Tabasco Pepper Sauce

CD Reviews

Does Rutabegorz Serve the Best Gabacho Nachos?

Nachos have an interesting existence--enjoyed mostly by gabachos yet of Mexican origins, but created to serve hungry gabachos. Edwin has written about the carne asada nachos Alerto's (or is it Alberto's?), and the county has enough renditions of Chili Billies to placate a Little League squad. But pe ... More >>

[Hole in the Wall] Eat/Chow/Love

Nachos have an interesting existence--enjoyed mostly by gabachos yet of Mexican origins, but created to serve hungry gabachos. Edwin has written about the carne asada nachos Alerto's (or is it Alberto's?), and the county has enough renditions of Chili Billies to placate a Little League squad. But pe ... More >>

Barcelona Comes to Fullerton Via Lizarran Tapas

Nachos have an interesting existence--enjoyed mostly by gabachos yet of Mexican origins, but created to serve hungry gabachos. Edwin has written about the carne asada nachos Alerto's (or is it Alberto's?), and the county has enough renditions of Chili Billies to placate a Little League squad. But pe ... More >>

Getting Schooled at Soka Bistro at Soka University

Nachos have an interesting existence--enjoyed mostly by gabachos yet of Mexican origins, but created to serve hungry gabachos. Edwin has written about the carne asada nachos Alerto's (or is it Alberto's?), and the county has enough renditions of Chili Billies to placate a Little League squad. But pe ... More >>

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Comfort Curry

Sashimi Surrender

Let Ikko Kobayashi have his way with you

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Soy Rico at Mother's Market

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

Greek Chili Billies: Athens West

Multiculti Hawaii

The Loft Hawaiian Grill

Cuppa Sober-Up

Stumbling in and out of Harbor House Cafe

Habanero Xanadu

Red Rock Chilis Scorched Throat Policy

As American as Apple Pie Shot

Holidays behind the bar

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Holidays behind the bar

Summer Eats (Drinks)

Holidays behind the bar

The Island of Lost Drinks

Holidays behind the bar

Hot Porn Lix!

Holidays behind the bar

Monique Powell, Hypersensitive Lead Singer, Save Ferris

Holidays behind the bar

Summer Eats

Part Two

Getting Ripped Off By Bland Food at Geisha House

I've eaten at restaurants where the bill came to more than $300 for two (the late, great Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel). Where the buffet cost $100 for two (Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel again). Over $100 for omakase for one (Hanamori). Many other places too expensive and too superflu ... More >>

Recipe: Taps' Seafood Ceviche Cocktail

This is another light, summery, easy-to-prepare dish, courtesy of chefs Tom Hope and Manny Gonzalez at Taps Fish House & Brewery, Brea. The following quantities serve six as an appetizer. And if you're really too lazy to try making it yourself, go to the restaurant for the real deal, where it's ... More >>

Recipe of the Week: Cat's Slaw

​This side dish is available at the Cat Cora BBQ counter at Macy's Signature Kitchen, South Coast Plaza. Broccoli slaw, sold in bags at Trader Joe's, isn't everyone's go-to choice, granted, but once combined with the dressing (adapted from Cora's grandma's recipe), it makes this tasty--not ... More >>

On the Line: Mark Cleveland of Avanti Cafe

Cleveland: Ex-cellent!​I'm still mad at Avanti Cafe for stopping their International Tuesdays, so that just means I now try to visit once a week instead of every other day. I usually visit in the evening, when Mark Cleveland relieves his co-owner Tanya Fuqua in a transition as seamless as a Jamaic ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: IKEA's 99-Cent Breakfast VS. McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast

Edwin Goei​This Dueling Dishes is about breakfast. Assembly line, fast-food breakfast. The kind with eggs that most likely came from a milk carton. A breakfast from which we Americans have been raised to believe is a proper start to your day, and which only recently did we realize that if we at ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Bloody Mary at SOL Cocina

Jessica Ford Bloody Mary​After a night of New Years Eve partying, many will mark the new year with a hangover. And the best cure is to keep drinking, of course. If you can manage, drive or crawl to SOL Cocina in Newport Beach for one of the best Bloody Marys in Orange County. After tryi ... More >>

Greg Daniels of Haven Gastropub, Part 2

If you missed the first part of our interview with Greg Daniels, executive chef and partner at Haven Gastropub, you can find it here. If you've missed the fantastic "spaghetti", the burger par excellence and the great beer, you can find that just south of the Orange Circle. Meanwhile, back to the qu ... More >>

95. Collard Greens at Johnny Reb's

Dave Lieberman​This week, it's my turn for our 100 Favorite Dishes. Find out what you're missing with this list of 100 memorable dishes at local restaurants. We'll count down every weekday, with the top dishes appearing right before our annual Best Of Issue comes out. Enjoy!

#90. Beans on Toast, The Olde Ship

Hail Britannia beans!​Because ustedes gentle readers love lists, and we lazy scribes love easy hits, behold the latest entry in our Top 100 dishes list that continues until Best Of--at which point, we'll give you MORE lists! Now, on with the show...Traditional British pub food isn't meant to be nu ... More >>

Craig Connole of House Of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer, Part Two

Photo by Tracy Powell​Today we conclude our Q&A with Chef Craig Connole. If you missed the first part, read it here. Stay tuned tomorrow for our final installment: a recipe from the chef. What would you'd like to see more of in Orange County from a culinary standpoint: Street vendors.

