Shopping & Services

• Arts & Entertainment
• Food & Drink
• Shopping & Services
• Sports & Recreation
• Readers' Choice

• Best Bar Store

  The Mixing Glass

  Gabrielle Dion is not only one of the best bartenders in Orange County, but she also runs the best bar store in the land. Need some non-Angostura bitters? Head to the Mixing Glass in the South Coast Collection's OC Mix. Need some quality barware? Head to the Mixing Glass. Need a goddamn absinthe spoon? Yeah, you can probably find it… More >>

• Best Place to Buy Cheap Kitchenware

  H-Mart

  Forget Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma, as purty as they are for your kitchenware needs: Go to H-Mart. You might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but it's a breeze. Pots and pans? Cheap, normal-looking and functional. Chopsticks? So many chopsticks. And the knives? Who needs Shun or Henckels when you have a Kiwi cleaver that can lop off your… More >>

• Best Store Opening

  Uniqlo

  This fall, Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo opened in South Coast Plaza and finally gave young twentysomething men in Orange County a place to buy basics that isn't H&M;, American Apparel or, well, Target. The premise is exciting: Affordable, high-quality basics. Timeless, but well-fit cuts. Flexible styles. It's something that should've happened years ago. But then, years ago, Uniqlo didn't even… More >>

• Best Hero

  Rick Moore

  Usually when one hears of a high-school gym teacher's heroism, it involves a winning strategy to remove the itch from jock straps. (God bless you, Mr. Reusch.) But that's not why the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, honored 57-year-old Richard Irvin "Rick" Moore of Laguna Niguel. On Aug. 14, 2013, the teacher from Creekside High School in Irvine… More >>

• Best Vets for Vets

  Veterans Employment Committee

  The Fullerton-based nonprofit Orange County Veterans Employment Committee (OCVEC) helps connect returning (or long-returned) U.S. veterans with the resources available for them. The goal is to match vets who need jobs and services with those who can provide those things, especially if the providers are veterans themselves. The state Employment Development Department has co-sponsored job fairs with OCVEC, and the… More >>

• Best Corporate Do-Gooder

  Starbucks

  The caffeinated company has taken hits from haters ever since it started brewing coffee, but Starbucks' focus on community isn't just a nod at pimping themselves a positive image; it's the real deal. It provides health care for part-timers, reimburses tuition for employees finishing their bachelor's degree (whether those employees stay with the company or not), supports the work of… More >>

• Best Comic-Book Store

  Comics Unlimited

  Hidden in a strip mall, you'll find this unobtrusive treasure trove across from Target, near a hipster café and a bridal shop. It's small in size but as charming as the mom-and-pop comic shops you frequented as a kid: a wall devoted to toys, T-shirts and cards, plus shelves full of the latest issues, with pricier, rare books displayed up-front;… More >>

• Best Auto Dealership

  Jeeps R Us

  Have you ever raced down south Laguna Canyon Road, saw a bunch of Jeeps gathered on the other side of the highway, thought it was the collection of some gnarly hippie, then continued on your merry way? You actually passed Jeeps R Us, perhaps the only car dealership in the county devoted to those old battleaxes nowadays favored only by… More >>

• Best Barber Shop

  Sola Salon Studios

  This one is specifically for the Asian guys. If you want to find the best barber for non-Asian hair, check out Dane Hesse of Eagle and Pig or A-Unique Barbershop in Anaheim (you can find both of them in last year's Best Of). Now, on to the Asians: Finding a barber who can do Asian hair is a pain in… More >>

• Best Liquor Store

  Hi-Time Wine Cellars

  We were really hoping someone else would finally catch up, if only to give the title to another for once—but those crazy kids at the Costa Mesa standard keep upping their game. Even if you set aside the place's perennial strengths (the great selection of beer and liquor, the cavernous storefront, the family management, the tastings, the C'est Si Bon… More >>

• Best Misuse of Public Funds

  Mike Carona

  The bozos who designed California's underfunded government-employee pension system made it ripe for a long list of abuses. There is, of course, the infamous double-dipping scams in which a government worker wins generous retirement benefits at one agency, retires, gets hired immediately at another agency and wins a second pension. Still, our own ex-Sheriff Michael S. Carona remains the face… More >>

• Best Lawyer

  Lewis Rosenblum

  We've been closely watching Orange County's courthouses for nearly two decades, seen thousands of lawyers practice and can declare these folks fall into five categories: frighteningly horrible, humdrum horrible, so-so, good depending on the day of the week, and legal gods. Lewis Rosenblum not only falls into that last group, but he also easily could be the county's top criminal-defense… More >>

