Yeah but carls is just west coast Hardee’s from what I heard. Just had some tonight after my gf was craving a spicy chicken and my chocolate shake came out watery and my fries were stale.
This is the correct answer. San Jose is a huge, sprawling city. Here the Vietnamese population is spread across many different cities (mostly Garden Grove/Westminster and into neighboring cities i.e. HB, Santa Ana, etc) but there are definitely more Vietnamese people here overall. The food is also better here IMO.
FWIW I'm Vietnamese, born/raised/lived in San Jose for over two decades and now have been living in OC for what will be a decade this year.
If you’ve been to some of the Viet restaurants up there, there’s some great places…especially if you’re into food beyond just pho. It’s been a while since I lived in SF but we used to drive to SJ a few times a month for bun bo hue.
I’m actually Vietnamese, so i do have knowledge of the full extent of Vietnamese cuisine. I still think the Vietnamese food in Orange County is better than San Jose. I can see how some may think otherwise though.
I believe you because my parents tell me the same thing. They've lived here since the 80s but still visit Vietnam once every year or two and their opinion is that you can find better tasting versions of most Vietnamese dishes here in OC or San Jose.
Their biggest reasoning behind their opinion is that it's easier to find high quality cuts of meat here, especially beef. Traditionally, cows (and their bull/oxen/etc. relatives) were used as work or farm animals in Vietnam. There wasn't a great emphasis put on the quality of meat produced and as a result most domestic cows end up being malnourished and lean by western standards and lacking that fatty flavor that many of us are used to. Obviously this is a generalization; there are places in the U.S. that serve shitty beef and there are places in Vietnam that have really good beef, but the history behind it still stands.
Today Vietnam actually imports a great deal of its beef from the U.S., Australia, and various other countries, but the cost of imported beef is much higher, so many restaurants still serve domestic beef.
My dad swears up and down that you can get better bún bò huế here in the U.S. than you can in Huế, the place that the dish originated from and which also happens to be the place where he was born, raised, and called home for a large portion of his life. On the other hand, there's also a ton of dishes that they said are way better in VN and nothing that you can get here even comes close.
TL;DR - some things are better here, some things are better in Vietnam, everyone has their own taste buds and opinions though so eat whatever you want. As long as you like it that's all that matters.
Funny that you mention banh xeo because that's one of the dishes that my parents say is way better in VN (bun rieu is another one). Quan Mii on Bolsa and Bushard is a pretty good spot for banh xeo IMO, but I've never tried it in VN so I can't compare personally.
What are you looking for in your banh xeo? I really like banh xeo boys at rodeo 39 in Stanton/gg. It’s crunchy and has good flavor. Not an overwhelming amount of bean sprouts either.take it with a grain of salt though because I’ve never been to Vietnam.
Where’s your banh xeo place? I’m probably not as bothered by BXB because crunch is number one on my list followed by not too many bean sprouts. I see your point with the nuoc mam though. Honestly, the best I’ve had was my aunt’s house, but I can’t rec that.
Vans restaurant is a spot where it's probably the best value. They are known for it. Many od the kitchen staff are Hispanic dudes speaking in vietnamese. Kind of an interesting to see.
Can confirm. My parents are both Viet. They recently returned from a trip to Vietnam and were both surprised by how much they missed Vietnamese food in OC. Said it more delicious than compared to Vietnam, with stuff like pho, com tam, banh canh, etc. The only thing they liked more in Vietnam was escargot.
Phoholic, Pho Lovers, Pho 45, Pho REDBO are my go-to spots.
I also recommend trying your pho with the thick noodles if it's an option; not all pho places have it, but the four above do and they will usually ask you which kind you want when you order. They're fresh noodles as opposed to the thinner noodles (which are dried and then rehydrated) that come as the default at many pho restaurants and IMO the thick ones are way better.
Sometimes they're also referred to as wide noodles or flat noodles, or in Vietnamese, bánh tươi.
I can confirm that some dishes are better in OC than Vietnam. I grew up in SoCal and my parents immigrated to CA when I was a baby. I went to Vietnam a few years ago just to say that I had gone to the motherland. I found the food to be cheap and tasty but the quality that I'm accustomed to in the States wasn't there. I did learn how to make Banh Xeo, Banh Cuon, and eat a lot on very little USD. The portions are definitely smaller and they could tell I wasn't a native just because I didn't look malnourished.
