Top Asian Fusion Restaurant in Santa Ana
Los Portales Restaurant
1400 W McFadden Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92704, United States
Okay...I am happy to say this one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Santa Ana. I have been here many times because I enjoy the authentic Mexican flavors in their dishes. I finally was able to bring one of my best friends here to try Camarones a la Diabla, which basically translates to spicy shrimp. Los Portales gives generous portions that will definitely satisfy your hunger. On top of delicious food, the service is top notch. The employees will explain to you what the dish contains to ensure your happy with your selection. They also offer catering services. I plan on trying the Mexican catering for an upcoming event. If you love authentic Mexican food, you gotta come here.
Pick Up Stix Fresh Asian Flavors
2801 W MacArthur Blvd Suite D, Santa Ana, CA 92704, United States
It has been a while since Ive been to a Pick Up Stix. 12 years? Anywho, I remember it being better. Was it? It could have been, it was a different location.It wasnt the cleanliness or service that disappointed me. The place is clean and the employees were nice.The food quality was good, nothing under or over cooked. So thats great, so far so good.The problem was the food was rather bland and this with something they defined as spicy. That doesnt seem like something that should vary from location to location. So it must have been bland way back when, I just forgot.If you like bland, this is your place! Otherwise move along unless you have people in your group that think Bushs baked beans are very spicy.
Pick Up Stix Fresh Asian Flavors
5576 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd, Anaheim, CA 92807, United States
*Update*After giving them a year to sort out their issues I tried to order from their website directly. Once again, second order in a row, they left out an entire item so I once again didnt get to eat with my family.Dont order more than 1 thing if you want to eat dinner the night you order it. I am very disappointed with their customer service skills. I placed my order online and picked it up. Once I got home I found out that I was shorted my beef meal. I called the restaurant and asked to talk to the manager. After 15 min on hold I hung up and called back and was put on hold for 2 more minutes before I could even say 1 word. When I called back again and asked to not be put on hold because I cant listen to the recording after hearing it 750 times and would rather listen to the counter. The phone was passed to Erica who said she wasnt the Manger but was in charge and would ask that they refund me in 3 business days for the beef meal. No offer to deliver the food or even apologized for leaving it out. I understand mistakes can happen but when they add all the mis-steps in this one order experience it shows that either nobody at this location has pride in doing their job well and/or were never properly trained which is a failure of management. Either way this place is currently a huge let down compared to the Placentia location.
Bite Mi Asian Kitchen
2775 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA 92705, United States
I love this place, Ken is amazing and because of him, I would get food, bread and drinks here all the time with my family. Sadly my 3 trips a week have completely stopped because they dont serve Taro Milk Tea. It honestly depresses me to no end when I get promo and ads for Milk Tea and I see a Taro drink is in the promo. I think wow they finally have it! so I drive over or try to order online and this location still doesnt have it. Instead I have to drive miles away to another location just to get a Taro Milk Tea... Now Ive just stopped going to Tastea and Tastea related location all around. I even uninstalled the app and unsubscribe from the email listing so the disappointment I get from this place can stop.
WaBa Grill
1703 E McFadden Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705, United States
Wow, Waba Grill! Arrived at 10 A.M. to meet-up with someone. Very clean outside and inside upon entry. Outside eating area was clean, as in all tables and seats were clean. Inside seating, tables, soda bar, and order counter were clean. Clean!Staff was very friendly, all while busy prepping for the lunch crowd.I ordered a steak soft taco (yes, at 10 A.M. ?). Excellent, even better at 10 A.M. ?The Waba soda bar deserves a round of applause. Nice to see flavors not found at other restaurants (or 7-11).(And here is a dig at McDonalds. There is a move in their chain ... removing ... the dine-in soda bar. That was a benefit of dining in, now being stripped away by a zillion-dollar glutton.)One more thing, in the background they are playing Michael Jacksons Beat It which just makes this outing at Waba Grill more fun.Kudos for Waba Grill.
Kaizen Shabu
303 N Spurgeon St, Santa Ana, CA 92701, United States
Instead of sitting in traffic on the 5 freeway, we decided to stop by downtown Santa Ana for an early dinner. My husband and I love shabu and tried pretty much every location in Orange County, so why not try this new location. I believe its only beem opened for a couple of months. Its tucked right next to Yost theater. Decor is gorgeous with a modern twist. They have a full bar!!We wanted to try the basic meat with their shabu shabu basic broth. So we ordered the large (sumo) size yojie beef and their large (samurai) Swai fish (because Ive never had swai fish with shabu before. They have a combo plate thats great for sharing (they do have a reasonable solit entree fee).The meat was good, Im glad it didnt come out with frozen slices (always wait for meat to thaw before cooking). The yojie beef wasnt too fatty. Swai fish was soft and tender (dont over cook in broth). Veggies and udon was basic like any other place. We opted for brown rice which was I understand can be hard in texture, but it was a really hard to swallow so i asked for a bowl of white rice, which was also under cook and a but hard. Work on the rice texture please!!Sauces=ponzu it was alright, a little too much soy sauce for me, I like it more tangy with a bit more citrus. Goma was good, no complaints there. They also have a third sauce Swisher which is sweet and savory which they let us try for free. It was too sweet for me. Each platter comes with only 2 sauces. Ask to try them before committing.Service was great we were constantly checked on they made sure we knew what we were doing. Overall good food and great experience.
