It's kind of poetic actually. Two fast food outlets replaced by one that touts its un-fast-food-ness. What's more it's The Flame Broiler, a homegrown chain that began life 14 years ago in Fullerton. Their claim to fame? Rice bowls that are made without frying, trans fats or MSG.
The two fast food joints it will replace are Wienerschnitzel and Steak Escape at the Crossroads in Irvine.
And I don't mean that you get two Flame Broilers for the trade; there are two other Flame Broilers in Irvine already (This one will make three).
You see, at the Crossroads, Wienerschnitzel and Steak Escape were neighbors. Both were cramped as all hell, with just enough room to order your heart-cloggin' combos and leave. Flame Broiler's going to need to knock down a wall and claim the space taken up by both stores to set up shop.
What's more interesting is that it's going to be located directly facing Sagami, which is a mom-n-pop Japanese joint that offers rice bowls of its own.
If Sagami's worried, they needn't be. I know The Flame Broiler's Achilles' Heel: They take off the skin from its chickens, which Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny will tell you, is the BEST PART!
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.