If you're not In-N-Out, Chik-fil-A or one of the other proven local stalwarts such as Lucille's Smokehouse or JT Schmid's, the only sure thing of doing business as a restaurant at The District In Tustin is that someone will take your place soon after you're gone. In its four short years of existence, the shopping/dining/entertainment complex built on top of the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station has seen a lot of restaurant turnover.
Who remembers The Cravery or Korner Grill, the Persian restaurant that came after? Or Tacone? Or that Aloha Hawaiian BBQ used to be Ono Hawaiian BBQ?
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Recent developments continue the story. Daphne's Greek Cafe is still there, more or less serving the same food, but rebranded as Daphne's California Greek. Bistro West came and went; now it's Pablo's Cantina's turn at bat. Sandella's Flatbread Cafe didn't last a year, paving the way for another newfangled franchise, Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Soon, Five Guys is slated to replace the bankrupted Johnny Rockets. And last but not least, Asian Mint got a facelift, now unrecognizable as Paigean Fine Asian Cuisine with a menu that's still largely Vietnamese as it has always been, but includes new items such as soba noodle salad.
As far as what's going to come and go next, check back in a couple of months.
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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.