SoCal Must Do Places to Eat

Gonzjj

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
From San Diego up to Hollywood, what are the best places that you must try while in the area? We are looking for a variety of ideas. Thanks in advance!
 
Can you give us some idea of your likes/dislikes, budget restrictions/or not, where you are from (e.g. if you have fabulous Mexican food at home, we won't recommend that here), size of your party/ages (kids? seniors?)/any special needs?, adventurous eaters vs. absolutely not, ethnic?, etc. Southern California has so many great places to eat! The more info you can give us, the better we can help you!
 
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Can you give us some idea of your likes/dislikes, budget restrictions/or not, where you are from (e.g. if you have fabulous Mexican food at home, we won't recommend that here), size of your party/ages (kids? seniors?)/any special needs?, adventurous eaters vs. absolutely not, ethnic?, etc. Southern California has so many great places to eat! The more info you can give us, the better we can help you!

Hello, yes here is more info.
We are from NYS, Mexican is not particularly great here. 2 Children ages 10 & 13. Seafood is not very popular with us. Though mom and are somewhat adventurous, the kids are not. Thanks!
 
The one place i MUST go to every time I go to Disneyland is El Maharoosa on S Brookhurst. It's a Lebanese restaurant and hookah bar. I don't like to be in smoke filled rooms - if you've never been around hookahs, it's not at all like smoke. It actually has interesting smells that I don't mind at all.

We love the kibbeh, tabouleh, hummus with meat, and falafels.
 


If you are driving from SD up to LA and need a place to stop for lunch (or brunch on a Sunday), we really love Casa de Bandini in Carlsbad. They used to be down in Old Town, but relocated. They do make their own tortillas, have great margaritas and the food is delicious. They are not too far off the I-5, but in more of an upper-class residential shopping neighborhood.
 


Lazy Dog Restaurant. There is one in Irvine, just about 15 minutes south of Disneyland. It's our family's favorite restaurant.

Lucille's BBQ is also great. There is one pretty close to Disneyland in Garden Grove.
 
There is also a Lucille's in Orange on Chapman -- that one is pretty close to the parks, maybe 10 minutes drive?
 
If you don't mind driving to Burbank, Porto's was rated #1 on Yelp's top restaurants. It's Cuban food but they have amazing baked goods and the Potato balls are to DIE FOR. Burbank is also home to Walt Disney Studios so if you're in the area it's cool to check out.
 
If you don't mind driving to Burbank, Porto's was rated #1 on Yelp's top restaurants. It's Cuban food but they have amazing baked goods and the Potato balls are to DIE FOR. Burbank is also home to Walt Disney Studios so if you're in the area it's cool to check out.
They actually have a Porto’s in Buena Park on Beach Blvd near Knotts Berry Farm. It’s close to Disneyland !
 
I also vote Porto's in Buena Park! Their potato balls (seasoned ground beef surrounded by potato and deep fried) are amazing, and so are their pastries. The complex in Buena Park also has other food places there, but I've never been to them. A sign of love in this house is a box of Porto's on the table when one of us gets back from a business trip in southern california.

Another quintessential Southern California spot will be Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles (also near Anaheim, locations in Long Beach and LA). If you want some good Korean food but don't want to schlepp it all the way into ktown LA, check out Kang Ho-Dong Baekjeong in Irvine (locations in Torrance, and Buena Park I believe)... but you guys have that in NYC, also.

Mexican food trophy will have to go to my all time favorite: Tacos El Gordo on Broadway in Chula Vista, CA (south of San Diego). Be sure to stand in the "tacos de adobada" line - if spice is an issue, can ask the guy to ease up on the hot stuff (bring cash for tip). Must wash it down with horchata. Multiple locations in SD. Runner up: Lolita's Mexican Food, grab the carne asada fries (feeds 3-4, or 2 really hungry people) or the "Tsunami Fries" which is the same but with a few pieces of shrimp thrown in.

There's so much unique food in Southern California, you gotta 100% avoid stuff that you can get back in NY.

Honorable Mention for San Diego: Tom Ham's Lighthouse. Good food, even better view.
 
Ooh I so need to try Portos! There's one opening up near my friend's house soon!

San Diego has a lot of amazing breweries if you're interested. The kids loved our visit to Stone with the gardens in Escondido
 
Ooh I so need to try Portos! There's one opening up near my friend's house soon!

San Diego has a lot of amazing breweries if you're interested. The kids loved our visit to Stone with the gardens in Escondido
The Stone at Liberty Station is great too, as is Liberty Station in general. It’s located on the grounds of the old Naval Training Center (in San Diego).
 
Hi - Born and raised here in San Diego (and still live here), so I can recommend a few places.