• Best Place to Make a Quick Buck

  Plato's Closet

  The premise of a clothing exchange, in theory, is brilliant: get money for the clothing cluttering your closet, so you can buy more items to clutter your closet. In practice, it's brutal. Buyers at most clothing exchanges turn their noses up at your items like a Frenchman at American baguettes. Happily, Plato's Closet stays grounded and decidedly un-picky. They'll take… More >>

• Best Evaluation Center

  Medical Cannabis of Southern California

  It's a standing joke in the medical-marijuana world that all you need to get a doctor's permission to use the drug is a pulse and $100, although the days when doctors could charge that much for a year's right to smoke weed are long gone—many dispensaries offer evaluations from supposed physicians for as little as $20 when you join their… More >>

• Best Library

  Huntington Beach Central Library

  "Seriously" and "Huntington Beach" go together like "good government" and "Anaheim," but then there's the Huntington Beach Central Library. Perhaps it's the calming sounds from the fountains in the middle of the building whispering through the rows and rows and rows of books. Maybe it's the silent-yet-colorful giant saltwater aquarium filled with exotic fish that greets you upon entering. Or… More >>

• Best Laser Hair Removal

  Gentle Touch Med Spa

  Why, we've seen women with Gwyneth Paltrow-style pubes return clean-shaven for life. Miracle workers.… More >>

• Best Adult Store

  Pink Kitty

  Most adult stores are male-oriented, what with the porn and the emphasis on getting his rocks off—and only his rocks. OC ladies, on the other hand, have long known their pleasures are met at the Pink Kitty, tastefully hidden in an Irvine business park. No smut here; instead, ladies (and the gents who want to get lucky with them) can… More >>

• Best Cosmetic Surgeon

  Dr. Terry J. Dubrow

  Because sometimes, The Real Housewives of OC gets it right!… More >>

• Best Zine Library

  BookMachine

  Newsstands don't get much love nowadays, but literature-lovin' lads and lasses can all appreciate a space that offers good reads. Consider BookMachine in Downtown Fullerton, a tiny library with a newsstand feel that provides an eclectic inventory of alternative poetry, comics and essays made with a DIY ethos in mind. Located among various other galleries at the Magoski Arts Colony,… More >>

• Best Used-Book Store

  Camelot Books

  In every bookstore you visit, you inevitably turn your head to read the titles off the spines. At Camelot Books, with its stacks of books lying around the store and on the shelves, you don't have to endure a crick in your neck to peruse the stock. Plus, it's disorderly, with books all over the place, feeling more like a… More >>

• Best Smoke Shop

  The Tobacco Stop

  The one industry that has seemed to thrive in our continuing Great Recession is smoke shops, which are now as much a part of county life as taquerías and pho shops. But which to choose? For someplace centralized, with the largest selection of everything from vapes to hookah to glass, the Tobacco Stop in Santa Ana is a great candidate.… More >>

• Best Skate Shop

  Furnace Skate Shop

  If you're going to a skate shop, you expect a skate video in the background, classic punk or hip-hop playing, brand clothes and shoes, and staff who knows skateboarding and have the scrapes and whacked-out joints to prove it. That's what you'll find at Furnace Skate Shop. Boards and shoes line the walls, while clothes sit in the center, keeping… More >>

• Best Surf Shop

  Inflight Surf & Sail

  When it comes down to the basics in life, we have to trust our senses. We hopefully use our senses to make good choices that ensure our happiness and survival. Same thing when picking a surf shop: Close your eyes and follow ye old nose. If you smell sweaty kids—it's probably a skate shop. If it smells like plastic and… More >>

• Best Tattoo Parlor

  Port City Tattoo

  With a wishy-washy attitude, it's amazing anyone in Southern California could make a decision, let alone a permanent, lifelong commitment. But when they do get off the couch, Port City Tattoo is the place to go for artistic ink. With a regular stable of amazing and skilled artists, including owner Tom Moser and Chip Douglas, as well as high-caliber visiting… More >>

• Best Backrub

  South Coast Plaza Nordstrom

  Spending $110 for a deep-tissue massage may not sound cheap, but if you're the typical working stiff fast approaching middle age, you might want to consider heading to the South Coast Plaza Nordstrom, take the elevator up to the top floor, and get yourself an hourlong rubdown so intensely relaxing you'll have a hard time staggering out of the store… More >>

