Restaurants in Newport Beach

Culinary school wasn’t enough of a learning experience for Hany Fadda. During the summers between his classical training at the California Culinary Academy, Hany traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East. These experiences heavily influence the cuisine that he creates as the head chef of Tannins Restaurant and Wine Bar, although he also celebrates Orange County by featuring an extensive wine list that includes more than 40 different local wines by the glass.

These wines complement the contemporary bistro-style cuisine. Italian cuisine appears most prominently on the menus, and the chefs strive for authenticity by importing prosciutto and hand-making their own meatballs in-house. In addition to the assorted pasta dishes, the menus also feature a number of pizzas with toppings that include everything from sausage and roasted red peppers to roma tomatoes and sweet basil. Desserts such as traditional Sicilian cannoli or tiramisu provide a fitting coda to the casually refined meals.

The eatery’s dining room embraces a more classical elegance, with silver candelabras on several of the linen-draped tables. High ceilings and archways between rooms contribute to this vaguely regal setting, as do the thrones that surround each table.

The family that owns Tacos and Company is dedicated to authenticity. Since they opened the first of their three locations in 1991, they've been crafting burritos, seafood tacos, and steaks by drawing upon techniques honed at Mexico's food stands, rural kitchens, and guacamole rivers. Fresh produce and seafood, lard-free beans, and premium meats—like slow-cooked carnitas—join up with house marinade and daily made salsas. Every single corn chip lands on a plate the day it emerges from the fryer. Vegetarian options abound, too. The eatery's catering skills are praised by clients.

Crafted from fresh ingredients such as bigeye tuna, albacore, and quail eggs, Shinkou Sushi's hand-rolled delicacies treat palates to hearty bites of authentic Japanese flavor. An extensive menu beckons diners to choose from sashimi supplied in half dozens, hand and cut maki rolls, and more than 10 sushi combos. After choosing their wrap or rice preferences, customers can build their own rolls from ingredients such as hamachi, imitation crab, and radish sprout, or sample more than 15 specials, including a las vegas roll dispensed directly from the restaurant’s slot machine. Visitors seeking nonraw alternatives can savor one of Shinkou Sushi's many appetizers, salads, and rice bowls, all of which can pair with bottles of sake. In addition to biweekly happy hours, Shinkou Sushi grants free delivery of both cuisine and drinks to patrons ordering $25 minimums within a designated 3-mile area.

Port Restaurant and Bar entrances diners with a seasonal menu of international and American eats such as pizzas, kebabs, pastas, and seafood. Meals of wild salmon and filet mignon unfurl on an open-air patio, and wines selected by a veteran sommelier swirl by the fireplace in the atrium with the candlestick.

The décor's muted luxury evokes the building’s beginnings as an oceanfront bungalow. Accents of wood and marble charm diners amid eye-catching displays of artwork and exploding dynamite. A lineup of live music fills the elegant space, mirroring the kitchen's eclectic menu with acts ranging from acoustic pop and rock to Persian songcraft with its undulating rhythms.

Bonafede-family matriarch Anita started JoJo's Pizza Kitchen more than four decades ago, and her discerning taste for ingredients is still identifiable in the menu. Though her son Joe, who napped on flour sacks in the back of the restaurant as a child, now runs the eatery, fresh basil and plum tomatoes grown in Stanislaus County still release aromas that hint at sun-soaked furrows. Through a dining room window, guests catch glimpses of chefs tossing freshly risen dough for pizzas or smaller chefs for their adorable giggles. They grate fresh parmesan cheese as wine cooks slowly down with mushrooms on the stovetop and chicken marinates in lemon and garlic. Servers bustle past, filling glasses with house wines or draft beers.

Vibrant paintings of a tropical sunset and bold orange- and teal-hued walls surround hot-pink booths and linen-topped tables inside Chaparosa Grill. An extended stay in the Caribbean inspired chef Tony's menu of homemade caribbean crab cakes, west indies shrimp curry, charbroiled-ahi sandwiches—1 of 10 stacked delights—and blackened steak pizzas. The eatery's catering services present a variety of menu options for groups of more than 20 people or more than 40 human-child-size robots. Tony cultivated a classical education at the Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology in England before cooking cuisine in Her Majesty's Land, Italy, and France, and along the way he picked up worldliness and a perfervid interest in delighting palates.