  • Pick a taco shop! Having grown up in the Bonita/Chula Vista area in the south county, my absolute favorite is Lolita's Mexican Food. There is just something special about their carne asada and especially their refried beans! Every time (and I mean EVERY time) I return from a trip, Lolita's is my first stop for food. Most of the locations are down in the Chula Vista area, but there is also one near Petco Park downtown and another in Kearny Mesa. There are other competing types of taco shops throughout San Diego, including Roberto's, Alberto's, Cotixan, etc., but for my money Lolita's in the best. Mentioned above, Tacos el Gordo is also excellent; their Adobada Spiced Pork tacos are the stuff of legend! And a very honorable mention to Lucha Libre Taco Shop!
  • If you want a sit down Mexican food experience, my favorites are Miguel's Cocina (their white queso sauce is sublime), Puesto, Casa Guadalajara in Old Town, or Casa de Bandini up in Carlsbad.
  • Phil's BBQ! I adore BBQ and Phil's is the place that I put up against all others! The sauce is amazing, a tad peppery, but amazing! And the ribs are delectable! And don't get me started about their onion rings with buttermilk ranch dipping sauce!!!
  • Want fish?! Check out Point Loma Seafoods! It is not fancy, but it is delicious!
  • Liberty Station offers a lot of options, including my favorites Corvette Diner, Soda & Swine, and Stone Brewing.
  • Need a little tiki and an amazing view?! Check out the Bali Hai!
  • And of course, the quintessential SoCal burger is In N Out, but my favorite burger in SD is Five Guys. Yes, they are a transplant from back east, but man their burgers are soooooooo good...and fully customizable! Don't get me wrong, I love In N Out, but Five Guys is my favorite hands down!
  • Lastly, San Diego has an awesome Asian food district in Clairemont / Kearny Mesa area.
And in the Disneyland-ish area, I second the recommendations for Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, as well as Porto's Bakery! Both AMAZING! And if you are up in the Buena Park area, near Knott's Berry Farm, not only is there a Porto's up there, but also a Portillo's...Chicago dogs and Italian beef sandwiches in SoCal!!!
 
Hi - Born and raised here in San Diego (and still live here), so I can recommend a few places.

  • Pick a taco shop! Having grown up in the Bonita/Chula Vista area in the south county, my absolute favorite is Lolita's Mexican Food. There is just something special about their carne asada and especially their refried beans! Every time (and I mean EVERY time) I return from a trip, Lolita's is my first stop for food. Most of the locations are down in the Chula Vista area, but there is also one near Petco Park downtown and another in Kearny Mesa. There are other competing types of taco shops throughout San Diego, including Roberto's, Alberto's, Cotixan, etc., but for my money Lolita's in the best. Mentioned above, Tacos el Gordo is also excellent; their Adobada Spiced Pork tacos are the stuff of legend! And a very honorable mention to Lucha Libre Taco Shop!
  • If you want a sit down Mexican food experience, my favorites are Miguel's Cocina (their white queso sauce is sublime), Puesto, Casa Guadalajara in Old Town, or Casa de Bandini up in Carlsbad.
  • Phil's BBQ! I adore BBQ and Phil's is the place that I put up against all others! The sauce is amazing, a tad peppery, but amazing! And the ribs are delectable! And don't get me started about their onion rings with buttermilk ranch dipping sauce!!!
  • Want fish?! Check out Point Loma Seafoods! It is not fancy, but it is delicious!
  • Liberty Station offers a lot of options, including my favorites Corvette Diner, Soda & Swine, and Stone Brewing.
  • Need a little tiki and an amazing view?! Check out the Bali Hai!
  • And of course, the quintessential SoCal burger is In N Out, but my favorite burger in SD is Five Guys. Yes, they are a transplant from back east, but man their burgers are soooooooo good...and fully customizable! Don't get me wrong, I love In N Out, but Five Guys is my favorite hands down!
  • Lastly, San Diego has an awesome Asian food district in Clairemont / Kearny Mesa area.
And in the Disneyland-ish area, I second the recommendations for Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, as well as Porto's Bakery! Both AMAZING! And if you are up in the Buena Park area, near Knott's Berry Farm, not only is there a Porto's up there, but also a Portillo's...Chicago dogs and Italian beef sandwiches in SoCal!!!

Wow! Great info. I feel like we have a ton of great choices. Countdown, not much longer.
 
Don't forget that in Southern California, L.A. especially, food trucks count as restaurants! Not all food trucks are "roach coaches," (NOT hardly! Wes Avila's Guerilla Taco truck -- before he got a restaurant -- was named in the top 10 restaurants nationwide on several lists!) and some have a serious gourmet reputation. There are regular trucks and fancy trucks. You can follow them on Twitter to find their locations for the day. If there is a convention going on at the Anaheim Convention Center during your trip, check to see if there are any trucks parked by the ACC entrance. That's an easy way to try some different offerings. If you'll be in Venice on the first Friday of the month, there are food trucks lining Abbot Kinney Blvd. in the evening -- another easy way to try lots of different trucks. Fun!
The Anaheim Packing District is about 10 minutes away from the parks -- it's like a glorified food court with lots of fun food and live entertainment in one building. The building used to be a citrus packing house that was remade into a very fun, hip place to get many different kinds of food. One side of the building has a railroad car that was used to ship the crates of citrus -- very interesting!
 
I agree with all of these - Porto's, Casa de Bandini, Phil's BBQ, Stone Brewing and Bali Hai (best Mai Tais around) are all favorites of ours. If you enjoy breweries Golden Road is one of our favorites and there is now one in Anaheim right across from the stadium with full restaurant and a great outdoor patio/game area. Anaheim Packing is great too!
 
Forgot Hollywood. There are so many and they're always changing but some of my favorites that I would take kids too are Stout (great burgers), Bird's (chicken), Home (in Echo Park but not far and best brunch). Delphine on Hollywood is really good if you want something on the Boulevard but a little fancier and my kids love Mel's Drive In if you want something on theme. My kids favorite in that area is probably the Grove (mall) and we usually eat at Maggiano's.
 

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