Eat Your Heart Out: An O.C. Restaurant Guide

2145 now serves up japanese-inspired slices. Story by Matthew Mendoza

2145 in Costa Mesa is all about unusual pairings. Within its large open sliding doors, this converted garage now serves up delicious pizza. Their cuisine consists of Japaneseinfused Italian food.

“We see all the same food everywhere,” says Sous Chef Raul Saucedo. “There’s so many ingredients and different things you can do, so we like to play around a lot.”

The pizzas are prepared with familiar Italian ingredients alongside a Japanese fermentation process for the dough, which Head Chef Eduardo Salcedo brought back from Japan. Small plates of Japanese stylings also play up the fused menu. The shishito peppers, wagyu corn dogs, and oyakodon arancini exemplify this melding of multiple influences.

The indoor dining space features large communal tables and a prominently rectangular bar. Outdoor seating is set on an adjacent patio under a web of string lights, providing a backyard feeling that is perfect for those warm SoCal nights.

“The service is very casual and young, with a lot of energy,” says Roberto Espinoza, bartender captain at 2145 Pizza.

Espinoza’s goal is for all guests to enjoy the food and service in the relaxed environment. The bar boasts a variety of beers from several SoCal breweries, wines, and sake. 2145’s unique dining experience and piquant pizzas make it perfect for a night out with friends, a date, or a go-to dinner spot.

If you can’t handle the heat, the Spicy Salami Pizza is not for you. This pizza may pack heat, but it is also extremely flavorful.

For someone who does not enjoy brussel sprouts, theirs are amazing. The red wine and mustard vinaigrette topped with pistachios pair perfectly for a surprisingly satisfying dish.

2145 features a brunch menu from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. Brunch includes traditional menu items plus exclusives such as a variety of toasts and breakfast-themed pizzas. And for you day drinkers, bottomless mimosas.

This café is not monkeying around

How Monkey business helps Fullerton’s youth one cup of coffee at a time Story by Michelle Ibanez

Located just two blocks away from Fullerton College and Downtown Fullerton is Monkey Business Café. The interior is furnished with tables that don’t match their chairs, and chairs that don’t match other chairs.

While the cuisine is delicious and the coffee is superb, Monkey Business goes further than filling guests with food.

Every year, more than 23,000 children age out of the foster care system, according to the National Foster Youth Institute. After reaching the age of 18, 20 percent will be instantly homeless. Aside from not having a place to call home, many foster youth are on their own both financially and emotionally. But Monkey

Business plans to change that.

The café is a workforce development program of the Hart Community Homes, a public charity that facilitates two foster homes for boys aged 13 to 18.

Monkey Business gives their foster employees a taste of what it’s like to have a job, responsibility, and stability. With donations and grants, Monkey Business opened in 2005 with only a blender, deli case, and microwave.

Over the years with community support, it became a full-service restaurant and a place where many childrens’ lives would be changed. Monkey Business organically grows their fruit and vegetables in the Arboretum at CSUF with the collaboration of U-ACRE, a communitybased research experience for CSUF students. The collaborators plant and prepare nutritional food through sustainable urban agriculture. “It is a true farm to table process,” Carissa Hart-Bunevith, executive director of Hart Community Homes says. “We even have a volunteer food scientist that trains our youth and staff on recipes.”

As for their food, Monkey Business offers a variety of dishes, from pancakes, omelets, and waffles to chili cheese fries, BLTs, and burgers. However, the servers recommend chilaquiles. They even have their own line of seasoning salt, blackened coffee rub, and other seasonal items.

eat your heart out

Photos by Alyssa Almazan & Dominique Villamor Design by Giselle Marquez & Momoko Watarai

Pinché Good Tacos: Fusion Food Has Never Tasted Better

Check out Brea’s Tempo Urban Kitchen when you’re effing hungry Story by Korryn Sanchez

If Southern California can be characterized as one thing it’s diverse. Nowadays your nose will be greeted by an aroma of exotic scents as you stroll one of our city plazas. As our culture diversifies, so does the California food scene. Tempo Urban Kitchen is a fusion food restaurant in Brea that specializes in Mexican, American and Asian fusion cuisine.

The menu is as eclectic and diverse as the restaurant's vibe. With options from vegetarian dishes to bone marrow plates, it proves to be a godsend for people with dietary restrictions.

Tempo’s Pinchés Tacos are the tacos for you and me. Vegetarian, pescatarian or straight up carnivore, these tacos are pinché good.

The vegetarian option consists of tacos filled

with the universe’s gift to vegetarians: soyrizo. For those with gluten or corn allergies, they serve vegetarian tacos with an avocado base and sweet potato tortilla.

Pescatarians can enjoy fish, shrimp, or octopus tacos filled with guacamole.

All tacos have the option of mild, medium, or spicy flavoring — which can be catered to your tolerance and preference.

As your eyes scroll down the menu, things like taquitos, nachos and fried rice stand out to the average foodie but those with a more advanced palate will go for the daring choices. “The pork belly is the best,” says Brandon Killman, communications major at CSUF. “It’s a big cube of bacon and they serve it with a side of sweet and sour sauce. It’s crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside.”

Tempo Urban Kitchen also offers brunch on the weekends between 10 am and 2 pm. They serve dishes such as a Meat Lover or Veggie Omelette and Pork Belly Benedict with the choice of bottomless champagne for $13 or mimosas for $15.

There is no better combination than good tacos and cheap cerveza.

Happy Hour is all day Monday but varies from day to day the rest of the week. The happy hour menu offers a variety of $4 bottled beers and $7 wines and spirits. For those of you who see the world through beer goggles and wine glasses, this is definitely the place for you.

Pour Co. serves bottomless mimosas and chicken & waffle sliders Story by Bernadette Steele

Situated in Downtown Fullerton, the Pour Co. is a mouth-watering experience for all you foodies. Although their menu has a steep price for the average college student, it’s the perfect place to “treat yourself” when you’re feeling like Donna Meagle or Tom Haverford.

This chill spot has a great boost of energy with welcoming staff, a minimalist modern vibe, and a classic rotation of funk, rock, and R&B hits — leaving even the most stoic individual singing and dancing in their chair.

The chefs here are like artists taking fanfavorites and giving them a makeover. For instance, their Buffalo Cauliflower could be described as the sexier cousin of Buffalo wings. These bad boys are not only healthier, but their breading is made of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which will make your pajama-wearing, Flamin’ Hot Cheeto-loving inner child ecstatic.

This OC restaurant’s menu has a lot of imaginative options, such as their deep-fried cinnamon roll ice cream sandwich, which is drenched in caramel.

But don’t get married to any of their sweets, their desserts frequently change. They change so much that they don’t even have a physical dessert menu. This freedom gives Pour Co.’s innovative chefs a lot of wiggle room to constantly experiment with new creations such as their ever-rotating burger of the month. If you’re looking for your next brunch spot, look no further. The Pour Co. has $15 bottomless mimosas as well as a wide selection of food such as their bombass chicken and waffles, duck poutine, or stuffed cinnamon french toast to ease your inescapable hangover from the previous night. Unique art pieces can be found on the walls of the outdoor patio, making it the most aesthetically pleasing patios in DTF. This restaurant is a great spot to enjoy the weather of SoCal, or cozy up with a drink and friends.