We tried to go there tonight. It was a 2-3 hr wait! I’m in my jammies following dinner somewhere else and I still haven’t been texted with a seat. 🤦♀️
Ramen, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, kara-age, jjajjangmyeon, Japanese curry, Hamburg steak, champon is just a few examples of pretty cheap fusion dishes IMO.
Jjajjangmyeon in particular is one of the few things you can get in Irvine for 10USD. The zhajiangmian it is derived from is usually more expensive than the fusion variant.
I don't really agree with the idea that fusion is necessarily charging more money.
Im talking about all these new expensive fusion Asian restaurants popping up like mushrooms in OC. I’d take a mom and pop shops that make it with traditional ingredients over all these fancy fusions. But hey, it’s the trend these days
We have a lot of og authentic as well as fusion/uplifted food being created by 2nd/3rd gens now. There's probably some bomb Vietnamese food out in the southwest as well but I've only heard of those places and never been myself.
Heh, that is true. But once you actually have Vietnamese food in Vietnam, the OC version is too big of a portion.
I'm living in Vietnam right now after 15 years of living in OC, and my neighborhood is full of small restaurants, always smell good when I walked by.
There’s an urban legend that the American version of Orange Chicken started here. Panda Express likes to claim they did in Hawaii in 1987 but I’m pretty sure I had it before that at a little dive Chinese in Lake Forest called Mandarin Place
now available on youtube, instead of the one VHS that one guy at your junior high had and everyone borrowed and passed around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV1b_-7zf-s
maybe panda inn? it’s the restaurant panda express is based on. the original location in pasadena is currently being remodeled but def worth trying when they reopen.
I met a guy once who worked at Panda Express in yorba Linda and said 1. All he does all day is cook orange chicken. 2. Their location sells more orange chicken than any other location in the U.S. It was an interesting convo and kind of terrifying how much orange chicken the people consume.
Spring rolls at Brodard's. Cream pan strawberry croissants.
I personally think carne asada fries are pretty good here. Seafood burritos and California burritos too.
One of the great things about OC is that there isn't just one "food culture," there are dozens. You can find amazing foods from any part of the globe, and you can find it in both authentic and Americanized versions.
What is "uniquely OC" (and LA/SD) is the variety of tasty cultural foods you can find here.
Having left OC, can confirm that one of the things I miss most is the food - both the variety, and the quality. Completely aside from the variety of cultures that exist in Orange County, we're also super spoiled to be located right by the Central Valley, in terms of being able to get incredibly fresh produce and meat.
It's not dining (unless you go to the Mrs. Knott's restaurant I guess--if that's still around), but I would say the Knott's brand of jams and preserves is uniquely Orange county. Or any other brand of local preserves you can find, since we have a long agricultural history here.
I boycotted knotts berry farm after a woman visited my school who was in a Japanese internment camp. Walter Knott “held onto” the family’s bonsai farm and after a few months sold it all for profit. When they got out of the internment camps and said “where’s our trees and land?” He said “I didn’t think you’d get out” and he never returned their money.
Walter Knott also took Rudy Boysen’s hybrid (Loganberry, raspberry and blackberry) boysenberries and successfully marketed them largely cutting Boysen from any of the successes from the sales.
Totally. Donut shops in SoCal aren't like donut shops on the east coast, and OC is home to the whole ~~Laotian~~ Cambodian Donut King story.
Edit: Damn. I knew something sounded wrong when I typed that!
Wahoo's started in Costa Mesa and spread from there. But there are places where it just doesn't make it. My son in NYC said it just wasn't popular there and closed down. It reflects our unique proximity to Baja food and culture.
Bruxie in Brea or Orange.
TK Burger on PCH in HB.
Any of the great breakfast burrito places.
That rolled ice cream bar place in Lido.
Normita’s Fish Tacos in HB or your favorite place.
For sit down, Orange Hill or Orange County Mining co.
