Tustin

Orange You Happy?

[Hey, You!] Someone really likes oranges—really

A Song for Christmas

Encore Dinner Theater

Sit Like a Shogun at Honda-Ya

The Tustin haunt brings its formidable brand and izakaya food to Fullerton

Thieves Busted For Stealing $200,000 Worth of Swimsuits From Tustin Warehouse

It sounded like the perfect summertime crime. Early in the morning on May 27, six men cut through a fence and entered Tustin's Raj Manufacturing, the maker of swimwear lines such as St. John, Hurley, Guess and Reef. They grabbed $200,000 worth of bathing suits, loaded them into a white van and fled, ... More >>

Win Tickets To OC Weekly's Summer Carnivale This Saturday!

Have you picked up OC Weekly's annual Summer Guide yet? It's on newsstands now. In it are all sorts of awesome food stories that fit our "Barely Legal" theme, from a guide to making your own absinthe to an inside look at OC's top-secret Hidden Dinner eat-easys.For us Weeklings, the issue marks the s ... More >>

Eat This Now: Cake Donut at Cream Pan

​If I need a baguette and I'm in the area, chances are I'm headed to Cream Pan. Fellow Forker Dave Lieberman recently honored the Tustin bakery with the top spot on his "Ten Great Bakeries in Orange County" list for having the best strawberry croissants, baguettes and epi in all the land.I'm not g ... More >>

Manila Groove Closes :-(

​I only knew the bad (i.e. swear) words in Tagalog growing up, and they all resurfaced when I walked up to Manila Groove in Tustin yesterday to find the place locked up and desolate inside, save for some take-out containers on the ground.

Nieuport 17 "Aviation" Pop-Up Dinners Taking Flight

​The unofficial definition of a pop-up restaurant is one where a singular chef rules the back of the house of an establishment typically open during daylight hours only. Think Joseph Mahon's Wednesday-through-Saturday stints at downtown Fullerton's Rialto Cafe (until he announced his very own Burg ... More >>

Tustin's Most Cursed Restaurant Location Claims Another Business; New Cajun Joint To Try Next

Edwin Goei​I think I've become the unofficial and unintentional historian on the businesses that have come and gone at the shack on 14430 Newport Ave. in Tustin. Over the last five years I have been keeping track, there has been about four different restaurants trying and failing at that spot. Now ... More >>

[UPDATED with 2nd Victim, Charges:] David Elifar Verduzco Accused of Molesting 9-Year-Old Girl

​UPDATE, NOV. 16, 3:01 P.M.: An Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) statement on the sexual assault charges against David Elifar Verduzco reveal that the 32-year-old now has an alleged 12-year-old female victim to go along with the 9-year-old girl he is accused of molesting, and that ... More >>

This Week in Food: Lime Truck Good and Bad, Racist Register Readers, and Fake Poop Meat!

Rally 'round our Lime Truck boyos!​Another great week in Forker land--highlights after the jump!

New Japanese Restaurant Coming To Tustin

Will you mess with the Gohan?​In one of the too many strip malls along Newport Avenue in Tustin, another competitor has dared to go up against local samurais Cream Pan and Honda Ya. Its name: Gohan. Not to be confused with a bad Adam Sandler movie or the Dragonball hero, loosely translated, it mea ... More >>

Ben & Jerry's Truck Brings Free Ice Cream to SoCal, Now Accepting Locations

@BenJerrysWest​Now these boys can come over anytime. Ben & Jerry, makers of yummy and wittily-named ice cream, have a truck that will hand out free scoops throughout SoCal for the next six weeks. There are only a couple OC stops on the schedule so far--Whole Foods in Tustin on June 1 and ... More >>

Foxxhound Keep It Together

[Locals Only] Despite the unlikely pairing, this folksy duo make their music work

This Week In Food: Luxe Lonchera Porn, Getting "Whited" at a Restaurant, and Four Loko-Run Cars?!

Flickr user Annie Lindgren​The first week of the year is done--just 100 more to go before the Mayan calendar finishes! To get your mind off that horrible deadline, the best of last week after the jump!

