FruiTea Boba has opened in Orange. Along with milk teas, lattes, and fresh brewed hot tea, this new drink and dessert shop specializes in fruit-infused teas such as the “Strawberry Field” which is layered with macerated strawberries and the P.O.G., a Hawaiian-inspired tea punch with passion fruit, orange, and guava. Also popular: a mango chamoy slushie complete with a tamarind-covered straw. 146 S Main St, Ste L, Orange, CA 92868
The Tapioca Express at Jamboree Promenade in Irvine has shuttered and is now BZ Bees, a new restaurant that serves a variety of noodle soups, including one with braised beef. A limited selection of teas is still served. 2636 Dupont Dr, Ste 40, Irvine, CA 92612
A new Lebanese restaurant called Shish Taouk has opened in Mission Viejo. The menu features shawarma (in chicken or beef and lamb), beef shish kebab, chicken shish taouk, kafta kabob, and falafel. 24001 Via Fabricante, Unit 901, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
The Chicken Rice, a Hainan chicken rice specialist, has opened in Santa Ana. Also on the menu: teriyaki chicken, orange chicken, and chicken curry. 318 W 5th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701
A new outpost of the South Bay-based The Crab Shack has opened in La Habra. Specialties include butter-and-spice-steeped seafood, garlic noodles, and pan roasts. 1367 W Whittier Blvd, La Habra, CA 90631
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.