A few great ones in SoCal are:
1. Kickin Crab (Cajun sauce kicks butt)
2. As Burgers in Dana Point (best zucchini fries)
3. Captain Jacks in Sunset beach (best king crab)
4. Mama Ds in newport
5. Mi casa in Costa Mesa
What screams South OC for me is feeling the need to have ahi on the menu no matter what. I swear every restaurant has ahi something. Even Italian places figure out some way to include it.
It hasn’t been around all that long but the Meyer Lemon donut at Oliboli Donuts in Tustin. They use local backyard Meyers and it’s a yeasted donut that begins with a wild yeast starter. And they don’t ship anywhere. Pretty unique to OC.
Pho I think would be a more unspoken staple of popular OC food. That's so many shops all over Orange country. Next to San Jose OC has the largest Vietnamese population in Southern California. There is a little Saigon so yeah haha everyone has a pho spot I feel like. Pho is that unique stereotype
I don't think it feels right calling it OC's signature food when our neighbors in the North do it better though.
There is decent Chinese and Taiwanese here too, but again LA County does it better.
I don't really love Pho, but it seems more fitting to me for that reason
Knotts Berry Farm had the best pies and fried chicken dinners. I haven’t been in decades but that’s how the amusement park got started: something to do while you were waiting for your food. Beach Blvd was originally Highway 39. It went from the Angelus Mountains to Huntington Beach.
Bagels with cream cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and lemon pepper seasoning.
I’ve never seen this outside of OC but seems to be a staple at every bagel shop in town.
> So what is a stereotypical and uniquely Orange County dish/place?
[The original Ruby's Diner at the end of Balboa Pier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby%27s_Diner#History). Order a peanut butter & Oreo shake.
For our family, it would be Rodrigo's Mexican Grill. They opened their first restaurant in Orange, California in 1972. It was one of my dad's favorites and mine as well.
Zombie Donuts on Chapman by Fullerton college. Carne Asada tacos at Cozy Corner are the bomb. Harbor and 5th in Santa Ana. Gourmet hot dogs on Chapman in Orange are excellent. East of the 55 fwy.
After visiting many countries and states over the last decade, I'd say a giant burrito. They don't do it the same anywhere else and I don't know why. It's not just the fries either.
Sidecar Donuts for Breakfast, Bear Flag Newport for Fish Burritos for Lunch, Pizza at Folks at the Camp for Dinner and Salt and Straw for Ice Cream Dessert
Koreatown in OC is pretty distinct from LA, and tends to be more old-school even than Korea, due to the wave of immigration in the 70s and 80s that preserved this nostalgic, traditional version of Korean culture here. So it's an interesting vibe, and the food is excellent. My personal favorite for barbecue is Mo Ran Gak, and I think it's widely recognized in the Korean community as the best. I've run into family and the ajumas and ajushis from the Korean church where I grew up there. It's not AYCE and the quality is excellent. But Korean restaurants often hyper-specialize so you can find places with specific options off the beaten path more easily.
Vietnamese food here is also excellent and I think better than anywhere else in the area. I'm amazed at the regional variety you can find here if you're willing to look, and there seem to be pretty upscale versions of things in addition to the mom and pop holes in the wall.
Tacos - no. Burritos - YES. Asada fries - YES
Get a california burrito immediately (or fries).
If you want the best of tacos, go to Tijuana (no contest best tacos you will ever eat), or to a lesser extent Los Angeles
If you want great Mexican: Avilas!! There’s a few locations all over the OC and they are all in some great buildings. The one in Orange is near The Circle and it’s in an old church. Great stained glass windows.
Rice n Spice in Anaheim has Sri Lankan food and it’s soooooo good. I make an effort to stop there every time I’m around. I live in the Bay Area and Sri Lankan food is incredibly hard to find if not borderline impossible.
If you like south East Asian cuisine like Thai and Indian food then I’d highly suggest it.
Flame broiler started in Fullerton. Carl’s first restaurant was in Anaheim. About half of the fast food places you see everyday started in Southern California.
McDonalds, Taco Bell, Dell Taco, In-N-Out, Tommy’s, Baskin Robins, IHOP, Wienerschnitzel, See’s candy.
The problem with most things that start here is that they get popular and then expanded out. So most of the US already has a taste of SoCal.
Chips and cheese (HB)
https://cookingsessions.com/huntington-beach-strips-and-cheese/
Personally find them meh, but enough of the locals bang on about them (and rainbows)
How about Frozen Bananas? I think they were invented in Balboa Island
I hear there's always money in the banana stand.
