Westminster

Pho Quyen: Absolutely Sweet Little Saigon

[Hole In the Wall] This Westminster spot makes good pho, but go for the to-go specials

Kickin' Crab Opens in Irvine's Diamond Jamboree

It was two years ago when the first Kickin' Crab opened in a Santa Ana storefront that previously saw two other concepts fail. I wondered then whether this Boiling Crab aspirant would buck the trend. Cut to two years later and it seems that not only did that original location flourish, it multiplie ... More >>

Two "Tasty" Restaurants Open; At Least One More In The Works

When it comes to restaurant names "Tasty" is the new "Licious". In Irvine, Tasty Noodle House has opened. The new restaurant, located a few doors down from Panda Express, specializes in the cuisine of the port city of Dalian. It has a branch in San Gabriel known for their pan-fried pork bao and Sha ... More >>

Little Saigon Identity Thief Who Loves Nordstrom Gets A Break

Little Saigon's Celeste Anh Nguyen is a lucky criminal.A federal judge in Orange County is giving Nguyen--a brazen identity and mail thief--a generous path to erase her crimes from the public record if she successfully completes a Conviction and Sentence Alternative "CASA" Program.CASA provides subs ... More >>

Copts and Muslims Will Meet Tonight at Islamic Society of Orange County To Show The World Neither Group is Crazy

In one word, it was disgusting. That's how Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, described the amateurish film that was blamed for instigating violent protests in Libya and Egypt, as well as others in Sudan, Indonesia, and Pakistan, last week. American ... More >>

A New Hong Kong-Style Cafe Planned For Irvine

Tasty Garden, the chain of Hong Kong-style cafes (cha chaan teng) with branches in the San Gabriel Valley and Westminster, is planning to open one more Orange County store in Irvine. This does two things: it ups the cha chaan teng count to two in a city that once had none, and it also adds one more ... More >>

Not One, But TWO BBQ Events this Weekend: OC BBQ Bonanza, and Ribs, Pigs & Watermelons!

You've got two ways to get your BBQ on this weekend. Fountain Valley hosts their second annual rib burn, and Westminster holds their inaugural sanctioned barbecue competition. At either event, you'll have a chance to walk among the cooks and sample their smoked meats. The real-deal contest at the W ... More >>

Mysteries of Anaheim: A Chinese Boneyard Without Any Bones?

​Among the many jewels in OC's collection of body depositories, Anaheim Cemetery is perhaps the shiniest. Established in 1866, its soil is fertilized by the area's earliest pioneers. Home to the first public mausoleum on the west coast, (take that, Rose Hills), its garden of crooked headstone ... More >>

Five Great Local Places to Go When Hung Over

​Hangovers aren't pretty, and they're almost never subtle. They aren't things we really plan for--it's not like our calendars will reflect being hung over; your phone will never go off with a reminder that you're supposed to be hung over at any given moment. They aren't planned events; they're eve ... More >>

[UPDATED with Yorba Linda and Lake Forest Votes:] Hugo Godinez, Sex Offender Busted in County Park, is Ammo for Two More Cities Considering Bans

​UPDATE, NOV. 16, 4:05 P.M.: The Yorba Linda City Council voted unanimously Tuesday for an ordinance on first reading to keep registered sex offenders out of city parks unless they first get permission from the Brea Police Department, which also patrols Yorba Linda.The ordinance would be enacted 3 ... More >>

[UPDATED with DA Peeved Over Sentence:] Jennifer Renee Vanveldhuizen Guilty of Hate Crime; Punched Latino Worker and Yelled "I Fucking Hate You Beaners!"

​UPDATE, OCT. 26, 8:04 A.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) believes a Caucasian woman is getting off too easy for yelling "I fucking hate you beaners!" and profanities at a Latino worker emptying trashcans on Main Street in Huntington Beach earlier this month before punchin ... More >>

Andrew Urdiales, Camp Pendleton Serial Killer, and Pasqual Raul Loera, Accused Double-Murderer of Westminster Couple, Both Face the Death Penalty

Andre Urdiales​The Orange County District Attorney's office announced today it will seek the death penalty for two men: Navy deserter Pasqual Raul Loera, who allegedly slayed a Westminster couple under the pretense of buying their car on Valentine's Day 2010, and Camp Pendleton serial killer Andre ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Christopher Dai-Ichi Yu Murdered Woman Dragged Through Streets

​UPDATE, JUNE 9, 6:45 P.M.: A Fountain Valley teen has been convicted of the gruesome murder of a 48-year-old woman whose arm and purse straps became entangled with a car that dragged her for almost a mile through the streets of Westminster last year.Christopher Dai-Ichi Yu, 18, faces life without ... More >>

Little Saigon Bids Farewell to a Beloved Troubadour

Grace LeTue Tri Nguyen (Laguna Niguel) and Nhan Vo (Virginia)​Yesterday, Little Saigon was struck by the abrupt passing of a generational icon. An illustrious composer and prominent player in Vietnamese-American media, Quang Duc Nguyen died early Sunday morn ... More >>

Gettin' Made: Photoreal Pouch Tutorial From Photojojo

Photo from Photojojo website​If your creative outlet of choice is your trusty camera, you really need to sign up for Photojojo's newsletter. The photo-centric website sends out a weekly e-mail featuring the latest gadgets, tips and, most important, really great project ideas for lover ... More >>

Paris By Night Entertainment Group Launches Vietnamese TV Channel and Opens Local Theater

The newly renovated Saigon Performing Arts Center.​Struck by financial woes due to escalating production costs and pirated discs, the Westminster-based entertainment company that puts on the iconic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night (which graced our cover last year) is taking a new direction. ... More >>

Were You Ripped Off by Hoang Quoc Tathanhlong, Fake Financial Planner Who Allegedly Preyed at Funeral Home?