• Best Optometrist

  Dr. Jeffrey H. Brown

  "Orange County's Optometrist to the Stars"—if by "stars," you mean "OC Weekly staffers"—operates out of a little spot in the corner of a Costa Mesa shopping center, sandwiched between a water store and a boba joint. This is where Dr. Jeff performs his magic, closely examining patients' eyes, sticking them if need be into a peripheral-vision-testing contraption that has them… More >>

• Best Bicycle Shop

  Newport Velo

  It's a small shop, located in a little strip center that also hosts a vape store, but the stock constantly rotates, vintage bikes are bought and sold, and hard-to-find bike parts are sold and traded. But what really makes Newport Velo stand out from the bicycle superstores is the one-on-one service. Take what happened a few Sundays ago. Riding to… More >>

• Best Alternative Taxi Service

  Fat Taxi

  The traditional "yellow cab" taxi industry has experienced a Town Car-mageddon recently thanks to tech-savvy black-car services such as Uber and Lyft, especially in this notoriously public transportation-phobic county of ours. But even before cars had apps and pink mustaches, there was Fat Taxi, a black-car service helmed by Ace, a former cab driver-turned-rebel cabbie. Dial (714) FAT-TAXI any night,… More >>

• Best Holy Man

  Joe Furey

  Like many Christian pastors, Joe Furey hit rock bottom before finding God. Raised Catholic in Orange County, where he was molested by a priest, Furey turned to drugs to deal with his demons in the early 1970s. And later drug dealing. And later drug smuggling. He cleaned up his act for a while and got married and had kids before… More >>

• Best Sugaring Salon

  Downtown Sugar

  Sugaring—the gentler cousin of waxing—is the ideal method for those who like their hair removal quick, thorough and near-painless. SanTana's Downtown Sugar fuses a retro interior, complete with polka-dotted pillows and vintage round chairs, with the centuries-old hair-removal technique. Estheticians—here deemed sugarists—carefully tend to your hairy parts as if they were a complex geometry problem, sculpting arches on your eyebrows… More >>

• Best Flower Shop

  Devynn's Gardens

  Devynn's Gardens hangs its wares outside its shops like rainbow-colored gems, begging to be assembled into a brightly colored bouquet. This modern boutique is more akin to a shopping indulgence than simply running to get a centerpiece for the dining-room table. Roses, orchids, tulips, gerbera daisies—blooms sold here are the veritable picture of perfection. Get creative and piece together your… More >>

• Best Downtown

  Laguna Beach

  Downtown Laguna Beach is microcosmic coastal Orange County, combining the territorial surfers and the tourists, the affluent and the bohemian. It's also home to one of the least douchey beach cultures in OC, despite what the MTV show would have you believe. Artsy boutiques are manned by friendly, welcoming owners. World-class dining mixes with more laid-back fare, such as tiny… More >>

• Best Church

  Catholic Worker

  Catholic Worker is technically not a church, but that's like saying the sun is technically not a light. Fact is, the air of humility and holiness asked by Dorothy Day of all who signed up for her radical Catholic lay movement is alive in OC's branch, based in a historic home in SanTana designed to house women and children who… More >>

• Best Cheap Car Wash

  WildWater Express CarWash

  The county's few branches of Wildwater Express CarWash are hard to miss: signs feature their name whimsically spelled out in the shape of a wave, and the snake-like vacuum tubes make the car wash look like the entrance to a Knotts Berry Farm ride. The drive-thru tunnel provides a quality, almost-professional wash for $5-10. Included is free access to absurdly… More >>

• Best Place to Get Pierced

  CM Hurt

  Don't get freaked out by the name—if anything, this Garden Grove piercing palace has staked its reputation on having the softest touch in OC. That goes for the client consultation (piercings done by appointment only) to the skilled hands of shop owner Ms. Cynthia. With more than 15 years of experience, a hospital standard approach to her sterile workspace and… More >>

• Best Massage

  Taralai Thai Massage

  If you've never had a traditional (meaning, not erotic) Thai massage, have your first at Taralai Thai Massage. Its elegant, skilled practitioners not only fold fluffy white towels into elephant shapes, but will also untie whatever kind of knots you have lurking in your body. Taralai means cool, refreshing river, and that's just how Thai massage can make you feel,… More >>

