OC Weekly's Best of OC

OC Weekly’s Best of OC

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.

To nobody’s surprise, Taco Maria is the top restaurant. Anybody here been to Anepalco? Menu looks pretty decent–why haven’t I heard of it?

Sea Salt makes little sense compared to Vaca, but it still looks worth checking out.

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.

Only place that caught my fancy was “Green Girl Saloon”.

Must be good, 6 year veteran - Best of OC Weekly Winner.

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i don’t think there’s an Main St across from Hollingshead’s location no more.

Can someone verify if that’s correct

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Green Girl Saloon might be good if one likes topless bars.

Is Sea Salt a barbecue restaurant ?

Chilaquiles are pretty tasty. That is the only thing I have ever had there.

Did anyone see Orange Coast magazines top taco list?

:joy::joy::joy:

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.

Main Street location is alive and kicking. It is across street from my office and I had lunch there last week.

Santa Maria style BBQ. Think tri tip cooked over an open oak fire.

I think it’s a bikini bar, not topless

I can only imagine. They probably have more places listed in Dana Point and Laguna than Santa Ana and Anaheim.

  1. Taco Maria
  2. Lola Gaspar
  3. Chelas Mexican Grill
  4. ARC
  5. Sol Cocina
  6. Solita
  7. Anepalco
  8. Taqueria El Zamorano
  9. Las Brisas
  10. Pour Vida Latin Flavor
  11. Ayutla Oaxaca
  12. Anqi
  13. Tempo Urban Kitchen
  14. Taco Asylum
  15. Q Tortas
  16. Bonefish Grill
  17. Dos Chinos
  18. Sealegs Wine Bar
  19. Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen
  20. Wild Taco
  21. Urbana
  22. Mariscos Mocorito
  23. Seabirds Kitchen
  24. Durango Mexican Grill
  25. VIP Tacos
  26. TLT Food
  27. Red O
  28. Tacos Sinaloa
  29. La Vida Cantina

Oy vey…

Everybody loves a nice list. This is great. You had me at Anqi, Taco Asylum and Bonefish Grill. I haven’t heard of many of these places.

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:joy:

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