A New Rooftop Mexican Spot Conjures the Happy Olden Days—and Good Times to Come

The new trade agreement with Vietnam? Historic, no doubt. And President Obama’s speech on the intertwined histories of Vietnam and the United States was thrilling — who knew that Thomas Jefferson was a fan of Vietnamese rice? But what caused a...

As I wrote back in August of last year, Tasty Garden, the chain of Hong Kong-style cafes (cha chaan teng) with branches in the San Gabriel Valley, is planning to open in Irvine. ] At the time I said it does two things: it ups the cha chaan teng...

Tasty Garden, the chain of Hong Kong-style cafes (cha chaan teng) with branches in the San Gabriel Valley and Westminster, is planning to open one more Orange County store in Irvine. This does two things: it ups the cha chaan teng count to two in...

“Please let it be terrible.” When I heard that a new boba tea shop had opened in Costa Mesa in the same overcrowded complex as Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai, that’s the thought that immediately rang through my head: “Please let it be terrible.” It’s not...

Rich, glorious pho. Photo by Shannon Aguiar The first things you encounter as you walk into Chicken Hero in Anaheim are the vacuum-packed pouches with labels that have a winking anthropomorphic chicken giving a thumbs-up. Underneath the cartoon,...