Restaurants in Santa Ana

Using halal meats and Malaysian recipes, Belacan Grill presents diners with a menu populated by diverse dishes and preparations. The seafood selection includes live crab or lobsters prepared in one of five ways: Belacan-style means meat will be stir-fried and served with shrimp paste, while the curry option sweetens meat with a coconut-milk gravy. Whole fish can be steamed or deep-fried, and blanketed with brown-bean sauce or a blend of spices and fresh chilies. Like best-selling romance novels, the beef rendang is spicy and tender, making it one of Belacan’s most popular dishes, as is the mamak mee goreng, a tangle of stir-fried egg noodles, chicken, shrimp, and sprouts in tamarind sauce.

Like the Hamburglar, Jerry is a real person who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of grilled food. After discovering the burst of flavor that resulted from roasting hot dogs over a wood fire, he developed his own wood-fired recipes with the help of a master sausage maker. Now, Jerry's Wood-Fired Dogs serves all-beef hot dogs, internationally inspired sausages, and hefty half-pound burgers loaded with more than 30 toppings and sauces. For enjoyment outside the dining room, the restaurant goes a step beyond carryout—guests can not only purchase packs of hot dogs and sausages for at-home grilling, but even rent a portable grill to achieve the same wood-fired flavor as they would dining in.

Haveli Indian Restaurant charms visitors with tender morsels of chicken tikka, spiced and marinated lamb, and appetizers of paneer, papads, and mashed potato. The décor imbues a familiar, yet exotic atmosphere, with its sunny, golden walls, booth benches, and Oriental rug patterns on floors and chairs. After guests have settled into these environs, they feast on kewered shish kebab and garlicky shrimp tandoori, ending meals with honeyed gulab jamun, and pistachio-flecked matka kulfi ice cream.

At Café Tu Tu Tango, edibles and art merge with far more dynamism than your average still life. Paintings and brick pillars surround the tables, where pizzas decked in pears and brie flank the miniature campfires of tabletop s'mores. Murals and mosaics fill the space beneath counters, and plush sofas on the patio replace the chairs and moss-covered motorcycles of traditional outdoor seating. Even the napkins "are a rainbow of jewel toned colors," reports The Food Channel's "Raves & Faves" feature, which labels the restaurant's design "pure local artist eclectic." The review documents the café's other artistic quirks, including the dessert menu's catalogue of painted depictions, the commissioned artists who compose their opuses live in the space, and the range of performers who parade through the restaurant, from belly dancers to balloon artists.

The kitchen makes its own chicken and beef empanadas alongside six types of skewers, which spear meats such as salmon, shrimp, and steak. A classic sangria recipe complements bites of roasted pears or mango-duck quesadillas, and seven specialty pizzas bake in a brick oven. To top off an original lunch date, groups can visit nearby attractions such as Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.

You'll detect hints of Asian spices in many of the dishes at 7 Sea Sports Bar and Grill, from the Thai Basil Cayenne that peppers the popcorn chicken to the Vietnamese barbeque sauce that glazes the Ngon Ngon burger. Aided by the skilled burger-smiths from Savori, the eatery's skilled chefs whip up Asian takes on American pub favorites and fold choice beef and fresh buns into the imaginative, Vietnamese-inspired burgers lauded by reporters from OC Weekly. The chef's Asian culinary influences shine brightest, however, in their sushi—traditional Japanese rolls made from fresh fish and crisp vegetables.

Customers lounge on cushy red banquettes out in the lively dining room, clinking glasses of lychee martinis and coconut margaritas beneath soft blue lighting. Appeasing diehard fans of sports or glowing rectangular devices, massive flat screens speckle the exposed brick walls.

The chefs at Alicia's Mexican Food & Fruteria ladle tongue-igniting chili sauces over tortillas enveloping fresh meats. Early risers energize for the day ahead with omelets and huevos rancheros, and the afternoon heralds arrivals of quesadillas and burritos. Smoothies and juices temper spicy heat in refreshing fruit combinations, such as a melding of pineapple, mango, coconut, and banana in the Alicia's juice. The eatery also offers catering services to fill scores of bellies at corporate events or birthday parties for piñatas' rights activists.