Dining

Orange County United Way kicks off the fall Together Thursdays concert series on October 5, 2023, at the Riverside Pavilion at 6:30 p.m.

The featured band is Straight Tequila Night. Straight Tequila Night is Texas’s original ’90s Country Tribute Band. From Garth Brooks and George Strait to Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn, they play all the songs you love from ’90s Country radio and some you forgot you love! Started “just for fun” in 2012 by a group of friends and co-workers at Granada Theater in Dallas, they went on to be recognized as one of the best tribute bands in DFW by D Magazine, The Dallas Observer, and the tens of thousands of people all over Texas and beyond who’ve seen their show over the years.

Though this was the first time these musicians all played together, there are about 100 years of combined professional music experience between them, including 10+ years now together as Straight Tequila Night. Known for their energetic and faithful renditions of these classic songs and their engaging and often humorous performances, STN never fails to get the boots scootin’!

Bring your lawn chairs and coolers and let’s kickoff Orangetober Festival weekend together!

The Ice Cream Shack, LLC, Big Daddy’s Food Trailer, and Wing Junkiez will be joining us at the Pavilion so come hungry!

A new beverage restaurant, Frescas Mx, is opening on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 10 a.m. next to Jimmy Nick’s at 105 Sargent St. in Vidor.

Owned by Vicki King, the restaurant will feature Mexican aguas frescas, fresh horchata, jamaica, pineapple, lemon, and tamarin waters.

They will also have fruit cocktails, jericalla (Mexican custard), chocolate bananas and strawberries.

The hours for the business are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

For more info, visit their Facebook page.

In a Facebook Live event on April 17, 2023, the owners of Tacos La Shula announced they will be reopening as a drive-thru restaurant in a new location, serving only to-go orders.

The new Tacos La Shula will be located at 5602 Highway 87 in Orange, near the Little Cypress-Mauriceville school campuses.

Even though the menu won’t be the same as their previous restaurant, owners Chris Chapman and his wife, Zilpa Plascencia, promise that their classic dishes birria tacos, birria quesadillas, birria burritos, homemade tortillas, and street tacos, will return to the menu.

Tacos La Shula will be open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will offer breakfast tacos, breakfast burritos, coffee, and smoothies.

Plans are to try and reopen within the next three to four weeks.

For more information, follow the restaurant’s official Facebook page to be updated on a grand-opening date.

Supper will be served nightly on June 20-22. 2022, from 5-6:30 PM in the Dining Hall of Orange Church of God, in partnership with 5 Under Golf and Nourishing Neighbors. The whole community is welcome to attend.

The Orange Church of God is located at 1911 North 16th Street in Orange.

For more info, visit their Facebook page

Entertainment has been announced after the Flashback Friday Parade that serves as the kickoff for the 2022 Orange Mardi Gras season on Friday, February 18, 2022, at the Riverside Pavilion immediately.

At 7 PM, Chubby Carrier will be featured. Once the accordion-playing virtuoso grabs the mic and takes to the stage with his bandmates, audiences are treated to a show like no other. Chubby Carrier’s sound is infectious – a concoction of blues, 70s funk, rock and roll, and good-ole zydeco flavor – and makes even the timidest individuals get their feet a-movin’. Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band are turning heads around the world and bringing Louisiana flavor to the masses. The funky zydeco band’s release, Zydeco Junkie, earned one of the highest musical accolades when it was named Best Zydeco or Cajun Album during the 53rd annual Grammy Awards celebration in February 2011. For more than 20 years, Chubby and the Bayou Swamp Band have toured relentlessly around the world, playing venues such as the Chicago Blues Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Cajun, and Zydeco Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL., and Montreaux Jazz Fest in Switzerland. For his steadfast dedication to zydeco music, Carrier was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame on October 16, 2011.

At 9 PM, Corey Ledet Zydeco will step on stage. Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers with family in small-town Parks, Louisiana. The Creole culture has its roots in Louisiana, but spread across the country, including neighboring Texas. Because of this, he was able to be immersed at all times in the Creole culture he loved so much. The summers in the family home molded and shaped Corey’s world in a profound way. By the time he graduated from high school, he was certain that music was the focal point of his future. Corey eventually moved to Louisiana in order to be surrounded by this beautiful culture at all times. He remains true to his roots and earnestly searches for ways to include them in his music. He keeps one foot firmly in the tradition while exploring surrounding influences in order to create the best of both worlds. He is able to infuse old and new styles of Zydeco into his own unique sound from all of the people he studied and was influenced by.

He also appreciates the other traditional sound indigenous to Louisiana in Cajun music and has been able to expand his repertoire to include these influences as well. Corey’s versatile sound enables him to please any audience. Whether he is playing a solo acoustical set or he is backed up by a full band, you as a listener will always be thoroughly entertained. He finds joy in giving his listeners a true dance/music experience in the ways of old-time house parties. So, come and enjoy the music of old presented in a new way but still very tied to tradition.

Food vendors, Free State Winery, and a beer booth will be available at the Riverside Pavilion.