Spicy Pickle Shot

Jorge Negreros​Salt. Tequila. Lime? Only for the weak.It's now: Tabasco. Tequila. Pickle.

Costa Mesa IKEA Food Court Suffering from Tabasco Thieves

​The chica and I went to IKEA last week so she could buy some stuff, which of course turned into a lot of stuff. I only go for the food, and we enjoyed their so-so pasta with marinara sauce and great almond cake for next-to-nothing. One big problem, though: no Tabasco bottles on the tables. We wen ... More >>

'Cue It Up at Beachwood BBQ

Debates over barbecue style aside, this Seal Beach spot has all the right stuff for stuffing yourself

Double Up at Apollo Burgers

[Hole in the Wall] Another local answer to Five Guys

Wacky Snacks: Tabasco Brand Spicy Chocolate

Edwin Goei​ Name: Tabasco Brand Spicy Chocolate Origin: U.S.A. Found at: Cost Plus, Santa Ana Cost: $3.99 Ingredients: Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin (An Emulsifier), Vanilla, Tabasco Brand Dry Red Flavoring (Red Pepper, Distilled Vinegar, Salt).

Battle Downtown Santa Ana $5 Happy Hour Pizzas!

​I bounce back and forth between The Crosby and Memphis in downtown SanTana depending on what I want to eat. If I'm looking for Crosby chef (and half-Mexi!) Aron Habiger to wow me with his monthly menu, I drop by and read the magazines I bought at Rags next door. If I want the comfort of a Cob ... More >>

Eat Here, Not There: Buffalo Wings

ProfessorSalt.comTwo, uh, small orders of wings​​Chicken wings are the consummate beer snack. In pubs the world over, you'll find fried chicken wings, but today, we're talking specifically about Buffalo wings. The problem with most Buffalo wings? They're puny, overcooked, and dipped in a red, fl ... More >>

Food Profiling: Uncle Iceberg's Hawt Products

​Is it hipster salad dressing?  No. Maybe it's cool and refreshing?  Not that either. So what is Uncle Iceberg's? It's comparable to the balsamic vinegar in a caprese salad--that extra 'oomph' to make mozzarella and tomato sing. The slogan says it all: "The most miraculous hawt sauce eve ... More >>

Five Search Features Yelp Should Add Instead of "Hipster"

​So news is going all around that Yelp added "Hipster" to its possible categories for a location's ambiance (which spelling is correct again?), and the first reaction that came to my mind is "redundant." Isn't Yelp the epitome of hipsterdom, of a sea of shallow reactions and It buzz, with the crea ... More >>

Wasasco: Wasabi-Flavored Tabasco Sauce!

​It exists. Yay! In Japan. Boo. But it can be shipped internationally through Amazon. Yessss.  From Tokyo-based Rocket News 24: The appropriately-titled WASASCO sauce is made with wasabi from Izu city, an area well-known for its wasabi production. Sankakuya, the Izu-based company behind ... More >>

This Week in Food: David Cross As a Ham Sandwich, Perfectly Grilled Wieners, and Coffeehouse Lingerie!

Flickr user Jo Naylor​With a headline like that, you know we had a great week 'round here. More after the jump!

Gordon Ramsay Helps Luigi's D'Italia Turn its Beloved Irrelevancy into Something Better

Forgot my camera, so no photos of the new Luigi's D'Italia--you'll have to see the restaurant yourself...​For 30 years, Luigi's D'Italia was the place you went when you wanted slops of good Italian food--but that was it. You didn't take a first date there, but rather the girl who already knew all ... More >>

'The Change-Up' Shows Guys Pissing Their Lives Away

Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds urinate, swap bodies, discover their true selves

Cafe Calacas Is Deli-cioso!

[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana deli already has great licuados and yummy sandwiches—and there's more to come

Five Things You're Doing Wrong With Mexican Food

Flick user Ryan Leighty​We love Mexican food 'round here, and not just because I'm doing a book on the history of Mexican food in the United States. It's the native cuisine of Southern California, something many Americans have seamlessly assimilated into their day-to-day lives--and an easy subject ... More >>

Cooking! Bacon Artichoke Balls Recipe

​Bacon and artichoke hearts are both ingredients that are often added as a twist to staple dishes. Artichoke hearts are thrown in to make that salad or pasta seem fancier than it is. Bacon has been thrown into everything from milkshakes to tacos to brownies in recent years as a selling point to th ... More >>

On the Line: The Men of the Burnt Truck, Part One

Photo by Meranda Carter​When we suggested the guys behind local luxe lonchera the Burnt Truck split up the answers, it wasn't until after the fact we realized all three (Paul Cao, Phi Nguyen and Minh Pham) submitted answers to the entire questionnaire. So this week, we flex our keyboarding muscles ... More >>

First Look: Playground

Playground's duck rillettes​Jason Quinn's new restaurant, Playground, opened a couple of weeks ago on la Cuatro, near the Yost Theatre. Originally conceived as a high-end burger-and-beer bar à la Burger Parlor, Quinn revamped the concept to allow him and his staff a little more creativity in the ... More >>

Gustavo's Top 5 Restaurants of 2011!

Cruising into the future...​And I'll end our year-end write-up of lists with this! If it skews a bit toward the Latino side, it's because that's where some of the most exciting cooking was happening in Orange County this year. Enjoy!