Well, It Seems Like Old Times

Pairing “Old Town” with “Irvine” seems more than a little oxymoronic. But believe it or not, there are buildings in this forward-thinking, tech-minded city that date to the olden days. You know, before Woodbridge.

A few structures go back as far as the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the surrounding acreage featured citrus groves, bean fields, grazing cattle and little else. Now those buildings, preserved as Old Town alongside the Santa Ana Freeway, are home to a hotel, post office, retailers, bars and restaurants.

Although the only Old Town citrus these days may be the lime in your Mexican beer, and the only grazing is done by diners partial to salads, who can knock a history lesson that comes with a margarita and big-time sports on big-screen TVs?

From Beans to Bars

The cavernous wooden building that houses Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante (14988 Sand Canyon Ave., [949] 551-2998) is a warehouse built in 1895 to process and store lima beans for the vast Irvine Ranch.

Where once as many as 200,000 hundred-pound sacks of lima beans were packed and stored, patrons now sip cool drinks as they ponder life’s big questions. Such as: Was there ever really a demand for 10,000 tons of lima beans?

Or they can just sit back and wait for the next passing train, which, tradition dictates, is signaled by a bell behind the bar and the downing of a shot of tequila by those within earshot. When the bar opened in 1988, the shots were 50 cents. Now they’re $2.

The expense and the threat of overindulgence loom even larger, considering that with the addition of Metrolink, other commuter trains and freight lines, the ringing comes more often than it used to.

Still, for those whose tastes run to tequila, there’s no better place to imbibe than Tia Juana’s. The bar stocks 129 varieties. Next question to ponder: Do we really need 129 tequilas?

“It’s like beer and wine--different tequilas suit different tastes,” said Brian Miller, Tia Juana’s manager. “We get people who really know their tequila.”

Many of them sit at the 70-foot oak bar that Tia Juana’s says is the longest in Orange County. It’s an homage to the atmosphere of the old Long Bar in Tijuana, Mexico, which attracted a host of Hollywood stars in the ‘30s and ‘40s.

The bar also effectively replicates a menu of Mexican delights, including carnitas ($11.95), carne asada ($12.95) and mahi mahi tacos ($8.95).

For those with warehouse-size appetites, consider the Tequila T-Bone, a pound of steak marinated in a mixture of juices, rosemary, basil, garlic and Sonora spices ($17.95).

Tia Juana’s spices up nights with the Latin band Alturas playing on Tuesdays and a DJ spinning salsa music on Thursdays and Fridays, when the bar also offers Latin dance lessons from 8 to 9 for $10. Another DJ plays disco in a banquet room on Friday nights.

Tia Juana’s opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It’s closed Sunday.

Good Sports Next Door

Sharing the same corrugated tin roof and street address as Tia Juana’s is the Season Ticket Sports Grill ([949] 552-2255). While Tia Juana’s may lead the county in bar length, Season Ticket might be the champion in total square footage of television screens. The sports bar has five big screens and about a dozen other TVs, making it an ideal spot to take in the NCAA basketball tournament.

But the bar is busiest during football season, when it is a gathering place for Orange County alumni and fans of UCLA, Penn State, Nebraska, Arizona and Iowa.

Russ Douglas, who along with his wife, Stephanie, bought the bar in August, played football at San Diego State and the University of LaVerne. However, the team to which he is most devoted is apparent on NFL Sunday and Monday nights.

“During the football season, the servers wear team hats, and this year I made them all wear Raiders hats,” Douglas said. “A lot of people wonder what’s up with the Raiders hats.”

As for the food, Season Ticket is renowned for its chicken fingers ($6.49, with ranch dip and fries) and wild wings ($6.99 a dozen), which without sauce (Angel, “pure and heavenly”), hot and spicy (Flushing Meadows) and sweet and sour (Hula Bowl). The Wimbledon classic sub ($6.99) is also a winner.

On Thursday through Sunday nights, the bar becomes a night club, with a band on Fridays and an after-hours alcohol-free party called After Shock starting at 2 a.m. Sundays.

“Sometimes we’ll get 900 people in here laughing and talking and having a good time,” server Jenifer Ferneliaus said.

Interestingly, the subject of lima beans almost never comes up.

Cute and Quaint

Not many customers who stop in at Season Ticket for a beer and to see the big game also venture across the parking lot to check out the porcelain figurines at Wee House Fine Gifts and Collectibles (14980 Sand Canyon Ave., [949] 552-3228).

“We kind of have to be our own draw,” said owner Dolly Buzer.

And for more than a decade, the Wee House has been an attraction. What drew Dolly and her husband, Joe, to the location was its proximity to the freeway and the fact that the building--built in 1912 to house the Irvine general store--is just as cute and quaint as its inventory.

Wee House offers a wide variety of collectibles. It doesn’t feature just one or two of the Department 56 winter villages; it has all seven, with hundreds of tiny buildings and figures set up year-round.

“Some people start shopping for the new pieces in January,” Buzer said.

In the Dickens Village are the J. Lytes Coal Merchant Building ($50) and the Melancholy Tavern ($45), while the Snow Village has a McDonald’s with old-fashioned golden arches ($65) and a Ford dealership with a rotating Mustang in the showroom window ($95).

Wee House also carries dozens of different Cherished Teddies figurines as well as Calico Kittens, Blushing Bunnies and Mouse Tales.

The building that houses them was moved across Sand Canyon Avenue to be a part of Old Town in 1986. But these structures have come a lot farther than just a roadway’s length over the years. They’ve found new life and new uses. The rest is history.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: You can see Old Town Irvine from the Santa Ana Freeway. Exit at Sand Canyon. Parking is free.

UP ON THE ROOF: Above Tia Juana’s and Season Ticket is a sign that reads “Indoor Golf.” The golf venture closed years ago, but people still occasionally show up at the sports bar with their golf clubs. “I guess I should put in a virtual golf game or something,” Russ Douglas said.

BAR TALK: Overheard on a recent weekday at lunchtime at Tia Juana’s: “I’m not a genius, I’m just very patient.” And “I broke into their site, and then they hired me to do their Web security.”

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Old Town Irvine

1. Tia Juana’s Long Bar and Restaurante, 14988 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, (949) 551-2998

2. Season Ticket Sports Grill, 14988 Sand Canyon Ave., (949) 552-2255

3. Wee House Fine Gifts and Collectibles, 14980 San Canyon Ave., (949) 52-3228