Just so you don't get sticker shock - the stuff is good but not cheap: http://www.madonnainn.com/downloads/M...

We locals avoid Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass) day and night even though it is a bit shorter. Waaaaay too many head-on collisions that way.

You have commuters, crazies, casino gamblers and wine tasters all out there together, which make a deadly combo on this very lovely highway. Drive it very defensively. And let the tail-gating idiot pass and give them wide berth. It does have some great food stop though: Cold Springs Tavern, Grapalo in Santa Ynez, Los Olivos Market deli.

Highway 101 needs to be designated a national shrine for both scenery and dining. Don't overlook the quirky Madonna Inn south of San Luis Obispo - easy on and off and a good midpoint stop.

Just a slice of their toffee crunch cake is worth the trip alone, but also their fresh pies with your coffee or excellent takes on the Copper Cafe classics like a BLT and homemade chunky blue cheese dressing that is practically a meal in itself.

Good little overnight road trip from Santa Barbara to Fresno and back to see the famed Forestiere Underground Gardens. Lunch snack at Casa De Tamale for fresh and tasty choices, though this is a no lard -no gluten sort of place but with terrifically friendly and helpful staff. Good pick for a good pick me up. And some splendid fresh juices as well.

Dinner at Trelio in Clovis - charming little town, nice restaurant, friendly staff and a real find in this part of California. Worth the visit - low key elegance in an old store front building on the main street, excellent homemade bread to start and appetizers - beet salad and crab cakes both excellent, flavorful and balanced. We were off to a very good start. Wild Boar main was eagerly appreciated by DH, my pork chop was a nice piece of tender but not overly flavorful meat and accompanied by undistinguished sides that added little to the overall enjoyment of the bare meat main. Okay, but nothing spectacular. No lamb that night on the menu. Two very good desserts and a bottle of the cremant sparkling all for decidedly less than big city prices. Enjoyed this place overall a lot. Kudos for them making it work in tiny Clovis.

Breakfast came with our stay at the Garden Inn off Shaw Ave along with added fresh extras from the very engaging owners who showed us their private gardens and plied us with fresh golgi berries and kumquats along with a standard buffet breakfast, and fruit from their gardens. Wonderful choice to stay there.

Tried to find the old Klein's truck stop up the way in Herndon for old times sake but it is now closed and replaced with a mini-market and chain food land.

Then a hour or so tour of the Underground gardens and down to George's Shish-kabob in the very lovely and surprising Civic Center garden plaza. Fine diner food and we left full and happy.

Could not have done this trip without Polar Bear holding our hand and we had a lot of fun seeking out the various sites and finding the Tower District as well. Home via Route 33 is always spectacular.

Reservations at Trelio for 7:30 pm, thanks for the tip. What is the dress code here in Clovis for a place like Trelio?

Thanks for your perfect reply putting a "there, there". You are right about the name of the place we are staying - Garden Inn. The lamb kabobs at George's sound great. I still owe you one for Mathews at the Airport rec in Paso. Surprising find in a surprising place.

Read the wine list for Trelio and am quite stunned at its lenght and breadth - what is going on with that place "in the middle of no where"? And I mean this in the nicest possible way.

We are staying at the Garden Court Inn which is right next to the Gardens.

I did make dinner reservations at Trelio in Clovis from prior recommendations here, so good to get that updated recommendation again, so now it is just breakfast and lunch.

Since we don't know downtown Fresno at all, where would be a good lunch time spot to get the feeling for the place - street scene, people watch - something light? We will be arriving from the south on Highway 99.

Where is the "there, there" in Fresno? (As in Virginia Wolf's famous description of Oakland - there is no there, there.)

Thanks for resurrecting this because it reminded me I want to do the Forestiere Gardens tour and would love to get some good recommendations for a midweek overnight visit to Fresno - come for one evening, tour the gardens, have breakfast and lunch and then probably be gone.

So probably looking for a place to stay near the gardens so open to anything close by for breakfast and lunch, but downtown Fresno or Fresno area for dinner would be great.

Thanks.

Mouth-watering just to look at it. Scarlett Begonia does things just right. Thanks for the photo.