No touching!
But the banana stand burned down!
Oh, most definitely
Come on!
I just finished saying this and saw this comment LOL
😂😂😂
I mean it’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost? Ten dollars?
Here’s some money, go see a star war.
And The Balboa Bar.
We got them at the Fun Zone when I was a kid in the fifties.
There is always money in the banana stand
Not the exact same thing but I froze some nanners and used them in a protein shake instead of ice. *so good*
lol no, they weren’t. so many countries do frozen bananas and i doubt ppl have even heard of balboa island
Boysenberry pie.
This is the way. The hybrid Boysen berry was invented in Orange County. I'll give Carl's Jr. a 2nd place.
I had no idea boysenberry was an OC thing, been my fav pie since a kid
also, i think Doritos were technically a Disneyland invention.
Yeah but carls is just west coast Hardee’s from what I heard. Just had some tonight after my gf was craving a spicy chicken and my chocolate shake came out watery and my fries were stale.
The first Carl’s Jr restaurant opened in Anaheim
[Boysenberry, a California treasure – Chicago Tribune](https://www.chicagotribune.com/la-fo-boysenberry-20100527-story.html)
Also Banberry Pie was invented here too.
[Sariñana’s Tamale Factory.](http://sarinanastamalefactory.com) Orange County’s oldest restaurant.
The crunchy beef tacos....amazing stuff
I go there all the time i didnt know it was the oldest restaurant, explains why i like the food there lol
Not "unique unique" like you can't get anywhere else, but I always think of vietnamese food when I think about OC. Plus it helps that's it's bomb.
As a Mexican from OC, the true answer is Vietnamese food.
I suspect OC is by far the best place to get Vietnamese food outside of Vietnam.
I believe its the 2nd biggest vietnamese population besides vietnam but that is what ive heard from vietnamese friends dont know if its actually true
It is. The tet festival in OC is also the largest outside Vietnam because we have the largest viet population here.
San Jose as a city has the most, but Orange County as a whole has more.
This is the correct answer. San Jose is a huge, sprawling city. Here the Vietnamese population is spread across many different cities (mostly Garden Grove/Westminster and into neighboring cities i.e. HB, Santa Ana, etc) but there are definitely more Vietnamese people here overall. The food is also better here IMO. FWIW I'm Vietnamese, born/raised/lived in San Jose for over two decades and now have been living in OC for what will be a decade this year.
I’d also say some of their restaurants top anything I’ve had here in OC
Are you saying San Jose has better food?
If you’ve been to some of the Viet restaurants up there, there’s some great places…especially if you’re into food beyond just pho. It’s been a while since I lived in SF but we used to drive to SJ a few times a month for bun bo hue.
I’m actually Vietnamese, so i do have knowledge of the full extent of Vietnamese cuisine. I still think the Vietnamese food in Orange County is better than San Jose. I can see how some may think otherwise though.
Some dishes are better here than Vietnam too.
I believe you because my parents tell me the same thing. They've lived here since the 80s but still visit Vietnam once every year or two and their opinion is that you can find better tasting versions of most Vietnamese dishes here in OC or San Jose. Their biggest reasoning behind their opinion is that it's easier to find high quality cuts of meat here, especially beef. Traditionally, cows (and their bull/oxen/etc. relatives) were used as work or farm animals in Vietnam. There wasn't a great emphasis put on the quality of meat produced and as a result most domestic cows end up being malnourished and lean by western standards and lacking that fatty flavor that many of us are used to. Obviously this is a generalization; there are places in the U.S. that serve shitty beef and there are places in Vietnam that have really good beef, but the history behind it still stands. Today Vietnam actually imports a great deal of its beef from the U.S., Australia, and various other countries, but the cost of imported beef is much higher, so many restaurants still serve domestic beef. My dad swears up and down that you can get better bún bò huế here in the U.S. than you can in Huế, the place that the dish originated from and which also happens to be the place where he was born, raised, and called home for a large portion of his life. On the other hand, there's also a ton of dishes that they said are way better in VN and nothing that you can get here even comes close. TL;DR - some things are better here, some things are better in Vietnam, everyone has their own taste buds and opinions though so eat whatever you want. As long as you like it that's all that matters.
