Angelina’s Pizzeria Napoletana has opened at Irvine’s brand-spanking new Los Olivos Marketplace near Irvine Meadows Amphitheater. The restaurant, the second Angelina’s in Orange County after Dana Point, joins Burger Lounge and Panini Cafe at the Whole Foods Market-anchored shopping mall.
8573 Irvine Center Dr., Irvine, CA 92618, (949) 536-5200.
Muscle Maker Grill, the health-conscious franchise already in 12 states, serves lean, protein-based dishes including greens, wraps, fit bowls, skinny flatbreads, fruit smoothies, and protein shakes. It takes over the space previously occupied by Tokyo Bento at City Place Shopping Center in Santa Ana.
2775 North Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705.
Alicia Whitney, owner of SeaLegs Wine Bar, has opened SeaSalt Woodfire Grill in the same parking lot as SeaLegs. SeaSalt features Chef Alexander Dale’s spin on Santa Maria-style BBQ with ribeye steak, tri-tip, lamb chops, and linguiça sausages on the menu.
21214 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA 92648, (714) 804-5545.
Cafe Ao Dai has opened in the Cafe M Cutie space in Garden Grove. As our earlier article stated, it’s upgrading the coffee offerings with Intelligentsia beans. Ao Dai also offers the drinks and snacks typically found at Vietnamese cafes like trai cay tron (fruit cocktail), dau dam (smashed strawberries) and sua da.
Cafe Ao Dai, 14331 Euclid St., Ste. 107, Garden Grove, (714) 884-3683.
Thai Town Eatery has opened in Old Towne Orange next to Zito’s in the old Old Towne Eatery space. Curries, stir-fries, as well as mango with sticky rice are on the menu.
152 N. Glassell Ste B, Orange, CA 92866, (714) 532-9600
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.