Six South Coast Plaza restaurants ranked on Critic Brad A. Johnson’s annual guide to the 75 Best Places to Eat in Orange County.
Dining is back with a vengeance, and so is this annual guide.
While the last two years of this project looked noticeably different (2020’s pandemic edition, 2021’s all-taco list), this year’s guide (the eighth in this series) returns to its original numerical ranking. And now for the first time it also includes star ratings.
After a long pandemic pause, star ratings are back, but with one big change: After years of ruminating on this, I have eliminated half stars.
It’s my job to help readers find great places to eat. It’s also my job to manage expectations. Stars help me do that.
Star ratings continue to be based on multiple visits — except on the very rare occasion when a single visit allows me to eat everything on the menu. Ratings continue to reflect my overall reaction to food, service and ambience, all of which inform our decisions about where to eat.
Ratings are not permanent. They can change as restaurants evolve. By definition, most restaurants are average, meaning one star. But sometimes an average restaurant can have noteworthy qualities, like a standout dish or a view that trumps everything else. Two-star restaurants are very good places to eat, particularly if you live in the neighborhood or not too far away — but might not be worth driving 40 miles for. Three-star restaurants, meanwhile, do make you forget about that 40-mile drive. Their cooking and hospitality are always exceptional, often the best of their genre in the region, worthy of the trek. A four-star rating is somewhat akin to achieving enlightenment. Four-star restaurants are rare. These are destinations, the sort of experiences that people plan trips around. To be clear, these don’t have to be ultra-fancy. They do not require silk cushions and crystal stemware, but comfort and professionalism are taken into account. This is where every tiny detail comes into play. They transcend the everyday.
Unfortunately, after 10 years of searching, I still haven’t found a four-star restaurant in Orange County. I’ve gotten close, but I look at restaurants here the same way I look at restaurants in Los Angeles or San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris… I’ve enjoyed four-star experiences over the years at the likes of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, Addison in San Diego, Lung King Heen in Hong Kong, Pujol in Mexico City, Il Palagio in Florence… We have nothing like that here, but it doesn’t mean we never will, so I’m not going to grade on a curve.
The good news is, we have hundreds of great places to eat, including 37 on this list with three stars, a few of which could very well be on the verge of a fourth. And make no mistake: Restaurants with the Register’s two-star rating are very good places to eat, and OC has far more of those than I can squeeze onto this list. You won’t go hungry if I can help it.
What the stars mean0 = poor, unacceptable★ = average, may have some noteworthy qualities★★ = very good, above average, a neighborhood gem★★★ = outstanding, exceptional quality, a regional standout★★★★ = transcendent, world class in every detailRatings are based on multiple visits and reflect my overall reaction to food, service and ambience, taking into account a restaurant’s unique sense of place and point of view.
5. Vaca
The second I sit down, I always ask for a bikini sandwich (Iberico ham, manchego cheese, black truffle) and a frozen gin and tonic. That buys me some time to read the menu because there’s a lot to consider. Do I want a 2-pound, 50-day-dry-aged ribeye steak cooked over the wood-burning grill? Or do I focus instead on charcuterie and paella? Or maybe just a tableful of tapas: rustic toast slathered with tomato and garlic, lamb meatballs with lemon yogurt, insanely supple cannelloni stuffed with smoked chicken, paprika-crusted prawns served with drawn butter and grilled lime… Chef Amar Santana and restaurateur Ahmed Labbate have created a unique wonderland of Spanish cuisine that also happens to be the best steakhouse in Orange County. And you won’t find a better collection of Spanish wines this side of Barcelona than Labbate’s. Must order: Paella de carne or the signature ribeye. 695 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, 714-463-6060, vacarestaurant.com ★★★
6. Knife Pleat
Chef Tony Esnault and restaurateur Yassmin Sarmadi’s Knife Pleat at South Coast Plaza is easily the most elegant restaurant in Orange County. Whether seated on the patio surrounded by sunshine and butterflies or indoors among the velvet settees, linen chairs and freshly cut flowers, there’s an ease to eating here that belies the restaurant’s lofty prices. Part of that ease comes from the graceful tone set by Sarmadi herself as she glides through the dining room with perfect posture, the epitome of grace and always smiling, quick with gentle banter but never intrusive. Esnault’s cooking is artfully restrained, grounded in the classicism of Escoffier yet light and modern. It’s a style of cooking that relies not on never-before-seen flavors or sleight-of-hand techniques but on sourcing the world’s best products and letting the ingredients speak for themselves. Tell me of another restaurant where, when spring peas have just arrived, the bartender makes an utterly splendid cocktail with aged rum and pea puree. I’ll wait. Meanwhile, Saturday afternoons are an event all their own. That’s when pastry chef Germain Biotteau steps into the spotlight and, in lieu of lunch, the restaurant offers afternoon tea with finger sandwiches and a procession of exquisite desserts. Must order: Escargot to start and the Louis XV chocolate dessert to finish. South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., 3rd floor, Costa Mesa, 714-266-3388, knifepleat.com ★★★
28. Water Grill
You won’t find a better fish anywhere than the wild Dover sole that’s very simply pan-roasted at this breezy, indoor/outdoor seafood house across the street from South Coast Plaza. Filleted tableside, the presentation of the sole is starkly minimal but the pure enjoyment that comes from such a regal fish is hard to quantify. The chilled seafood towers — shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops, clams — always turn heads. And while this is easily the best seafood restaurant in OC, do not underestimate the steaks. Must order: Clams with chorizo, any whole fish. 3300 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 949-208-7060, watergrill.com ★★★
45. Din Tai Fung
Even now that South Coast Plaza has introduced a second Chinese restaurant with a menu very similar to that of Din Tai Fung, the line for a table here can still be interminable. And for good reason. Though many have tried, nobody has ever succeeded at making better, more delicate xiao long bao, aka Shanghai-style soup dumplings. Must order: Xiao long bao, obviously, but the potstickers are also unrivaled. South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714-549-3388, dintaifungusa.com ★★
55. Terrace by Mix Mix
French, Italian, Korean, Filipino… Chef Ross Pangilinan serves an eclectic menu of wildly contradictory tastes from around the world, proof that opposites can attract. Although located inside South Coast Plaza, the dining room is an alfresco tropical oasis on the third-floor terrace of the mall’s Bridge of Gardens. Must order: Steamed mussels and pizza. 3333 Bear St., 3rd floor, 657-231-6447, terracebymixmix.com ★★
71. Paradise Dynasty
The comparisons with Din Tai Fung are inevitable. After all, South Coast Plaza lured this upscale dim sum restaurant from Singapore, one can assume, to alleviate pressure off Din Tai Fung (at the other end of the mall) where wait times had become unbearable. Paradise Dynasty, too, is famous for their Shanghai-style xiao long bao, which come in a rainbow of colors and flavors. They are very good (and wait times, shorter), but what’s even better is the vast array of noodles and wontons. Must order: Singapore style stir-fry noodle with shredded pork. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714-617-4630, paradisegp.com/usa ★★
Costa Mesa still dominates
Once again, Costa Mesa dominates this guide. Why? Because Costa Mesa is the culinary epicenter of Orange County. There is simply no other city in the county that compares with the diversity, breadth and quality of Costa Mesa’s restaurants. I don’t know why. I just know it to be true. From the city’s defacto town square (South Coast Plaza) to the Eastside and more recently the Westside, too, there’s a creative energy in the Costa Mesa food community that remains unmatched.
