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XP: Places to eat in southern california

monkeysipmonkeysip member
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in Honeymoon Discussions
Hello ladies,

I still have over a month until the honeymoon, but I wanted to start collecting ideas for restaurants now, and I'm home sick today, so I got nothing better to do :)

I'm XPing on the LA board, but they're kind of dead, so I was hoping to get answers here too.

FI and I are spending two weeks in LA and San Diego, with a couple stops in between like Laguna and Huntington beach.  Most of our time will be in LA though.

We love to eat, and since we'll need at least 28 meals, I'd love to hear about your favorite restaurants if you've ever visited/lived in that area.

I'm open to any suggestions at all, from fast food to fine dining.  We love anything with really good food, a beautiful scenic view, or a fun atmosphere.  

We've been to LA once, and the only memorable places we ate at were Abbott's pizza (OMG best pizza ever) and Moonshadows in Malibu.  

Also, if you have a picnic spot you recommend, we love picnics too.

Thank you!

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Re: XP: Places to eat in southern california

  • MissMalloryKMissMalloryK member
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    There is an awesome place in Malibu called Paradise Cove! They have great food and exclusive beach access! You probably will be able to spot some celebs while you hang out in a cabana or just in a beach chair soaking up the sun! here is their website!

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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    Thanks!  Sounds cool.  Any others?

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  • KAK2014KAK2014 member
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    I grew up in Huntington Beach and there are a lot of good places there especially in the downtown main street area: Aloha Grill (order the rainbow drink), Fred's, Dukes (right at the Pier)

    Taco Surf  is in Seal Beach which is just north of Huntington on PCH it has live music, great Mexican food and margaritas, its cheap, casual and delicious.  

    Tsunami Sushi is a fun Sushi/hibachi on PCH really good and always fun.
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  • Sue-n-KevinSue-n-Kevin member
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    We spent about 5 days of our 14 day California honeymoon in the LA/San Diego area. I used www.tripadvisor.com a LOT for restaurant recommendations.

    Hopefully you'll spend at least one day and/or night in the Coronado Bay area. It's across the bay from San Diego and lovely. Silver Strand beach was rated the top beach in the US a couple of years ago.

    We stayed at the Loew's Coronado Bay, and next to it is a gondola ride company, link here:
     
    www.gondolacompany.com. They have sunset gondola rides for $99 with chocolate dipped strawberries or appetizers. Bring your own bottle of wine, they provide glasses and wine opener. It was amazing, lovely, and some of the gondola drivers sing. It lasts about an hour and we thought it was well worth it.

    We had the best hamburger EVER at the Burger Lounge in the city of Coronado, link here:
    www.burgerlounge.com/locations#coronado. The hand cut fries and shakes are also amazing.

    The Sunday brunch at the Del Coronado is supposed to be amazing, but it's pricey. We weren't there for a Sunday, but we might have gone if we had been there.

    If you aren't sure about where you are staying in the LA area, I highly recommend the Casa Malibu Inn. It's an old historic inn where the celebs from the 40's and 50's used to go for their trysts. You can get a room right on the beach, the waves come up almost to your deck. It's run by a family and "old school", they don't have a website, but you can look them up on tripadvisor. You are right in Malibu, and it's really cool


    I swear by tripadvisor's reviews. Every city we went to I searched out the best priced hotels and restaurants. The ratings by real guests are invaluable.

    Have fun!
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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    We're not staying in Coronado (we're staying in La Jolla), but we definitely want to visit Coronado.  I will check out the Burger Lounge!  We love a good burger.

    We'd like to visit the Hotel del if we can, so maybe we'll see about eating there.  

    We actually already have our hotels booked (we're staying near LAX while in LA), but thanks for the recs!

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  • Wheels987Wheels987 member
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    In Response to Re: XP: Places to eat in southern california:
    [QUOTE]There is an awesome place in Malibu called Paradise Cove! They have great food and exclusive beach access! You probably will be able to spot some celebs while you hang out in a cabana or just in a beach chair soaking up the sun! here is their website! http://www.paradisecovemalibu.com/
    Posted by MissMalloryK[/QUOTE]

    Paradise Cove is ok--but it's soooo overpriced and takes hours to get in the door. Go up to Neptune's Net (Northern Malibu) or Reel Inn for great fish tacos.
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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    I see you're from LA, Wheels.  Any more recs?  

