Shawn Gole's Huntington Beach restaurant finally gives the Hawaiian standard its full, undivided attention
By EDWIN GOEI,
April 12, 2012
We Mainlanders like to stereotype Hawaiians as obsessed with heavy meals such as plate lunches or loco moco, but the true religion is poke. A... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Irvine gem makes amazing hamburgers from a corporate Irvine office tower
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
April 12, 2012
No restaurant in Orange County deserves an upgrade in location more than Mick's Karma Bar. From this former juice stand come some of the best... More >>
Irvine's version of a San Diego restaurant that flies against Donald Bren's beige boringness
By EDWIN GOEI,
April 05, 2012
We sat under a leafy olive tree. If not for butcher-paper placemats, the cold, metal surface of our table would've sapped the warmth from the... More >>
The Irvine restaurant teaches you well with its grade-school theme and Taiwanese food
By EDWIN GOEI,
March 29, 2012
You're sitting at an actual wooden school desk. There's a cubbyhole for stowing your books and an indentation carved at the top so your pencil... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This La Habra dive impresses every possible way
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
March 29, 2012
In the world of searing condiments, few are as caustic as a properly made mojo de ajo—olive oil spiked with garlic, the soy sauce of Cuba. Too... More >>
Dealing with epic lines for wonderful meals at the Long Beach breakfast institution
By EDWIN GOEI,
March 22, 2012
You might better know the mile-long stretch of Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero in Long Beach as Cambodia Town, the center of all... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This San Bernardino landmarks deserves a pilgrimage from all lovers of Mexican food
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
March 22, 2012
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Taco Bell, the Irvine-based giant that fundamentally changed how Americans consume Mexican food. But 2012... More >>
When I re-evaluate the best burgers I've eaten in my life, the most memorable are usually from dives, greasy spoons, places where I can see,... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Buena Park Indian restaurant is leading the city's subcontinental renaissance
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
March 15, 2012
In 1999, Buena Park residents loudly protested when a group of Hindus proposed to build a massive temple in the city that Knott built. "I don't... More >>
Extron owner Andrew Edwards has invested major coin into his restaurant and saloon
By EDWIN GOEI,
March 08, 2012
It's said that Walt Disney created Disneyland because he wanted a place to spend time with his daughters. Andrew Edwards, the owner and president... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana restaurant sells pho, bun and other Vietnamese faves to a Latino clientele
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
March 08, 2012
In the wild and wacky world of food translations, few have proven more good-natured-but-incongruous than what the owners of Pho Binh in Santa Ana... More >>
There are two things you must get at Orea Taverna: the saganaki and the pyato souvlaki. Both are table spectacles of the kind that make you turn... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Anaheim eatery sells quesadillas more deity than tortilla
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
March 01, 2012
There was no such thing as regional Mexican restaurants in Anaheim while I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s. There were tacos made similar... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Irvine food court gem makes Orange County's best fish and chips—and more
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
February 23, 2012
The Palm Cafe Food Court in Irvine might be the ugliest place to eat in Orange County: a large hall with inexplicably high ceilings, rickety... More >>
Inside the hyperkinetic career of the novice chef-turned-cooking star
By MICHELLE WOO,
February 16, 2012
RULE NO. 1: NO KETCHUPJason Quinn loves ketchup, but he won't serve it because he can't make ketchup that is "not evil." Heinz and Hunt's, he... More >>
This Newport Beach restaurant is the cheaper, fast-casual sister of the venerable Laguna Beach original
By EDWIN GOEI,
February 16, 2012
The last time I ate the woefully underappreciated sausage called boerewors, it was at a now-shuttered South African bar in Long Beach. It's as... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] This Little Saigon standard excels with the dishes of Central Vietnam
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
February 16, 2012
They sit at every table at Huong Giang in small glass bowls: long, smooth, fire-engine-red peppers pulsating with the promise of their alluring... More >>
This Buena Park restaurant takes Korean food and its beef short rib soup beyond the borders of Little Seoul
By EDWIN GOEI,
February 09, 2012
Have you noticed? Little Seoul, once constrained within the confines of Garden Grove, is slowly spilling into sections of Buena Park, spreading... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] A Santa Ana food cart makes bacon-wrapped hot dogs and other Mexican street treats
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
February 09, 2012
Don't believe the hype about street food taking over Orange County in the past couple of years—there is no such scene outside of Santa Ana. Luxe... More >>
This Lake Forest restaurant offers beer-can chicken and other delicious alcohol-laced oddities
By EDWIN GOEI,
February 02, 2012
I'm willing to bet that most people have never met beer-can chicken in the flesh. You may have seen the dish on a recent episode of Top Chef:... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] The Costa Mesa dive perfects Italian-American classics
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
February 02, 2012
"I've turned into a food snob," managing editor Nick Schou told me as he watched me scarf down a bowl of caesar salad at Ciao! Deli & Pizzeria in... More >>
[Hole In the Wall] The Garden Grove Vietnamese dive sells fake meats even a Midwesterner could love
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO,
January 26, 2012
The appearance of the vegetarian lemongrass chicken at Hoa Sen is limp, almost revolting: dun-colored lengths of soy shaved to the thinness of... More >>
We all seem to think we know how to run a restaurant regardless of whether we've ever owned or operated one. So when you find yourself in a restaurant that… More >>
Here's the dirty secret about Mexicans in Orange County and Mexican food: most of us nos vale madre that so many regional treasures exist in these parts. If you're from… More >>
Get with the Reconquista, people: This is carne asada country, so stop trying to slow-roast 'cue in some overpriced contraption, only to get results not worthy of a Memphis trash… More >>
It was Sunday night at Peking Dragon Restaurant in Dana Point, one of only three Chinese eateries in the seaside city, and every Naugahyde booth was taken. You had to… More >>
"That sauce bit you in the end, right?" the owner of Papa's Fish & Soul Food in Anaheim cracked from across the dining room, and I had to nod yes.… More >>