Lisa Dang-Vo follows in her mother Diane Dang’s footsteps at Brodard Chateau, a more stylish restaurant with the same great spring rolls as sister restaurant Brodard, but a far larger menu, a more stylish setting, and a full bar. In addition to the Brodard classic spring rolls that come with grilled pork meatballs and crispy wonton piping, they offer versions with grilled shrimp cake and roast duck. Their take on banh xeo, a crispy rice flour crepe, is especially good, pan-seared and packed with shrimp, pork, onion, mushroom, and bean sprouts. Sizzling sole riffs on Hanoi’s famed cha ca La Vong, with sizzling fish marinated in turmeric and sautéed with onions and baby dill. Sole noodle soup (bun ca) is another dish that separates Brodard Chateau from the original restaurant, with flaky fillets, tomato, and house-made fish cakes bobbing in fish and chicken broth.

Little Arabia in Anaheim is one of the most exciting neighborhoods to eat in Orange County and a short drive from Disneyland. Olive Tree, which Palestine native Abu Ahmad opened in 2005, is one of the area’s most exciting restaurants for pan-Arab classics. Fattit hommus is a devastating version of everybody’s favorite chickpea dip, served warm and dressed with pine nuts, paprika, cumin, and crispy pita chips. Kebabs of course factor into proceedings, and we’d recommend kufta, char-grilled ground beef tenderloin blended with herbs and onion. Kabseh is more unique, starring well-spiced, slow-cooked lamb shank and ribs piled onto basmati rice folded with raisins, cardamom pods and shaved toasted almonds. Other rarely seen plates including an Egyptian dish called molokhia that combines okra leaves, chicken and rice; and mansaf, a Jordanian rice dish with beef cooked in yogurt. Ramadan is an especially good time to visit Olive Tree to enjoy a wide variety of dishes at their post-sundown buffet. If you reserve in advance, Olive Tree will even cook you a whole lamb (minus head and organs) stuffed with well-spiced basmati rice folded with filet mignon, shaved almonds, cardamom, and more.

Ngu Binh, a bastion of Central Vietnamese food, is no secret. The owners already expanded to a larger Westminster location. In 2016, they opened Ben Ngu on the north side of the 22 freeway with a slightly larger menu and far shorter waits. The sister restaurants serve the best bun bo Hue in the area, a spicy Hue-style beef noodle soup with collagen-rich beef shank, pig trotter, cooked pork blood, pork loaf rafts, and bouncy udon-like noodles. Ngu Binh’s full complement of glutinous rice appetizers are also on display, including banh beo chen, steamed rice cakes topped with chopped shrimp, pork rinds, scallions, and fried shallots. Banh it kep banh ram piles crispy fried rice cakes with with gooey steamed rice cake, pork, and shrimp. Com suon tom rim is a newer dish featuring spare ribs and shell-on shrimp cooked in spicy Vietnamese caramel sauce and served with white rice. 

Chef Noah Blom and wife-partner Marin built on the success of Arc at The OC Mix with Restaurant Marin, a chic diner that also features wood-fired cooking. Grab breakfast, lunch, or dinner on the covered patio in a blue cushioned booth or grab a blue plastic table indoors, all set to French accordion music. Breakfast is as luxurious as you want to be, whether you prefer a basic bacon and egg sandwich or crab hash browns. Later in the day, they pile buttery lobster rolls with shrimp and serve a downright architectural chicken pot pie. Don’t leave without eating dessert, whether it’s supple donut holes served with whipped cream and quad-berry jam, or a towering slab of cake.

“Top Chef” Season 13 finalist Amar Santana built on the success of Laguna Beach’s Broadway by teaming with partner Ahmed Labbate on the meaty, Spanish-themed Vaca on the South Coast Plaza campus. Flamenco music fills the air at a red-walled space with twin bars, one for cocktails, another for charcuterie, cheese, and accompaniments. Vaca translates from Spanish as “cow,” so of course steak is the star. Santana steers a wood grill that favors red oak for flavor and citrus for longevity, yielding cuts like boneless New York strip that sports a smoky sear and rosy center. From there, Vaca earns high marks for Spanish classics like gazpacho, pan con tomate, and patatas bravas. Not all churros are created equal. Vaca’s version is pillowy, with a perfectly crisp exterior.

Jason Quinn helped kickstart the downtown Santa Ana dining scene with his globally inspired comfort food and craft beer focus at Playground, which is fun, high-energy, and always flavorful. The menu changes nightly, depending on what’s in season and inspiring Quinn, though you can always count on a few dishes. Uncle Lou’s fried chicken, “the one item you can’t send back,” is lightly dredged and tossed in tangy, spicy sauce of red wine vinegar, cayenne pepper and hot sauce. A six-inch-tall maple glazed pork chop could double as a doorstop, but that would of course waste the juicy, caramelized meat’s powers. Other bold, share-friendly plates include wild mushroom nasi goreng, braised short rib khao soi, and a “death row” duck confit salad with Masumoto Family Farms nectarines and hazelnut vin. Behind a door marked “Trust,” you’ll find Playground 2.0, an 18-seat “culinary theater” with ticketed dinners (booked through the website) with themes like “Ultimate Steak Dinner” and “High Brow, White Trash.” 

Chef Ryan Adams delivers crave-worthy comfort food to Laguna Beach village at Three Seventy Common, a corner restaurant with high ceiling, cube chandeliers, and upstairs mezzanine with curved copper railing. Every meal begins with beer pretzel bites and Dijon mustard. Start in earnest with house-made charcuterie like smoky pork cheek terrine, spicy lamb merguez, and applewood-smoked lengua pastrami with whole-grain mustard. A wood grill burns grapevine clippings and cherry wood and yields proteins like steak for two and wild salmon. Truly indulgent offers include bacon-wrapped meatloaf with mushroom gravy and a “10-napkin burger,” since nine napkins aren’t enough. They even make noodles in-house, tossing with Parmesan, broccolini, garlic, chile, and seared fennel sausage. The last Sunday of each month, Three Seventy Common busts out buckets of fried chicken as part of a three-course, family-style feast.

If you really want a getaway and a taste of the luxe life, head to Montage Laguna Beach’s Studio, a Craftsman-style restaurant on a cliff-top perch overlooking the Pacific Ocean’s crashing waves. Executive chef Craig Strong has presided over the state of the art kitchen and property’s 1,000-square-foot garden since 2009, turning out refined California-French cooking. Yes, Studio serves an à la carte menu, but considering these ingredients, preparations, and views come with a premium, you might as well commit to a six-course tasting menu, of-the-moment expressions of Strong’s vision. Hudson Valley fois gras, seared Maine scallops, and grilled Iberico pork headline a recent $170 tasting menu. They also offer a similarly lavish vegetarian tasting menu for $130 that riffs on tartare, pot au feu, and paella. Of course, wine pairings are available.