The Source
In Buena Park, a culinary playground and shopping center with great Korean, Italian, and Mexican options
Buena Park’s substantially Korean dining and shopping mall The Source is one of our favorite destinations in Orange County – the sort of foodie paradise that we choose over other options when celebrating a birthday, due to the vast number of different culinary adventures one can have when wandering its four floors. Between Korean live seafood (K Soul Food, Venice Beach), retro night-style dining (Misoolkwan), amazing donuts (Old Ferry, Yozm), Korean fried chicken (Pelicana, Puradak), Italian food (Il Fiora), Mexican food (La Huasteca), Korean BBQ, and two food courts full of fascinating little shops, there are easily a dozen restaurants worth visiting in this one mall.
There are also a bunch of clothing, appliance, KPOP music/merchandise, and home decor stores, a 4DX movie theater, a small outdoor live event area, and an indoor (paid) playground area for kids. A substantial, multi-floor parking lot physically connected to The Source is free, with a collection of Tesla charging stations inside.
Note that not every restaurant here is a winner. Some, including Basilur Tea & Coffee, Fifty One Chinese Kitchen, and Fifty One’s replacement Orange Blossom were gorgeously built and initially interesting before flatlining and exiting the mall. A one-time Popeyes location promised to become everything from a goat taco specialist to a chicken restaurant to a KBBQ shop before settling on standard Mexican tacos, tortas, and quesadillas. Other spaces, such as the taiyaki and shaved ice restaurant Okbingsul and ice cream shop Overflo, seem to be running on fumes at this point. But a little research here can help you pick the great places and avoid the less than great ones.
The choices can become overwhelming, though there’s something for everyone if you look around, especially in the food courts. For instance, Ocean Snack serves standard sushi and specialty rolls such as the Eel Monster and Sun Fire, as well as unique seafood-heavy naengmyeon buckwheat noodle bowls: squid, sea squirt, abalone, and dried pollack. A few stands down, Seoul Tang and Noodle lets you try locally uncommon Korean delicacies including beef tartar bibimbap – you add the plate of raw beef to the sprouts and rice yourself – and a spicy cockle noodle bowl with peppers, sesame seeds, and scallions. For desserts, check out the aforementioned donut shops, or delicious sugar-glazed mandarin, grape, and strawberry skewers called Tanghulu at first floor Sweetbox — one of two macaron cookie specialists at The Source.
While The Source isn’t perfect, we love the sheer ambition on display here, the great variety of options – particularly for dining – and virtually all of its infrastructure, which nicely accommodates both customers and businesses. If you’re in Orange County, even if you were just planning to visit Disneyland, and are up for a culinary choose your own adventure experience, consider The Source a must-visit.
Stats
Price: $-$$$
Service: Counter/Table
Open Since: 2016
Addresses
6940 Beach Blvd.
Buena Park, CA 90621
714.521.8858
Instagram: @thesourceoc