Nguyens Kitchen
3751 S Harbor Blvd # F, Santa Ana, CA 92704, United States
Had high hopes, food for late night business traveler wasnt worth the drive. Had the bulgogi beef garlic noodles. Beef was too chewy, meaning I expect a little chewiness in bulgogi beef but this was too chewy and not very flavorful. The noodles were basic as were the vaunted garlic fries, which I promptly went and bought McDonalds fries to replace for my fry craving. I hate to knock a little joint like this but was honestly hoping for some legit late night noodles with authentic flavors and it disappointed in my opinion.The staff were decently friendly and offered up a few samples, so to the extent there was a high point, it was the staff. The inside was clean but basic in terms of seating. There was an acai bowl bar that was well stocked with toppings but that wouldnt be worth the trip unless you were really itching for one late at night. I ended up wishing I had a Carls Jr. Burger or something more satisfying after a long day of travel and work.
El Cortijo Grill Seafood Bar
413 W 17th St STE 107, Santa Ana, CA 92706, United States
Ive been around the block when it comes to Peruvian food. Being Mexican myself, it feels blasphemous to say just how much I love Peruvian food. I have been everywhere from San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, and Miami trying out Peruvian spots because as we all know, every house cooks with a different recipe. THAT BEING SAID, if you know how Peruvian food is, you KNOW what Lomo Saltado is supposed to taste like. Man oh man, have I had some bad Lomo Saltado. After moving to Southern California and trying 3-4 different Peruvians spots, I almost gave up because I just wasnt satisfied. So here we are today, giving Peruvian in the area one last shot, and I come across El Cortijo. I decide hey, 30 minute drive there and back, if its good food I know itll be worth it; so I set off on my journey for a decent lunch.Upon getting here, Im able to tell just how good this place is because of the smell. Theres an unmistakeable, mouth watering, mind controlling smell about good Peruvian food. I get further in, and Im pleasantly surprised that I can actually see the kitchen, meaning I KNOW theyre not reheating food in a microwave, not using old ingredients, or serving me yesterdays food. I ordered my Lomo Saltado, steak of course, and got to sit and talk with the staff. Let me tell you, this place feels like home. It really feels like I walked into my Tias house and Im waiting for her to get done cooking. The staff is so incredibly nice, but theyre also HUMAN. None of that fake customer service happiness you get in a chain restaurant.But on to the food..... I dont even know how to express just how good it is. I cant get over how good my lunch just was. This is everything Ive been missing for the last three years, my hungry belly never being satisfied, going from place to place just looking for a decent steaming plate of SALTADO. Im a bit of a cook myself, and I know when I taste a recipe thats so good I have to ask for it, and I had to ask within TWO BITES, what the heck is in this thats so good?????? The staff informed me there is a special ingredient in their arsenal, something so simple yet so powerful in a flavor palette that Im upset for never thinking of it. I wont tell, you have to come in and ask for yourself!The entire experience here was already a 10/10, but then I got to know the staff over my meal. I came to discover that my waiter was a cook himself, had been dreaming of a place of his own since he was a kid. Then, I found out they had something new and special available, something they were still testing with the locals and getting a feel for how they like it. After some investigating, I learned MY WAITER came up with the recipe. Something personal, that hes been working on by himself for years. I knew I had to try it.Let me tell you..... I have never tasted a more succulent, flavor filled, satisfying bite of chicken. This chicken has been roasted and marinated in some sort of sorcery, because I had to get one to go to take home to my picky boyfriend, the kind that doesnt even want to look at a tomato let alone get cilantro on his tacos or beans with his burrito. AND HE LOVES IT. This lets me know that this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY PLACE. Even for picky eaters! Something delicious for everyone!Please for the love and respect for yourself and your taste palette, try this place out. They have luckily been floating during the pandemic, but they deserve so much support from the community. I drove from Irvine and Ill continue to do so! Did I mention FULL BAR? Did I mention OPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT????? Hands down. Just go. Lose yourself in the flavor, and feel gravity working extra hard to keep you in that seat eating, because I really have no idea how I was able to stuff so much knowing I was so full. Im gonna tell my grandkids about this place.
WaBa Grill
1215 E Warner Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705, United States
This place is -5 why you say! -1 they didnt ask me if i wanted onion on my first order. -2 I asked them for extra meat and they didnt give me any extra meat but still pond it off that they did. -3 they messed up our orders by switching are brown rice 2 white rice. -4 they say its fresh but its really not the charcoal on the chicken was leaking all over my rice and thats all I could taste from the rice with the charcoal, -5 i havent been at this place in over 4years because the last time we got combos and are cups where fliped upside down on the counter & Lord and behold we got our drinks and took a sip and our eyes were burning because of the bleach on are lips, that they where clean the counter with was all over our cups. An this time we came today it had a over the top smell of bleach and i give them a one star +1 because they gave us a water cup with out asking..
WaBa Grill
3750 W McFadden Ave B, Santa Ana, CA 92704, United States
Beware and check your order before leaving; they might be pocketing your two fifty and avocado.It seems like they really have a hard time remembering to put avocado on all the bowls. When they do remember, they make sure to put those on the top and hide the ones that are missing avocado at the very bottom.It has happened to me multiple times, and judging by the other comments, it is a common practice here. Two stars, not one, because when the order is correct, it is usually good.