Good restaurants in the General Irvine Area

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<p>I was at the Counter for the Friends and Family on Sunday</p>

<p>Good food, pretty expensive if I actualy had to pay.</p>

<p>I liked that they had a bar with TV's, so I was able to watch the Football games while eating</p>
 
Shay:





I used to get those foods at Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, but their quality has gone downhill. Used to love their pickles and giant Matzoh ball soup w/chicken. I'll definately to visit Arnie's this week.





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I like In and Out a lot better than Fat Burgers, the taste is better. But not everyone likes In and Out fries. Be warned that an In and Out combo with shake is very high in calories.





I work by 5 FWY & Sand Canyon now, and visit Caspian for lunch with coworkers from time to time. Their lunch specials are a good deal, $6-$8 and in large portions. I'd eat half of it and box the other half with some bread to go for dinner.


http://www.caspianrestaurant.com/location.html





If anyone is working near corporate office area and feeling adventurous, you could try crashing other company's cafeteria as a visitor. I heard the one at Taco Bell building is really good, but have never been there.
 
<p>For Jewish deli, Benjies on Tustin north of 17th is pretty darn good.</p>

<p>1828 N. Tustin Ave Santa Ana 714-541-6263.</p>

<p>My favorite in SoCal is The Nosh on little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills. When I worked there, I ate at all of them in town. It was a labor or love, but I somehow got through it.:) </p>
 
<p>I’m a big fan of turkey burgers and really like the ones at Fat Burgers. Looking forward to the Counter but I don’t know if they offer turkey burgers. May have to bite the bullet and have a regular burger. Thankfully, the LA Fitness is next door so I can hit the cardio before heading to the Counter, sans guilt.</p>
 
<p>Hate In-n-out fries. . . have to eat them within 30 seconds of getting them or else they turn into a puddy of oily potatoes. </p>

<p>Fatburger is pretty good but it is get way too expensive. ($10+ for a combo). They have cool toppings as well.</p>

<p>The cafeteria at the Taco Bell building is decent. It has Taco Bell, KFC (not the Mozilo kind), and Pizza Hut. It also has a sandwich/deli place and a salad bar. It is reasonably priced and there is not inflation of prices at the fast food places (i.e. malls or airports). </p>
 
Go to Mosun on PCH in Laguna on Thursdays and Sundays. $5 sushi rolls. Very good sushi @ killer price. The rolls are usually 9 to 13 bucks a pop. Parking sucks, but that's Laguna Beach for you.
 
Mosun is fun, but you have to get use to the crowd. For the several times I have been there, there always has been some very pretty women dressed in very little cloth. Also, there are lesbians kissing each other after too many drinks...I have to admit the food is great,and local nights (50%off ) sushi and appetizers are really great.
 
Walked up to LA Fitness yesterday for a workout and almost got knocked over by the smell of grilling burgers. Almost traded my lunch workout plans for a juicy burger <yum>.
 
<em>>>Hate In-n-out fries. . . have to eat them within 30 seconds of getting them or else they turn into a puddy of oily potatoes. </em>





At the risk of dramatically increasing everyone's risk for heart disease, the secret to In 'n Out fries is ordering them animal style.
 
Animal style fries, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolelee/932685080/">mmmmm</a>.....





Also, if you don't like the regular fries, ask for them well done, and they will cook them crispy.
 
<p>Hmmm, the thought of 1000 Island dressing and mustard combo never crossed my mind....</p>

<p>But I'll try 'em at some point just to say I did. Funny, I'm hungry all of a sudden. </p>
 
<p>We were talking about Animal Style this week at work and someone mentioned that part of the Animal Style "goodness" is a grill scrape. So not only do you get the extra cheese, thousand island dressing and mustard , you also get all the fat left on the grill. No one was certain if that was just if you ordered the grilled onions or not though. </p>

<p>I think I feel my arteries clogging just thinking about it. </p>
 
Sushi Time on Walnut, west of Jamboree and not quite to Tustin Ranch Road on the south side of the street has fresh sushi and an All-you-can-eat for $25.00 - no time limit. Trendy sushi place for all-you-can-eat sushi that lasts 2 hours is California Beach in Newport.



