I don't know if this has been done before, and if it has I'm sorry. Me and my girlfriend just moved to South Orange County not too long ago. We've been trying to find some good restaurants to try, as most of the places near where we live are just chains (not that there's anything wrong with that) with your regular run of the mill type food. We are looking to get some advice from the locals on what some of your favorite restaurants in the OC are. We're open to all kinds of food so all suggestions are welcome and appreciated! Just fill in any of the following if you can:

The best place to get Chinese is...
The best place to get Italian is...
The best place to get Mexican is...
and so on....

Thanks!

 

San Clemente - gotta get your tacos at Pedro's Tacos (550 N. El Camino Real); it's a great "taco stand"

Dana Point
- good live jazz/rock every night at the Renaissance Cafe; it is a restuarant (corner of Del Prado and Golden Lantern)

Mission Viejo - El Torito Grill (this is an upscale El Torito) in the Kalaiedescope off of Crown Valley; it's fine Mexican dining.

Those are right off the top my head.

 

If you like fine Persian Cuisine, try Caspian Restaurant exit Culver off the 5fwy and head west, it will be in the 1st shopping center on your left.

 

Eyetalian = Ti Amo in Laguna Beach, (More of a Seafoody type Italian but outstanding with exceptional service)
Mexican = El Patio Cafe in Dana Point, (been there for 40+ years and still has the best authentic California style Mexican food out there)
American = Ceder Creek Inn at Laguna or San Juan, (extremely comfortable place with hearty American fare at a reasonable price)
French = French 75, (Pricey with excellent decor and high quality food by David Wilhelm)

More to follow........................

 

They actually have a great little Philly Cheesteak chain called Philly's Best with several locations. The one that I used to go to was in Rancho Santa Margarita. There was also a really good Mexican place in Mission Viejo, but I forgot the name of the place so I'm sorry I can't be a whole lot of help (and I'm sure there are a lot of good Mexican places in Mission Viejo, so try a few random taco shops and find your favorite one).

 

These places all sound good. Gotta start trying some of them. Good thing the weekend's coming up. And thanks everyone for your suggestions so far! And for those that haven't posted and know of some places, keep them coming!

 

Ditto on Pedro's Tacos in San Clemente!!!!

Italian - Sabatino’s Lido Shipyard Sausage Company
Sushi - Tomikawa on Jeffrey in Irvine.
Nice Restaurant - Pinot Provence at the Westin on Bristol.
Mediterranean - Rosine's Mediterrenean Cafe. (It's in Anahiem, but worth it.)

Lucca Cafe, Irvine.

That's all I can think of for right now. Enjoy!

 

Best Japanese, not only in OC but in CA, is Kappo Honda in Fountain Valley on Magnolia. The place is hard to find, and even harder to find a place to sit.

 

Best Pizza: OC Pizza in Rancho Santa Margarita
Best Italian: Cosmo's Irvine and Las Flores
Best Chinese takeout - Panda Express - all over
best sadly closed Chinese take-out - Mr Wok formely on El Toro
best English grub - Muldoons in Newport Beach - if you happen to go there on Sunday Lunchtime you may find a LOT of Mini's too.....



Best Mini Friendly car Wash - Las Flores (Antonio and Oso)

 

Wouldn't that be Irish grub?

 

My favorite Italian place around is Jersey Joes on 5th and Olive in downtown Huntington. Joe just got elected to the HB city council Tuesday, so I hope he doesn't change his menu!

Opah in Irvine is good mixed faire.

Good takeout Asian fusion on the cheap side is Pei-Wei - several in OC

My favorite fish & chips and Scotish Bridie is at The Olde Ship British Pub in Fullerton and Santa Ana.

Kings Seafood just opened in Huntington a few weeks ago and their fish is excellent!

Best pizza IN THE WORLD is at A Slice of New York on Main Street in Seal Beach.

A cafe just opened in Old Town Orange called - umm, well, it slipped my mind but they have excellent Paninis and gelato. I'll post the name when I remember it.

 

Possibly

growing up in a Irish dominated family in the UK I kind of lost track of what is English and Irish

 

They have both Irish and English food. There really isn't a big difference though.

