Restaurants

The bakery makes only two dishes: pita sandwiches and sphiha. Within this simplicity, though, lies culinary greatness. More than half of the sphihas are strictly veggie affairs, but not the expected roughage-heavy dishes. Instead, the main ingredients are spices—and not the spicy kind.... More >>

Some advice for visiting Alerto’s: Get a half-order of carne asada nachos, not the full order. The only difference between the two is the price. Both have the same amount of freshly fried chips smothered in cheese, beans, tender cubes of steak, pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. Only... More >>

I defy anyone to find a finer summer Friday night than the kind you get at Angelo's: a burger-fries-and-Coke combo for 6 bucks, a girl/boy by your side, nameless kids chucking pickles at one another, buxom waitresses skating without pause, and the half-Latino, half-white crowd communally willing... More >>

While the Avanti menu is strictly vegetarian, with faux meats and cheese, the steak-and-potatoes crowd will hardly notice or care. Every entrée, appetizer and dessert springs with flavor and heftiness. Is there anything more mainstream than a morning cup of joe washing down crunchy waffles? More >>

You’re tolerating brusque customer service here for the 10 choices of bánh mì, the foot-long sandwich that is one of the most delicious robberies in the gustatory world at $2.25 per stickup. Barbecue pork is charred to a ruddy crispness, yet it’s moist. Meatballs are... More >>

Thong Johnson, owner of Bangkok Taste, knows how to pack heat into her torrid Thai creations, like her luscious green curry and her garlic shrimp; no other Thai place I know of makes its own ice cream like Johnson's does. More >>

Start doing the math and you conclude that every barbecue place you've gone before Blake's has overcharged you. But apart from the reasonable rates, you marvel at how they've managed to make it look so easy. The food is served on Styrofoam plates; drinks are self-poured from a soda machine. This... More >>

They have two types of crab, but their specialty is crawfish, boiled in a large plastic bag full of Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper, garlic butter, or a combination of all three. It comes to your paper-bedecked table in a pail, and you go to work, prying open the heads and sucking out the innards... More >>

A warm, inviting bistro in a forgettable mini-mall in Cypress, Café Hiro is an oasis of Japanese cooking in a desert of chain restaurants. The menu features European foods cooked to the Japanese taste, such as spaghetti with tobiko or uni and Japanese curries. Start with perfectly roasted pork in ... More >>

California Fish Grill is one of those middle-class mini-chains common to Orange County—fancier than Knowlwood or Natraj but a step below Sage or the Daily Grill. The massive charbroiled fillets feature deep grill marks, and shine thanks to a powerful garlic-butter coating. Everyone should... More >>

California Fish Grill is one of those middle-class mini-chains common to Orange County—fancier than Knowlwood or Natraj but a step below Sage or the Daily Grill. The massive charbroiled fillets feature deep grill marks, and shine thanks to a powerful garlic-butter coating. All should also... More >>

California Fish Grill is one of those middle-class mini-chains common to Orange County—fancier than Knowlwood or Natraj but a step below Sage or the Daily Grill. The massive charbroiled fillets feature deep grill marks, and shine thanks to a powerful garlic-butter coating. All should also... More >>

As its name correctly implies, Com Tam Tran Quy Cap's specializes in com tam—plates literally built from the ground up with broken rice; the stubby, shattered rejects of the threshing process which was traditionally relegated as food for the peasant class. Now it's a delicacy and for good... More >>

The Crowbar and Kitchen is the kind of place OC's been missing. Sure, we've got fine dining up and down our coasts; great Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Mexican inland. But there's never been anything quite like chef Scott Brendan's new venture—a down-to-earth eatery which eschews... More >>

There are so many dosas at Dosa Place—dosas crammed with goat, stuffed with cheese, oozing with curried potatoes—you’ll probably overlook the rest of the platters. Don’t. Once in a while, scan the South India portion of the menu and devote a lunch to the idli, two rice-flour... More >>

Owner Mirna Burciaga made a name for herself by publicly opposing Costa Mesa mayor Allan Mansoor's efforts to turn his city's police department into a mini-migra and selling one-dollar Minutemen tacos. But she's more comfortable patting out great pupusas, which distance themselves from the... More >>

In a country in which each state has its unique version of the curry-like mole, Oaxaca is king, and El Fortín offers four stunning varieties of the royal family. I won’t even bother describing the house mole, as my tongue cannot possibly articulate this creation—only eat. More >>

In a country in which each state has its unique version of the curry-like mole, Oaxaca is king, and El Fortín offers four stunning varieties of the royal family. I won’t even bother describing the house mole, as my tongue cannot possibly articulate this creation—only eat. More >>

The best part about Go Goo Ryeo is that it’s a do-it-yourself Korean BBQ joint where everything is done for you. But to experience the full splendor of the service, come on a Friday, or better yet, a weekday, during which the ratio of restaurant staff to diners will be stacked in your... More >>

This Tustin Japanese joint continues to be a county Chowhound phenomenon more than a decade after its opening, one of the precious few Orange County restaurants with a daily past-midnight closing time and a 150-plus-item menu that necessitates hours-long pilgrimages just to dent it. Per the... More >>

Small though it is, Kappo Suzumaru is really two restaurants—a fast-paced sushi bar with comforting (California) and confounding (fermented soy bean?) rolls, and a leisurely main dining room separated by paper lanterns and banners stitched with slogans in katakana and kanji script. At some... More >>

King Lobster Palace is from the same mold as those eateries that seem to exist on every corner of every neighborhood in the SGV. Groups of families gather around tables with lazy Susans crammed with dishes. Frail-looking Chinese grannies, tykes barely old enough to chew and everybody in between... More >>

To the untrained eye (both gabacho and not), Las Brisas will seem like any other Mexican place: small; in a bad neighborhood; enchiladas, chimichangas and quesadillas on the menu and Jarritos in the fridge. But look at the menu again. Figure out which Spanish words have yet to become part of... More >>

Even if it weren’t in the toniest part of South Coast Plaza (above Tiffany’s), Marche Moderne would still be one of the best French restaurants in the county. Impeccable service by actual Frenchmen, a gorgeous patio with potted fruit trees, and a food tour de France prepared by... More >>

Mariscos Licenciado #2—the first is in Riverside County—sells Sinaloan seafood but lies landlocked in the same decaying commercial pocket JC Fandango calls paradise. Nevertheless, a coastal breeze flows through the simple eatery. It starts somewhere in Mazatlán, sweeps past the... More >>