Restaurant Preview: The Mercantile
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Like its array of deep-fried foods -- frog legs for the gourmand, SPAM for the average Joe, Twinkies and Snickers for the sugar addict -- the Orange County Fair offers a little something for almost everyone. The music lineup alone is a cross-genre melting pot that spans everyone from crooners Tom Jones and Chris Isaak to 1980s stalwarts Pat Benatar and the Scorpions to Emmylou Harris, Paramore and Fergie. The event lineup is no less eclectic. Running July 11 - August 3, the OC Fair includes a demolition derby (July 20, 3:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.); the annual OC Fair Cattle Drive (July 26, 10 a.m.), in which 300 steer will be steered through the streets of Costa Mesa; Mexican wrestling (July 15-17, 8:15 p.m.); an on-site cheese carver who will sculpt dairy into art; the world's largest barbecue, made from a converted oil tanker that's capable of cooking up to 1,000 items at a time; and the always popular pig races (daily at 3, 5, 7 and 9 p.m.).
There will also be Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffet and Eagles tribute bands; amazing feats of flexibility and balance from the Peking Acrobats; an ensemble of premiere taiko drummers; the Maloof Money Cup, a three-day skateboarding championship; a one-day mixed martial arts tournament and carnival rides, booths and games. And on Thursdays and Fridays, rides are only $1 each until 7 p.m.
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