Restaurants
OC NewsLocal News BlogMoxley ConfidentialAsk a MexicanArchives SearchWeekly NewsletterGet MobileHey, You!
OC RestaurantsFood BlogFind a RestaurantReviewsMenusDealsHappy HoursDining NewsletterGet MobileRestaurant Ads
Restaurant Reviews
1176 Reviews
Display
Results per Page
Joseph Mahon Plays Burger Parlor Games The local-born chef returns to OC, and he's cooking burgers
,
July 14, 2011
Don't let the goofy, bright-orange T-shirt emblazoned with "I'm Juicy" deceive you. The man who wears it while serving your burgers at Burger... More >>
Rose Bakery Café Is the Dough-Right Man
This Corona del Mar spot looks yuppie, but makes doughnuts worthy of Anaheim
,
July 14, 2011
Maybe it's the Anaheim boy in me, but I always find something reassuring, even comforting, in going to Newport Beach and enjoying a plain ol'... More >>
Starfish Is Asian, But of No Persuasion The Laguna Beach restaurant relies on tried-and-true 'Oriental' tropes for its so-so food
,
July 07, 2011
Have you ever noticed the more brightly lit a Chinese restaurant is, the higher its prices? Think of those grand San Gabriel Valley seafood... More >>
Home Style Dumpling for Mandoo Tonight
[Hole In the Wall] This Tustin eatery in a grimy liquor store specializes in Korean dumplings
,
July 07, 2011
I keep a general rule about not reviewing restaurants that open in locations that once housed dives I previously covered. It's dumb logic, sure... More >>
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar Has a Tiki Track of Mind The food at the Disneyland Hotel's new Polynesian-themed bar and eatery is beside the point
,
June 30, 2011
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel is a full-circle distillation of everything that came before it, descended from the... More >>
Birrieria Chivo de Oro Is the Golden Goat
[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana eatery will scare away OC Register readers—more birria for us!
,
June 30, 2011
Poor Jeff Overley. He's a good reporter for The Orange County Register who usually covers Newport Beach, but also contributes posts for the... More >>
Neveria Flor de Mexico Offers a Treatise on Icy Treats [SUMMER GUIDE] Where to go this summer for frozen fun you can eat
,
June 23, 2011
You needn't settle for McDonald's soft serve, a convenience-store slushie or another overplayed frozen yogurt when the sun sizzles and you're... More >>
Nuoc Mia Mania: Catch It This Summer! [Hole In the Wall] Where to find the best Vietnamese sugarcane juice in Little Saigon
,
June 23, 2011
Dozens of refreshing ethnic drinks have passed my lips in a decade of reviewing OC restaurants: the U.K. favorite Vimto, Russian peach soda,... More >>
The Family Business: Mark and Sam Lewis The son tried to stay away from 'the fish thing' for a while, but now he's the main man at Dry Dock Fish Co.
,
June 16, 2011
Sam Lewis never wanted to be a fish guy. When it came time to choose a career, he fought the very idea of it. He could be a firefighter, or a... More >>
101 Noodle Express Teaches You Chinese 101 It replaces Irvine's Nice Time Deli, but is it worthy of the legend?
,
June 16, 2011
A plastic banner is currently draped over the Nice Time Deli marquee in Irvine, the longstanding Taiwanese restaurant that was the gateway for... More >>
Chili Chutney Offers Spicy Charity
[Hole In the Wall] This Lake Forest restaurant offers Afghan cuisine and the best dumplings in the world
,
June 16, 2011
Shalah Wadood is a woman who radiates care, the kind of restaurant owner whose permanently etched-on smile is genuine, who asks how your meal is... More >>
Delius Restaurant Is the Real Deal Getting to know the ambitious Signal Hill restaurant beyond the first crush
,
June 09, 2011
For a place surrounded by auto dealerships and housed in a building butted up against a menacing electrical substation, Delius Restaurant has a... More >>
Le Cafe Is a Non-Smelly Deli
[Hole In the Wall] This Costa Mesa spot does the impossible: serve great office-park cuisine
,
June 09, 2011
There's a genre of Orange County restaurants I like to call Smelly Delis, those restaurants in office or corporate parks open only on weekdays... More >>
Pinoy Pam's Best Gets to the Point-Point Eating Filipino in OC means turo-turo, so go for the latest and greatest in Lake Forest
,
June 02, 2011
Imagine if the only place you could get a burger was the drive-thru, or if the only Chinese restaurant around was Panda Express. If you are a... More >>
Banh Mi So Is a Big Buffet in Little Saigon
[Hole In the Wall] This Vietnamese buffet in Westminster changes its dozens of offerings by the hour
,
June 02, 2011
While Edwin is right to laud the Filipino turo-turo tradition as the pinnacle of buffet experiences, the Vietnamese are not far behind. Most of... More >>
St. Roy Chef's Pub Is the Cure for the Common Gastropub You can get great food, excellent beers and top-flight wines at this San Clemente bar—just don't call it a gastropub
,
May 26, 2011
If you're wondering why St. Roy Chef's Pub is called that and not St. Roy Gastropub, it's because owner Justin Monson thinks "gastropub" sounds... More >>
Jang Mo Gip Is Like Mother, Like Daughter
[Hole In the Wall] The Garden Grove Korean favorite moves locations but keeps its great soups.
