As many of you probably know, Wahoo’s Fish Taco opened it’s doors in Old Towne Orange at the end of last month. Wahoo’s already won me over years ago with their delicious Maui bowls, cajun chicken tacos and special green sauce so I was excited when Kelly suggested we go check out their new location.
At this point, most of you know that the Avila’s have come to OTO with their family-owned restaurant El Ranchito. I happened to be getting back from a Hawaiian vacation the day before they opened, so the next morning, with no food in the house, the family and I decided to pay them a visit for lunch. Of course, the universe played a little game on all of us that day and half the power was out in downtown Orange, including at El Ranchito. They were making it work though and still serving up their traditional recipes and margaritas! While this is pretty terrible for opening day, it made for a good memory and we had a great experience that day as well as the chance to meet owner Marcus Avila. We have been back many times since and it seems that each time, they’ve made another small change to what used to be PJs Abbey.
I realize that this may make a few of you wail in sadness, but I’ve just heard that the Dairy Treet, located on Glassell just across from Chapman University is going to retire. Open since 1948, the Kim’s who own the Dairy Treet, are retiring.
I finally had the opportunity to have dinner at Francoli Gourmet. I’d heard a lot of hype, both good and bad, but being someone who loves food, and loves trying new places, I wanted to make up my own mind. I had never been to Francoli at it’s Newport location, so this would be my first experience with them. While my expectations were high, I’d actually heard quite a few negative comments about the service (though none really about the food), so I wasn’t sure what to expect.