I know this is a real estate forum but based on the Tustin thread apparently a lot of us love good food as well.

I am new to Orange County I just moved here 1 year ago from Ventura County so I’m pretty clueless regarding good restaurants. Since I’m holding off on buying a house for the next few months I guess I can afford to go out and have a dinner date with the wife a few times a month.

Food connoisseurs share with us your best restaurants! I need a good stake restaurant and please don’t mention Ruth and Chris coz that is one over priced piece of meat. I think your paying more for the ambiance than the food.

I pulled some of the entries from the other thread.

1.    Honda-Ya is a neat yakitori place, I prefer shinsengumi but these places  take a long time to get your food, so I wouldn’t recommend taking any "fast food nation" friends who start popping veins if they don’t get their food in 5 min. 

2.    Ango Tei at theSouth Coast Plaza area 675 Paularino for sushi (ask for the "shrimp boat" sushi)

3.    The Japanese BBQ place at 891 Baker (at Baker & Bear)

4.    Desert at Cafe Blanc (www.cafeblanc.us) 

5.    To get even better stuff, you’d have to drive to Torrance/Lomita to places like Tamaen ($$).  Itadakimasu!

6.    Pina’s Bistro on First and Yorba for Italian food. Mom cooks and runs it while the daughters cook and serve. Make reservations on the weekends and ask what was made that day. She makes her own pasta and sausage and they will make anything else you want that’s available.

7.    http://blacksheepbistro.com/ which is Mediterranean food and the Chef Rick Boufford and his wife Diana go to Europe every year to get new ideas. Every Wednesday he does a special dish which follows a seasonal change but everytime I try to make reservations they have no more room. In my opinion Black Sheep is one of the top five restaurants in OC. I would compare it to Pascals and Golden Truffle.

8.    Here is my entry Aire Global Cuisine in Costa Mesa it’s basically share your food type of deal. This place is so hidden it’s in a dead end of a walk path in a little outdoor mall. Its fusion style food from different cuisines. Each dish comes in 4 servings which everyone in the party can share. They have tiny Kobe Beef burgers that I highly recommend. It’s a club atmosphere and club type music oddly enough they don’t have a dance floor. They have inside and patio seating as well.

artichaze - I like your thinking. This is a housing blog but I think we should share our love for food.
Persian food - Darya. I remember going to the original place in Orange when it was just a 10 table hole in the wall. I am curious if anyone knows of a good Persian place that is a hole in the wall, I’d love to hear about it.
Best steak - http://www.trabucooakssteakhouse.com/index.htm It is out of the way for most in OC but well worth it. If you like wine the wine list is great and the mark up is so thin I can’t believe it. Warning don’t wear a tie. 
Indian - I have only been there once but Havali in Tustin on Newport was very good. I need to go back.
Middle Eastern - Rosines in Anaheim Hills is great. Another one where I remember when they were a 10 table hole in the wall.
Z Pizza is one of my favorites for pizza and Zitos is second.

Gina’s  -  I like their pizza

Roy’s  -  Not cheap, but their food is really good. Do try the spider crab rolls, excellent stuff. I think I need to call my friend up and go there again. My friend is a chef there and eating at Roy’s with him = discounts.

Pizza Port  -  On either Tues or Wed, their chicken wings are 25 cents each. It’s a bit far in San Clemente. I’ve only been to the one in Sonoma Beach. Brewery too.

Wing Nuts  -  Their Cajun chicken wings are really really good.

Gyu Kaku in Huntington Beach  -  Good Japanese bbq, a bit pricey.

There are a bunch of restaurants in the Westminster area but I can’t recall their names. Had really good Viet spring rolls there and misc Korean food.

For reviews on OC restaurants, check out elmomonster.blogspot.com/

For some good reviews of Mexican restaurants in OC, check out the blog at Orange County Mexican Restaurants

I found this site via OC Fliptrack

Sounds like Irvine is in desperate needs of good restaurant.  We should all complaint to Mr. Bren.
When my  clients ask where they can go for night life in the North Irvine Area.  I told them Ophah!  Could some one help me here?  Thank you.
 

Irvine Co hates non chain restaurants because they are risky.  So all we have are bland, plastic chains with a few exceptions. 

Gina’s: I don’t know about their food, but they have $5 pitchers on Thursdays with a decent selection of beer.  A UCI staff favorite.

My favorite Mexican restaurant is Mario’s on Main in Huntington Beach.  It has been there longer than I have been alive.  There are like 10 Restaurants named Mario’s in Huntington, be sure to go to the right one.  It is on Main just west of Beach Blvd.

