MISSION VIEJO
FEATURED COMMUNITY
ABOUT MISSION VIEJO
The City of Mission Viejo is a large master-planned community located in the Saddleback Valley in South Orange County. Mission Viejo is bordered by Lake Forest, Trabuco Canyon, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, and Rancho Santa Margarita. The Mission Viejo profile includes city history and information for residential services, shopping, dining, and points of interest throughout the city. Mission Viejo is a primarily residential community with a moderate population of office parks and local businesses. There are approximately two parks per square mile, offering plenty of green space and nature for residents of the city.
EXPLORE MISSION VIEJO
Mission Viejo is a city of 100,000 residents that’s just 15 kilometers inland from Newport Beach and the Pacific Ocean.
​
Located in Southern California’s Orange County, it’s close enough to downtown Los Angeles to make day trips popular for visitors intent on getting the most from their limited vacation time.
​
Mission Viejo is one of the country’s largest master-planned communities and is particularly well-known for its abundant parks, golf courses, cultural attractions, and restaurants.
​
It’s also close enough to some of the state’s most iconic beaches and parks, so keeping busy while in the area shouldn’t be an issue.
​
Below are 15 things to do in and around Mission Viejo, California.
FEAST IN MISSION VIEJO
While you would think that a quiet and sleepy suburb like Mission Viejo would be dominated by chain restaurants and fast food joints, when you dig a little deeper you will uncover many gems in the city worth writing home about.
Shish Taouk - Drop what you’re doing right now and head to Shish Taouk for one of the best Lebanese Mediterranean restaurants in Mission Viejo! Shish Taouk prides itself on its shawarma, which is perfectly marinated and spit roasted, resulting in some of the most flavorful pieces of beef, chicken and lamb. You can also find other classic Mediterranean dishes like kabobs, kaftka and falafels.
​
Dublin 4 Gastropub - Located in a nondescript office park in Mission Viejo, Dublin 4 is a modern take on the Irish pub. The focus at Dublin 4 is crafting dishes from the freshest ingredients possible, which means locally sourced and organic whenever possible. Some highlights of the menu include the fish and the chips, which is Norwegian cod, battered to perfection with brewery x blonde beer. The corn beef reuben, which comes with house-made sauerkraut, gruyere cheese, and white truffle thyme frites. The bar offers local draught beers, a multitude of craft beers and the bartenders can whip you up some of the inventive cocktails creations, including the Forgie and Ferent, which consists of bourbon, fernet branca, Aztec chocolate and lemon essence.
​
Aloha - Aloha BBQ is one of our favorite Mission Viejo restaurants and while some other well known Hawaiian places merely focuses on quantity, where the food leaves you feeling miserable afterwards, Aloha has found the right proportion of quality and quantity that leaves its customers deeply satisfied. Everything on the menu is delicious, however I find myself always going back to the bbq chicken plate. The chicken is just so flavorful, the rice is soft and fluffy and the macraoni salad ties everything together. Other highlights include the chicken katsu plate, bbq beef short ribs and of course the loco moco, which is a Hawaiian specialty that consists of white rice, topped with a hamburger, a fried egg, and brown gravy.