Yummy family eats in Carlsbad, La Jolla & San Diego?

[jenjersnap]

Specifically in San Diego - Shelter Island and downtown areas.

We are stopping a couple days in each place. Any budget is fine, any variety of food - the whole family is adventurous eaters - though we love "ethnic" foods and seafood most of all. I imagine there has to be many fantastic Mexican joints in the area? I'd love to find the best fish tacos around too, lol.

So, throw out anything you like in any of those cities. Thanks!

[Pucka1378]

I might not call it the best food but it is a great and fun place to eat!

http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/cohn/cohnrestaurants/corvette.php



Mexican food is best when you find a little dive place to eat. I have not really found any sit down nice place that serves out of this world mexican food.

[jenjersnap]

Does La Jolla and Carlsbad even have dive Mexican joints? ;)

Thanks for the suggestion - looks fun!

Anyone have an opinion of Bali Hai on Shelter Island? DH is a wee bit fixated on eating there based merely on their website.

Keep 'em coming, please?

[Eaglefan9727]

Hodad's in Ocean Beach near Sea World. Some great hamburgers and I would say they are better than In-n-out if you know what In-n-out is. Warning, It is a dive, But like I said. It has some of the best hamburgers I have ever had.

[grumpyvet]

It's in Old Town San Diego. Big 'ol buckets of peel and eat seafood, pretty tasty salsa bar, really loud and quirky.

If looking for "fast food", CANNOT go wrong with the local chain, Rubio's. Seriously delicious fish tacos!!!!! They are kind of eveywhere, we frequent 3 that are within 7 miles of our house in San Diego.

In La Jolla, George's on the Cove has amazing views and yummy food.

Never been to the one you are asking about, sorry!!!

[jenjersnap]

True story: we used to have a Rubio's here in town. When I was PG with my middle son, my craving for Rubio's lobster burritos was of obscene proportions. :thumbsup2 I am talking - DH swung by every single day on his home from work. Despite our major financial support, they closed down. The franchise owner just recently decided to give it another go but they aren't open yet. I heard there was one in the SD airport ... so I will be getting my first burrito before we even set foot on actual CA soil. :lmao:

The other place sounds perfect - thanks! Gonna map it right now.

[grumpyvet]

Love your Rubio's story, glad to see that you already KNOW about their fish tacos!!! Good stuff!!

When I was PG, all I wanted was McDonald's orange drink. Ewwwww.


Oh, if you go to ROckin' Baja in Old Town, you need to check out this llittle store in Old Town, called Del Sol. All it's stuff is UV sensitve and changes color. Keychains, shirts and even, my favorite nail polish. It is a fun place to get some souvenirs!!!

Enjoy your trip!!!

[Monkey Monkey]

In Carlsbad, Ruby's Diner at the outlet center is a great family option! There is also a Rubio's there I believe.

[c&m]

I'm a big fan of Rubio's fish tacos. I must go there for at least one meal a day when we visit San Diego once a year.

There's also El Torito. I think it's a chain??? We ate there last year in Carlsbad, and it was very good. The portions are HUGE, so sharing is probably the thing to do the next time we go.

[honeymom]

If you want to splurge a little, Karl Strauss Brewery in Carlsbad is really quite good.

[luckey-lasvegas]

We love the fish and Chips at the Harbor Fish cafe in Carlsbad. It's on Carlsbad Blvd near Elm. It has outside dinning and a great view of the beach. They have daily specials a kids menu and large portions. It is rather ummm rustic with rolls of paper towels on the tables and wood benches for seating but to me that's part of the fun! Definately cost effecient and the portions are huge!

[DangerMouse]

Great authentic Mexican food in San Diego: El Indo. This little dive is popular though and gets hoppin around peak lunch and dinner times.

I enjoyed George's in La Jolla as well. The view at sunset was out of this world! You'll need reservations here.

Carlsbad - Al's Cafe in the Village is a great little diner we stumbled upon. They have really great breakfasts and the waitresses are so friendly and helpful.

[bzymom]

Great for really fresh fish.

pointlomaseafoods.com

[jenjersnap]

DangerMouse: is this the right place? http://www.el-indio.com/

[DangerMouse]

DangerMouse: is this the right place? http://www.el-indio.com/

Yep, that's it! And hey, Guy Fieri likes it, so you know it's good! :thumbsup2

[ScooterL]

El Indio was a LOT better 20 years ago. We used to go there all the time, but now I haven't been there in years. We also like Rubio's. Though I have to say that the best fish tacos I've ever had were from the Prado restaurant in Balboa Park.

Rather than El Indio, I would recommend that you try Saffron (Thai food) if you're in that area - it's just down the block from El Indio - they are both on India Street. Saffron is counter service, but they have both indoor and outdoor seating. Their chicken egg rolls are fantastic, and their noodle dishes are really good, too. Actually, I haven't had anything there I didn't like!

