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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Restaurant Review: ARC Restaurant Food & Libations Lunch Review!

I finally got to go back to ARC to have lunch there. I have been wanting to go back specifically for lunch to try their awesome looking burger! Would it meet my expectations? Well, let's find out!
One of my favorite things to see is the cords of wood stacked up around the restaurant. They cook everything over an open fire. It's a modern take on what caveman did!
The best place to sit is at the bar! You can watch all the action in the kitchen while you talk and drink!
Check out the lunch menu! The full dinner menu is also available to you!
They also make great handcrafted cocktails! I wasn't driving so I felt "obligated" to try one!
I ordered their cigarettes & coffee, one of their most popular drinks. It was an awesome mix of rye whiskey, smoky bitters and Portola Coffee Lab beans.A good stiff drink to enjoy in the afternoon or after a long day at work! I think I found my new favorite drink!
Check out this massive burger! The bun is dusted with cornmeal bun and smeared with garlic aioli and a huge pile of fresh vegetables including bright yellow heirloom tomatoes, Fresno chilies and red oak lettuce. The lettuce has been tossed in a roasted garlic vinaigrette. There was a choice between bleu cheese or aged cheddar cheese. I went with the aged cheddar! The patty is made up of rib-eye short rib that has been ground up with bacon lardons, herbs, caramelized onions and duck fat.
This gorgeous burger is almost too pretty to eat. I said almost! I did my best to pick it up with two hands and try to eat it like a regular burger but this was a bad idea from the start! I couldn't even get my mouth to take a bite out of it! So, I decided to treat the veggie part of the burger as a salad. This was a much better idea.

One of the best burgers I have ever had! And I pride myself on trying to find the best burger in Southern California! The veggies are all fantastic! The heirloom tomatoes are juicy and sweet! The Fresno chilies have a great amount of kick! The lettuce tossed in the garlic vinaigrette makes the salad of veggies complete! The massive burger is more like a meatloaf! The flavors are unparalleled! The beef, bacon and duck fat combine perfectly for a taste unlike any other! 
Using Lil Oishi as a size comparison! This burger is almost twice his height!

Another great time at ARC and so worth the wait to come back to try to the burger! Now I want another burger right now!

Arc Restaurant Food & Libations
3321 Hyland Ave
Ste F

Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(949) 500-5561

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