6 New Orange County Restaurants to Try This Fall

Orange County’s dining scene continues to expand, and Fall 2026 is bringing an especially varied collection of new places to eat. Acclaimed national names are arriving alongside independent restaurants, chef-driven concepts, coastal supper clubs, modern Mexican cuisine, oversized New York cookies, and a steak-forward destination already generating anticipation for 2027.

The latest openings stretch from Brea and Anaheim to Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Laguna Niguel. Together, they show just how broad Orange County’s food culture has become—from Taiwanese dumplings and British comfort food to contemporary Mexican cooking and modern American dining.

If you are looking for the newest restaurants in Orange County to try this fall, these six additions belong on the radar.

6 New Orange County Restaurants to Know in Fall 2026

Some of this season’s most notable openings are already welcoming diners, while another major concept is on the way. Here is what to know about each destination, where to find it, and what makes it distinctive.

1. Noble Ace Brings Supper Club Style to Laguna Beach

Noble Ace has opened inside Laguna Beach’s historic Heisler Building at 400 South Coast Highway, bringing a modern interpretation of the classic supper club to one of Orange County’s most recognizable coastal communities.

The restaurant comes from hospitality veterans Elizabeth and Tom Schreiber and centers its identity around thoughtful hospitality, a scratch kitchen, cocktails made with freshly pressed juices, and a setting designed for lingering over dinner rather than rushing through it.

Executive chef Magellan Moore, formerly head chef at Mastro’s Ocean Club in Newport Beach, leads a modern American menu that balances comfort with creativity. Dishes highlighted by Modern Luxury include chive and cheddar biscuits, Bolognese rigatoni, and spiced branzino paired with a roasted jalapeño corn waffle.

The bar is equally playful, with cocktails such as a cantaloupe and olive oil martini and a mezcal-cucumber Collins. Noble Ace also features live music, adding to the supper club atmosphere.

The polished coastal setting feels especially at home in Laguna Beach, where restaurants, galleries, beaches, and nightlife converge within a compact downtown.

2. Levain Bakery Makes Its Orange County Debut in Newport Beach

One of New York City’s best-known bakeries has officially landed in Orange County. Levain Bakery is now open at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

Founded in Manhattan in 1995, Levain developed a devoted following around its famously oversized six-ounce cookies. The Newport Beach bakery brings those signatures west, including chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, oatmeal raisin, and other rotating varieties.

But cookies are only part of the menu. The Fashion Island location also serves freshly baked breads, pastries, brioche, sandwiches, coffee, espresso drinks, cold brew, matcha, and the bakery’s Cookie Milk Latte.

For fall, seasonal options add another reason to stop in, including spiced baked goods and autumn-inspired flavors. Its Fashion Island location also makes Levain easy to work into a full afternoon of shopping, dining, and exploring Newport Beach.

3. Maleza Brings Modern Mexican Cooking to Costa Mesa

After establishing itself at Drift Palm Springs, Maleza has opened its first standalone restaurant at The CAMP in Costa Mesa.

The concept combines Mexico City-inspired flavors, seasonal ingredients, a mezcal-forward bar program, and a chef-driven approach to contemporary Mexican cuisine.

Executive chef Marco Arreguín brings an impressive culinary pedigree, with experience connected to acclaimed chefs including Carlos Salgado, Wes Avila, and Michael Cimarusti. The menu moves beyond familiar interpretations of Mexican food with dishes such as grilled maitake mushrooms with salsa macha, ribeye accompanied by celery root mole and tortillas, hamachi aguachile, and yellowtail ceviche.

The drinks program puts mezcal prominently in the spotlight, while the room itself reflects The CAMP’s design-conscious personality. A circular bar, richly colored stone surfaces, greenery, and original artwork create a setting that feels as considered as the menu.

For diners who follow Orange County’s evolving culinary scene, Maleza adds another noteworthy restaurant to the already eclectic food landscape of Costa Mesa.

4. Din Tai Fung Expands to Brea Mall

Din Tai Fung has expanded again in Orange County, opening its newest location at Brea Mall.