Need to make sure readers know this restaurant is in Santa Barbara since the thread title and discussion did not take note of location. Thanks for the follow-up report. We are lucky to have both these new contenders in our restaurant scene. That being said, I can pitch for my own recent visits to some of our local classics too: Harry's for steaks and Garrett's for breakfast - both old school, but that speaks for itself. Glad we still have both choices in this town. (Santa Barbara!)

It's also close to the Paso Robles wine country and dining if your friends wanted to do something else during the day. It is big, quiet and empty out there, but dazzling and haunting in its surprisingly lush country side scenery.

It is a world apart. One can laze in the sun, read a book, , probably hike, catch a local rodeo if one is going on, and learn about the San Andreas Fault since you are sitting right on top of it, and/or move to the next meal.

After a Chowhounder's suggestion, I booked a cabin at the V6 Ranch in Parkfield for a surprise road trip birthday - hauntingly beautiful countryside good grub, delightful rustic cabin in the old post office building, and just a quirky place to hang out and scout for wild pigs. Who knows, maybe you will be there for the Big One and it will be a birthday to long remember: http://www.parkfield.com
PS: Continental breakfast is served at the lodge while the cafe is open for lunch and dinner.

Mundaka for dinner-sufficient tapas and sangria in Carmel. Lovely courtyard setting. Tapas better than what we later had in Barcelona.

Good find. Cheese on the burger was extra, and then throw in a drink which you get out of the refrigerator cases - Hansen's mango nectar for me. They have a surprising array at that little store, including quite a range of wines. I found the Jalama store quite fascinating to see what was packed into that small of a space. One could almost just show up on a whim to the campground and buy everything you would need for a long stay, including warm clothes, sleeping bag, all your cooking gear, toothbrush, sun cream and almost any ingredient you would want both fresh and processed to deliver culinary treats, fishing gear and even a ukelele.

Thank you for correcting this is a Santa Barbara county park, and not a state park. Hiking in this area does look enticing and make the burger at the end of the trail even more welcome. If one stays to hike, it will require the $10 entrance fee and not just the one hour free "burger pass".

Finally made the lovely spring drive out to gorgeous Jalama Beach State Park, south of Lompoc off Highway One for their famous cafe burger. Daunting to see at first the $10 charge per car entry into the state campgrounds, but tell the guard you just want to visit the cafe and you get a "burger pass".

You need to take this pass to the cafe and get it validated at the store where you pay for your burger that you are indeed dining there, and then go back and stick it in your car window. This allows you one hour and you are warned don't get carried away and go hiking or spend any extra time on the beautiful beach.

Is the burger worth the effort and the long windy 14 mile drive off Highway One? Sure, it is a good hamburger classic. Nothing special about it other than it is just a good burger - crisp shredded lettuce, grilled sesame bun that actually holds up pretty well until the end, tomato and onion slice and their "secret" sauce with a pickle slice in the middle.

Definitely a 6 napkin burger and they only give you two, but they are large and good quality so use one to mop up while you are eating and then the other one to mop up after. I am sure they would offer more if you need them. it is a nice sized, juicy, sloppy burger.

Surprising array of other camp gear, food and snack items at the little store, so you are well fixed if you make this drive and want to create your own picnic with any other additions -- just keep it under an hour and you are safe with your limited use pass.

$6.75 for the basic burger with a fairly credible slice of melted cheddar cheese. Lovely views from a snug dining area with full windows out to the sea. Or outside picnic tables.

Last week had the Far Western Tavern burger in its new digs in Orcutt - that was one fabulous burger for $16, with fries. So the Jalama burger had some competition for flavor and quality, with this memory still in mind. But the whole Jalama experience is priceless, so it is a food trip well worth making.

Cold Springs Tavern just may be the best for price and specialness: http://www.coldspringtavern.com/dinne...

Even if they just went for the chicken liver appetizer at Julienne, they can quit with just that and still be way ahead. It is pretty fabulous.

Another nice spot for a celebration dinner, though it has been a while since I have been there, is Louie's in the very historic and charming Upham Hotel which is close to the downtown restaurant zone. Small, intimate and just a lovely restoration of a landmark piece of property in this town. I think they meals run a few dollars less than the more well known ones in this part of town.

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Gulp, me again and it is looking like the new reality of most restaurants is now $25 -30 plus for mains, including Louie's. Occasional choices for under $25, but most are in the upper end of your scale. Thinking also about Opal, but up against the same pricing.