Javier’s in the Irvine Spectrum has good Mexican food.  Stay the hell away from there on the weekends though.  Insane crowds.  The original Javier’s in Laguna was closed by an angry landlord unfortunately.

For the best Prime Rib ever, go to the 5 Crowns in Newport beach.  Pricey, but great atmosphere and the prime rib is to die for.  Take a nice walk to the beach with your date after stuffing your face. 

The best burger in Irvine is at Knowlwoods in old Irvine near the 5 and sand canyon. 

One place that I am addicted to is Curry House on Culver and Walnut.  It is a chain, but I can’t get enough of that Japanese Curry.  Not a sushi place.

A more traditional Japanese restaurant, Taiko on Jeffrey and Walnut, always has a line out the door.  It is good if you like that kind of stuff (sushi).  Not really my thing though.

Irvine is a relatively "new" town and the restaurant selection is a bit lacking, comparred to Costa Mesa or Newport Beach.  Most of the Japanese restaurants in Irvine aren’t teribly authetic, though Clay Oven on 15435 Jeffery has decent Indian food.

Roy’s in Newport Beach has some interesting Asian-fushion dishes, and a tasty lychee martini.  Next door to Roy’s you’ll find Fleming’s Steakhouse at 455 Newport Center Drive.  Go there on Sundays and order the prime rib special.  Do make reservation and if you get there early, you could go look around at Newport Fashion Island.

If you don’t want to go very far, Tustin Marketplace has a couple decent places like French 75, but don’t order the steak there.  Across the parking lot from French 75 is Opah’s, they have 3 locations in South OC.  Try their Kobe beef burger, it’s quite good but ask for medium rare and tell your waiter to remind the cook NOT to overcook it.  Most of their drinks are fixed price (flat rate) so you won’t get a surprise on your bill.

At corner of Jeffery & Alton, there’s a Mexican place called El Cholo, their food is pretty good.  If you’re willing to drive, there are many good restaurants up the 405 FWY.  For Japaense noodles or yakitori, try Shinsengumi on Brookhurst in Fountain Valley.  For Japanese BBQ, try Gyu-Kaku in Torrance—the service is better than the one in Huntington Beach.  Remember to fill out a customer feedback card and you’ll get $10 coupon in the mail.

If you’re willing to pay for kobe beef, go to Tamaen (www.tamaen.com) in Lomita.  They have a web cam on the web site, find a table covered by the live web cam, then call your friends to watch you eat.    Get the expensive stuff, then sliced beef tongue with salt and lemon (cook, dip in salt, squeeze lemon juice, eat).  Order the lemonade there, it’s quite good.

For Cuban, try Habana at 2930 Bristol, it’s down the street from South Coast Plaza.  I’m not overly impressed with the restaurants inside South Coast Plaza, but there are quite a few scattered around it that are pretty good.  Just drive around the mall and up and down Bristol.  There’s a BBQ place by Bristol & Bear that’s open until 1 AM, if you missed dinner.

Well I am a fat kid and proud of my fatness so here is my take:

Beer and Wings:  Wingnuts Costa Mesa.  Great staff, good selection of beers, tv’s, and great wings

Steak:  Mortons South Coast Plaza.  Similar to Ruth Chris in price. 

American Cuisine:  Bandera Corona Del Mar.  Great atmosphere and they have a great salad along with unbelievable rotisserie chicken, sorry for the misspelling.

Breakfast:  Mutt Lynch’s Newport Beach.  Yes I know its a bar but their breakfast is fabulous and it is actually a very tame place in the mornings, will even see familys in there.

Sushi:  Maru’s Costa Mesa.  Great sushi, cheap, and if you are nice to the waiters they will give you free saki and edimame.

Mexican:  Javier’s Irvine Spectrum.  I heard that the Laguna one was closing but haven’t been down their in awhile.

Italian:  Luchiano’s Dana Point.  Awesome fresh fish dishes and on special nights will have a filet that melts in your mouth.

Sports Bar:  none.  I really wish they had a good sports bar here with cheap beer, greasy food, and golden tee.

sports bar: danny k’s in orange.  and i believe they have golden tee!

 
Many thanks, you guys are making me very hungry.

Gulliver’s its a nice place to eat… good luck
-bix

Sports Bar/Pub - Patsy’s Irish Pub on Golden Lantern & Crown Valley - great corned beef tacos.

Cornbeef tacos….that is different sounds good.

