From the outside, the new Marriott Irvine Spectrum resembles another one of Irvine’s yawn-inducing office towers. Built with equal portions of glass, steel and concrete, it’s a square-shaped skyscraper that’s neither tall nor architecturally distinctive. The inside, however, is a different story. Marriott invested its $120 million budget in making it, in its own words, […]
Now Open: A New Breakfast Joint in Laguna Hills, and MORE!
Mark your calendars to join us for #Easter #BREAKFAST, #BRUNCH or #LUNCH! #TMinus3Days . 📸: @hellomeridian! . #LePeep #butfirstLePeep #food #foodpic #foodpics #foodie #foodphoto #foodpicture #foods #foodlover #foodpost #foodbaby #foodcoma #delish #delicious #nomnomnom #eat #eats #seriouseats #easter #eastersunday #easter2018 A post shared by Le Peep Restaurants (Homepage) (@le_peep) on Mar 29, 2018 at 2:53pm PDT […]
Ditch the Utensils and Eat With Your Hands at Bawarchi Biryanis in Lake Forest
After several hours and multiple hand washings, my fingers still bear the aroma of the leftover biryani I ate. It’s because, for the first time, I used my bare hands to consume the entire plate. I was copying the two Indian gents at Bawarchi Biryanis. When I saw how they ate, I was mesmerized. In […]
Now Open: More Paris Baguettes, Another Panini Kabob Grill, and MORE!
Paris Baguette has opened another location. The one at Heritage Plaza in Irvine is its third in the city. The chain also opened a store in La Habra a few weeks ago. 14450 Culver Dr., Irvine, CA 92604. 1370 S. Beach Blvd., Ste. C/D, La Habra, CA 90631. The Kebab Shop, the “Mediterranean Comfort Food” […]
Tell Everyone Raw Bar By Slapfish in Huntington Beach Is the Best Place to Eat Oysters for Not Much Clams
Before Slapfish started franchising and expanding to more than 20 locations—soon to include South Korea—it was the first brick-and-mortar for a seafood concept that was previously a food truck. And when I reviewed that seminal store back in 2012, I spent nearly half the article talking about the oysters that founder Andrew Gruel served me […]
Now Open: Somisomi in Irvine and MORE!
Ube x Black Sesame ft.🍓Have a fintastic week! 📸@shelleyeatz 💜🖤🍦🐟#somisomi #ahboong #softserve #taiyaki #ube #blacksesame A post shared by SOMISOMI Icecream (@somisomiicecream) on Jan 29, 2018 at 7:01pm PST Somisomi a Korean soft serve dessert shop known for its taiyaki (a fish-shaped waffle cone) has opened in Irvine Spectrum. The franchise also has stores in […]
Two Former Kitayama Sushi Chefs Open Kakurega in Costa Mesa
If you know about Kakurega, you’ve no doubt also heard its owners are a pair of former chefs from Newport Beach’s venerable Kitayama. It was primarily for this reason that I featured the Costa Mesa eatery in our food blog’s weekly roundup of new restaurant openings last November. And it’s also why I decided to […]
Now Open: XA in Huntington Beach, On The Hook in La Habra, and MORE!
After closing its second store in Huntington Beach and then its original store in Orange, XA Sweet & Savory Cafe has reopened at a new location in Huntington Beach. 18685 Main St, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 Pirates Kitchen has opened in Fullerton advertising “Authentic Recipes from the Seven Seas.” Tostadas, seafood pastas, and crab boils […]
Golden Road Pub Is a Big, Boisterous Addition to Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle
For this review, I’m not going to bury the lede. With the exception of the vegan chocolate cake, I did not love the food I tried my first night at Golden Road Pub. But that doesn’t mean I’m not recommending the place—I do wholeheartedly. In fact, I’m looking forward to bringing all my friends with […]
Now Open: Anaheim’s Luigi’s D’Italia Resurfaces in Fullerton, and MORE!
