{"id":453453,"date":"2026-09-04T15:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453453\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:26:08","slug":"5-upcoming-orange-county-restaurants-to-put-on-your-radar-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453453\/","title":{"rendered":"5 upcoming Orange County restaurants to put on your radar \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orange County\u2019s restaurant churn continues apace.<\/p>\n

In Costa Mesa, the former Playa Mesa space<\/a> already has a successor. In Dana Point, a bakery-cafe is slated to move into the recently vacated JC Beans. Elsewhere, one of Orange County\u2019s most prolific restaurant groups, helmed by James Beard Award semifinalist Viet Nguyen<\/a>, has brought its Chifa cooking farther south, while chef Michael Campbell is taking his months-old concept north to Corona del Mar.<\/p>\n

Here are five restaurant openings \u2014 including one that technically beat me to the punch and opened this week \u2014 worth putting on your culinary calendar.<\/p>\n

Hungry? Sign up for The Eat Index, our weekly food newsletter, and find out where to eat and get the latest restaurant happenings in Orange County. Subscribe here<\/a>.
\nVox Kitchen (Aliso Viejo)<\/p>\n

Stretching outside of its Fountain Valley environs, Vox Kitchen opened its third Orange County location Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 26511 Aliso Creek Road in Aliso Viejo.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2017 by James Beard semifinalist<\/a> Viet Nguyen, this Kei Concepts restaurant specializes in modern Chifa, the Chinese-Peruvian culinary tradition that pulls from the Chinese immigrant diaspora in Peru. A second Vox Kitchen opened at South Coast Plaza<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

The 3,298-square foot Aliso Viejo space seats roughly 80 and features familiar dishes from chef-owner Nguyen, including filet mignon lomo saltado, filet garlic noodles, garlic chicken wings and Chifa-style fried rice. And the congee here, which includes beef rib and crab iterations, is some of the best<\/a> Orange County has to offer.<\/p>\n

The opening continues a busy expansion streak for Kei Concepts, whose portfolio includes Nep Cafe, Kei Coffeehouse, ROL Hand Bar<\/a>\u00a0and QUA Contemporary Chinese Cuisine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ElEl Moro Churreria inside Mercado Gonz\u00e1lez in Costa Mesa, CA, on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\nEl Moro Churrer\u00eda (La Habra)<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Sept. 10, churro purveyor El Moro Churrer\u00eda<\/a> will open its second Orange County location at 1327 W. Whittier Blvd. in La Habra, following its U.S. debut inside Costa Mesa\u2019s Mercado Gonz\u00e1lez. The new churrer\u00eda will be located near Northgate Gonz\u00e1lez Market in La Habra, which is being converted into a second Mercado Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1935 in Mexico City, El Moro makes churros to order in traditional roscas and bite-sized moritos. Dipping sauces include chocolate, cajeta, condensed milk and chocolate hazelnut.<\/p>\n

Guests can also look forward to El Moro\u2019s chocolates. Flavors include Mexicano, featuring a touch of cinnamon; Franc\u00e9s, creamy with vanilla; Especial, which offers a bittersweet profile; and dairy-free Oaxaque\u00f1o. Those varieties can be served hot or cold. The menu also includes Espa\u00f1ol, a thick drinking chocolate served hot and made for dipping churros.<\/p>\n

Zov\u2019s (Costa Mesa)<\/p>\n

Zov\u2019s will take over the shuttered Playa Mesa space<\/a> at 428 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa, with an opening planned for late 2026.<\/p>\n

The restaurant will mark the fifth location for the nearly 40-year-old family-run spot, which recently expanded to San Clemente<\/a>. Chef Zov Karamardian opened the original Zov\u2019s in Tustin in 1987. Today, three generations of the Karamardian family work in the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving operated Playa Mesa in this space, I know firsthand what a special corner of Costa Mesa this is,\u201d said Mario Marovic, who owns the property with partner Andrew Gabriel. \u201cZov\u2019s is exactly the kind of restaurant this community deserves \u2014 a family concept with real history, real roots, and nearly four decades of doing things the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expect the eatery\u2019s familiar Mediterranean-meets-California menu, including grilled lamb chops, mezze, seafood, flatbreads, pasta and salads.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe N\u2019Oreasters are served at White Rooster in Dana Point, CA. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\nWhite Rooster (Corona del Mar)<\/p>\n

Soon after opening The Shore<\/a>, with locations in San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, chef-owner Michael Campbell is bringing White Rooster, his Dana Point restaurant<\/a> that opened in January, to Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.<\/p>\n

The new location will replace the recently shuttered Mayur Cuisine of India. White Rooster\u2019s broadly defined \u201cComida Californiana\u201d menu gives Campbell room to bounce from smoked tri-tip tacos and chilaquiles to blue corn waffles, seafood and a birria burger.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s slated to open in late October or early November.<\/p>\n

Scratch Bakery and Cafe (Dana Point)<\/p>\n

JC Beans\u2019 longtime Coast Highway home won\u2019t stay vacant for long.<\/p>\n

Scratch Bakery and Cafe<\/a> is taking over the distinctive A-frame building at 34114 Coast Highway in Dana Point, where the aforementioned coffeehouse served its final cup<\/a> on Aug. 30 after 32 years.<\/p>\n

Scratch currently operates locations in Laguna Hills and Newport Beach\u2019s Fashion Island. The bakery-cafe serves breads and pastries along with sandwiches, burritos, salads and more.<\/p>\n

According to Scratch Bakery and Cafe CEO and president Ronnie Givargis, the plan is to keep the drive-thru open. No opening date has yet been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orange County\u2019s restaurant churn continues apace. In Costa Mesa, the former Playa Mesa space already has a successor.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[26993,163,165,164,7,6734,3372,12,611,412,580,420,136],"class_list":["post-453453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-aliso-viejo","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-corona-del-mar","tag-costa-mesa","tag-dana-point","tag-orange-county","tag-restaurants","tag-restaurants-food-and-drink","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}