If you work close to Brea, have a carpool buddy, or are a glutton for freeway punishment on a Friday night, keep reading after the jump. Everybody else: Taste of Newport is about 24 weeks away.
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Is attending Taste of Brea worth your time? That's a valid question. Here's what we know.
The event is from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. in downtown Brea, on the corner of Birch Street and Brea Boulevard. For $20, participants wear a wristband good for unlimited tastes. Even if portion sizes aren't all that, just go back in line and get some more, right? It doesn't mention a cash bar, so the custom wine shop, gastropub and breweries present may have samples of the alcoholic variety. Shame on them if they don't (I'm talking to you, Cha Cha's Tacos & Tequila). Entertainment includes the band Echo Love Chamber and mixes from Moonlight DJ. Wait, is this like date night?
With dual Edwards Theaters, plus shops Color Me Mine and Bath & Body Works, this hints at a girls night out. Don't act like you're not going to walk it off inside Old Navy across the street. Afterwards, there's still the rest of the weekend to do other stuff. Oh, and I count at least five of the twenty-four-ish establishments listed will be serving meatless options for the Lenten crowd; which reminds me, here's the list:
- Cantina Lounge
- Cha Cha's Tacos & Tequila
- Chick-fil-A
- City Grill & Spirits
- Colette's Catering & Specialty Cakes
- Corner Bakery Cafe
- Embassy Suites
- Entourage Gastropub
- Fresca's Mexican Grill
- Kabuki Japanese Restaurant
- Lomeli's Italian Restaurant
- Loving Hut Brea
- OC Custom Wine
- Panera Bread
- Red Brick Pizza
- Rubio's Mexican Grill
- Sciacca's Social Club & Grill
- Summit House
- TAPS Fish House & Brewery
- TGI Fridays
- The Melting Pot
- Two Forty South
- Yard House and more!
For more information on Taste of Brea, check out their Brea Chamber of Commerce page.
A contributing writer for OC Weekly, Anne Marie freelances for multiple online and print publications, and guest judges for culinary competitions. A Bay Area transplant, she graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management from Cal Poly Pomona. Find her on Instagram as brekkiefan.