Votes
2012 Best Small Towns in America
- 2 votes - Best For Food
Description
A small suburb in Orange County, California, Costa Mesa boasts fine dining, varied Southern California recreation, and plenty of arts and culture. The Orange Country Fair holds events frequently at the local Segerstrom Center for the Arts, South Coast Repertory, and South Coast Plaza.
Families can discover Rockreation, a local indoor climbing venue, or any of the nearby amusement parks. Shopaholics will love the new Bridge of Gardens linking both sides of the South Coast Plaza where 270 stores and restaurants from 17 countries await.
The SoBeCa District celebrates art, fashion, and the outdoors with specialty shopping centered on lifestyle and culture. Best of the Road users love Costa Mesa’s array of restaurants recommending Eat Chow, Octica’s Pizza, Marche Moderne, Pinot Provence, and Antonello’s for example.
For even more great eats try the Golden Truffle, Charlie Palmer, Old Vine Café, El Chinaco, Mastro’s or Zipangu. Reviewers described these hometown digs as imaginative, fantastic, and extraordinary. Locals embrace Costa Mesa as Orange County’s hidden gem.
Traveler Reviews
We loved the fun,food and frolic we had during our memorable visit to Costa Mesa. As Elvis would say "Thank you very much."
Costa Mesa has the best food options!!! Any type of food you want - they have it in Costa Mesa. From high end to bargin basement prices - you could spend hours trying to decide where to eat!!!
I hate email but my daughter set me up just so I could write this review for Costa mesa! Costa Mesa has been my hometown the past 14 years. I have travelled all over the world and the restaurants here are some of the best I have ever been to! Old Vine Cafe at the Camp is extrordinary. I love to have breakfast there and their amazing biscuits and gravy, better than any I ate in my childhood in the south. When we splurge on a fancy dinner Mastro's is the best steak ever. I love El Chinaco for traditional San Salvadorian food like pupusas and the sushi at Zipangu is the best. Mi Casa makes the best albondigas meatball soup ever! Pound for pound the food in Costa Mesa ranks up against any big city I've ever been to. This city REALLY deserves to win (and I have been to all the others except W. Virginia). I love Lafayette and also Gulfport but they have really, only a couple kinds of food though they are good. There's not many cities you can find the variety of food from so many different countries, and it's so authentic and delicious, plus the five-star restaurants that are unbeatable. I love this city!
There are probably more great restaurant per sq. mile in Costa Mesa than in any other similarly sized community. Probably the best - and one that can be compared with the best anywhere - is the Golden Truffle. For sheer artistry, creativity and outstanding taste, Alan Greeley, the home-grown owner and chef of this 37 year old restaurant is known and called upon, literally, from around the world.
Amazing little hidden gem of a town, I used to skip over i and head straight to Newport Beach, but now I do most of my shopping and especially my dining here in Costa Mesa, you couldn't eat your way through this town if you had a year to do it in,sooooo many fabulous eateries!! Everyon should spend a couple days here!! Shannon N.