Bruxie Number 2 Opens in Brea Today

Can you believe it's only been a year to the day that Bruxie opened in Old Towne Orange? It's been a few months since we broke the news, but as they promised, Bruxie opens their second location on their auspicious day in Downtown Brea, in the corner space formerly occupied by Fatburger.

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What can you expect from the new store? There's a new, expanded menu, which includes no-carb options like salads. There's a big (and free!) parking garage around the corner. There's more seating capacity, plus restrooms which the original location lacks.

They kept the outdoor ice-cream-shack feeling of the original location by installing roll-up garage doors and the wood-siding decor instantly gives the feeling of being outside even when you're inside. Also like Orange, the outdoor patio has a soft partition that can be deployed when the temperature dips to keep the sidewalk seating areas comfortably warm.

Some new menu items were sampled last night to bloggers, friends, and family, which will also be available at the Orange location.Three salads that used to be made by request only are now part of the regular menu.

  • Bruxie Salad shares some of the ingredients from the Roasted Mushroom & Goat Cheese sandwich: grilled chicken, romaine & arugula, roasted mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado dressed with lemon vinaigrette & balsamic reduction, all made from scratch.
  • The Albacore Tuna Salad, with romaine, arugula, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and chives, also shares its ingredients with the Albacore Bruxie, minus the carbs.
  • The Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, also with house-made dressing was my favorite new item. It has a parmesan cheese crisp that's made in their waffle-cone iron, which adds a toasty-cheese crunch. When I first heard about the crisp, I was expecting a thin, lacy, frico-like round of toasted cheese, but what came out was a substantially thick bowl shape that has a satisfying, crouton-like crunch, except it's pure toasted cheese.

On the sandwich front, we tried new items and seasonal special items alike.

Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork – slow roasted, moist pulled pork, dressed with house-made Bruxie BBQ sauce and topped with cider slaw. Being a BBQ guy, I asked if the pork was cooked in a smoker and it's not, but it's still a tender moist product that tastes great and has a great texture contrast with the crunchy slaw and the crisp waffle.

For dessert, there's the new Chocolate-Stuffed Liege Waffle. The Liege-style waffle starts with a denser, sweetened dough, not an unsweeted, yeasted batter like the Brussels-style waffle used in the sandwiches. To this sweeted dough, crunchy sugar pearls are added, and in this latest creation, Callebaut 60% dark chocolate is baked inside.

Every trip to Bruxie promises some seasonal, or even daily specials. This time of year, it's all about the Pumpkin Spice Shake made with their Wisconsin frozen custard. A more permanent drink is the Chocolate Covered Banana w/Peanuts Shake, reminiscent of those frozen, chocolate bananas you'd get near the beach on the Balboa Peninsula. A new cane sugar-sweeted grape soda was introduced, to which they add that vanilla frozen custard to make a Purple Haze Float.

Bruxie takes a lot of pride in using premium ingredients like smoked salmon from Michel Cordon Bleu, which is the best smoked salmon in Los Angeles, but at the same time, all of their waffle sandwiches cost $8 or less. As with their other location, Bruxie believes in sourcing seasonal produce from the local farmers community. Every Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m., the Brea Certified Farmers' Market sets up right out front of the new Bruxie, so expect to see some of fresh-from-the-tree apples and other produce in a daily special soon.

Bruxie 215 W. Birch St. Suite 1, Brea. 714-255-1188; 292 N. Glassell St. Orange. 714-633-3900. www.bruxie.com.

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