Orange County has quite a niche for award winning dining, signature California cuisine and ethnic specialties. Orange County is a food lover’s haven with close to 5,000 restaurants serving everything from the freshest seafood to exotic delicacies.
Cafe Di Vang 2 in Westminister is a one-of-a-kind Little Saigon experience. The cafe is not notable for its drinks, but for its staff, who serve tasty but expensive (5 dollars each) smoothies and coffee while clad in little more than lingerie. Essentially the Vietnamese equivalent of Hooters, there are few cafes like it anywhere in America.
Mexican Food: Taco Mesa in Costa Mesa has an incredible reputation for fresh and vibrant food, and they're routinely lauded in the local independent press (OC Weekly) for high-quality offerings at fast food prices.
Vietnamese Food: With hundreds of restaurants to choose from in Little Saigon, Orange County is paradise for Vietnamese food lovers. The area immediately surrounding the Asian Garden mall has a wide variety to choose from. Pho 84 is a good spot for the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, while Lee's Sandwiches serve Vietnamese Baguette sandwiches 24 hours in Little Saigon.
Indian Food: Orange County has a diverse variety of Indian food. Taste of India (Walnut & Culver) is a popular Indian restaurant in Irvine. Dosa Place (Red Hill Ave. and 5 fwy) has a good selection of South Indian cuisine.
Japanese Ramen: Shin-Sen-Gumi in Fountain Valley is a traditional, Japanese-style ramen shop with a multitude of cooking options rarely seen outside of Japan. Ebisu Ramen Restaurant, also located in Fountain Valley, is highly rated with very reasonable prices. It popularity is telling by the wait at times, especially during lunch. There is also Mitsuwa Marketplace on Paularino Ave in Costa Mesa has a great food court with several noodle stands and fun ambience - like stepping into Tokyo for a second.
Korean Barbequeue: Seoul Oak is a two-story galbi (Group cooking Korean barbequeue restaurant) in Garden Grove, widely recognized as the best in the area and occasionally playing host to visiting Korean movie stars. Little Seoul also has a single 24-hour Korean Barbequeue restaurant, Tofu House.
French-Japanese Fusion: Cafe Hiro in Cypress is a popular French-Japanese fusion cuisine restaurant. Founded by a former head chef at one of the top restaurants in Beverly Hills in order to give himself more control over the menu, luxurious and original cuisine is served at middlebrow prices (10-15 dollars per entree). The restaurant is notable for crafting a new and different homemade soup every day, included with each entree.
Hamburgers: Orange County is home to three famous hamburger chains - Tommy's (Fountain Valley, at Magnolia and Warner), Fatburger (Irvine, at Michelson and Jamboree, and Aliso Viejo town center), and In N' Out (all over). Tommy's is famous for putting chili on all of its products. Fatburger is notable for its thick and juicy burgers and steakhouse-style "fat fries". In N' Out is lauded as a California favorite, with thin yet flavorful burgers. There is heated debate but no general consensus as to which chain is best - one's personal tastes and preferences are the best guide.
Cuban Food: Cafe Habana at The Lab in Costa Mesa is Orange County's most prominent Cuban restaurant, with a bordello-like atmosphere dimly lit by hundreds of candles.
French Steakhouse: Chat Noir in Costa Mesa is home to upscale French cuisine (Dishes such as Filet Mignon with Foie Gras will cost 30-40 dollars) but shines due to its incredible, romantic Parisian salon atmosphere. Live jazz is playing several nights a week; call ahead for times.
Dinner with a View: Orange Hill restaurant in Orange offers an upscale steakhouse with a maginificent view overlooking all of Orange County. Also popular is Summit House in Fullerton which also offers an upscale dining experience with great views.
Japanese Izakaya: Izakaya, the Japanese style of cooking emphasizing a lively atmosphere and a wide variety of personal-sized mini-dishes to choose from, has made its way to Orange County with the popular restaurant in Costa Mesa. The menu covers everything from sushi to curry to katsudon, as well as some Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese dishes.
Sushi: Matsu in Huntington Beach offers a more authentic Japanese atmosphere with a 70's feeling red-lit bar. The prices are good for quality sushi. Try the lunch time menu offered during the weekdays which includes bento-box meals that are enormous for about $10, and the sushi and sashimi lunch specials are half the price of the dinner versions. Koi in Seal Beach is also an excellent restaurant with some of the freshest fish you'll find around Orange County. Wafu Sushi in Costa Mesa is a small private owned restaurant offering the popular samurai burrito that s very popular with reasonable prices.
Bubble Tea: Tapioca bubble tea, also known as boba, is a recent local obsession imported from Asia - the milk tea is available in Orange County in all flavors, including some fruits and vegetables relatively unknown to the Western palate. Tea-ism or Cha for Tea in Irvine, near the UCI campus. Lollicup is also a popular boba chain, with two locations in Irvine (Jeffrey and Walnut, Jamboree and Alton at the Diamond Jamboree plaza) and a few more throughout Orange County.
Dim-Sum: With Orange County's Chinese population not as concentrated into a single city as other local Asian enclaves, the Chinese restaurants vary more in location. For excellent Dim-Sum, for instance, one should travel to the Golden Dragon in Little Saigon, across the street from the Asian Garden Mall. Reasonable prices and a better selection than most Dim-Sum offerings in America. Seafood Paradise no. 2 in Westminster offers great Dim-Sum 7 days a week from 10:30AM to about 2:30PM.
Vegetarian Offerings: The Gypsy Den at the Lab in Costa Mesa is well-known for a wide variety of vegetarian offerings, especially its adobe stew. For Asian vegan cuisine, Au Lac in Costa Mesa is a popular destination.
Beachside: The Shake Shack in Corona Del Mar is a more than half-century old Orange County institution, serving up their famous shakes and also sandwiches. Although recently purchased by Ruby's in a move that rankled some locals, the Shake Shack is still going strong, situated above a cliff directly overlooking the ocean.
Chinese Cantonese: Golden Garden on Mesa Verde and Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa. This is the only authentic chinese cantonese food you will find. U can not compare them to anyone. The egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, wor wonton soup with crispy noodles, bbq pork sandwiches, peppersteak beef, lobster cantonese with real lobster pieces with the shell still on, are just a few of the superb dishes they serve. Family owned. The most excellent food and service you can find.* NANCY D'AGOSTINO
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Orange County
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Orange County - updated May 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Orange County hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
Orange County Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