Thai Bamboo is excellent - one in quail hill and one at Tustin District by AMC.



Bev Mo has Beer tasting for a buck on Fridays and Wine Tasting for 5 bucks on Sunday.



India Cook House (located down the strip from Sumo) in Heritage plaza is very busy at lunch for their buffet. Tasty and fresh, reasonably priced and gets a lot of work groups visiting weekly b/c the service is fast, friendly and the food is always ready.



Super Irvine (same center and right next to the Caspian/Sumo and India cook house) is a supermarket for middleastern food and supplies. The little known secret is that their fruits/veggies are super fresh and cheap! Try the persian cucumbers if you have not had them before. They cost a fourth of what they would cost at TJ's. The meats are halal (no antibiotics, killed carefully and generally higher standards of preparation) and are reasonable. Butchers are nice! They have a marinated chicken breast that is excellent for kebobs - the meat is very moist and tender and the orange sauce it is marinating in is mild but tasty. The secret ingredient for the marinade: lamb juice. they have hot/fresh baked bread in the corner of the store that is tasty/different/cheap!



French's Bakery next to TJ's on Culver/Walnut - get the fresh strawberry wagon wheel for a delicious pastry to share for breakfast or brunch. First timers love it.



El Tapitio in Santa Ana has great authentic Mexican food - Off Edinger in an industrial strip mall.
 
Not sure if this has already been mentioned but...


We just got back from Thanksgiving at <strong>Irvine China Garden


</strong>This place has <u>great</u> Chinese food. I especially like the dim sum at lunch time.


They are located in the southwest corner of Jeffrey and Walnut avenue.
 
<p><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 5px" alt="Fries: Animal Style" width="200" src="http://www.badmouth.net/graphics/inout/animalfries.jpg" />Here are some animal style fries and a link to a site that purports to reveal the "secret menu." Note: there are several <strong>veggie</strong> <strong>options</strong>, even at In-N-Out. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.badmouth.net/in-n-outs-secret-menu/">Linky</a></p>
 
We love Viet springrolls - the kind made of white rice sheets with shrimp or chicken, rice noodle, green onion inside. Not fried. Can any one here tell me where I can order 40 to 50 of them from a reputable, quality and clean restaraunt?

Thanks!
 
irvine123, Brodard's in Westminster is widely considered to be the best viet springrolls in Little Saigon (my wife is vietnamese). We order from them all the time to bring to potlucks, and they are always gone by the end. Link:

http://www.brodard.net/overview.html



Here's the relevant review from elmomonster:

http://elmomonster.blogspot.com/2005/11/brodard-garden-grove.html



It's a bit hard to find as it is behind a stripmall - it's at the corner of Brookhurst and Westminster. You can call a day ahead to order - the staff speaks English fairly well. They do a brisk business in just spring rolls for parties. A couple of tips:



1) they individually wrap the rolls in plastic wrap, which makes it easy to cut them in half if you want. Just make sure to tell your guests to unwrap them first! If they haven't had them before, they might get a little confused.

2) bring a small box you can put the sauce in for the trip home. you do NOT want that stuff spilling in the car - it will smell to high heaven.
 
Balboarenter, Thanks!!



How much does it cost for 40? Their online menu says 4 for $7...do they give you a discount for order 40?
 
I don't think they do a discount for large orders, but my wife is the one usually doing the ordering. Normally we do the 2 rolls pork/2 rolls shrimp, which is $6.50 for 4.



For future reference, if this is for a large party, I also suggest the pan-fried dumplings (potstickers) from Peking in Westminster. Yelp link:http://www.yelp.com/biz/peking-restaurant-westminster



It's a bit of a hole in the wall, but the dumplings are spectacular, they hold up very well to travel, and are also very popular with guests. They can do big orders easily too (for the dumplings at least).
 
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