Tustin's Curtain Call Dinner Theater Closed; Building For Lease

Edwin Goei​It's curtains for Tustin's Curtain Call Dinner Theater. The 30-year-old institution took its final bow last month, and is now closed for good. On its marquee is a "For Lease" sign. I'm a bit late in posting this, only hearing about its shuttering a few weeks ago, never having the chan ... More >>

Restaurant Roll Call for October 2010

Edwin Goei​October was as busy a month for restaurant closures; but it seems it was a busier time for openings. Here's a recap this month's notable "open and shut cases", to steal a phrase from Westword, a sister paper out in Denver.RESTAURANTS/VENUES OPENED IN OCTOBER: Kami Sushi, Tustin Le ... More >>

All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Bar Replaces HK Tofu & Grill in Tustin

​Considering nearby Irvine has no shortage of Korean soondubu (soft tofu) restaurants, you might not have noticed that Tustin's lone soft tofu restaurant, HK Tofu & Grill, is now gone, replaced by a Japanese All-You-Can-Eat sushi bar called Kami Sushi. You might even wonder where exactly ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Car Repossession That Shifted into Police Standoff Ends

​UPDATE: See end of post for formal charges filed against  Bernard Veldhuizen . . .Frustrated by the economic forces piling against him, 46-year-old Bernard Veldhuizen of Tustin allegedly took repossessee-on-repo-man violence to a new level. After barricading himself in his home for 11 hours, ... More >>

A Front Of The Line Report From Henry's Farmers Market Opening In Tustin

Photo by Brekkie Fan​Tipster and friend Brekkie Fan is one of those who got up early today (5:45 a.m., she said) to wait it out for Henry's Grand Opening today in Tustin. Why? Well if you haven't already heard, the much anticipated grocery store is giving away groceries, a car, sandwiches, and o ... More >>

#87. Beef Teriyaki Bowl, Teriyami

​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...Teriyaki bowls stopped being Japanese decades ago in Southern Californ ... More >>

Pocky Sighting At An Unlikely Location

Edwin Goei​As I was waiting to pay for my Borders book purchases at The District in Tustin, guess what I saw at the checkout line? Not Snickers. Not M&M's. Pocky!

Sam Gupta of Traditions, Part 2

Photo by Kimberly Valenzuela​Yesterday we heard from Sam Gupta, proprietor of Traditions in Tustin. Today, he shares a recipe. Not just any recipe: their recipe for chicken tikka masala, which according to food lore is purportedly more English than Indian. It's still delicious no matter ... More >>

Hebaragi's Cheeky Barbecue

From pig jowls to beef stomach to plain old steak, it all tastes amazing at this Korean eatery

'Tis the Season to Bone Nonprofits, Fa La La La La, La La La La

​Above is the logo on boxes like those stolen this past Thanksgiving weekend from the United Labor Agency of Orange County in Garden Grove, where 20,000 pounds of food, more than $25,000 worth of donated toys and other items for the benefit of underprivileged families were taken. Total estimated l ... More >>

Native Foods Cafe Opens At The District in Tustin

Edwin Goei​As most Weekly readers know, Native Foods occupies a yurt at The Camp in Costa Mesa, one of the first stores to debut at the alternative mall. But Native Foods was actually started 15 years ago in Palm Springs by its founder, Tanya Petrovna, who's authored two cookbooks on the su ... More >>

Kula Offers Sushi Not As Art, But As a (Still Tasty) Commodity

Restaurant Closures During September--More Than In Previous Months

​Following a period in which the number of closures was down, they've now increased again. September saw five OC places shut up shop for good. They were:Wienerschnitzel, Mission ViejoJaponaise Bakery, Tustin (for Edwin's full report, CLICK HERE)Contodo Mexican Grill, OrangeVessia Ristorante, Irvin ... More >>

This Week in Food

​In the last seven days, we:Seethed and fumed about a new "Mexican" eatery in Brea. Ingested gazillions of calories. First by eating our way around Disneyland, stuffing in gumbo, Dole Whip, turkey legs and more, and second by chomping through two green curries. It's a tough job, but someone's got ... More >>

This Week in Food

​Over the last seven days, we:Brought you tales of exploding trash cans outside a Taco Bell in Tracy, California.Broke news about openings: Belacan Grill (a Malaysian coming soon to Tustin), the Counter (another outpost of the gourmet burger joint coming soon to Newport Beach) and Daily Express (a ... More >>

Monday Night = Zov's Kebobs

​For $13.95 you get three kebobs (angus beef, chicken and harissa tuna), rice and two sides...We went last Monday to Zov's Bistro, Bakery & Café in Tustin to check it out. It's a generous fill--not tons, but certainly enough (we took a box of leftovers home, only to wolf them down the minute ... More >>