The internationally recognized Taiwanese restaurant is famous for its meticulously prepared xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, along with noodles, wontons, fried rice, vegetables, buns, and other shareable dishes.

The Brea restaurant joins existing Orange County locations in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, and Irvine, giving diners in North Orange County easier access to the brand without traveling farther south.

The approximately 14,000-square-foot restaurant includes multiple dining areas, a patio, and an open kitchen where guests can watch the dumpling-making process. That visual element has become part of the Din Tai Fung experience, turning the precision behind each basket of dumplings into part of the meal itself.

The Brea location held its soft opening in August before moving into its full opening later that month, making it one of the county’s most significant restaurant arrivals of late summer and fall.

5. Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby Brings London Energy to Anaheim

Downtown Disney District has added another high-profile dining destination with Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby, the celebrity chef’s first Orange County restaurant.

The 175-seat concept draws inspiration from London’s Carnaby Street and the cultural energy of the 1960s. Music, fashion, British iconography, colorful artwork, and a covered second-story terrace give the space a theatrical personality appropriate for its Downtown Disney setting.

The menu leans into the upscale comfort dishes closely associated with Ramsay, including beef Wellington, fish and chips with triple-cooked fries, sticky toffee pudding, and prime rib served tableside with classic British accompaniments.

Cocktails continue the playful London theme, while the restaurant’s combination of food and design makes it as much an immersive experience as a dinner destination.

For Orange County residents, the opening adds another chef-driven restaurant to Anaheim’s expanding dining landscape and gives visitors another option beyond the traditional theme-park meal.

6. Good Boy Is Coming to Laguna Niguel in Early 2027

One of South Orange County’s most intriguing forthcoming restaurants will arrive just after the fall season.

Good Boy, a new concept from Specialty Restaurants Corporation, is scheduled to open in early 2027 at Ocean Ranch Village in Laguna Niguel, taking over the former Hendrix Restaurant & Bar space.

The restaurant is being developed as a playful, steak-forward concept designed to work equally well for dinner, happy hour, weekend brunch, or a late-night gathering.

Specialty Restaurants Corporation is already familiar to Orange County diners as the company behind Orange Hill Restaurant. For Good Boy, the group is promising what it calls a broad, crowd-friendly menu intended to give groups plenty of options while maintaining a strong steakhouse identity.

The location within Ocean Ranch Village places the restaurant near the boundary of Laguna Niguel and Dana Point, giving it access to both the South Orange County residential market and visitors heading toward the coast.

Additional menu and opening details are still expected, but Good Boy is already shaping up as one of the more notable Orange County restaurant openings to watch in early 2027.

New Orange County Restaurants at a Glance

What Are the Best New Restaurants in Orange County Right Now?

The answer depends on the kind of dining experience you want.

For a full evening out, Noble Ace delivers polished supper club energy in downtown Laguna Beach. Diners looking for contemporary Mexican cuisine and mezcal can head to Maleza in Costa Mesa, while Din Tai Fung brings its internationally recognized dumplings to a new audience in Brea.

Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby offers the highest-profile celebrity chef experience of the group, while Levain Bakery is an easy choice for a more casual stop centered around cookies, coffee, and baked goods.

And for those planning ahead, Good Boy gives South Orange County diners another restaurant to anticipate as 2027 approaches.

Orange County’s Dining Scene Continues to Expand

What makes these openings notable is not simply their number. They reflect the variety of dining experiences now available throughout Orange County.

A night out can mean handmade dumplings in Brea, British classics near Disneyland, mezcal and modern Mexican cuisine in Costa Mesa, cookies at Fashion Island, or live music and dinner just blocks from the ocean in Laguna Beach.

Restaurants also help shape the character of the communities around them. Dining, shopping, entertainment, walkability, and nearby cultural experiences are all part of what people consider when deciding where they want to spend their time—and, ultimately, where they want to live.

From coastal neighborhoods to inland dining hubs, Orange County’s latest openings provide another reason to explore beyond your usual favorites this fall.

Restaurant hours, menus, reservations, opening timelines, and individual dishes may change. Confirm current information directly with each restaurant before visiting.

Source: MLRiviera.com