,
May 26, 2011
About a month ago, I sat down for dinner with Lauryn Chun, head of Mother-in-Law's Kimchi, her attempt to mainstream the Korean staple. She has... More >>
Song Long Looks Through the Water Glass Don't mind the harried service at this Little Saigon classic and focus on its fabulous French Vietnamese meals
,
May 19, 2011
When reviewing a place like Song Long Restaurant, we must dedicate at least one sentence to explaining how its existence contradicts its... More >>
Taqueria Don Victor Makes You Taste the Baa
[Hole In the Wall] At this Huntington Beach treasure, Hidalgo-style cookery shines
,
May 19, 2011
What is it about Huntington Beach that it gets great Mexican restaurants that its residents don't deserve? Tacos Jerez, Tacos El Chavito, any... More >>
G Burger Hits the G Spot George Makri's La Habra burger stand straddles the comfortable center between dives and boutiques
,
May 12, 2011
There hasn't been a better time to get ground beef stuffed in a bun than now. While Five Guys and the Habit have ramped up to aggressively chase... More >>
Banzai Bowl Offers Acai of Pleasure
[Hole In the Wall] This surfer-hippie outpost specializes in America's latest miracle-fruit fad
,
May 12, 2011
Banzai Bowl isn't a restaurant so much as it is a statement of status: specifically, that if you patronize this corner spot on the Costa... More >>
Tilted Kilt Offers Blarney Boobage The Long Beach quasi-pub follows the Hooters model of booze, breasts and burgers
,
May 05, 2011
How Hooters earned the ire of women's rights groups while Tilted Kilt escaped their notice is a mystery. Perhaps Tilted Kilt is too young a... More >>
Dos Chinos Are Chinitos Chidos
[Hole In the Wall] This Asian-Latino luxe lonchera represents the present-future OC
,
May 05, 2011
I'm pleased to announce our next OC Weekly food event, which will happen this Wednesday in the parking lot of the Fullerton Public Library from 5... More >>
At Renzo's, Life Is a Ceviche Surfer Renzo Macchiavello creates Incan favorites in Irvine
,
April 28, 2011
You may have been to the food court about a block away from John Wayne Airport, home to the glowing, golden deep-fried fish at the Chippy and the... More >>
Mandoorang Dumpling House Is the In-N-Out of Korean OC
[Hole In the Wall] This Buena Park diner offers great dumplings and other late-night Korean munchies
,
April 28, 2011
We have 24-hour taquerías and diners that don't close until last call. There's the always-open Lee's Sandwiches in Garden Grove, as well as... More >>
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, dining info & more!
From the Print Edition
Bistrot Massilia: Butter Up!
You realize the futility of having a reservation for Bistrot Massilia on the Thursday night before Mother's Day weekend when you get there. There's not a soul except for the… More >>
How Undercover Animal Rights Activists are Winning the Ag-Gag War
Cody Carlson had no way of preparing for this moment. He was a Manhattan kid, days removed from working as an analyst for a business-intelligence firm, where he scrutinized corporations… More >>
Little Sparrow: An Auspicious Egg
Some food critics are of the opinion that you can't judge a restaurant in its opening weeks, that you need to give them time to work out any kinks. Some… More >>
At Inka Mama's, Mami Knows Best
There used to be a different Peruvian restaurant at the very spot Inka Mama's has recently claimed as its fourth Orange County location. By all accounts, it did a very… More >>
Pho Quyen: Absolutely Sweet Little Saigon
We're now reaching a point in Little Saigon's history where the old-school places are slowly but surely changing. Some are closing shop; others are moving to richer environs in South… More >>
For a Hot Time In Old Huntington, Go to the Black Trumpet Bistro
The eateries you'll see on the 5-mile stretch of Beach Boulevard as it extends from the 405 down to Pacific Coast Highway can have the randomness of what sticks on… More >>
Chixy Natural: Twirl-a-Bird
"Hey, man, you still going to use that?" the surfer-ish type guy asked as I scarfed down my meal at Chixy Natural. Oh, my lack of manners! This Costa Mesa… More >>
Best Of
Browse Voice Nation
-
Voice Places
Find everything you're looking for in your city
-
Happy Hour App
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
-
Daily Deals
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
-
Best Of...
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
Join
Log In
- Profile
- Newsletters
- Mobile
- Logout
