Congregation Ale House, the church themed pub and brewery ... [more]
Food & Drink
Pizza Upgrade: Three Updated Takes On a Classic
We love pizza. What we no longer love is the speedy/DIY type of pizza that is everywhere. It has a place in our busy lifestyle, yet we crave those pies that take time to perfect (And for once, we’re not talking deep dish). To settle those cravings, we ate a trio of round-ish dishes to […]
Eat This and Drink This Now: TRADE Food Hall’s Bites and Booze
For whatever reason, I often get called “boss” when dining. There are certain places where I expect to hear it, such as a recent family gathering at a Chili’s in the Inland Empire, but not in Irvine. So hearing, “Hey, boss” as I walked into TRADE Food Hall’s Center Hub made me take note. “Hey, […]
Chef Art Gonzalez Went Straight to the Source for Panxa Cocina’s Hatch Chile Roast-Out
Over the summer, Long Beach chef Art Gonzalez drove to New Mexico to meet with the state’s foremost academic expert in Hatch chiles, the seasonal sweet-then-hot peppers that have come to define the region’s complex history and cuisine. Every September, as New Mexico’s hot days and cool nights begin to turn into harsh winter, a […]
Quan Bun Co Giao Thao in Garden Grove Has a Dish That’s Horrible to Smell, But Wonderful to Eat
If you weren’t born or bred in Southeast Asia, then bun dau mam tom is something of an acquired taste. Served at Quan Bun Co Giao Thao in Garden Grove, the dish involves a sauce made from a fermented shrimp paste that can be best described as Vegemite with B.O. To put it mildly, mam […]
Now Open: Chaak Kitchen in Tustin and MORE!
Chef Gabbi Patrick of the popular Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen in Old Towne Orange has opened Chaak Kitchen in Old Town Tustin. According the website, the menu features Yucatecan and Mayan “staples of pibil, recados, seafood, smoke, and exotic spices.” 215 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA 92780 Robata Wasa by the owners of Izakaya Wasa has […]
Blinking Owl Where the Heck is Scandinavia? Our Drink of the Week!
When contemplating Fall cocktail names, Blinking Owl’s beverage director Megan Barton asks, “how does WuTang Jam Ain’t Nothin to Fig Wit sound?” while attaching a WuTang lapel pin to the glass. The drink, which is still being developed for Fall, has their Old Tom Gin, fig jam, lemon, pineapple, and Angostura bitters. But it’s still summer, and there’s […]
What the Ale! New Brewery Alert: GameCraft Opening Soon in Laguna Hills
While we wait for Modern Times to open Leisuretown sometime next year in Anaheim, near Leisure World in Laguna Hills, a new brewery is scheduled to open this week. GameCraft, a Scott Cebula project, has set its sights on millennials who like to drink beer and play adult-friendly games. “I really wanted to build something […]
Orange County’s Tiki Bars of the Past and Present Help You to Forget About Your Boring Life
Standing on what was a quiet orange grove more than half a century ago is a small faux grass hut. A diverse crowd gathers outside: tourists wearing mouse ears, children savoring the sweet tang of a frozen pineapple-flavored treat. Tiki enthusiasts drink in all the details of one of the last remaining sites of the […]
OC Grub Guide 8/30-9/5: If We Took A Holiday
Our collection of shareable bites this week is pretty darn tasty. We’ve got something for every spending habit, so embrace that holiday weekend and make those decisions. OCAPICA Tastemakers is Baaaaaaack! – Costa Mesa The Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA) made a major upgrade to its now annual event. Behold […]
Eat This and Drink This Now! Tear Into Ancient Grains and Booze at Tana
Not all eating experiences need to be educational. However, sometimes a dish is so foreign that it needs to be broken down and equated into something familiar. More than a decade ago, I had Ethiopian food for the first time in San Francisco’s Haight district, and it made quite the impact. Once I got over […]
Ammatolí Mediterranean Bites Is One of the Most Exciting New Restaurants in Long Beach
In classical times, a large swath of the Eastern Mediterranean—from Turkey through Syria and around the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt—was known as a single cultural region, with a shared history, its own Arabic dialect and a cuisine that reflected its location at the literal crossroads of the world. In Arabic, the area was called Sham […]
Eat Great Fish and Chips at Circle Hook as You Take in the Newport Harbor Scenery
There are currently four restaurants at Lido Marina Village, the revamped dockside mall that seems to be the epicenter of everything new and chic in Newport Beach these days. Of those four, Circle Hook is the only one that offers counter service. Beneath the words “Order Here” is a big opening through which you can […]
Ghost Scream Hot Sauce Burns So Good!
