A new Japanese BBQ restaurant called Shinobu has opened in Westminster. The menu has combo sets with the usual DIY yakiniku suspects such as ribeye and short rib as well as pork belly and jidori chicken. The beef and pork that come from Snake River Farms fetch a premium price.
15202 Goldenwest St, Westminster, CA 92683
Cafe Lafayette in Seal Beach has closed. A new restaurant called Country Cafe has taken its place. Pancake breakfasts are served as well as pastrami sandwiches and Philly cheese steaks for lunch.
330 Main St, Seal Beach, CA 90740
Hot Chicks Waffles & Co has opened in Westminster. It offers Nashville hot chicken in four levels of spice (Chill, Lit, Turnt, and Fire) and serves them with waffles. There are 5 varieties of waffles including a pandan waffle, a tater tot, and a mac-n-cheese.
8544 Westminster Ave, Westminster, CA 92683
Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen, the popular Brea restaurant that won our Reader’s Choice for Best Happy Hour, has now opened a branch in Irvine Marketplace. Along with Happy Hour, the restaurant offers Taco & Tequila Tuesdays and Enchilada Wednesdays. Menu items include wood-fired quest fundido and guajillo braised short rib enchiladas.
13126 Jamboree Rd, Irvine, CA 92602
The onigiri concept Musubiya Balls & Burgers has closed in Santa Ana and morphed into a new restaurant called Sushi Near Me. Onigiris are still served, but now joined by traditional sushi and specialty rolls, donburi, and yakisoba.
3701 S Harbor Blvd Ste F, Santa Ana, CA 92704
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.