BCD Tofu House

With a dozen locations spread across a handful of major U.S. cities – including three restaurants in Orange County – BCD Tofu House is a solidly good Korean chain that has been operating here since 1999, and in Los Angeles since 1996. Garden Grove was the first OC city with a BCD Tofu House, followed almost a decade later by a large space in Irvine (one of the easiest tables to get at the frequently crowded Diamond Jamboree center) and another location in a Buena Park plaza.

Although their name suggests that you might only find tofu (or vegetarian) items on the menu, that’s not the case: Roughly half of the dishes are tofu-focused, balanced by a collection of classic Korean options: beef and spicy pork bulgogis, kalbi ribs, soups, “popcorn dumplings,” a whole yellow corvina fish, and bibimbap, served either in a regular bowl or a hot stone bowl. There’s also at least one semi-rare item: spicy raw crab.