As much as I want to, I don’t eat these foods every day. And it’s not because I’m on a diet. I eat steak and french fries regularly. I eat way too many hamburgers. I eat more ramen than anyone should, so it’s hard to call any of those things guilty pleasures. They’re just pleasures.

The bacon at brunchtime at Taco Maria is usually about an inch thick. The pork is braised in Mexican brown sugar. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The bacon at Taco Maria is braised with unrefined Mexican brown sugar. The bacon is served only at brunch on weekends. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Pizza alla Benno with speck, pineapple, jalapeños, mozzarella and tomato is pulled from a 600 degree wood-burning oven at Pizzeria Mozza Newport Beach. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Prosciutto and pineapple tops pizza alla Benno at Pizzeria Mozza in Newport Beach. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The huckleberry donut (lower) is always the first flavor to sell out at Sidecar Doughnuts in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Onion rings at The Trough are coated with a beer batter infused with panko crumbs. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach regularly serves fried chicken on the last Sunday of the month. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

El Matador in Costa Mesa serves authentic TexMex style chile con queso with freshly fried tortilla chips. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The cinnamon rolls are baked in a wood-fired oven at Restaurant Marin in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Crispy dry-braised beef is a house specialty at Ta Chen Chinese Restaurant in Garden Grove. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Al’s New York Cafe serves exemplary New York style pepperoni pizza in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Limoncello cheesecake is on the dessert menu at Onotria, an Italian restaurant in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

But even with my crazy eating regimen, there are still some foods that I avoid eating too often. Here are 10 delicious guilty pleasures that always make me happy.

1. Bacon at Taco Maria

They serve it only on weekends for brunch, and it’s the number one reason I keep returning to Taco Maria for brunch. The bacon is almost as thick as a steakhouse steak. They serve it with a steak knife, but it’s so tender that you could cut it with your spoon. They braise it overnight in a glaze of Mexican brown sugar. Brunch is actually a prix fixe affair, 3 courses for $39 (and you’ll want to get the pancakes). The bacon is an add-on $7.

3313 Hyland Ave., Costa Mesa, 714-538-8444, tacomaria.com

2. Hawaiian pizza at Mozza

I used to scoff at the concept of Hawaiian pizza. You know the one I’m talking about, the ugly one with ham, pineapple and jalapeños. But then Pizzeria Mozza reinvented it (they call it pizza alla Benno, named after the chef’s son). High-quality Italian prosciutto stands in for the ham. Fresh pineapples are shaved into paper-thin sheets that practically dissolve into the sauce when baked in the wood-fired oven. The peppers are fresh. I still won’t eat Hawaiian pizza anywhere else. But this one is habit-forming. Cost: $18.

800 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, 949-945-1126, newportbeach.pizzeriamozza.com

3. Tex Mex queso at El Matador

There’s nothing else in the world quite like the creamy, gooey decadence of Texas-style chile con queso. I confess that there was a period in my life when I ate this stuff at least twice a week. Now it’s just an occasional indulgence — and best enjoyed with a margarita. Cost: $6.95.

1768 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, 949-645-0324, elmatadorcostamesa.com

4. Cinnamon roll at Restaurant Marin

I’ve written a lot about the beautiful layer cakes at Marin. But truth be told my favorite guilty pleasure at this elegant little diner is the cinnamon roll. They take their wonderful brioche dough and roll it into a bun with loads of cinnamon and bake it in the wood-fired oven, then glaze it with housemade caramel. Cost: $9.

3321 Hyland Ave., Costa Mesa, 949-402-3974, restaurantmarin.com

5. Crispy dry-braised beef at Ta Chen in Garden Grove

The American-style, Mandarin-inspired Chinese food at Ta Chen in Garden Grove is decidedly untrendy in this current era of spicy Sichuan cuisine. And that’s what I love most about this place. I frequently crave the house specialty here, something called “dry-braised beef,” a mix of sweet and savory with a thin, almost-brittle texture unlike anything you’ve eaten elsewhere. It is obviously loaded with sugar, and I’m guessing there’s MSG involved, too, but that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Cost: $8.95.

6082 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove, 714-892-6994, tachenrestaurant.com.

6. Huckleberry doughnut at Sidecar

Admittedly, I’m not the person in my house who constantly wants doughnuts. I’m usually the one saying no. But then someone says “huckleberry glaze,” and I fold. Every time. It’s the fast-selling cake doughnut at Sidecar for a reason, so don’t be surprised if they are temporarily sold out when you get there. Cost: $3.50.

270 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa, 949-887-2910, sidecardoughnuts.com

7. Onion rings at The Trough

I’m a french fry guy. But sometimes I cheat and switch to onion rings. Or in the case of The Trough, they don’t do fries so the decision is easy. The onion rings are fantastic, with a crispy beer-and-panko batter. I’m not embarrassed to say that I’ve been known to have onion rings — and nothing else — for lunch. Don’t judge. Cost: $4.

31441 Santa Margarita Parkway, Rancho Santa Margarita, 949-709-5545, thetroughoc.com

8. Fried chicken at 370 Common

I’ve done the research on this one, and I can confidently say the fried chicken here is the best in Orange County. But they serve it only once a month, the last Sunday of the month. (If you can’t get there on Sept. 24, don’t worry, it will come around again.) They serve it family style, in a bucket, with phenomenal mashed potatoes and gravy, along with fresh green beans, kale salad, cole slaw and leafy greens braised with pork belly, plus dessert. Cost: Adults, $42; children, $21.

370 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, 949-494-8686, 370common.com

9. Limoncello cheesecake at Onotria

Normally when you order cheesecake, you can (and probably should) expect an enormous slice of cake that nobody in their right mind would attempt to eat alone. (Not that I haven’t done it.) And that’s what I find so irresistible about the cheesecake at Onotria. This one might actually be more pleasure than guilt. It is tiny and distinctly citrusy, drizzled with vanilla-lemon cream. It is one of the best cheesecakes you will ever find. Cost: $8.

2831 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, 714-641-5952, onotria.com

10. New York style pepperoni at Al’s

I have previously admitted a bias toward Neapolitan-style pizza, which I believe is the best kind of pizza, the truest pizza and the style that I normally crave. But every once in a while, I get a craving that I simply cannot deny for New York style pepperoni, smothered in shredded mozzarella and slicked with a fine sheen of red grease released from copious amounts of pepperoni that have shriveled to a crisp in a classic deck oven. This is that pizza. The crust is irresistibly salty. And it always has me wondering, for about a minute, if maybe my bias toward Naples is misguided. Nah, but I still love a good New York pepperoni. Cost: from $10.95.

1673 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa, 949-722-1212, alsnewyorkcafe.com