Epic Eating in Orange County
Skip the tourist traps and head straight to Little Arabia and Little Saigon
The Cheesecake Factory, P. F. Chang's, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., McCormick & Schmick's. At first blush, Anaheim’s culinary landscape did not look promising.
However, digging deeper, I came across mentions of Kareem’s Falafel, Aleppo’s Kitchen, Al-Amir Bakery and Forn Al Hara. As it turns out, Anaheim is home to one of the largest Arab American neighborhoods in the United States.
Arab Americans and immigrants from the Arab world—predominantly from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine—started moving to West Anaheim and establishing businesses in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2022, after a decade-long effort by local merchants, the city officially recognized a mile-long stretch of Brookhurst Street as “Little Arabia.”
Today, a string of strip malls house a network of halal meat markets, hookah cafes, Arabic jewelers, and traditional clothing shops interspersed among tattoo parlors, pawn shops and Baja Fresh.
We chose Lebanese restaurant and bakery Zait & Zaatar (510 N. Brookhurst St., Suite 106) from an overwhelming list of Middle Eastern establishments due to the promise of pillowy, fresh bread and succulent shawerma.
Upon crossing the threshold of this small storefront an intoxicating, yeasty aroma permeated the air. The springy saj bread that emerged from the brick oven was a revelation, a luxurious upgrade to the packaged lavash served at many shawerma stands.
One bite of the glistening, spit-roasted chicken and I felt transported to a Levantine spice market. The meat’s bold seasoning was punctuated by vinegary cucumber pickles and rounded out with creamy french fries and toum. This classic Lebanese condiment was not like the vampire-slaying versions I’d had previously; its sweet, mellow flavor suggested garlic cloves that had been oven-roasted before being whipped into an ethereal paste.
As I dragged saj bread through a luscious mixture of labneh and fruity olive oil, our server set down the sleeper hit of the meal—an unassuming plate of cauliflower, tahini, lemon and garlic.
Dusted with cumin and delicately fried, the cauliflower was spectacularly creamy, crisp and flavorful; drizzled with tahini and soused with lemon juice and chopped parsley, it was transformed into an irresistible treat. We did not leave a single morsel on the plate.
We left blissfully-sated but regretful that we didn’t purchase any savory baked goods to bring back to our hotel room for the remainder of the week.
I couldn’t have imagined a better follow-up to our meal at Zait & Zaatar and yet, the following night, we found it.
Heading south on Brookhurst Street as you cross Katella Avenue, storefront signage transforms from Arabic into Vietnamese. Anaheim is home to Little Arabia; the neighboring communities of Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana are home to Little Saigon.
Vietnamese immigrants began settling in the area at the war’s end in the mid-1970s, and in 1988 a 1.5 mile stretch of Bolsa Avenue received designation as the Little Saigon Tourist Commercial District. Today the region boasts 300,000 Vietnamese American residents—the largest ethnic Vietnamese population outside Vietnam.
With hundreds of restaurants to choose from, we selected Brodard Chateau (9100 Trask Ave., Garden Grove) based on an Eater mention that their grilled pork spring rolls “might just be the most famous dish in the neighborhood.”
Their nem nướng cuon made every spring roll I’d previously eaten seem half-assed. Translucent rice paper cradled a seared half-tube of pungent pork sausage and crisp greens (lettuce, cilantro, cucumber and scallion) separated by a magical layer of deep-fried wonton wrappers. I didn’t even bother with the dipping sauce—why mess with perfection?
The bánh xèo, a pan-seared rice flour crepe with shrimp, pork, onion, mushroom, mung beans and sprouts, was easily the best version I’ve had. The exterior was crispy and caramelized while the insides remained silky. Hot from the skillet and served alongside exceptional local produce and lime chili fish sauce, I could not resist making roll-up after roll-up.
I was not surprised to learn that our next dish of “broken rice,” originally considered a poor man’s food, has evolved into a Saigonese street food classic. The fractured grains’ texture was pleasingly tacky and ideally suited to soaking up the char-grilled pork chop’s juices. Loaded with a sliver of the accompanying shrimp paste-filled fried tofu skin and pickled cabbage and carrots, each forkful dazzled with an interplay of smoky, earthy, salty and tangy flavors.
The final plate was good, old-fashioned soul food: impeccably-cooked chicken thighs draped over chewy, garlic-laced noodles. Whoever is working the grill at Brodard Chateau is a master—the chicken had crackling skin with a luscious layer of fat and tender meat. I loved the way the liquor from the chicken mingled with the punchy coating on the noodles.
We passed on dessert in favor of exploring the Asian Garden Mall, the beating heart of Little Saigon. Our visit coincided with the annual Flower Festival in the lead-up to Tết (Lunar New Year).
This vibrant night market filled the shopping center’s main plaza with exotic flowers and trees, traditional clothing, food stalls and myriad gifts and decorations. Older couples danced to live music performed by a Vietnamese crooner reminiscent of Wayne Newton while kids threw snap-its on the pavement and impromptu fireworks lit the sky red.
The electric energy that coursed through the festival was the perfect nightcap to such a thrilling dinner.
Orange County often gets a bad rap—I’ve heard it dismissed as a suburban wasteland with little going on outside of Disney and the beach.
It's too bad the dominant narrative doesn’t focus instead on the remarkable culinary and cultural contributions of the area’s Arab American and Vietnamese American communities. Little Arabia and Little Saigon should be required destinations for any visitors to this part of the country.
Photos by Jared Wheeler
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It's great to have this tasty reminder of all the great foods from Vietnam and the Middle East that are available just a few miles south of where I live. Thanks, Whitney!