Water Grill has opened in the spot vacated by Scott's Seafood in Costa Mesa, across from South Coast Plaza. Water Grill is part of the King's Fish House chain, which already has Water Grills in Santa Monica, Downtown Los Angeles, and San Diego. The 17,500-square-foot restaurant has an oyster bar among other features in a building that's an entirely new construction.
3300 Bristol St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
The Backhouse has opened in Huntington Beach's Pacific City. This restaurant, like the three other Backhouses in L.A., specializes in sushi, raw oysters, and Japanese-style skewers roasted over a robata grill.
21058 Pacific Coast Hwy. #M250, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
The old Steamers Cafe space in Downtown Fullerton is now The Public House, a pub by the Evans Brewing Co. The restaurant serves “Brick Oven Puffy Flatbreads”, sandwiches (including a pub burger and grilled portobello banh mi), and “Big Plates” of salmon, chicken, and flatiron steak.
138 W Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, CA 92832
A vegan ice cream shop called Hug Life has opened in Garden Grove. The dessert shop's slogan is “Anti-Milk Ice Cream N Stuff”. Flavors include mango chamoy, taro, and Thai tea, which can be had in a cup or tucked in inside a waffle cone folded into a taco-shell.
14241 Euclid St. Ste. C115, ?Garden Grove, CA 92843
The space vacated by Knowlwood near the train station in Downtown Fullerton is now Crawfish Cave. The restaurant serves the same kind of boiled seafood steeped in Cajun spices as The Boiling Crab and its kin, but also ceviche, garlic noodles, and Hawaiian-style shrimp plates.
150 South Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92832
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.