La Jolla advice

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

We're looking for up-to-date beach, restaurant and neighborhood places in the La Jolla / Torrey Pines area.

We've read the older postings on San Diego (thanks contributors!!) and have lived travelled a lot in Southern California over many years, doing the touristy things.

This time around we're going to be near the Windandsea Beach in La Jolla later this month and are hoping for some localized expert knowledge.

We're looking for nature, scenery, restaurants, places to sit back and enjoy. We're planning on seeing Balboa Park one day and the Farmer's Insurance Open at Torrey Pines another day, and would love to spend the rest of the time walking along the better beach areas or just finding a place to hang out and enjoy the view.

Other options that sound interesting to us are the San Diego Botanic Gardens, and possibly mission Beach although we'll likely stay near La Jolla to optimize our time there. Thanks in Advance!

 

[cathy63]

It sounds like you've got the nature and scenery aspects pretty well covered with Torrey Pines and Windansea Beach. Of course, La Jolla Shores and the Cove are right there as well, and it's pleasant (if smelly) to watch the seals at the Children's Pool. If you want another area for views, it's nice to walk along Sunset Cliffs; and if the government reopens, the views from Cabrillo National Monument can't be beat.

If you have the time, and the weather is good, it's a great time of year to go out whale watching. I really like the yacht America which leaves from the Maritime museum downtown. It's very different than going out on other boats since they take fewer passengers and go under sail as much as possible.

I'm not as familiar with the restaurants in La Jolla as I am in other parts of the city, but I have heard there's a Duke's there now that's supposed to be good. January 20 to 27 is restaurant week, and those are also the dates of the golf tournament, so it sounds like that's when you'll be here? If so, you will definitely need to make dinner reservations to eat out that week. You'll have a lot of really good choices at decent prices though. Here's the RW site if you want to see what's on offer so far: https://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/restaurants/

If you are interested in live theater, I'd also recommend checking out La Jolla Playhouse, which is on the UCSD campus, to see what they have this month.

And speaking of UCSD, there's a very nice collection of sculptures and other outdoor art there and they have a map you can use to do a self-guided walking tour. Google for it and I'm sure you'll find it without any trouble.

 

[Scuba]

If you enjoy walking on the beach, just up the road a few miles is Pacific Beach. Great place for a beach walk. If you want a casual meal with very fresh seafood, try PB Fish on Garnet. Nothing fancy, and the line to order can be really long, but food is delicious.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

It sounds like you've got the nature and scenery aspects pretty well covered with Torrey Pines and Windansea Beach. Of course, La Jolla Shores and the Cove are right there as well, and it's pleasant (if smelly) to watch the seals at the Children's Pool. If you want another area for views, it's nice to walk along Sunset Cliffs; and if the government reopens, the views from Cabrillo National Monument can't be beat.

If you have the time, and the weather is good, it's a great time of year to go out whale watching. I really like the yacht America which leaves from the Maritime museum downtown. It's very different than going out on other boats since they take fewer passengers and go under sail as much as possible.

I'm not as familiar with the restaurants in La Jolla as I am in other parts of the city, but I have heard there's a Duke's there now that's supposed to be good. January 20 to 27 is restaurant week, and those are also the dates of the golf tournament, so it sounds like that's when you'll be here? If so, you will definitely need to make dinner reservations to eat out that week. You'll have a lot of really good choices at decent prices though. Here's the RW site if you want to see what's on offer so far: https://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/restaurants/

If you are interested in live theater, I'd also recommend checking out La Jolla Playhouse, which is on the UCSD campus, to see what they have this month.

And speaking of UCSD, there's a very nice collection of sculptures and other outdoor art there and they have a map you can use to do a self-guided walking tour. Google for it and I'm sure you'll find it without any trouble.

Wow! Thanks so much for all the great suggestions!

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

It sounds like you've got the nature and scenery aspects pretty well covered with Torrey Pines and Windansea Beach. Of course, La Jolla Shores and the Cove are right there as well, and it's pleasant (if smelly) to watch the seals at the Children's Pool. If you want another area for views, it's nice to walk along Sunset Cliffs; and if the government reopens, the views from Cabrillo National Monument can't be beat.

If you have the time, and the weather is good, it's a great time of year to go out whale watching. I really like the yacht America which leaves from the Maritime museum downtown. It's very different than going out on other boats since they take fewer passengers and go under sail as much as possible.