Hard to get out of Julienne under $100 per couple, mainly because it is so good it is a shame to waste the opportunity to dine so well.

If one wants to bust their budget on buchon, I would also then recommend the $50 prix fixe at Downey's, which is a very lovely special occasion place and this is a very nicely priced prix fixe for what you get at this restaurant.

I would not put buchon in the $20 per entree bracket, but is certainly a nice choice.

Have you looked at Stella Mares at the Bird refuge - because it has a lovely romantic setting. Or you might want to try GiannFranco's in nearby Carpinteria. Petit Valentin in La Arcada Court is also a lovely setting.

And the $24 per person prix fixe at the french Pacific Crepes on Anacapa street looked good enough to come back for - four courses I think - small and casual but lots of intimate charm.

Relais de Paris is also getting some very nice reviews and could fit your price range. Happy Anniversary.

If they do not, and their name is "Simply Pies", best thing to do is carry out and trot over ASAP to McConnells Ice Cream and when they which kind of cone do you want, you hand them your pie and ask for a fork and spoon. ;-)

You may not do better than that. Or, vice versa, bring your scoop of McConnell's vanilla in with you at Pies.

Off hand, I can't think of many places that serve pies of renown in town, though I do think the very best restaurant desserts are found at Downey's. Though they did make an excellent Lemon Chess Pie at the former Art Museum Cafe.

Hope you get more responses here - I like pie too, but just don't see it much where I typically go.

I have not been here myself, but it continues to get good reviews and is called "Simply Pies". Good place to start: http://www.santabarbara.com/dining/re...

Cold Springs Tavern on Highway 154 -on Stage Coach Road off San Marcos Pass leaving Santa Barbara and then reconnecting to Highway 101 south of Lompoc/Beullton. http://www.coldspringtavern.com

Two main waterfront commercial areas here. One is Stearns Wharf which actually goes out over the water and the other is the Harbor which is where the sail and power boats dock.

There are a number of restaurants on Stearns Wharf itself -the best being the Harbor restaurant which could accommodate you. They really have the best view and dining combo - not the totally best in town but good enough and the setting at sunset can be pretty spectacular.

The tourist offerings others along Cabrillo Blvd are not the greatest for food and really don't have water views. Stella Mares which is on the Bird Refuge open water (but not the ocean) is a lovely homely French Country place with private dining rooms.

The newly opened El Encanto Hotel might be able to accommodate you but at very high prices, spectacular city and water front views are the city's best.

The other water front restaurants are at the Harbor - Brophy Bros, Chuck's Waterside being the larger ones but not sure if they have special rooms with water views.

A really special place is the Coral Casino Upper Deck restaurant for waterfront views which is a private club, but sometimes they allow outside groups use their facilities. Give them a call as they do need to keep customers coming into this restaurant to make it go.

The BoatHouse at Hendrys Beach is right on the water but they don't have separate waterfront rooms, if you need privacy.

City Parks and Rec operates a number of small venue pavilions along the beach which can be rented but then you would have to cater the meal, which can be easily done in this town. Check out their website: Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/Departments/Parks_and_Recreation/Park_and_Facility_Rentals.htm

The Chase Palm Park Center is right on the beach side: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/eRecre... If you could get the new little casual Harbor restaurant "On the Alley" to do your catering here, you could have a very fun and unique event.

I have yet to find a good tarte tatin that has a crunchy base while perfecting all the rest of the layers at the same time. Mainly it all comes out mushy. Best so far has been Downey's in Santa Barbara. They do an exceptionally good job with desserts and apparently are assembled off site. Give them a call.

Even the new floating island looks alien. They used to show a big pan of elegantly almond-sliver glazed and crackly puffs floating in a vast pool of custard cream on the dessert trolly. Now it looks sterile and frou frou.

Quite honestly, I think I will give them a pass. We got used to this place being closed for so long, it now will just have to pass into the memory banks. Nothing can beat the view of a picnic up at Franceschi House park anyway. BYO -OA'LN!

Personally, I will take two Juliennes or two Scarlett Begonias for one El Encanto. And stop by IHOP for their Swedish pancakes for dessert.

A somewhat scathing review, but we locals are bit protective about our former backyard hangout: http://www.santabarbaraview.com/the-n...

It took a single search - pointing to exactly what you were looking for. Odd. But you found it, and put this place on the map. Mission accomplished.