I don’t drive. In fact, I refuse to. And that has become somewhat of a running joke among my fellow Orange County Register staffers. How can a journalist function without a car?
Well, with a willingness to walk, a monthly pass to public transportation and time to test the system as a summer intern – I’m a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – I now have a retort: Despite living in the land where the car is king, I’ve still been able to eat in Orange County and write about it just fine.
The Metrolink Orange County Line runs from Oceanside to Los Angeles and cuts through the heart of Orange County, with stops that reach the downtown areas of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Orange and Fullerton.
For those of you who also want a taste of Orange County’s best food and drink without the gas bill or traffic, I’ve compiled this list of the places I’ve enjoyed most at those stops between my rides to and from work and on weekend excursions.
A $10 weekend pass will give you unlimited systemwide travel from Oceanside to Los Angeles on Saturday or Sunday. If you buy one, then make your way to these spots – perhaps you’ll begin to see the virtues of public transportation, too. Good eating!
Fullerton
The Night Owl, a popular coffee shop on Harbor Boulevard (a main thoroughfare immediately adjacent to the Metrolink station), was my first stop in Fullerton. Inside, my eyes instantly were riveted to pastry cases full of hazelnut-flecked croissants tinged a gorgeous brown from a cocoa-laced dough (just under $5) and baked-from-scratch Ding-Dong cakes ($5.95). I had to have one, even if it was dinnertime.
“Their sweets here are off the chain,” said one patron.
“This is 20 years of them,” he continued, rubbing his belly. “Don’t start.”
I enjoyed a coffee and chocolate hazelnut croissant that visit, then a Ding-Dong cake (and another croissant) the next. Both times I wish I could have stayed longer to make room for more, but I had to see more of Fullerton. Plus I could come back later – The Night Owl is open until midnight Sundays-Mondays, and until 2 a.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays.
Heroes Bar & Grill was my next stop. The impressive global draft list reflected the decor of the place, which combined elements of the world’s most beloved drinking establishments – peanut shells and sawdust on the floor, beer steins, vintage English pub signs, and stuffed moose and buffalo heads perched above the bar. It was gloriously tacky in that bric-a-brac-filled, neighborhood-watering-hole kind of way. I wasn’t thrilled with the heaping bar food (burgers, chili fries), but it’s worth checking out for the atmosphere.
Hopscotch Craft Beer & Whiskey also has an impressive – albeit smaller – draft list, but its menu includes a brunch dish of chilaquiles, house-made chips covered with guacamole, cheese, chorizo sauce and a sunny-side-up egg ($14) and other eclectic items including fried pig ears and crab tater tots for around $10. I took time to savor my food and the soul and rock ’n’ roll soundtrack, but if you’re in a hurry to catch your train, the station is just across the parking lot.
Orange
The four-block stroll heading east from the Metrolink station to downtown Orange is chock full of Americana, from the burgers and dogs of Ruby’s and the Omega Drive-In to the antique stores, towering trees and old-timey storefronts leading to picturesque Old Towne.
Food in Orange is part of the nostalgia.
At Provisions Market, you can pick a mix of six from the impressive craft beer menu. Across the street at The Filling Station Cafe, a soundtrack of French gypsy jazz combined with shiny red booths, a counter with spinning stools and a reinvigorated diner-like bill of fare to make up one my favorite eateries of the summer.
No matter what time of day you go, order the dense and semi-savory cornmeal pancakes (two for $6.50). The delicately blackened exterior is the perfect, slightly smoky canvas for a slathering of syrup and butter.
Santa Ana
The nine-block walk west from the Metrolink station to Santa Ana’s Calle Cuatro downtown hub is worth the distance: The area teems with some of Orange County’s premier food and drink.
For those looking for a berth of options and budget-friendly eating, the 4th Street Market has everything from ahi tuna poke to fried chicken, as well as spectacular coffee from Portola Coffee Lab and the Recess Libations bar.
But I encourage venturing beyond that to taste Santa Ana.
Grab a mango con chamoy – slices of the fruit in a salty, spicy red sauce – from one of the many fruit stands. Then head down to Mortimer Street to La Chiva Torta for a torta ahogada, a Guadalajaran pork sandwich drenched and swimming in a mind-numbingly spicy – but devilishly appetizing – red chili sauce ($5). Get horchata to cool your palate, and take a minute to watch a soccer game or listen to music with the local crowd that inevitably gathers there. They know what’s good.
C4 Deli on Broadway also has great sandwiches. I got the grilled cheese on French bread and piled on avocado, caramelized onions and a fried egg for $7.24. C4’s wonderful list of draft craft beer is $3 off from 3-6 p.m. every day, but don’t just stick to that happy hour: Good Beer Co. on Fourth Street pours innovative wild ales in a gorgeous open brick space, and the tasting flight (5 4-ounce pours for $10) is a steal.
Lastly, go to Native Son Alehouse for an expansive tap list. It’s the place to watch the sun set.
San Juan Capistrano
History buffs will fall for historic, tree-lined Los Rios Street adjacent to the Metrolink station in San Juan Capistrano. Foodies will be wooed by the eats.
El Campeon, just south on Camino Capistrano from the station, has the best tacos. The birria (stewed goat meat) and cabeza de res (beef head) iterations (both $2.69) are divine, stuffed to a burrito-like density with meat, cilantro and chopped onion. And the chales, chunks of luscious, deep-fried pork belly, are essential. They’re best ordered on their own, (just under $4 for a half-pound), with salsa picante and salsa verde on the side.
Ramos House Café offers brunch dishes like crab hash ($20), huckleberry coffee cake and cinnamon apple beignets ($8) served on a shady, rustic patio by the train tracks along Los Rios. Hidden House Coffee, which sits close to Ramos House, also deserves mention for its splendid cups of house-roasted coffee, front porch and plentiful outdoor seating.
If beer is your thing, the 30 craft taps at The BrewHouse are hard to top. You can bring in food from nearby El Campeon to go with draft beers like Barley Forge’s Patsy coconut rye stout ($6).
San Clemente
On weekends, make sure to get off the Metrolink at the San Clemente Pier. Just across from the station is a classic, The Fisherman’s Restaurant & Bar, which serves, of course, seafood on the beach. When I was a kid, I used to beg my grandparents to take me there for a slice of cake or pie the size of my head.
But if kid-friendliness isn’t so much your thing, visit The Cellar on Avenida Del Mar. The live jazz, chorizo and white-wine steamed clams ($16) should please most anyone.
A mile from the pier, Ellie’s Table at North Beach offers a take on the kouign-amann, a Breton pastry ($4.95) – this riff has a dollop of creme brulee.
Get a coffee and sit outside. You won’t be the only person pulling a “When Harry Met Sally … ” reaction to your first bite of that custardy center.
Contact the writer: bomcmill@gmail.com
