If you're still iffy on the definition of irony, here it is: Endless Food and Fun has closed.

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Temporarily sad news: Carlos Salgado has announced that Taco Maria will be parking for good.More »

Edwin Goei

Gone. Gone. Gone.

The signs were literally there that Myung Dong Kal Guk Su wasn't doing so well at the location it took up from the former Jamillah Garden in Tustin. A few years ago, the Korean knife-cut noodle peddler, which has a successful store in Anaheim, installed a banner advertising a lunch special that played fast and loose on what they actually served.

"Chicken Soup with Pasta for $7.95," it said.

Pasta? Chicken Soup?

Surely they're not serving anything remotely Italian or Campbell's-inspired. It was a transparent (at least to me) effort to bring customers in from a street in a part of Tustin that doesn't see too many cars, let alone Korean customers who know what kal guk su was.

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Edwin Goei

I've never tried Mee So Hungry, but I cringed a little every time I passed by it on Belmont Shore's Second Street. I took a picture of it once on the way to another restaurant, never really deciding then whether I thought the 2 Live Crew allusion was stupid or clever, but I never gave it a second thought after that. I wish I did.More »

Edwin Goei

This one's kind of a bummer. Tri-Village Northern Chinese Cuisine, which at one time served one of the better Peking ducks in our fair county and the recipient of many honors we've bestowed (including the Best Chinese Restaurant in our 2011 Best Of Issue), has finally shuttered. 
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The Black Trumpet Bistro Facebook

Have you ever craved a shawarma wrap, a plate of pasta, and a crock pot of stinky French onion soup all at the same time? Neither have I. But now, I sort of do.

A new restaurant in Huntington Beach has just opened that gives you the option of eating all of the above from the same menu. The Black Trumpet Bistro's specialty is that it doesn't have one. It describes its offering as "Mediterranean and Spanish Tapas cuisines from the regions of Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Morocco."

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I liked Taco Factory. Though I can't remember what I really thought of their tacos, I recall, as with most purveyors of this kind, they offered a Taco Tuesday special where tacos were about a buck.

Now the Taco Factory that I spent at least three or four Tuesday evenings many years ago (at Sand Canyon and Irvine Center Drive) is closing, according to a tip from reader Mike.

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Edwin Goei

DX Peruvian--the restaurant at the corner of Bristol and Sunflower next to Bella Cuba and technically in Santa Ana although it's directly across from South Coast Plaza--has closed and now become the fourth branch of Inka Mama's. The switch-over happened this week.More »

A year and a half after opening its sole Orange County location, Katsuya By Starck decided to call it quits. At least, that's what our new chef friend told us. Just to be sure, we verified the intel Sunday evening.

Despite a trendy setting and über-expensive cocktails, our friends kept reminding us the menu exceeded its reputation. It was always on the back burner on our list of places to check out. Unfortunately, that day will never come.

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Edwin Goei

You know that saying? "The more things change, the more they stay the same" So true. Especially when it comes to restaurant concepts that replace other restaurant concepts.

First we have Bomburger which just recently took over the space left behind by Jimmy's Burger Joint (yes, it was actually called that) in Costa Mesa. The new place serves pretty much the same menu as the old place: burgers, of course, but slathered in chili and also bacon. Bomburger has another location in Huntington Beach.

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