A great hot sauce requires fresh ingredients, a blend of original flavors, and a balance between spice and texture. By that measure, Ghost Scream is among the hottest and best. The San Clemente-based hot sauce, which offers a fresh mix of heat, flavor, and fresh ingredients, is on the verge of becoming a household name. Ghost Scream […]
A Trip to Flavor-town at the California Hot Sauce Expo
Somewhere in Flavortown, Guy Fieri was sobbing because he missed out on the 4th annual California Hot Sauce Expo at the Grove of Anaheim last Saturday. I can only imagine that his spice senses were tingling from his frosted tips to his flame shirt as he tumbled across the floor of his home yearning to […]
Now Open: DIY Sushi in Tustin and MORE!
At the new DIY Sushi in Tustin (which was formerly Kaminariya Yakitori Dining) , the name says it all: you build your own sushi. The restaurant offers plates where you choose your protein a la carte. Provided are the rice, nori seaweed, sauces, and trimmings to create your own rolls. 14071 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA […]
Heater Allen Lenzbock, Our Beer of the Week!
Beer flavored beer is something I’ve been on the hunt for lately. Tidy beers, as I like to call them, use four ingredients, usually have lower ABV, and ride the line between crushability and nuance; geek out on it if you want, but at the heart of it, they’re easy to drink and full of […]
OC Grub Guide 8/23-8/29: Head Outdoors!
Pooch-approved. Photo courtesy Pacific Hideaway. Treat Fido at Kimpton Shorebreak – Huntington Beach National Dog Day is this Sunday (read: NOT Hot Dog Day). To keep things in the spirit of pets and friendship, Pacific Hideaway is promoting Sit & Stay Sundays. Purchase $15 of food for yourself, and Hideaway will cover the food […]
What the Ale! California’s Craft Beer Summit
This, friends, is no ordinary weekend. To my left are Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co., chatting with one of the most decorated brewers in the world, Jeff Bagby of Bagby Brewing. To my right is Adair Paterno from Sante Adairius having a good laugh with Henry Nguyen from Monkish. Ken Grossman, […]
San Francisco-Based Food Truck KoJa Kitchen Opens a Brick-and-Mortar in Tustin
Even if I didn’t know that KoJa Kitchen started in 2011 as a food truck in San Francisco, it would’ve been obvious the minute I saw the menu. Here lies all the hallmarks of food-truck cuisine: fries drenched with toppings and Asian ingredients wrapped in Mexican tortillas. Of course, it all goes back to Kogi, […]
Long Beach’s Organic Fork Has Good Tacos and Better Tortas
The first time I went to Organic Fork, I ordered a romaine salad, thinking it would be a flagship that goes with the white walls, open kitchen and “healthy food” mantra. But as I sipped on an alkaline-water jamaica-lime agua fresca and stabbed into a compostable bowl of herbal, seed-loaded crunch (which still felt substantial, […]
Eat and Drink This Now! 320 Main’s Tiki Throwdown
We’re probably years away from robotic bartenders, but if any place could pull it off, it would probably be a tiki bar. Imagine thatched roofs, tiki mugs and a team of Westworld-like Don the Beachcomber robots blending tropical juices and rums, stopping periodically to oil up the joints of a Trader Sam’s Kelly Merrell animatronic […]