It’s long but I skimmed through it. Some good calls, some really bad.
Some initial thoughts:
Big B’s BBQ in Placentia for best BBQ?? I used to live less than a mile away, and I even had them cater a party or two. Their food is fine, and the fact that you can order it through a window while having a beer at Brian’s next door is definitely a plus, but they are not BBQ. IIRC, the only smoke that hits their food is when they grill tri tip, and even that’s not BBQ. What about Smokey Fred’s, or even Blake’s? Even the reader’s choice of Lucille’s is more appropriate.
I love TK burgers, but I don’t see them as the best in OC. If you’re going to break it out by price (they don’t), they are great for what they are, but there are many better options, IMO. My pick would probably be 25° or Morton’s at the moment.
I would pick Mrs. Beas over Roscoe’s for soul food any day.
Sea Salt for best new restaurant is one that surprises me. I wasn’t impressed at all on my first visit and probably and may or may not return. I would have thought that Vaca would be the obvious choice for best new restaurant.
Like I said, it’s a long list, and these are just my first impressions at a glance. I’m interested to read what others have to say.
Agreed on Taco Maria being no surprise. I thought they would pick something else rather than TM for a third year, but I do still love the place, and they’re still one of the best.
Anepalco is great. The get lots of love from OC Weekly, but not much else. Their chilequiles are different than any I’ve ever had, but they are amazing. They have two locations. The one on Main does not serve liquor, so head to the other one if you want cocktails. They are great at the other locaiton.
Sea Salt was not great for us. They specialize in Santa Maria-style BBQ. I thought the tri tip was over salted and that none of the dishes were great. We may go back to try them when they’ve been open for awhile. They are owned by the same people who own Sea Legs, and we go there for brunch now and then.
I went to the Main St location of Anepalco for a nice Valentines day brunch and yelp/website shows it as open. Chilaquiles (red since it was Valentines) were really good as was the nicely tart guava french toast.
Veggie omlette was fine but nopales made it interesting.