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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    Ooops, I see you already replied over on the LA board.  Thanks!

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  • Wheels987Wheels987 member
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    In Response to Re: XP: Places to eat in southern california:
    [QUOTE]Ooops, I see you already replied over on the LA board.  Thanks!
    Posted by monkeysip[/QUOTE]

    Hahaha... I'm one of the only people that reply over there. I feel so bad that it's dead so I try to help out a little when I can!

    I read your response over there (I'll continue here)...

    Hiking--Solstice Canyon is a great little hike that leads back to an old burned out stone house. You can do 1 of three different trails depending on what you're looking for, including just a stroll along a dirt road http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/solsticecanyon.htm

    Like wine? There are quite a few vineyards and tasting rooms with great wine without having to go up to Santa Barbara.

    Baseball--If you decide to go to a game while in the area let me know. I'll give you all the insider info on local food and parking.

    Griffith Park is another biggie. It's gorgeous and the observatory is heaven if you even have a little bit of fun at your local science center.

    As I think of others I'll let you know!
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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    I'll check out Solstice Canyon!

    We're not actually very into wine or sports, ha, but Griffith park was on our list of stuff to check out!



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  • TravelingJenTravelingJen
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    In San Diego, some of my favorite places are:
    -Cucina Urbana
    -Cafe Chloe
    -Bo-Beau Kitchen & Bar
    -Tapenade
    -Phil's BBQ
    -Super Cocina

    I have a blog entry here on some of the restaurants I've eat at in San Diego, although I haven't add my most recent visit in yet.
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  • fiendtothemaxfiendtothemax member
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    I never post but I am in Huntington Beach, so if you're wondering about the downtown area, I can give you a couple recs. 
    If you do breakfast, I would go to No-Ka-Oi, it's Hawaiian food with an awesome Hawaiian breakfast! 
    Fred's is great for Taco Tuesday (and ask for a patio seat, it's an awesome view!!!), and on Tuesday nights, they have a street fair that closes off all of the downtown area with food trucks, produce, vendors and musicians, it's fun! 
    Fancy dinner, I'm most likely to reccommend Duke's. It has an awesome view and if you're here on a Sunday, they have an awesome Brunch. Duke's is also Hawaiian food.
    All over downtown they have great Happy Hours. I see you don't drink wine, but if you do beer, HB Beer Co. has some good brews. If you don't do alcohol at all, the happy hour foods are equally good to check out.
    If you're taking PCH down south (most likely if you're stopping in Laguna) I would reccommend picnicing at Crystal Cove, it's about half way between Huntington Beach and Laguna off of PCH and a great spot to hike, if you're into that. 
    Or Montage Beach in Laguna, you enter at Wesley Dr. off of PCH and you can park in the structure and walk down to the beach. There are coves and rocks and it's really beautiful.
    (it's my #1 pick for wedding venues Smile)
    In Laguna I also know of a hidden little beach that is off of Moss St. and PCH, you take a long flight of stairs down to a little beach that's practically hidden and perfect for a picnic (assuming it isn't high tide, the water is known to go all the way to the stairs at night, very eerie but awesome), I plan on taking engagement photos there.
    Let me know if there is any type of foods you're into and I can make recs that aren't in the heart of HB if you'd like!


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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    Thanks, everyone!  Lots of good options!

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  • freebread03freebread03 member
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    Ah my favorite California topic!

    Los Angeles: The Santa Monica Fish Co http://www.enterprisefishco.com/santamonica/ 
    Most of the restaurants on the Santa Monica Promenade are really good too

    San Diego:

    Mayahuel in Normal Heights http://www.cantinamayahuel.com/
    Mister Sushi in Pacific Beach http://mistersushi.com/
    Brockton Villa in La Jolla Cove for brunch http://www.brocktonvilla.com/ 

    Cordiano Winery in Escondido http://www.cordianowinery.com/  We had a great brick oven pizza lunch, amazing wine here one afternoon and loved sitting in the sun overlooking the vineyards.

    We seriously can't get enough of Mayahuel-we love their happy hour street tacos, and their margaritas are to die for (their tequila menu is EXTENSIVE).
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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
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    Thanks!  

    I'm a sucker for a good margarita too!

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  • Summer2011BrideSummer2011Bride member
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    This is pretty much the exact trip H and I want to take sometime in the near future. I am bookmarking this thread for future reference :) Thanks for all the info!


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