I'm not as familiar with the restaurants in La Jolla as I am in other parts of the city, but I have heard there's a Duke's there now that's supposed to be good. January 20 to 27 is restaurant week, and those are also the dates of the golf tournament, so it sounds like that's when you'll be here? If so, you will definitely need to make dinner reservations to eat out that week. You'll have a lot of really good choices at decent prices though. Here's the RW site if you want to see what's on offer so far: https://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/restaurants/

If you are interested in live theater, I'd also recommend checking out La Jolla Playhouse, which is on the UCSD campus, to see what they have this month.

And speaking of UCSD, there's a very nice collection of sculptures and other outdoor art there and they have a map you can use to do a self-guided walking tour. Google for it and I'm sure you'll find it without any trouble.

Thanks for the recommendations-this was spot on and we had made some restaurant week recommendations but then found less expensive or more convenient alternatives. We were looking for great Mexican food since we can't get the good stuff back east - Our dining was done in Su Casa (dinners only, a great double margarita), at a picnic table at Torrey Pines overlooking the pacific ocean and the golf tournament, in Old Town Mexican Café, and picking up a simple meal at the local Vons.

Tourist activities were a day walking around La Jolla, the Torrey Pines golf tournament (Farmers Insurance Open), Mt Soledad Veteran's memorial (360 degree views of the city from the top), Old Town and Balboa Park in San Diego.

We're likely coming back for next year's tournament so we'll try out some of the other recommendations then! Thanks again!

 

[Bigdawg]

Thanks for the recommendations-this was spot on and we had made some restaurant week recommendations but then found less expensive or more convenient alternatives. We were looking for great Mexican food since we can't get the good stuff back east - Our dining was done in Su Casa (dinners only, a great double margarita), at a picnic table at Torrey Pines overlooking the pacific ocean and the golf tournament, in Old Town Mexican Café, and picking up a simple meal at the local Vons.

Probably should start another thread regarding this. But, why can't we get good Mexican food out east? Moved to the mid Atlantic from San Diego 10 years ago and cannot find good Mexican food out here. I love traveling back to the west coast and/or AZ for work so I can get some good chow.

 

[Bir48die]

WhiskNLadle is a must to eat. Greats food and reasonable. Open air on the street

 

[cathy63]

Glad you had a good time!

 

[explanade]

Probably should start another thread regarding this. But, why can't we get good Mexican food out east? Moved to the mid Atlantic from San Diego 10 years ago and cannot find good Mexican food out here. I love traveling back to the west coast and/or AZ for work so I can get some good chow.

I've seen Mexican food in places like New Zealand and Oslo -- tacos seem to be popular in Norway.

Well I'm talking about things like burritos and tacos, not enchiladas or anything more elaborate. And burritos in New Zealand are different than what you get in CA, though I suspect some American expats are opening these restaurants overseas

I've never been to Mexico but I suspect what is sold as Mexican food in the US and elsewhere have little to do with real Mexican culinary tradition, which I imagine isn't so meat or fish-oriented as we're getting.

BTW, I get a laugh when I think that there used to be some restaurants in Paris claiming to serve Tex-Mex food. The name was Indiana's.

 

[WestUniversity]

There’s a place in La Jolla called The Taco Stand that we liked. It’s on Pearl Street. It’s a quickie sit down or a grab and go place. When we were there there was a huge line. Food was good...

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

The Taco Stand is very popular but some of the locals said the ford was good but not worth the wait if the line is long. I think the popularity is due to the low price in such a high cost area.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

Probably should start another thread regarding this. But, why can't we get good Mexican food out east? Moved to the mid Atlantic from San Diego 10 years ago and cannot find good Mexican food out here. I love traveling back to the west coast and/or AZ for work so I can get some good chow.

We've tried to duplicate doing everything from scratch and get good results. The salt air on the west coast is a location specific plus which we can't duplicate - we used sea salt but still not quite the same.

 

[MRG]

Probably should start another thread regarding this. But, why can't we get good Mexican food out east? Moved to the mid Atlantic from San Diego 10 years ago and cannot find good Mexican food out here. I love traveling back to the west coast and/or AZ for work so I can get some good chow.

Good idea.

Where I grew up in the middle of PA there was no Mexican food. Went back there in 2009 for DMs funeral, my sister and niece came from Austin. Niece had never been there and wanted Mexican food. She asked at the hotel and was told " yes there's a brand new Mexican place and its great!". What's the name? " Taco Bell"!

 

[MichaelL]

My brother lives there. I go a couple of times a year. Alfonso’s on Prospect is closed. The line at The Taco Stand is ridiculous. Wahoo Tacos next door are excellent. Duke’s is good. Vic’s too, but pricey. I always like George’s. The Lot is fun. Herringbone is good. Plenty of choices.