Mino2126
It is different. Consists of a flour tortilla with shredded corned beef, white cheddar cheese, and cabbage, with horseradish sauce and salsa on the side - yummo

Oh, almost forgot—

Jerry’s dogs on 17th street (www.jerrysdogs.com)

You can ask for all the toppings you want, including grilled mushrooms, saurkraut, bell peppers, etc.  Kind of like "subway" of hotdogs.  It’s expensive comparred to Costco hotdog + drink special, but tastes better.

Jerry’s Famous Deli by South Coast Plaza and the Performing Arts Center. They have really good food of all kinds.

www.jerrysfamousdeli.com

Thanks Zovall! I almost forgot Gabbi’s in old town Orange for Latin/South American. Absolutely the best in OC.

Mmmmm…

For steak, I would recommend Turner New Zealand or Morton"s.  Heck, everything we had at Turner was good.  You do pay for it though.

For "fast food" Mexican, I like Taco Mesa (www.tacomesa.net).  There are several, but the closest one to here is on Chapman in Orange.  Rose Canyon Cantina near Trabuco has good (if not particularly authentic) Mexican.  Props also to Rancho D’Mendoza on 4th Street in downtown Santa Ana.  Your waitress’ English might be limited but the margaritas and food are great.  There is Las Brisas (formerly Los Panchos) on Broadway near 4th in SA - it is good AND cheap.

Also down Chapman is Johnny Reb’s for barbeque.  The pulled pork and fried chicken are excellent.  If you don’t mind the wait, Lucille’s is very good barbeque, too.

For breakfast, there is The Filling Station in Old Towne Orange, and Park Avenue (http://www.parkavedining.com/) in Stanton.

For a casual place, we really like Gypsy Den (good breakfast and lunch) and for a casual dinner, Memphis (http://memphiscafe.com) is good as well (and reasonably priced).  These are either in the Artist section of downtown Santa Ana or in Costa Mesa at The Lab.

And since man (or woman) cannot live on food alone, I’m partial to the Wine Exchange in Orange (www.winex.com) for wine purchases.

Sadly, I get no spiff for any of these recommendations.

Okay I tried Wingnuts tonight. It was a full house and we came there at 9pm. I got worried that their wings were really spicy so I went with a 2 flame wing. That didnt even tickle my taste buds next time I go there I’m ordering the 4 flame variation.

Keep the recommendations coming!

Taco Mesa,  the best Mexican food you can find.  I go to the one in Costa Mesa.  A must try.

Oh the best ribs is Tulsa Rib in Orange on Collins and Tustin. I haven’t been to Johnny rebs in a long time so I must go back.
I need to go to Turners because I went to high school with the manager there. Hopefully I can get a high school discount too.
I swear nirvinerealtor I am not picking on you but Taco Mesa has gone down hill in the last few years. As trivial as this sounds they changed their pinto beans to refried and I haven’t been back since. I emailed them too and no response. It may not count for much of their business but I did spread the word about them and I know that if you multiply it out they should at least respond to my email. They did open a Taco Rosa in the marketplace though so I will go check that out.  

The closest "Taco X" to Irvine is Taco Rosa in Newport Coast on San Miguel, behind the Pavilion supermarket.  My wife insists that I point it out…

For chinese dim sum, go to China Garden on Walnut and Jeffrey; for dinner go to Sam Woo on Culver and Deerfield.  At all cost avoid the Sam Woo in Costa Mesa.  For home style chinese food, go to Phoenix-something at Walnut and Culver.  There may be better chinese food elsewhere, but these are the best in Irvine.

And yes, we love Honda-Ya in Tustin too!  Get there early or risk standing on line forever.

When we lived in Manhattan we went to a great Scandinavian restaurant called Aquavit.  Is there any good one around?

By the way, does anyone else think Maestro’s in Newport Coast (on PCH) is overrated too?

Can anyone recommend a good Mongolian BBQ place?

Don’t know of any Mongolian BBQ in the Irvine area, but know of a good one in Fullerton.

Mad Wolf

<address>      4110 N Harbor Blvd

Fullerton,      CA   92835   </address>
(714) 879-6651    

Fairly inexpensive, all you can eat at $10 a person…or is it $8.

I wouldn’t bother with Chinese food in Irvine. None of them are any good. You’d be better off traveling to Hacienda Heights / Rowland Heights in LA County.

This is not Mongolian BBQ but if you like Persian food I highly recommend Paninni in Corona Del Mar.   My g/f and I go their quite often and you can get a  2 filet cabobs, bruschetta, a bottle of wine, desert, and an espresso for less than $100.00.  Might sound like alot of money but you can eat on all of this for 2 days.