• Best Place Open Past Midnight In Irvine

  Dave & Buster's

  Irvine's local student population has long been plagued by late-night bouts of boredom in the sleepy town. The nightlife options are few and far between, but thankfully, Irvine houses one of eight total Dave & Buster's locations in the state. The vast arcade/eatery/bar understands what it takes to please children and adults alike: sensory overload. With blaring pop music, neon… More >>

• Best Collective

  South Coast Patients Center

  Selecting Orange County's best medical-marijuana collective is a fool's errand these days. Thanks to the county's ongoing potpocalypse, Santa Ana is just about the only city with any storefront clubs still open, and even that could change by the time you read this. And while it's a dirty secret in California's pot industry, some collectives are little more than front-door… More >>

• Best Vape Shop

  Vaporologie

  You might spend a good 10 minutes circling MainPlace Mall looking for Vaporologie, but that first-time frustration is worth finding such a knowledgeable, welcoming, cozy vape shop. (For the record, it's located in the Mother's Market parking lot, but it's facing Main Street, only a couple of doors down from Barnes & Noble.) Like most other shops, Vaporologie has bare… More >>

• Best Apartment Complex

  Las Brisas Del Mar Apartments

  It feels eloquent to say, "Las Brisas Del Mar Apartments," as it recalls the tickle of the ocean breeze—and at only a mile from the ocean, you'll probably feel it. Located near Main Street in Huntington Beach, it offers two pools, three laundry rooms and a free "U-Pick" garden that boasts various herbs. It's pet-friendly, save for pit bulls. However,… More >>

• Best Car Wash

  Dana Point Car Wash

  It's been on the same corner of Coast Highway for 40 years, across from the Harbor House Café. Dana Point Car Wash's super-cheap U-Ride Thru "inflation fighter #3" is just $5.99. If you have any qualms about attaching your car to those things, relax, the U-Ride Thru got all brand-new mechanical guts and a track back in June. But if… More >>

• Best Place to Use Your Fake ID

  Any 7-Eleven

  Because you've never been surprised by a 7-Eleven. Every sliding glass door is a portal to the same four walls, the same Slurpee machine, the same beef jerky, the same Hostess rack. It's like playing on home field. You get to avoid the faux-casual browse (no one believes you're trying to choose between Bugle chips and Miller High Life), as… More >>

• Best Residential Neighborhood

  Downtown Fullerton

  If you're looking for history, culture, food, nightlife and community just outside your door, then the neighborhood circling downtown Fullerton is for you. Wait, OC Weekly, you don't mean downtown Fullerton, do you? Pump the brakes, and yes, we do. We're tired of (mostly) trash-talking DTF (yuck), and you're tired (mostly) of hearing it. In truth, the majority of people… More >>

• Best Trend

  The Undercut Haircut

  The undercut has made appearances over the past couple of years, but the only men found sporting it probably fancied themselves cutting-edge and were a bit douchey. Nowadays, it's as if no other hairstyle exists for men. Almost every twentysomething dude has the same haircut right now. Jezebel even noticed. The strange thing is that men who aren't fashionable—or care… More >>

• Best Tourist Attraction

  OC Wine Trolley

  Ask anyone who's lucky enough to live in an apartment in the Old Towne Orange Plaza what they think of the OC Wine Trolley, and you'll hear groans. It's frivolous and often obnoxious, but tourist attractions are sometimes meant for only that: tourists. And if you're a tourist, then the Wine Trolley is an hour well spent. Pay the fee,… More >>

• Best Store to Buy a Car Stereo

  Bristol Sound

  Every morning, cars start gathering outside Bristol Sound (by the sign saying Electronic Warehouse), looking for sonic salvation. It comes in the form of speakers as small as fists or as large as monoliths, in stereo systems that can be as simple as a CD deck or come equipped with Bluetooth capabilities. At the Bristol Street location, ask for Adán… More >>

• Best Wig Shop

  Compassionate Creations Wig Design

  Did you know you can get a wig made from your very own hair? Right here in OC? You have to come up with about 7 ounces, but friends or family with similar hair can help make up the difference. Compassionate Creations Wig Design founders Giselle Blair and Veronica Balch will get you looking just the way you want, with… More >>

• Best Video-Game Store

  GameGeeks

  The dream of finding retro video games and pre-owned consoles for sale is alive at GameGeeks, where you can find a plethora of vintage and contemporary titles for low prices. Not to be confused with Game Geeks in Santa Ana, GameGeeks is tucked away in a busy Garden Grove shopping plaza and retains a positive reputation for its friendly customer… More >>

