Category Archives: OC Register

Best thing I ate: Critic Brad A. Johnson’s 20 best dishes of 2018
Torta de Milanesa at Playa Mesa. A football-sized bolillo is buttered and toasted and slathered with a glop of refried beans and chipotle mayo, then heaped with finely shredded lettuce, pickled jalapeños and fat slices of avocado and tomato. Stuffed into the middle of all this is a thinly pounded steak, fried to a crisp. Everything about this Mexican sandwich ($14) is perfect.

After four visits, I still haven’t sampled the tacos at Playa Mesa in Costa Mesa. I keep meaning to order tacos. I mean, seriously, how can I review a Mexican restaurant and not taste the tacos? I always see something else on the menu that sounds even more tempting. The menu is extensive.

“Enchiladas Suizas or chicken tacos?” I ask my waiter at brunch.

“That’s a tough one,” he says, stopping to truly ponder that choice. “It depends on my mood, but today I’d go with enchiladas.”

Truth be told, I’m in the mood for enchiladas myself. And I’m not disappointed.

“Should I order the fish tacos or the torta milanesa?” I ask my waitress on another visit, having driven back specifically for the tacos but distracted at the last minute by this sandwich.

“Ooh, the tacos are so good,” she says, “but our torta is amazing.” She stretches that last word for several seconds.

And she’s right. It is amazing. This is the torta I’ve been hunting for the past five years and thought I would never find …

Wild Goose Tavern, Stag Bar, The Country Club. When it comes to the 21 and over bars, Mario Marovic’s Lounge Group seems to have the market cornered in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

But his next multi-million dollar project breaks the mold: Playa Mesa Mexican Kitchen, a family-friendly restaurant.

“We want to open a place where the kids can eat and mom and dad can get a killer margarita,” Marovic said. “So people know they can bring their kids here for lunch, dinner or brunch and …