 

I know, I was just joking.

I used to have an office in the building next door and I ate lunch there nearly every day. I could nearly live off the soda bread and jam!

 

No Kidding! That stuff is the thing dreams are made of. Whenever we go I take 5 loaves home for later.

Rick, we're having our SSOCMCC meet there this Sunday. You're welcome to join.



Marc-Andrew

 

For a treat, take your girl to the Chart House in Dana Point, on the hill overlooking the harbor, beautiful view.
NOT CHEAP

Bill

 

So is this just South OC?
Truly, the best tacos are going to be north of the 55/405/Orange Crush!
My favorite hole-in-the-wall is the Little Caboose on the S/E corner of Beach Blvd./Ball Rd. in Anaheim. They've got cheap domestic or Mexican beer and a cool jukebox. There are only four tables and a counter for dining. On any given night, you might run in to the local ladies-of-the-night, Anaheim PD, or working class folk just stoppin' in for some good eats.

I recommend the shredded beef tacos with plenty of salsa!

-Juan

 

There are some good chains, but I'm trying to avoid those by your request, other places I remember...
Aliso Viejo
- Mangia Bene's my favorite Italian, great spot for dinner (corner of La Paz and Pacific Park next to Home Depot, the owner's dad cooked for 3 U.S. Presidents and passed on those qualities to his son who owns the restaurant), personally, I like the atmosphere better than Cosmo's

Dana Point
- seafood is pretty good at Wind n Sea (Dana Point Harbor), the prices are reasonable

 

Sounds charming.

 

Just tried out a new Dim Sum place in the Quail Hill Shopping Center - it's called Crystal Jade. It's pretty good for the OC, otherwise you're gonna have to dry north to Monterey Park.

Another good authentic Chinese restaurant is called Tri-Village on Jeffry and Bryant in the Kohl's Shopping center. Very good, especially the Peking Duck.

Best prime rib has to be Ruth Chris...just melts in your mouth. Ruth's is located in the Michelson Marketplace on Jamboree and Michelson in Irvine.
Runner-up, Gulliver's on MacArthur across from John Wayne..Braddabring baby.

Indian Cook House on Culver near the I-5 in Irvine is one of the best Indian places. Go there for buffet, you get more to choose from. Dinner there is also great. The food is really good and tastes very authentic.

Good persian restaurant is Darya in Costa Mesa. Elegant and the food is wonderful.

Peruvian food... Norry's in Lake Forest off of Rockfield. Very authentic and has a really good lomo saltado and leche de tigre. Another good restaurant is Mama Inkas in Foothill Ranch.

Really good italian food is Capriccio Italian Restaurant on Marguerite between La Paz and Oso in the Trader Joe's shopping mall.

French Restaurant - Pascal's in Newport Beach on Bristol. It also has a french bakery next door to it, c'est tellement delicieux!

Cheap but excellent eating places:
Wahoo's (the one at the Irvine Spectrum stays open later)
Lee's Sandwiches (UCI or Westminster) really cheap but good sandwiches.
Jerry's Famous Deli in Costa Mesa...mmm kosher..pastrami reuben is awesome.
Pho Bac (University and Michelson or Barranca and Yale Loop) good Vietnamese food in Irvine (otherwise you have to go to Westminster).

A good grocery store that also has foodcourt is Wholesome Choice in Irvine (Culver and Michelson). Good produce for less, plus it has Indian, Chinese, Deli, Kebab, American already cooked food to take home.

Happy Eating!

 

Mmmm! Lee's is great but can be crowded! (That how good they are.)
They also have shops in Fullerton, off Harbor/Orangethorpe and a new restaurant not far from here in Artesia.

 

I like Pho 54 on Brookhurst in Westminster.

 

I like that place too...and they're open 24 hours. Parking is a pain sometimes.

 

One drawback.... you have to pay with cash but it's worth it.

 

That's where we went for our anniversary a couple months ago!

And wow, the suggestions just keep on rolling in. I think we have a new place to try each weekend for the rest of this year and maybe the next!