Luigi’s D’ Italia, the Anaheim restaurant featured on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in 2011, has closed and reopened in Fullerton. Unlike the old menu at the original restaurant, the new menu makes no mention of their 15-minutes of fame (and ridicule) on the show. 1032 E Bastanchury Rd., Fullerton, CA 92835 A new crepe-centered restaurant called […]
Former Marine and CIA Grad Derrick Foster Makes Great ’Cue at Santa Ana’s Ember BBQ
The barbecue chain Lucille’s takes great pains to transport its customers to the South of fables, of rocking chairs on the front porch, of twangy blues music. It’s all artifice, of course, designed to convince you that the smoked meat you’re eating came from the recipe books of one Lucille Buchanan, a fictional character raised […]
Now Open: Two New AYCE Shabu Shabus and MORE!
Hoshi Shabu Shabu, an all-you-can-eat shabu shabu restaurant has opened in Brea in the Walmart-anchored plaza on Imperial and Kraemer. 2445 E Imperial Hwy., Brea, CA 92821 Miss Shabu Restaurant & Sake Bar, also an all-you-can-eat shabu shabu restaurant, has opened at the Zion-anchored plaza on Beach. 5450 Beach Blvd. Ste 102, Buena Park, CA […]
Legendary Vietnamese Restaurant Brodard Moves to Fountain Valley
In the ebb and flow of Little Saigon, Brodard was the Rock of Gibraltar. Since Diane Dang and her daughters opened this restaurant in 1996 at the Mall of Fortune—behind a 99-Cent-Only store in an alleyway past the dumpsters—it has arguably become one of the most influential landmarks for Vietnamese cuisine in the county, if […]
Now Open: Another North Shore Poke Co. and MORE!
North Shore Poke Company, one of the first poke stores to open in Orange County, has added a restaurant in Mission Viejo–its third in OC and seventh overall. 23052 Alicia Pkwy. Ste B1, Mission Viejo, CA 92692 Black Market Meal Prep, a meal delivery service business, has opened in the spot that was once Xa […]
Yes, the New Casa Barilla at South Coast Plaza Is Run By the Same Company That Makes Jarred Sauce
Just as most people, I always have a jar of marinara and a box of spaghetti in my pantry. The brand I happen to have in stock at the moment is Barilla. It’s not always the case, but my point is that I’m never more than 15 minutes away from a pasta dinner. So when […]
Now Open: New Dessert Shops In Santa Ana, Irvine, and MORE!
AhiPoki, a poke chain with a heavy presence in Arizona that’s expanding to at least 30 locations in California, has opened in Tustin. The menu features the usual assortment of cubed fish in an assembly line but also offers sushi burritos called Ahirrito and musubis stuffed with Spam or unagi. 15040 Kensington Park Dr. Ste […]
Japanese Chain Pepper Lunch Brings Its Meals on Superheated Cast-Iron Plates to Irvine
While I was in Houston last year, I went to the place many credit as one of the first restaurants to popularize fajitas: The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation. It speaks to the impact of this eatery that I shouldn’t have to mention the fajitas were served on a sizzling skillet. Thanks to this restaurant and […]
Now Open: Two New Ramen Shops and MORE!
Huntington Ramen has expanded to Downtown Fullerton. The menu–with bowls of ramen, sushi, and appetizers such as homemade tofu–remains the same as it was from the original store in Huntington Beach. 1325 E Chapman Ave., Fullerton, CA 92831 The ramen chain Hakata Ikkousha has opened a new restaurant in Lake Forest. Menu items are the same […]
Cambalache Does a Great Steak-and-Potatoes Dish, Argentine-Style
Is there anything better than a properly done steak? The answer to that is: Yes, when it’s paired with perfectly crisp potatoes. I had such a meal at the new Cambalache in Fountain Valley. It was utterly transcendent—one of the best steak dinners I’ve had in years. First, there was the steak itself; it wasn’t […]
Now Open: Another 85°C, New Seafood in Newport, and MORE!
85°C Bakery Cafe has opened in Tustin, it’s 7th store in Orange County. Another store is in the works at the Irvine Spectrum Center. 1100 Irvine Blvd., Tustin, CA 92780. A new restaurant called Hook & Anchor has opened in Newport Beach. It takes over the spot that used to be Beach Barrel. Featured items […]
Chef Cody Storts Settles Down With Wreckless in Fullerton
Before I talk about the food I tried at Wreckless, the new restaurant in Fullerton by chef Cody Storts, I must mention the branded merchandise. There was an entire wall of it: T-shirts and trucker hats, shot glasses and flasks, iPhone cases and money clips, even lapel pins and socks. The Wreckless logo, a “W” […]
