Restaurants in Westminster

Head Chef Ray brings more than 20 years of culinary expertise to the kitchen of Papa Pilo’s, where he champions a menu of Italian recipes that won CityVoter's 2011 Best Italian prize. Thin-crust, New York–style pizzas don toppings such as fresh tomatoes and meatballs, and specialty pies include the breakfast pizza with eggs, bacon bits, onions, canadian bacon, and a snooze button. Papa Pilo’s also whips up dishes such as chicken parmesan, fettuccine in spicy fra diavolo sauce, and meat lasagna with ricotta, romano, and mozzarella.

It all began with a young wanderer named Ernest Gantt. Inspired by the culture of the South Pacific, where he sometimes worked on film sets, he opened a small watering hole just off Hollywood Boulevard in the mid-1930s. He decorated it with old fishing nets and trinkets he’d picked up during his travels to the South Pacific and created a menu of exotic rum drinks, which he etched onto a board hanging behind the thatched tiki bar. Back then, drinks cost a quarter, or five wooden nickels.

Today, Don The Beachcomber still serves some of Ernest’s original rum cocktails—including his signature mai tai—in a tiki lounge inspired by that 1930s watering hole. A few things have changed over the years, however; the joint now serves a full menu of Hawaiian specialties such as ahi-tuna tacos and Kalua pulled pork piled on sweet a hawaiian bun. On Friday nights, live musicians perform Hawaiian tunes next to an indoor waterfall.

Before moving to California, the owners of Finbars Italian Kitchen lived in a Brooklyn neighborhood densely populated with Italian families. Like the rest of the neighborhood, they attended St. Finbar parish, where they gossiped and traded recipes with “grandmas, moms, and quite a few uncles that all know how and love to cook.” Later, as transplants to the West Coast, they infused the “straight to the point food” they knew and loved with fresh, California-style ingredients such as cilantro, zucchini, jalapeños, and celebrity secrets. Their menu soon grew to reflect both their traditions and culinary developments, with dishes such as chicken tequila fusilli, pad thai linguine, and New York prime steaks. Today, they serve their freshly made dishes in two locations, where live music entertains diners on weekends.

At Tava Grill and Lounge, owner and chef Punita Patel infuses her seasonal menu with Indian flavors and fresh, local ingredients. The paneer fajita tacos, for instance, ooze authenticity along with housemade cilantro mint chutney that can double as smelling salts for a food-comatose date. The seafood biryani paella evokes both India and Spain with a blend of shrimp, mussels, squid, and crab in a creamy curry sauce.

A separate menu in the lounge marries the food of India and California, as the atmosphere fuses nightclub and fine-dining establishment. Beside a softly lit bar, benches and ottomans are scattered around low tables, which break up regular tables and booths without the staff having to dig trenches around each.

"If you succeed, it will change your lives." Accountant Afram Nimeh uttered those words to his two sons in 1993 after investing the last of his savings into a failing restaurant. Though he passed away the following year, his sons—Joseph and Steven—carried on his legacy, Chicken Dijon Rotisserie & Grill. Today, they have expanded the family franchise to seven locations, where customers gather to sample casual, healthy Mediterranean cuisine without having to build their own private jets. The kitchen staff efficiently assembles gyro and chicken platters flanked by sides such as rice pilaf, mediterranean potato salad, and stuffed grape leaves, as well as sandwiches topped with chicken, sliced gyro meat, or falafel.

A little piece of Germany lies on 8 acres of Huntington Beach. Traditional restaurants and grocery stores line the quaint cobblestone streets, and people decked out in German dress meander through their wooden doors. As the sun rises over rows of dangling shop shingles, the air becomes electrified with the sounds of puffing tubas, sizzling bratwurst, and traditional German toasts. This is Old World Village, a mecca of bakeries, bars, delis, and eateries that have been celebrating German heritage for more than 30 years. Sauerbraten, wiener schnitzel, and spaetzle fill the air with savory aromas in Old World Restaurant as visitors to the bar raise their glasses to sip on such imported suds as Dunkel, Hofbräu, and Warsteiner. Meanwhile, the European market lines its colorful shelves with not only German staples but also goodies from Italy, Poland, and other countries. Though the village is the perfect escape for individuals in need of European merriment, mass festivities are its specialty: weddings, family reunions, and other celebrations benefit from its banquet services, and festivals such as Oktoberfest open German traditions to the public better than a congressional lederhosen mandate.