​Hoang Quoc Tathanhlong, 49, of Westminster, lied about being a certified financial planner while working at a funeral home and stealing more than $650,000 from a widow through fake investments before using the money for his own personal expenses, including buying himself a Mercedes-Benz, prose ... More >>

Colombian Cuisine Back In OC!

[Hole In the Wall] Colombian Cuisine at Mitzi's Kountry Kitchen in Laguna Hills reintroduces the hearty South American cuisine to OC stomachs

A Year of Navel Gazing: The Virtual Orange County

Looking back at 2010 on our news blog, one Top 10 List at a time

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Oh, You're Back ...

​You know how lightning and thunderstorms slammed central and south Orange County this morning--including Westminster, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Irvine and Costa Mesa? And how the National Weather Service issued a flood warning through 1 p.m., adding the rains would quickly lighten up and mo ... More >>

We Need More Colombian Food in OC, Parte Dos

Chuzos, papas, tomates verdes, and the ubiquitous arepa​Okay, we've waited long enough. Turns out the power of suggestion was not sufficient to correct our county's dearth of comida colombiana. (Though Dave Lieberman and I were helpful enough to suggest road trips to Burbank or Hollywood.) Looks l ... More >>

Darryl Lee Powers, Off-Duty Arson Investigator, Charged With Pointing Gun at Woman Sitting on Next Turc's Barstool

​A guy walks into a bar with his cousin, and they sit next to a lady warming another barstool. At some point, the guy takes out a knife and stabs it into the bar. The bartender says there will be none of that, pulls the knife out of the bar and walks away with it. So the guy takes out a handgun, p ... More >>

Police Fear Dozens of Vietnamese Were Hit in The3Mien.com Money-Wire Scam

​After receiving complaints from many Vietnamese residents about The3Mien.com, police contacted a representative of the Westminster money-wire company. A computer glitch was blamed for funds failing to be sent to Vietnam and the business having to temporarily close its doors. Patrons were instruct ... More >>

Lior Bitton, LA Jeweler Accused of Filing False Report of Theft of $99,000 Diamond

Diamond.info​Jeweler Lior Bitton should change his name to Liar Bitton, according to Westminster Police.The 36-year-old owner of Los Angeles-based gem wholesaler Pacific Diamonds & Gems was arrested for allegedly inflating the loss he suffered after one of his couriers was robbed in January in ... More >>

Racist OC Register Fustercluck of the Day

​ Headline: 15 Year Old Girl Shot in Huntington BeachComment by fcprop: North OC has pretty much been engulfed by Los Angeles and now central OC is threatened. Honestly, we are to blame also. Everyone keeps seeking out brand new homes in other locations vs. redeveloping the inner core. Area's [sic ... More >>

Richard Nguyen, Phillipe Zamora and Wendell Lemond Learn Bloody Fates

Courtesy of Garden Grove Police DepartmentRichard Lam Nguyen​A Garden Grove man who choked his elderly mother to death because she wanted him to study medicine instead of pharmacy was convicted of manslaughter this morning.Prosecutors wanted murder.They did get it for a North Carolina man who help ... More >>

Five Great Places to Eat on Black Friday

eliya @ flickr.com CC BY-NC 2.0​This week contains one of the most ancient and cherished traditions in America, where families get up at shockingly early hours to fight traffic just to be together for a day. Thanksgiving, you say? No, Black Friday, the day by which all retail business for the enti ... More >>

Mendez vs. Westminster, OC Latino History, and the Ever-Revealing-Itself Genius of Carey McWilliams

McWilliams: The Original Gunkist Historian...​This week's cover story on the controversy in the retelling of the historic Mendez vs. Westminster decision has a brief mention of the case's best chronicler: the great progressive historian Carey McWilliams. The Fullerton College professor quoted in t ... More >>

Teaching Museum Uses Adventure Films to Help Fund Mendez v. Westminster Exhibit

Jonathan Copp, RIP.​What do the plucky Museum of Teaching and Learning, an internationally acclaimed film festival and the landmark Mendez v. Westminster School District case of 1946 have in common?All three could learn you something.The Fullerton-based Museum of Teaching and Learning (MOTAL) is s ... More >>

This Week in the OC Weekly

Find out what film critics, Scott Foundas, J. Hoberman, Jim Ridley, Ella Taylor and Robert Wilonsky agreed were the 12 best movies of the year. Also: Jeffrey Katzenberg in 3D and the state of indie filmmaking.And news has Matt Coker explaining why the Native American battle over the possible disturb ... More >>

To Do Tonight 7/31

Your Friendly Neighborhood Arsonists

Wondering about that sorta creepy neighbor who’s still talking about last summer’s SoCal wildfires? The guy who barbecues outdoors a whole lot more than seems normal? Pretty soon, you should be able to go online and see if he’s among the arsonists registered with Orange County police depart ... More >>

Caricature Assassination

2007: A year to remember

Aural Reports

Making Strange Waves: The Growlers mix surf rock, gypsy, folk, reggae--and green consciousness

grub guide

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Baby-faced Hoodlums

Getting big in Vietnamese gangs doesnt mean you cant snitch

Grub Guide

Tasty morsels from the county's best damn dining guide

Grub Guide

This week in the county, S-Z

This Week in Ice Cream and Other Frozen Delights

Roll Over And PlayOh, You Already Are

Ex-volunteers claim no-kill shelter routinely slaughters pets

This Week in Carnivores vs. Vegetarians

Ground-Zero Grub

Drive-by dining when North Korea drops the big one

Temple of Tofu

Luck for everyone at Van Hanh Vietnamese Restaurant

Power Plants

Vien Huong gets the most out of vegetables

You'll Laugh, You'll Cry, We'll Sue