How to take a restaurant road trip to New York, Chicago and beyond, without leaving the kitchen

Restaurant critic Brad A. Johnson takes a virtual winter break in New York and Chicago with a detour through Nebraska without leaving his own kitchen.

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • March 4, 2021

“I miss the snow,” he says, looking out the window on a beautiful sunny day as we scroll through images of friends on Instagram playing in the snow in New York. “Me, too,” I say. “But I’m not squeezing into an airplane filled with recirculated...

The full article can be read on the Orange County Register website.

Critic’s Notebook: 10 memorable food discoveries from the pandemic

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • June 3, 2021

I don’t want to sound grateful for the pandemic. It’s been awful, and I welcome its demise. But if COVID-19 hadn’t dramatically disrupted the restaurant scene — and my job along with it — I likely wouldn’t have discovered some of the more...

Critic’s Notebook: When readers critique the critic, 2021 edition

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • December 9, 2021

I just spent two weeks trying to clean out my inbox. I get a lot of mail. Some of it is nice to read. Some of it, not so much. All of it highly opinionated. Apparently I rub people the wrong way from time to time, and they don’t hesitate to let me...

Review: The 20 best pizzas still available in Orange County during the coronavirus pandemic

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • April 23, 2020

Just because you are quarantined doesn’t mean you have to subsist on beans and canned soup. You can still have pizza. Great pizza. Here are 20 of the best pizzas in Orange County that are still available right now for takeout or delivery. Stock...

2145 Al's New York Cafe Angelina's Bello Brick Centro Pizzeria Ciao Pasta Filomena's Folks Il Dolce Il Palco North Italia Parallel Pizzeria Pirozzi Pitfire Pizzeria Sapori Rance's Sal's Terra TJ's Woodfire Pizza

Review: 10 more great Orange County dishes still available during the coronavirus pandemic

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • April 3, 2020

While the coronavirus pandemic has turned our worlds upside down, many restaurants remain open, operating in crisis mode to provide essential takeout and delivery. With reduced crews, restaurants have rallied heroically to keep us fed. The limited...

Anjappar Solita Craft House Playa Mesa Brodard Garlic & Chives Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken Peking Restaurant A Market Kebab Republic

Critic’s notebook: Gone but not forgotten, 10 closed restaurants I miss the most

Brad A. Johnson • Orange County Register • January 26, 2022

It’s been a rough couple of years. Far too many restaurants haven’t survived this pandemic, and I fear we haven’t seen the last of that heartbreak. It’s a tough business even in normal times. Very few restaurants live forever. Most don’t make it...