949 Grill and Pot Lounge

Originally opened as 949 Grill Lounge, Santa Ana’s northern Chinese BBQ house 949 Grill and Pot Lounge split off from Little Pan in 2022, turning each of these distinctive restaurants into something closer to a full-day operation. Originally open only for dinner, 949 Grill and Pot Lounge now also serves lunch from 11am to 2:30pm, closing mid-day and reopening for extended dinner hours between 5pm and midnight.

Their ordering system is fully phone-based: You scan a QR code, pick your items from an online menu, then transmit the order for preparation and delivery to your table. It initially feels anti-social, but turns out to be efficient and fairly quick – plus helpful, since the menu is considerably larger than Little Pan’s. The core offerings are cumin-spiced BBQ skewers with lamb (including everything from bony pieces to testicles), chicken, beef, and vegetables. Though both 949 and its Japanese yakitori neighbor Gokumi offer skewered meats, 949’s flavor contrast even with seemingly similar items is striking and, in our view, worth exploring side-by-side in one evening.

If BBQ isn’t your thing, 949 offers an expansive collection of hot pots with bullfrogs, fish heads, “special sheep scorpion,” black goat, and many far more common ingredients. You can also get baby clams and noodles, grilled garlic abalone (quite good!), and crawfish. Cold appetizers include northern Chinese mainstays such as cucumber, mushrooms, and a wonderfully lightly spiced vinegary noodle soup.