Costa Mesa
19 stories from restaurants we've eaten at in Costa Mesa.
Where to eat downtown this month
A shortlist of downtown tables for visitors, locals, and the chronically hungry.
Hearth & Rye’s wood-fired chicken is worth the wait
A warehouse dining room, a roaring hearth, and a roast chicken that tastes like a celebration.
A night on the East Side starts at Saffron Alley
Charcoal kebabs, saffron rice, and a dining room that feels like someone’s home.
Verde Cartel: three tacos and a soda, still a perfect lunch
Fast, bright, and unapologetically green — Midtown’s best quick bite.
Copper Noodle’s morning pho ritual
Rivertown wakes up to broth that simmered all night.
Late-night dumplings at Copper Noodle
After the pho rush, the kitchen turns out pleated dumplings until midnight.
Why Hearth & Rye’s rye old fashioned works
A bar program built around the grain that names the room.
Saffron Alley’s weekend brunch queue, decoded
Herbed eggs, flatbread, and a line that moves faster than it looks.
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Verde Cartel opens a second window on Grove Lane
Same salsa verde, twice the throughput — Midtown lunch just got easier.
Rivertown’s best cheap lunch under fifteen dollars
Pho, tacos, and bakery slices — a walking tour for hungry locals.
Copper Noodle’s broth starts at 4am
A short look at the overnight simmer that fuels Rivertown mornings.
New openings worth watching this month
A rolling list of tables that might stick — updated as we eat our way through.
Cheap eats crawl: six stops under forty dollars
Tacos, pho, and pastry — a Saturday route for the budget-conscious hungry.
Midtown lunch rush: where the line moves
Verde Cartel, the food hall, and how to eat in under thirty minutes.
Our favorite review of the month
The stories readers saved, shared, and came back to — a quick roundup.
Meet the 23-year-old running OC's #1 ramen
Two million followers, a broom-closet studio off Magnolia.
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