It’s not just the rents. I heard a really interesting talk recently with Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette. She pointed out that the culture of “cheap eats” puts a lot of pressure on Vietnamese places to keep prices low, which in turn makes it hard to pay employees a decent (let alone living) wage.
I didn’t agree with her completely but thought she made some good points.
Thanks for the rec @OCSteve, although I still didn’t get to try the patty melt or the restaurant . We Ubered over Tuesday night and unfortunately Marin was closed (despite their website hours listed open), so ended up at sister restaurant ARC.
Loved everything about the place but the food- drinks and service were both outstanding.
Maybe we ordered the wrong things, but duck fat potatoes had no flavor, and neither did the fried chicken. Wedge salad was OK, but the star was the maple corn bread out of what we tried.
Despite all this, would go back and sit at the bar next time and just get a burger.
Oops, forgot about that as I usually follow your recs- especially since there aren’t that many posting that have to endure the horror that is living and eating in OC.
WOAH. Had a truly outstanding chicken doner sandwich at Berlin’s. Ate it in the restaurant, which made a big difference. Meat was flavorful, veggies crisp, and the freshly pressed pide bread warm and pillowy. Much love to the beef and lamb, but chicken is totally the way to go.*
There is NOTHING about this that I liked better than Brent’s.
It tasted more like BBQ (smoked) brisket. Big ole pass. Getting a “Jewish” Deli-style pastrami here is the equivalent of getting a real Italian pizza at Jerry’s deli (Yes, Jerrys used to have Jerry’s Famous Pizza)
Mustard was good. Next time I’ll get that and eat it with a spoon.