Let's see...other stuff in the Shelter Island area (I work on Point Loma, so I should know lots of places!)...if you love good bread, try out Con Pane, a bakery that's at the corner of Rosecrans and Canon streets. Wonderful sourdough, and I love their gruyere and chive bread (only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays). They serve sandwiches and coffee also. There's also scones and a few other pastries for breakfast. Service is slow, and there's usually a line, especially at lunchtime.

For breakfast foods, try the Point Break Cafe - it's in a little strip mall on Scott Street between Shelter Island Drive and Camino de las Portuguesas (I think that's it). There's a Subway in there too - not that I'm recommending that, but it's a recognizable landmark! :-)

Pizza Nova is a California Pizza Kitchen kind of place - it's on Harbor Drive between Nimitz and Scott Street.

I also echo the Hodad's recommendation.

And Point Loma Seafood is good, but the ordering process can be really confusing...basically you just have to walk up to what looks like a seafood counter and place your order, and they'll give you a strip of paper with a number on it - but all of the people taking orders have different numbers, and when the food comes out they are calling out numbers that can be anywhere from 1-100! It's pretty chaotic, but it works. I'll warn you that they are quite pricey for a take-out place, but the seafood is good. They also have very good fish tacos.

In Old Town, Old Town Mexican Cafe is really good. Excellent carnitas plates.

Oh! Filippi's Pizza Grotto on India Street downtown is kind of fun - it's got a ton of atmosphere. You enter through an Italian grocery store and the restaurant is in the back - complete with the red-checked table cloths and those raffia-wrapped wine bottles hanging from the ceiling. It's NOT your Pizza Hut pizza - the sauce has a bit more flavor and they put a ton of cheese on their pizzas.

For seafood, Anthony's Fish Grotto, right on the bay, has been there for years. It's on Harbor near the Star of India.

Hope that helps!

[grumpyvet]

Rather than El Indio, I would recommend that you try Saffron (Thai food) if you're in that area - it's just down the block from El Indio - they are both on India Street. Saffron is counter service, but they have both indoor and outdoor seating. Their chicken egg rolls are fantastic, and their noodle dishes are really good, too. Actually, I haven't had anything there I didn't like!

I second this!! We just usually go to the carry out side where you can pretty much just order the chicken/rice/thai salad dinner!! Really tasty and really budget friendly!!!

[minniebeth]

Is Karl Strauss Brewery a place to take kids? It sounds like a place my DH would like!

[pumpkin5156]

You can take kids to Karl Strauss. They have delish food!

And in Carlsbad, Fidel Norte's has yummy Mexi food. It's in downtown, so there are lots of shops, places to walk, the beach is right there, and the food is great. I would also do Benni Hana's in Carlsbad. Not sure if you have those, but it's a fun place to take the kids, as they cook everything right in front of you. It's a bit pricey, though.

Have fun!

[wendyinoc]

My favorite in Downtown is Baja Rockin Lobster. The baja buckets are the best!!

[jenjersnap]

Well, everyone, thanks so much for your great suggestions! We hit a few of them (Let's see: Ruby's, Karl Strauss, El Indio, Point Loma Seafoods, plus Rubios and In n Out Burger ... not a clunker in the bunch!)

We were disappointed that we didn't get to go to Saffron (we were headed there the night we ended up at El Indio. Busy Sat night and we couldn't find parking. El Indio has its own lot so - voila - there we went), the Rockin' Baja Lobster place, Pizza Nova (which was highly recommended by our hotel too), Anthony's Fish Grotto and Hodad's (planned to eat there on our SW day but we didn't even make it to there, thanks to my youngest son getting ill our last couple days.

I understand why there were few suggestions for La Jolla Village now. We considered George's or the Crab Catcher but DH put his foot down about being on vacation and didn't want to dress up even marginally. Yes, even the Crab Catcher was too fancy for him. :) So, we ended up at a Mexican joint across the street (Antonios). VERY mediocre food - 2 enchilada plates (with two smallish enchiladas), 2 kid's meals and sangria: $80! Before tip! The only time in recent memory I have thought "what a rip off" about a restaurant. The next night we ended up at, yes, Rubios out in the eastern fringes of La Jolla.

We did have breakfast at the Cottage in La Jolla and loved it! If I had known they served dinner beforehand, we would have gone there instead of the place above.

Oh, and we had a really wonderful meal at the Prado restaurant in Balboa Park too. I went in with notions that it was a tourist trap - and it may well be - so hadn't planned to eat there but we walked by and were charmed. Turned out we thought the food was extremely tasty!

Speaking of Rubio's - the one at the airport closed three weeks ago and is being replaced with a Baja Express. Just FYI, in case anyone was searching there after I mentioned it in this thread.

Anyway, just thought some who posted suggestions would like to know the outcome of our trip. We had a lovely time!

[ScooterL]

Thanks for much for posting the follow-up - I'm glad that our suggestions were helpful to you and you had a good trip! Sorry that you missed out on Saffron - but I know what you mean about parking down there. And really sorry to hear that your son was ill...hope it was nothing serious and he's all better now!