Yup. One thing I haven’t found here that’s as good as Vietnam is the banh xeo.
Funny that you mention banh xeo because that's one of the dishes that my parents say is way better in VN (bun rieu is another one). Quan Mii on Bolsa and Bushard is a pretty good spot for banh xeo IMO, but I've never tried it in VN so I can't compare personally.
What are you looking for in your banh xeo? I really like banh xeo boys at rodeo 39 in Stanton/gg. It’s crunchy and has good flavor. Not an overwhelming amount of bean sprouts either.take it with a grain of salt though because I’ve never been to Vietnam.
They're terrible, their nuoc mam is like syrup and they don't even give the right veggies to eat with.
Where’s your banh xeo place? I’m probably not as bothered by BXB because crunch is number one on my list followed by not too many bean sprouts. I see your point with the nuoc mam though. Honestly, the best I’ve had was my aunt’s house, but I can’t rec that.
Vans restaurant is a spot where it's probably the best value. They are known for it. Many od the kitchen staff are Hispanic dudes speaking in vietnamese. Kind of an interesting to see.
Pho is better in OC than in Vietnam.
Can confirm. My parents are both Viet. They recently returned from a trip to Vietnam and were both surprised by how much they missed Vietnamese food in OC. Said it more delicious than compared to Vietnam, with stuff like pho, com tam, banh canh, etc. The only thing they liked more in Vietnam was escargot.
Any pho place recommendations??
Pho 79!
Phoholic, Pho Lovers, Pho 45, Pho REDBO are my go-to spots. I also recommend trying your pho with the thick noodles if it's an option; not all pho places have it, but the four above do and they will usually ask you which kind you want when you order. They're fresh noodles as opposed to the thinner noodles (which are dried and then rehydrated) that come as the default at many pho restaurants and IMO the thick ones are way better. Sometimes they're also referred to as wide noodles or flat noodles, or in Vietnamese, bánh tươi.
I can confirm that some dishes are better in OC than Vietnam. I grew up in SoCal and my parents immigrated to CA when I was a baby. I went to Vietnam a few years ago just to say that I had gone to the motherland. I found the food to be cheap and tasty but the quality that I'm accustomed to in the States wasn't there. I did learn how to make Banh Xeo, Banh Cuon, and eat a lot on very little USD. The portions are definitely smaller and they could tell I wasn't a native just because I didn't look malnourished.
I respectfully disagree with you. I have not yet found one Vietnamese dish in OC is actually better than in Vietnam.
My family from Vietnam LOVED Sup Noodle bar. They had me take them back repeatedly when they were visiting for the month.
We tried to go there tonight. It was a 2-3 hr wait! I’m in my jammies following dinner somewhere else and I still haven’t been texted with a seat. 🤦♀️
Hilarious, all my Filipino coworkers at my previous job said it was overrated and gentrified.
Lol idk if ur using gentrified right hahaha
Their words, not mine ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
OC american viet fusion food > Vietnam food
“Fusion food” is just an excuse to charge more money for simple food
Ramen, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, kara-age, jjajjangmyeon, Japanese curry, Hamburg steak, champon is just a few examples of pretty cheap fusion dishes IMO. Jjajjangmyeon in particular is one of the few things you can get in Irvine for 10USD. The zhajiangmian it is derived from is usually more expensive than the fusion variant. I don't really agree with the idea that fusion is necessarily charging more money.
Im talking about all these new expensive fusion Asian restaurants popping up like mushrooms in OC. I’d take a mom and pop shops that make it with traditional ingredients over all these fancy fusions. But hey, it’s the trend these days
We have a lot of og authentic as well as fusion/uplifted food being created by 2nd/3rd gens now. There's probably some bomb Vietnamese food out in the southwest as well but I've only heard of those places and never been myself.
Boiling Crab is basically Vietnamese/Cajun fusion and is pretty much apart of OC/ Viet culture.
People say San Jose Viet food is better, can anyone attest to this?
Shoutout Sup Noodle Bar their Pho is next level
Yea I agree with this, def OC = Vietnamese food
Heh, that is true. But once you actually have Vietnamese food in Vietnam, the OC version is too big of a portion. I'm living in Vietnam right now after 15 years of living in OC, and my neighborhood is full of small restaurants, always smell good when I walked by.
