At Santa Ana’s 4th Street Market, Falasophy replaces the stall left behind by Terra. Falasophy marks the first brick-and-mortar venture for Rashad Moumneh’s Mediterranean concept, which was previously only operating as a food truck. Shawarmas and garlic chicken paninis have been added to the menu, as well as more Lebanese specialities such as kanafeh.
201 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Also at 4th Street Market, Civic has opened in the space vacated by KTCHN DTSA. Civic, which is owned by Mar’s Jon Melendez, is a resurrection of a concept he tried a few years ago in Santa Ana. Civic serves burgers with melted panela cheese, stuffed waffles, burritos and juices.
201 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701
A new pizza joint has replaced an older pizza joint in Irvine. Pizza 949 has now opened in what used to be New York Pizzeria. Pizza 949 serves Persian-style pizza.
13925 Yale Ave. Ste 135, Irvine, CA 92620
A new food truck called Broken Rice Truck has been spotted roaming OC, serving rice bowls with com tam (the Vietnamese term for jasmine rice whose grain has broken in half). Bowls come with protein choices of beef, chicken and tofu; two veggies, including corn, carrot, and Brussels sprouts; and sauces such as Sriracha BBQ, peanut sesame, and miso curry.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/eatbrokenrice
Cancun Juice has opened its sixth and seventh locations, both in Santa Ana. The sixth is in a former Chinatown Express on 1st and Harbor. The seventh is inside the MainPlace Mall food court. The chain, which is so far an exclusively OC phenomenon, specializes in tortas and all variants of fresh squeezed juice.
3835 W. 1st Street Unit D4 Santa Ana CA. 92703
2800 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA 92705
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.