The New Isla Cuban-Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar in La Palma Is Loud Enough for Earplugs

The sultry jazz of Ibrahim Ferrer and the Buena Vista Social Club oozes from the speakers at Isla in La Palma. It’s 90 degrees outside as a warm breeze swirls through the air-conditioned restaurant. The sliding front doors are pushed wide open,...

Photo from Papo’s Cuban Kitchen Instagram A new Cuban restaurant has opened in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle neighborhood. Papo’s Cuban Kitchen serves the usual specialties of Cubano sandwiches and ropa vieja, but also guizo de maiz and sopa fideo...

“Havana, ooh na-na.” As it had been all morning, Camila Cabello’s earworm was stuck in my brain as I walked toward the new Habana in Irvine Spectrum. But as soon as I entered the restaurant, it was as though I went through a wormhole. I wasn’t in...

End-of-year lists like this one are never easy. In terms of legitimate “best new restaurants,” 2019 year gave us an embarrassment of riches. It probably would have been easier to compile a list of the 25 best newcomers, but I’ve never been a fan...

Gem    Omakase by Gino    Isla Cuban    Anjappar    Maison Cafe & Market    Knife Pleat    Henry's    CdM    Louie's by the Bay    Fable & Spirit   

Having eaten most of my meals in restaurants for decades, the current state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus has been an adjustment. I’m not worried about me, though. It’s the restaurants I’m worried about. Every one of them. The extent...