I moved to OC from Westwood and was pretty dissapointed with the food. Then I moved from north OC to south OC and was shocked. At least as far as food is concerned, south OC is like a trailer park with money. These people line up to get into Olive Garden. You can get good food in Laguna and parts of Newport, but you'll pay through the nose for it. It's nothing like L.A., where you duck into some hole-in-the-wall and have a pretty good chance of getting above average food for a very good price.
I'd recommend the one good sushi joint I'm aware of in OC but I don't want you OCP goofballs wrecking a good thing.