• Best Strip Mall

  Southwest corner of Bolsa Avenue and Magnolia Street, Westminster

  Little Saigon hosts a sea of strip malls dotting its busy streets, but the most interesting one has to be the nameless one at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Bolsa Avenue in Westminster. Even with its expansive lot, parking can be limited due to the overwhelming need of its Viet population to get their shopping done on a regular… More >>

• Best Vintage Store

  inretrospect

  Smack-dab in the middle of Long Beach's Retro Row is inretrospect, a fabulous antique wonderland full of nostalgia, with its collection of clothing, furniture, home décor, records and toys. The ample space of this Art Deco-styled building allows for more breathing room between the racks of full-skirt dresses and old-school jackets, while the detailed organization allows you to peruse the… More >>

• Best Record/CD Store

  Factory Records

  A scrappy little record store on the back side of a Costa Mesa storefront, Factory Records uses every bit of available space in its cramped quarters to offer as many records per square inch as possible. It's a true record digger's dream, with boxes stacked, records stuffed in crates so tight there's no room to flip through the selection, and… More >>

• Best Mall

  Brea Mall

  With just the right combination of high-end and wallet-friendly shops, Brea Mall is one of those underrated shopping centers overshadowed by such polished palaces as South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island. The skylit interiors illuminate familiar favorites such as Sephora, the Gap, Forever 21 and Spencers, while upscale alternatives Michael Kors, Coach, Williams-Sonoma, Steve Madden and Aldo are a short… More >>

• Best Manicure/Pedicure

  Hey, Nice Nails!

  After a visit to Hey, Nice Nails!, you're guaranteed to hear some variation of the store's name in the form of compliments from strangers. Sisters Donne and Ginny Geer are artistic geniuses who create tiny nail-bed masterpieces that seldom last longer than a week, but live forever on Instagram. From a cheeky spin on the traditional French manicure to long… More >>

• Best Nonprofit

  Pathways to Hope

  Though started in 1985 by an indomitable Dominican nun by the name of Sister Pauline Quinn, Pathways to Hope has been a nonprofit with no religious affiliation since 2000. Its mission is to provide three interrelated outcomes: loving, lifelong homes for rescue dogs; life and career skills for its incarcerated participants; and service dogs for children with autism. The incarcerated… More >>

• Best Way to Adopt a Pet

  Cell Dogs Training Program

  Any pups you'd adopt from these amazing people have been medically checked out, spayed or neutered, and vaccinated. They come with microchips and are adept at the basic commands that make life wonderful for any human-canine mutual love connection. Photos and blurbs about each dog's journey appear on the website, including what kinds of lifestyles the dog would be best… More >>

• Best Mechanic

  Daughters Auto Repair

  We've never seen any daughters working here, but we still love the place. Located not far from the Coach House (and the Highway Patrol, so look alive!), its ethos is to provide quality service at fair prices without a lot of hoopla. Expect straight talk, honesty and even sympathy when the news isn't good. While maintaining a low-overhead vibe, Daughters… More >>

• Best Body Shop

  Doffo Auto Body & Paint

  How can you not love a shop whose website plays Carlos Gardel on an infinite loop?… More >>

• Best Waste of Taxpayer Money

  ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center)

  Have you seen the monstrosity being built along the 57 freeway and Katella Avenue? At first, it resembled a giant Conestoga wagon, but eventually, you could see that, yes, we ARE actually building part of Jerry Brown's high-speed train to nowhere. But even more annoying than the $185 million tag for the transportation hub? The nightly light show. Every evening,… More >>

• Best Handymen

  Javier Ureño and Enrique Alvarez

  You can call a plumber to take care of a leak, a mason for your driveway, a carpenter to build a gazebo, and an engineer to plan it all—or you can call Javier Ureño and Enrique Alvarez. The tag team is like an Amish barn-raising come to life, with a quick turnaround, cheap prices and satisfaction knowing that two guys… More >>

• Best Body-Care Store

  LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

  Most of the time, even when we don't realize it, we're actually sold on packaging more than the product. And no body-care store has packaging as beautiful as LUSH. The store looks like a farmers' market and actually smells fresh—not like the fake sweetness of Bath & Body Works. Or maybe it's the fact that they "cook" all their soaps… More >>

• Best-Looking Patrons (Hottest Crowd) 

  Sutra

  Even the Great Recession couldn't stop the beautiful people from leaving this perennial nightspot. Long may its girls jiggle and men salivate!… More >>