Playa Mesa Brunch in Costa Mesa, California

21 Jul Playa Mesa Brunch in Costa Mesa, California

Posted at 17:26h in Restaurants, Travel by Justine 0 Comments

You know how they say you don’t realize what you have until you start missing it? I feel like I’ve experienced that quite frequently with all my moving around lately. When I was living in NYC I was yearning for open air and outdoor adventures but when I left I missed the freedom NYC gave me and the ability to travel the city at any hour and have a list of things I could still do regardless of how late or early it was.

When I lived in LA I was so ready to leave behind all the driving and the traffic that towards the end I forgot to appreciate the good things about SoCal. One of those things, I realize now that I’m living in the Bay Area, is the feeling of summer. I have to be honest, as I sit here and watch on the news about the heat wave happening back in NY and I check in on the weather app for SoCal’s sunny forecast, I kind of miss that intense heat. Am I crazy? Okay maybe I don’t miss 100 degree weather or humidity. Haha. But it just really does not feel like summer here in the Bay Area – something I’ve been told I’ll get used to.

As I was going through some of my old photos, I came across photos from a restaurant I stopped by in Costa Mesa last summer (wow I can’t believe it was that long ago already and that I’ve been out in California long enough to even “remember back” to over a year ago). I don’t know that I’ll be back down to Costa Mesa any time soon but if I do go back, I very much would love to stop by the Playa Mesa restaurant again. The interior was beautifully designed with just the right amount of vibrant color splashes to give the place a sense of excitement.

I arrived earlier in the morning so there was no waiting in line and the restaurant felt very open. However, on the way out I did notice a line starting to form so if you want to avoid that brunch rush, being an early bird can help ;).

For the food, I do have to call out the guacamole. Such a simple dish, I don’t think I’ve ever met a guacamole I didn’t like – haha. I was expecting just a typical bowl of guacamole when I ordered this but I was pleasantly surprised by their twist. They added in pepitas for a little bit of crunch, just enough lime juice to give it an acidic punch, and I loved the flavor the cotija added in.

Overall, the food was delicious, the drinks were great and the portions were just perfect. It wasn’t so much food that you leave feeling overstuffed but just enough to feel satisfied. Oh how I wish I was sitting out on their patio right now with an ice cold margarita!

Oh, in addition to missing the sunny summer feeling that SoCal brings, I also miss my long hair (as seen below) 😝slowly growing it back after my last locks of love donation!