Brode's Best

Look I had to break out the Ramen winners into sub categories because there is SO MUCH good Ramen here. For the best spicy miso, you hav...

Orange County is a hot spot for Ramen, especially Costa Mesa, which has been referred to as Ramen City, USA. So it follows that the best...

If you want the best Mexican food, you need to get closer and closer to Mexico. And way down near the border and native to San Diego Cou...

There are a lot of Pho places in Orange County, but one of the oldest places is still the best. Pho 79 opened in 1982 and helped usher V...

The ultimate comfort food, Philly cheese steaks combine the perfect amount of cheese, meat, and bread, in a gooey, delicious sandwich. T...

Frozen Pizza?! Most of 'em suck. But this pizza, from Lou Malnati's in Chicago, is something else. Lou's is also my favorite deep dish...

No surprise here, Playground 2.0 is Brode's Best. Playground 2.0 is an experience. You buy a ticket in advance and it covers your meal, w...

When I worked at Gina's Pizza, the cooks used to make a spicy soup each morning for breakfast. I loved the soup and had been searching f...

I have eaten at some fancy ass restaurants in my life, but none of them beats out this Beverly Hills icon: Lawry's The Prime Rib. This i...

Look I wouldn't blame you if you felt this one should go to In-N-Out Burger. I think In-N-Out is probably #3 on my list. Number 2 is TK...

It's Korean Fried chicken, and it's inside a Korean grocery store. If you can find Furai Chicken, I think you'll see why it's earned the...

I'll be honest, the Italian Food in Orange County kind of sucks. However, Tutto Famiglia is good enough that it breaks through the haze ...

It can be hard to find a table at Honda-Ya; the line is often hours long. But once you make it through the door, you're in for a long ni...

I haven't been deep enough to know if this is an "all-OC" Brode's Best, but it's a at least the best I've had in Irvine. The Ddukbokki i...

Ten years ago, you couldn't find Poke in Orange County. Now there's a Poke place every few blocks. The best one is a tiny lunch spot od...

Hot dogs are not "trendy" right now, but that doesn't stop the Dogzilla food truck from serving up Brode's Best. You'll have to track the...

This one's not even close. The best donuts are at Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee. Shit, they're probably the best donuts in California. Ha...

Thai food. So good, right? There are plenty of excellent Thai places, but the most excellent is Spice Thai. I judge a Thai place on th...

There's actually a few Afghan places in the OC, but I've been going to Chili Chutney since it was a 2-table hole-in-the-wall next to a co...

Creole and Cajun food are uncommon in Orange County, so it's great that one of the few Creole restaurants here is also a showstopper. Ro...