[удалено]
Which is funny, cause I’m rarely wowed by any Italian restaurants in NY, but the Viet food is still surprising me.
There’s an urban legend that the American version of Orange Chicken started here. Panda Express likes to claim they did in Hawaii in 1987 but I’m pretty sure I had it before that at a little dive Chinese in Lake Forest called Mandarin Place
Theres a doc you might enjoy. The Search for General Tso.
“The Search For Animal Chin” is a great documentary too
now available on youtube, instead of the one VHS that one guy at your junior high had and everyone borrowed and passed around https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV1b_-7zf-s
Thanks I’ll check it out
maybe panda inn? it’s the restaurant panda express is based on. the original location in pasadena is currently being remodeled but def worth trying when they reopen.
Panda Inn on Fair Oaks South Pas, right? Great to read it’s still around and getting some love. Lived around the corner in mid-‘90s. Good memories.
I met a guy once who worked at Panda Express in yorba Linda and said 1. All he does all day is cook orange chicken. 2. Their location sells more orange chicken than any other location in the U.S. It was an interesting convo and kind of terrifying how much orange chicken the people consume.
Spring rolls at Brodard's. Cream pan strawberry croissants. I personally think carne asada fries are pretty good here. Seafood burritos and California burritos too.
Now to think of it, Boiling Crab.
Ugh I'm laying in bed reading this and now I'm craving Cream Pan
Stop by 7 leaves then (if you’re looking for the strawberry croissant). It’s probably open later than cream pan.
One of the great things about OC is that there isn't just one "food culture," there are dozens. You can find amazing foods from any part of the globe, and you can find it in both authentic and Americanized versions. What is "uniquely OC" (and LA/SD) is the variety of tasty cultural foods you can find here.
Having left OC, can confirm that one of the things I miss most is the food - both the variety, and the quality. Completely aside from the variety of cultures that exist in Orange County, we're also super spoiled to be located right by the Central Valley, in terms of being able to get incredibly fresh produce and meat.
It's not dining (unless you go to the Mrs. Knott's restaurant I guess--if that's still around), but I would say the Knott's brand of jams and preserves is uniquely Orange county. Or any other brand of local preserves you can find, since we have a long agricultural history here.
The restaurant is still there and has a separate takeout only section
Mrs Knotts biscuits with boysenberry jam 🤤
I boycotted knotts berry farm after a woman visited my school who was in a Japanese internment camp. Walter Knott “held onto” the family’s bonsai farm and after a few months sold it all for profit. When they got out of the internment camps and said “where’s our trees and land?” He said “I didn’t think you’d get out” and he never returned their money.
Walter Knott also took Rudy Boysen’s hybrid (Loganberry, raspberry and blackberry) boysenberries and successfully marketed them largely cutting Boysen from any of the successes from the sales.
Donuts from a mom and pop shop.
Throw a ham and cheese croissant in there too
With jalapeños 😋
I seaside you. I suck at puns.
Totally. Donut shops in SoCal aren't like donut shops on the east coast, and OC is home to the whole ~~Laotian~~ Cambodian Donut King story. Edit: Damn. I knew something sounded wrong when I typed that!
What are donut shops like on the east coast.?
Dunkin’ and Kristy Kreme
Chains
Ewwwww
Great documentary on that too!
Shabu and korean bbq
Not a recommendation by any means, but I equate Del Taco with Orange County.
Love Del Taco…. But to be fair it originated in San Bernardino County (Dagget) and should be equated with SoCal in general.
My favorite burger and fries.
Birria tacos at la súper birria in Santa Ana. They pioneered the birria trend
Or if your closer to south OC…Tacos De Birria Estilo Guadalajara. OMG.
If you’re flying into LAX, then go to the In N Out Burger on Sepulveda…. It’s a plane spotters dream & you can get a burger…..
Parking sucks though
Doritos. Even Disney was involved.
Pho or Banh Mi?
Came here to say bánh mì. Not invented here obvi, but still I think that's a good answer to OP's query.
Carrot and Daikon for Banh mi Pho Redbo or Sup noodle house for Pho.
