plaza

  ​Last week, it was announced that an east coast chain called Seasons 52 was coming to South Coast Plaza. This week, the invasion of out-of-state fine-dining chains continues with a new restaurant called The Capital Grille. The press release I received goes into a few details about wine lockers, and "Chef's daily features made with local Californian and artisanal ingredients"; but the most interesting bit may be the part that actually gives pretty obvious clues to where it will be located.

  October 4, 2009

• 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 County for Italian food?The answer this year: they're getting better, because the Olive Garden merely ranked number two. The somewhat edible Peppino's chain, according to the Reg, is the best Italian re

  September 23, 2009

• Is P.F. Chang's good? And News About Irvine's China Garden.

  Edwin GoeiTwo stories involving Chinese food caught my attention last week. First, there's local news about what is arguably one of OC's best Chinese restaurants, China Garden in Irvine. Fellow OC Food Blogger Julian Hsu has the scoop. In his post, he writes: "We just ate there for dimsum lunch today, and noticed a sign in the windows indicating that the new owner will be "VIP Seafood Restaurants, Inc."He adds, "Hopefully VIP Seafood Restaurants is the same entity that owns VIP Harbor Seafood

  May 26, 2009