Rowland Heights

[UPDATED with Appeal Withdrawn:] Dr. Lisa Tseng's Over-Prescription Cloud Hangs Over Surf City's Now-Closed Pacifica Pharmacy

See the update at the end of this post about the former Pacifica Pharmacy owner withdrawing his appeal of his pharmacy license revocation.ORIGINAL POST, FEB. 25, 7:30 A.M.: As you've probably seen or read, former Rowland Heights physician Lisa Tseng has pleaded not guilty to three counts of second- ... More >>

New Chicken and Waffles Joint Opens in La Habra

Except for the occasional Octomom update, we don't write about La Habra much (and she doesn't even live there anymore), It's so gosh-darned out there it's practically in LA Weekly's juridiction. Even though I grew up there, I remember eating out in Fullerton, Brea and Rowland Heights more than ... More >>

Taste Test: Kiki Bakery in Irvine

Irvine is still 85 Degrees C's turf, but it isn't stopping other Taiwanese bakeries from vying for a piece of the pie. Kiki Bakery is a third the size of 85 Degrees C, but it hails from SGV, where there are more of them, in Monterey Park, Alhambra and Rowland Heights. This is its first venture into ... More >>

Cantonese Restaurant Planned for The District In Tustin

American food didn't work. Neither did Mexican. How about Cantonese? In the abandoned building at The District in Tustin that once held Bistro West and Pablo's Cantina, there are plans to open Happy Harbor Restaurant. There's currently a Happy Harbor in Rowland Heights which serves all everything i ... More >>

On The Line: Dean Kim of OC Baking Company, Part Two

"I don't consider myself old in any way, but I'm old school now. Even Dee (Nguyen), Mike (Rossi) . . .we're old."One of the best things about interviewing a well-connected baker is the exchange of information. Dean reminds us that the community of chefs is full of friends and customers. Can you beli ... More >>

Another Mongolian Hot Pot Restaurant To Come To Irvine

What I said about OC's shabu shabu/hot pot boom a couple of months ago is reiterated yet again. Ah-Lien Hot Pot is planned for Sand Canyon Plaza at the corner of Sand Canyon and Irvine Center Drive. 

On the Line: George Wu and Lawrence Tai of Waffles de Liege, Part One

Friends either complement each other or tend to act like twins. For the guys of Waffles de Liege, it's somewhere in the middle, as you'll see in this week's luxe lonchera interview. We met for lunch on their day off and discussed the business -- like those requests for bean-and-cheese burritos?!Your ... More >>

Doctor Stands Trial For Overdose Deaths of Three Young Men; One From OC

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Dr. Hsui-Ying "Lisa" Tseng to stand trial for second degree murder in the deaths of three young men, one of whom was Vu Nguyen, 28, from Lake Forest. The decision came after a preliminary hearing that lasted three weeks. The osteopathic medicine doctor alle ... More >>

Class 302: A Course to Audit

The Irvine restaurant teaches you well with its grade-school theme and Taiwanese food

Planned Irvine Shabu Shabu Bar Gets Name Change

​This is an update to an earlier post I wrote about a planned shabu shabu bar in Irvine's Trabuco Grove shopping center called OOii Shabu Shabu. The restaurant was to occupy the space where a Daphne's once stood in the Kohl's-anchored complex on Jeffrey near the 5.On this front, nothing's changed ... More >>

SoCal Has Its Own Pho Challenge

​I've heard of people making the trek to San Francisco's Pho Garden to see if they can devour a 4-pound bowl within an hour, but now, there's no longer a need for that journey. D'lite Pho Lee in Rowland Heights has its own pho challenge. Finish its XXL Pho Ribeye--a 4-pound beast--and the restaura ... More >>

Bob's Towing Unleashes the Dogs, Fullerton Police Bite Back

​A week after the Weekly reported that local business Bob's Towing had sued the Fullerton Police department for harassment, the department fired back with a salvo of its own. Tuesday's city council meeting saw the embattled department unveiling a nearly 600 page report detailing a  year-long ... More >>

Reps. Gary Miller and Ken Calvert Get Their Assets Handed Back to Them

​The Washington Post compared the annual financial disclosure reports filed by every member of Congress over the past decade to various public records and discovered that nearly 50 senators and House representatives directed millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that could either enhance ... More >>

Is Kula Becoming The Walmart of Sushi?

​Some may remember that before it sold $2 sushi on moving belts, Kula's previous incarnation was as a high-priced, made-to-order sushi bar in Century City. When it failed to catch on after about one year, the restaurant made the move to the then still unproven Diamond Jamboree in Irvine. It was he ... More >>

Are Fullerton Cops Running a Towing Scam?

