After a couple decades as a travel and wedding photographer, Robert returned to his birthplace in Orange County with a simple idea: create the smallest restaurant he could find—an intimate, crowded little place that felt like the bars he loved around the world.

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In early 2023, he found an abandoned Subway on a random street corner in Santa Ana, signed the lease, filed a mountain of paperwork, and started building. Originally, he figured it would just be him slinging wine and cheese four or five nights a week.

 

Then, in late 2023, he met Chef Van Duong. The ideas got bigger, the plans got better, and in March 2024, FAT OF THE LAND opened its doors.

 

What started as a tiny neighborhood restaurant quickly became something much bigger. In 2026, FAT OF THE LAND was named #19 on Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States—the only restaurant in Orange County to make the list.

 

With demand for seats growing and an opportunity to expand, we opened a second location in Irvine in July 2026, giving us a bigger kitchen, more room, and a chance to bring even more of our food dreams to life.

 

And the name? FAT OF THE LAND popped into Robert’s head around 1am in Madrid after an excessive amount of wine and wandering the city. By 2am, in an intoxicated haze, he registered the business with the State of California.

 

And here we are. Come by and say "Hi"