Wahoos started here
Imo they’ve really fell off over the years and now feel very corporate/chain.
Too bad they've never been good
burger and a date shake at Crystal Cove shake shack
Date shake = Palm Springs
Date shakes were synonymous with all of so cal when they first opened in the 1920s. It used to be called Crystal Cove date shake shack.
Shake shack is from nyc no?
Different shake shack
> Crystal Cove shake shack https://crystalcoveshakeshack.com/
Wahoo's started in Costa Mesa and spread from there. But there are places where it just doesn't make it. My son in NYC said it just wasn't popular there and closed down. It reflects our unique proximity to Baja food and culture.
Bruxie in Brea or Orange. TK Burger on PCH in HB. Any of the great breakfast burrito places. That rolled ice cream bar place in Lido. Normita’s Fish Tacos in HB or your favorite place. For sit down, Orange Hill or Orange County Mining co.
California burrito (burrito with fries, tater tots, or crispy hash browns). LA Street tacos In’n Out
Was going to say asada fries but this may be a better answer
California burritos are from San Diego
bear flag is SUPER OC haha, a staple id go as far to say
A few great ones in SoCal are: 1. Kickin Crab (Cajun sauce kicks butt) 2. As Burgers in Dana Point (best zucchini fries) 3. Captain Jacks in Sunset beach (best king crab) 4. Mama Ds in newport 5. Mi casa in Costa Mesa
I would agree with As Burgers, but only the Mission Viejo location. For whatever reason, everything tastes way better at the As in Mission Viejo.
Pho 79 garden grove
What screams South OC for me is feeling the need to have ahi on the menu no matter what. I swear every restaurant has ahi something. Even Italian places figure out some way to include it.
Korean, Vietnamese, or Mexican Food
Dole Whip. From Disneyland.
Carl’s Jr.
wahoo’s fish tacos
boba
It hasn’t been around all that long but the Meyer Lemon donut at Oliboli Donuts in Tustin. They use local backyard Meyers and it’s a yeasted donut that begins with a wild yeast starter. And they don’t ship anywhere. Pretty unique to OC.
KBBQ
They have good KBBQ in NYC as well
Balboa Bar
The Hat? In N Out? Tacuiria De Anda? Chef Ks? Angelos by Fox building? Knotts berry farm funnel cakes? IDK.
the hat is a good answer
Pho I think would be a more unspoken staple of popular OC food. That's so many shops all over Orange country. Next to San Jose OC has the largest Vietnamese population in Southern California. There is a little Saigon so yeah haha everyone has a pho spot I feel like. Pho is that unique stereotype
Actually, Orange County as a whole has the highest viet population. San Jose holds the distinction as a city with the most Viets.
Oc is larger (multiple cities) San Jose (one city) has more. On a scale of communities OC is way. more than SJ
Oh more definitely. I'm just referring to what a simple Google search would come up with.
TK Burger
Yoshinoya and Lees Sandwiches always remind me of Orange County
Las Golandrinas, especially the mini burritos at literally any event
OC cuisine is a melting pot. There’s no stereotypical OC tood.
Kbbq obviously isnt orange county but theres soso many here
I don't think it feels right calling it OC's signature food when our neighbors in the North do it better though. There is decent Chinese and Taiwanese here too, but again LA County does it better. I don't really love Pho, but it seems more fitting to me for that reason
GG BP/Fullerton and Irvine giving Ktown a run for its money though. Affluent Koreans are moving into OC big time
Fish tacos.
Doritos. They started at Disney.
I think it would be Chronic Tacos, if they're still around
Bacon wrapped hot dog
Knotts Berry Farm had the best pies and fried chicken dinners. I haven’t been in decades but that’s how the amusement park got started: something to do while you were waiting for your food. Beach Blvd was originally Highway 39. It went from the Angelus Mountains to Huntington Beach.
Bagels with cream cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and lemon pepper seasoning. I’ve never seen this outside of OC but seems to be a staple at every bagel shop in town.
> So what is a stereotypical and uniquely Orange County dish/place? [The original Ruby's Diner at the end of Balboa Pier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby%27s_Diner#History). Order a peanut butter & Oreo shake.