Just Another Orange County Weekend

Business was brisk Friday night at the Swinging Door Saloon in Tustin, but whooping it up in one corner more than anyone else in the watering hole known for its calendar girl bartenders was a small group of women and maybe one or two dudes. The leaders of the pack seemed to be a couple thin bl ... More >>

The New Kéan Coffee in Tustin Has a Familiar Feel, Smell and Taste

This Sunday: Tustin Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off

Perhaps the greatest South Park episode ever made is "Scott Tenorman Must Die." If you've seen it, then you know where I'm going with this. Yes. I am making the connection between Cartman's Chili Con Carnival with this Sunday's Tustin Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off. Seriously, if you haven't, ... More >>

Coming Soon to Tustin: New Indian Restaurant in Old Roderick's Space

Edwin GoeiSo here's how the conversation went between my friend and I when we drove past the Stater Bros.-anchored strip mall in Tustin on Redhill near the 5 FWY. Me: Did you see that? An Indian place called "Traditions" is going to take over Roderick's. Friend: What's Roderick's? Me: It's th ... More >>

This Week in Food

Our favorite SAFII posts of the week:Gustavo unearthed another Taco Bell Crime of the Week. The "restaurant" overcharged a Washington family by $135, not including overdraft fees (which TB subsequently paid on his behalf).Edwin ate in the dark one night--no, not because he didn't pay his electricity ... More >>

The Curious Case of Triple S

There was once a Sizzler on Newport Blvd. in Tustin, beneath the shadow of the 5 Freeway overpass. Then around October of last year the owners severed their ties to the company. They decided that they would rebrand themselves "Triple S". Why "Triple S"? Well because they would serve "Steak, Seafoo ... More >>

Tustin's Lost Bean Coffeehouse Is How Starbucks Should've Been

This Week in the OC Weekly

Find out what our greatest blogs of the year were in our year end blogapoloza! We've lifted the best blurbage from Navel Gazing, Heard Mentality and Stick a Fork In It, each of which you need to peruse daily. Plus... • The Weekly's standing columns, ¡Ask a Mexican!, Hey You! and Savage ... More >>

Curly Tops

Name: Curly Tops Origin: Philippines Found at: Pinoy Mart, Tustin Cost: $1.59 Ingredients: Refined Cane Sugar, Milk Powder, Hydrogenated Palm And Palm Kernel Oil, Whey, Cocoa Powder, Soy Lecithin, Vanillin and Cinnamon Powder, Iodized Salt. Why I Bought It: Apart from the name, which is, ... More >>

Every Burger

Name: Every Burger Origin: Japan Found at: Freshia Market, Tustin Cost: $1.99 Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Cacao Mass, Milk Powder, Palm Oil, Shortening, Margarine, Lactose, Cocoa Butter, Sesame Seed, Butter, Condensed Milk Powder, Egg, Corn Starch, Poppy Seed, Maltose, Wheat Meal, Gluco ... More >>

[Food Issue 2008] For Our Recessionary Times, 54 Orange County Meal Deals Between 99 Cents and $15

Found: Salteñas in the City of Tustin

Why is it that when you hear eye-witness accounts on Bigfoot and Nessie, it's always the chance encounter by the drunkard who just sauntered out of his local pub? It's never the guy who actually goes out looking for them -- like that determined scientist with grant money and expensive equipment? S ... More >>

To Do Tonight - 01/02

DINING IN THE DARK, 6 p.m. Ever wondered what it would be like to be blind? The Foundation Fighting Blindness will help you experience the latter for $250 over dinner. (Or you could just stay home and eat ice cream in the dark.) Fairmont Newport Beach, 4500 MacArthur Boulevard, Newport Beach BRAZI ... More >>

To Do Tonight - 10/08

“BOO” PLAQUE, 5:30pm If you’re artsy and into scrapbooking, this may be for you. Larwin Square, 502 E. 1st St., Ste. C, Tustin, (714) 838-1200. www.theredbee.com BILINGUAL STORYTIME FUN!, 7pm With stories in Spanish and English, this is definitely one for the little ones. El Modena Branch, 3 ... More >>

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

This Week in Weekling Haunts

Earth Mover

Supervisor candidate Jim Potts wants to shake up county, dig tunnel under mountain

Letters

Homeless Base

Affordable housing at El Toro faces the bulldozer