Food

Marugame Udon: The Real History Behind Japan’s Fresh-Noodle Empire

September 10, 2023

Bowl of beef udon topped with tenkasu tempura bits and scallions

Marugame Udon turns 25 this November, and the open-kitchen counter that made it famous — noodle dough pulled, rested, cut, and dropped straight into boiling water in full view of the lunch line — hasn’t changed. What has changed is scale: the Japanese chain now runs roughly 1,090 locations across Japan and another 347 across a dozen-plus countries, from a food-court counter inside Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia, California, to a storefront that opened in downtown Toronto earlier this year. Here’s the real story behind the bowl, and what’s actually on the menu now.

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Shake Shack: How a Hot Dog Cart in Madison Square Park Became a Global Burger Empire

August 27, 2023

Crowds dining outside the original Shake Shack kiosk in Madison Square Park, New York

Shake Shack did not start as a restaurant chain. It started as a hot dog cart that restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group set up in 2001 inside Madison Square Park, run out of the kitchen of his nearby fine-dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park. The cart existed to help fund the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s effort to revive a park that had fallen into disrepair — selling hot dogs was the fundraiser, not the plan. Today the company it spawned trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SHAK and operates several hundred Shacks on five continents, including a growing footprint in Hong Kong run by Maxim’s Caterers.

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Orange Hill Restaurant: Prime Steaks and Panoramic Views Above Orange County

August 16, 2023

Chaparral-covered Southern California hills at dusk

Orange Hill Restaurant still does what it has always done: put a steakhouse on a ridge above the city of Orange and let the view do half the selling. More than three years after our last visit, the hilltop dining room at 6410 E. Chapman Ave is still open, still booking through OpenTable — where it holds roughly a 4.6-star average across close to 9,000 diner reviews — and still listing seasonal events like a Father’s Day Chef’s Brunch on its 2026 calendar. The menu has turned over since our last report, the prices have moved, and a few specifics are worth updating for anyone planning a visit.

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Inside Sweetgreen’s Harvest Bowl: The Farms, the Price, and the Comeback Plan

August 13, 2023

Exterior of a Sweetgreen restaurant storefront with illuminated sign

The Harvest Bowl — roasted chicken, sweet potato, apple, goat cheese, almonds, wild rice, and shredded kale tossed in balsamic — has been Sweetgreen’s best-selling order since the chain’s early years, and it’s still the one regulars reach for after a workout: enough protein and starch to refuel, little enough grease to not regret it. What’s changed since Sweetgreen opened its first restaurant in Washington, D.C. in August 2007 is the company around it. It’s now a public company with roughly 300 locations in 26 states and D.C., a robotics program replacing line cooks, and a same-store sales slump its founder-turned-CEO is trying to reverse one farm partnership and one $10 bowl at a time.

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Solar dos Presuntos: Inside Lisbon’s 50-Year Temple to Cured Ham

August 12, 2023