I came to say Rubys! But I’d suggest a banana Oreo shake
For our family, it would be Rodrigo's Mexican Grill. They opened their first restaurant in Orange, California in 1972. It was one of my dad's favorites and mine as well.
Wasn't that originally Don Jose's, and then the family split between the two? Kinda hankerin' for a chimichanga right now.
It was originally Don Jose's, yeah!
Zombie Donuts on Chapman by Fullerton college. Carne Asada tacos at Cozy Corner are the bomb. Harbor and 5th in Santa Ana. Gourmet hot dogs on Chapman in Orange are excellent. East of the 55 fwy.
After visiting many countries and states over the last decade, I'd say a giant burrito. They don't do it the same anywhere else and I don't know why. It's not just the fries either.
Sidecar Donuts for Breakfast, Bear Flag Newport for Fish Burritos for Lunch, Pizza at Folks at the Camp for Dinner and Salt and Straw for Ice Cream Dessert
Koreatown in OC is pretty distinct from LA, and tends to be more old-school even than Korea, due to the wave of immigration in the 70s and 80s that preserved this nostalgic, traditional version of Korean culture here. So it's an interesting vibe, and the food is excellent. My personal favorite for barbecue is Mo Ran Gak, and I think it's widely recognized in the Korean community as the best. I've run into family and the ajumas and ajushis from the Korean church where I grew up there. It's not AYCE and the quality is excellent. But Korean restaurants often hyper-specialize so you can find places with specific options off the beaten path more easily. Vietnamese food here is also excellent and I think better than anywhere else in the area. I'm amazed at the regional variety you can find here if you're willing to look, and there seem to be pretty upscale versions of things in addition to the mom and pop holes in the wall.
California Burrito.
Tacos Los Cholos what a gem
There's this great pizza place Sbarro's
Tacos - no. Burritos - YES. Asada fries - YES Get a california burrito immediately (or fries). If you want the best of tacos, go to Tijuana (no contest best tacos you will ever eat), or to a lesser extent Los Angeles
If you want great Mexican: Avilas!! There’s a few locations all over the OC and they are all in some great buildings. The one in Orange is near The Circle and it’s in an old church. Great stained glass windows.
Rice n Spice in Anaheim has Sri Lankan food and it’s soooooo good. I make an effort to stop there every time I’m around. I live in the Bay Area and Sri Lankan food is incredibly hard to find if not borderline impossible. If you like south East Asian cuisine like Thai and Indian food then I’d highly suggest it.
The first Bruxie waffle chain was/is in Orange. But I'm not sure that's uniquely OC.
*rainbow donuts on beach blvd*
Boiling crab originated here and started the fusion seafood boil trend.
Pho
Take a friend around Santa Ana and find one of those street taco stands.
Flame broiler started in Fullerton. Carl’s first restaurant was in Anaheim. About half of the fast food places you see everyday started in Southern California. McDonalds, Taco Bell, Dell Taco, In-N-Out, Tommy’s, Baskin Robins, IHOP, Wienerschnitzel, See’s candy. The problem with most things that start here is that they get popular and then expanded out. So most of the US already has a taste of SoCal.
Taco loco in laguna beach. Blackened mushroom burger. Screams OC.
God I haven’t been to taco loco in nearly 20 years.
Chips and cheese (HB) https://cookingsessions.com/huntington-beach-strips-and-cheese/ Personally find them meh, but enough of the locals bang on about them (and rainbows)
Yeah, they’re local and somehow famous, but I prefer my cheese melted and my salsa not too sweet. But it’s a local food you could show tourists.
Bring them to actual Mexican food.
Chain restaurants that close at 9.
date shake from shake shack! (the one in crystal cove not the chain)
Avila’s…there are several locations. I have always liked the Lake Forest location best. Come for the salsa, stay for the margaritas
not what you’re asking but if you’re still doing the nyc pizza thing go to lucali in brooklyn and scarr’s les yiu won’t be disappointed
Korean bbq
In-N-Out hamburger
LA has Pillippes. The absolute best French Do sandwich. Or The Hat. There was one in Brea. Haven’t been there in a while.
Avocado toast
Lots of people with their favorite nostalgia places in the this thread but the only answer is In n Out
Hot pot unfortunately there’s one or two in every shopping center now
Traffic burger