Another legal mess for FPD​Are Fullerton cops involved in a vehicle towing scam?The answer is yes, according to a Jan. 13 lawsuit filed by Rowland Heights-based Safeway Towing Services, Inc. [DBA Bob's Towing].In the seven-page suit, company lawyer Neil C. Evans of Sherman Oaks claims that cops be ... More >>

Boiling Point Stinks Different

The Irvine Taiwanese joint offers roiling hot pots with the malodorous delicacy called stinky tofus

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot Planned For Irvine

​Yesterday we talked about how Class 302, the Rowland Heights staple for shaved snow, was planning a store in Irvine. Today, we talk about Little Sheep, which is to Mongolian hot pot what McDonald's is to burgers (and I mean that in the world-conquering sense, not a dig on its quality).& ... More >>

Class 302, Popular Taiwanese 'Shaved Snow' Restaurant, Planned for Irvine

​Rowland Heights' Class 302, arguably the restaurant that put the uniquely Taiwanese dessert called shaved snow on the map and everyone's consciousness (at least if you live or play in the San Gabriel Valley), is planning a store in Irvine at University Park Center, which you may already know as t ... More >>

Japanese Curry CoCo Ichibanya to Open in Irvine Nov. 25

ProfessorSalt.comCoCo Ichibanya's Pork Katsu Curry​Do you love Japanese curry but long for more heat in the otherwise-mild-mannered dish? The Japanese chain restaurant CoCo Ichibanya offers spice levels you can customize to your taste, all the way to a brow-sweating, nose-running level 10. "Comin ... More >>

Why Aren't There Any Hong Kong-Style Cafes in Orange County?

Flickr User Roland​The question came from a reader on my personal blog who simply asked: "During my stay in the OC I have not been able to locate any Hong Kong cafes or restaurants. Do you perhaps know of any?"Which made realize, no I don't. It got me thinking that the last Hong Kong-style cafe to ... More >>

Are OC's Spray Haters Spreading Out to LA County?

​Los Angeles County investigators aren't drawing a connection between the hateful graffiti sprayed on two churches over the past weekend and recent incidents in Orange County, but don't let that stop us from doing so.Why? Because the cases sound so similar--and the targeted houses of worship are a ... More >>

Happy Family Mocks Meat

The Buddhist vegetarian fare might help you forget the beloved Costa Mesa Chinese restaurant it replaced

Two New Restaurants Planned For Irvine Spectrum

Jonathan Ho/OC WeeklyRead our April 2009 review of Capital Seafood.​Capital Seafood, the Chinese restaurant at Diamond Jamboree that I reviewed some time ago, is adding a second Irvine store. Their parent restaurant group, which also operates eateries of the same name in Garden Grove, Rowland Heig ... More >>

Feds See a Red Door, Want to Paint It Black

​When Mick Jagger saw a red door, he wanted to paint it black, as is widely acknowledged (by me) in the greatest Rolling Stones song of all time (any girl who claims otherwise gets cut!).So, the federal investigation of the San Gabriel Valley-based Red Door gang--which just ... More >>

Killing for the Cartel

Police believe East LA high-school dropout Jose Saenz has killed a good friend and the mother of his daughter

Costa Mesa's May Garden Gone; Replaced By Vegetarian Restaurant

Edwin Goei​Stefani Peterson of the OC Register reported that a few weeks ago Takashi Abe's Sea Smoke in San Clemente closed permanently. Then our buddy at OC Register's Food Frenzy blog, Niyaz Pirani, revealed the shuttering of Q Restaurant, the crawfish and funnel cake hole-in-the-wall that ... More >>

Ethnic Eating 101: Chinese, Part 6

Despite the fact that we could go on for years about the variations and nuances of Chinese cuisine, we are going to close this week with a visit to Taiwan, because after Cantonese, the single most available regional cuisine in the Southland is Taiwanese, due in part to the great number of Taiwanese ... More >>

Ethnic Eating 101: Korean, Part 1

phy @ flickr.com CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Korean restaurants have Seoul... get it?​Welcome to the new year of Ethnic Eating 101! Sorry for the unannounced hiatus; I was hung over--tequila is a delicious but cruel potion.While the wonders of Vietnamese cooking could fill up half a year's posts, the Vietnames ... More >>

On the Line: Wanida Sreewarom of Thai Nakorn

​When Thai Nakorn burned down in January 2007, lovers of Thai food the county over were cast adrift. The family opened a branch in Stanton to feed the demand for their amazing food, and finally, after months of delays and haggling with the city, Thai Nakorn returned to Garden Grove this August. If ... More >>

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 t ... More >>

Capital Seafood's Glitzy New Irvine Location Fits Right Into Diamond Jamboree Plaza

Capital Seafood Opens in Diamond Jamboree! Finally!

Alright.  If you've been reading this blog since its inception last September, then you know that I've been keeping an eye on what's been going on at Diamond Jamboree in Irvine. And if you remember my very first post here, which was also about Diamond Jamboree, you should also s ... More >>

Out-of-County Experience: Dim Sum at New Capital in Rowland Heights

If we're in a recession, someone forgot to tell the Chinese. Yesterday, the dim sum crowd at New Capital in Rowland Heights was as crazy as always.  Judging by the number of people milling about outside waiting for a table, this go-to place for dim sum in the eastern part of San Gabriel Valle ... More >>

Garden Grove's Warung Pojok Is the Best (And Only) Indonesian Joint in OC

Diamond Jamboree = More Asian Eateries = More Fun

Good things do happen in Irvine, even if it's going to make traffic even more hellish. It's called Diamond Jamboree Center, a sprawling shopping complex you might have seen being built on the corner of Alton and Jamboree Rd. So far, just the signs are up. Finishing touches are still being made. ... More >>

Famous Food, Part 2

Conductors! Rock Stars! Restaurateurs! Poets!