Garage Door and Gate Repair in Garden Grove

The City of Garden Grove, Orange County, California

Garden Grove is a city in Northern Orange County where State Route 22 passes. The west side of this area is called West Garden Grove, which is linked to the rest of Garden Grove by the city of Stanton and a small bridge along Garden Grove Boulevard.  

Garden Grove Beginnings

It was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874: 160 acres of land called “Garden Grove.”  That same year, Cook donated land on the north side of Main Street and Garden Grove Boulevard, which was the location of the first schoolhouse and Methodist church.  Like much of Orange County in the late 19th century, Garden Grove was a small farming community with crops like oranges, walnuts, strawberries, and chili peppers. It remained this way until the early 1900s when railroads were built, bringing visitors and eventually settlers.  Floods and an earthquake in 1933 slowed the growth and prosperity of this area, but in the years following WWII, thousands of war veterans and their families made Orange County their home.

Post WWII Growth in Garden Grove

By the late 1950s, Garden Grove was incorporated as a City and named the ‘fastest-growing city in America.’ Every Memorial Day weekend since 1958, Garden Grove has hosted the ‘Garden Grove Strawberry Festival,’ which began to bring together the east and west sides of Garden Grove. It is one of the largest community festivals in the western United States (in California, 2nd only to the Rose Parade) and celebrates the area’s rich agricultural history. Thousands of visitors come to sample a slice of the World’s largest strawberry shortcake and enjoy a day of carnival rides and attractions, including a parade attended by celebrities and dignitaries. There are two theaters in Garden Grove, the ‘Gem Theater’ and the ‘Festival Amphitheater, the latter of which hosts ‘Shakespeare Orange County.’

Little Saigon and Garden Grove Cuisine

Garden Grove is also part of Little Saigon (a district that includes parts of Westminster, Santa Ana, and Fountain Valley). It is home to one of the largest populations of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam, and some of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the country are in Garden Grove, including several on the MICHELIN Guide: Pho’holic, Garlic & Chives by Kristin and Pho’ 79 (considered the best Pho restaurant in Southern California with an outstanding selection of egg noodle soup and Goi Cuon).  Ha Noi Corner Restaurant is highly rated for its vegan choices and delicious soups like Thai Tom Yum. Many Pho dishes are on the menu, and their not-to-be-missed Bun Rieu rice noodle soup (‘Rieu’ being the meatballs made of pork, shrimp, crab, and tofu) is flavored with tomato and herbs.