Thanks again bbulknow - One probably silly follow-up question - what area do you mean when you say "the Peninsula"? Do you mean the same peninsula on which San Francisco lies, but outside of San Francisco (i.e. south of San Francisco), or do you mean somewhere else?

In any case, I checked the web sites for these restaurants - Flower + Water, AQ, Zare, Cotogna, Barbacco certainly look like our cup of tea. By Sam's, did you mean Sam's Grill?

Hi bbulkow - I'll try to narrow it down further.

First, for the most part, I'd like to stick to things we either don't have much of in LA, or in general are much better in SF than what we have in LA. I'm not sure quite what those would be, necessarily, so that's one aspect where I could use some help. for instance, while we certainly don't have a shortage of good Mexican food in LA, from what I understand, SF has its own variations of Mexican food (i.e. Mission-style burritos?), possibly better Chinese food than what we have in LA, at least outside of the SGV which I hardly ever get to go to, and I'm not really sure what other types of foods are in SF but not LA, or that SF excels at.

I was also under the impression that the better restaurants in SF are generally more money than in LA, so that's where the $100pp came from. I certainly don't mind splurging at that level, but I'd certainly find $50 pp more budget friendly, so if that helps narrow things down, any suggestions along those lines would be appreciated.

Hi Dave - thanks for the prompt reply. I'm visiting from Los Angeles, arriving late afternoon Sunday and flight out of SFO early Wednesday morning, so basically have 3 dinners and 2 lunches and breakfasts to consider. Breakfast might just be at the hotel (we're club members there), depending, but certainly lunch and dinner. Dinner probably would prefer suggestions closer to the hotel. At lunch time, we'll probably be out and about in other parts of the city so I know that doesn't narrow it down but geographically I'd be open to a wider area. We're mostly going to do the usual touristy stuff - Golden Gate Park, Union Square, the Presidio area, China Town, etc.

Hi all - am going to be staying at this hotel in early-mid September. Would appreciate any suggestions nearby - walking distance preferred but short taxi ride or easy to reach from here via Muni would be great too. Any type of food is fine, we're adventurous eaters, and pretty much any price point / type of place, from hole in the wall to $100 or so per person should be ok for us.

This might be too simple, but I like to cook some pasta (usually spinach penne, but other shapes will do, as will whole wheat or egg pasta) and mix some in with some ground turkey that I simply cook up on the stove in a non-stick frying pan. Maybe a ratio of turkey to pasta of about 2 or 3 to 1 (I'm not scientific about it), then sprinkle some parm. and/or ground black pepper to taste.

Hi All - am headed to the Dodger's game tomorrow. Does anyone know if the security guys will give you a hard time if you try to bring in some food with you - i.e. just sandwiches from Subway or Quiznos or something like that?

Paco's Tacos (a couple of locations, one near LAX, the other near Centinella & Washington) make their own, I believe they come with the queso dip, not sure which other menu items they're included with. Yum!

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Paco's Tacos
4141 Centinela Ave, Culver City, CA 90230

Also next door to the La Brea Bakery is Campanile which is pretty good though not all that cheap. Thursdays are grilled cheese nights there, and they have a lot of good variations on the classic grilled cheese sandwich.

Rather liked Sor Tino in Brentwood when I went recently. Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills is always really good too, as is Ugo in Culver City. I'm not Italian and never been to Italy, so couldn't tell you authentic Italian from Chef Boyardee, but these places are all good.

Reading through this I was also going to complain that the pizza is soggy there too. If that's how its supposed to be, I won't fault them, I'll just say I must prefer a different style then.

I will say that the pastas there are divine, especially the Penne Alla Vodka.

It wasn't exactly fine Italian dining, but San Remo was a family favorite for years. We just did my Grandmother's 95th birthday their last year in fact. I'll miss it. I vaguely remember driving by Matterhorn in the old days, but never went their. I hope its good too.

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San Remo Restaurant
13729 Victory Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91401

I rather like Darya, which is on Santa Monica Blvd. just west of Bundy Dr. in Santa Monica.

There's not a lot that's a short walk from the Ritz, but there's plenty that are medium walks (like 1/2 mile) or short drives.

2nd the req for C&O trattoria - the food won't blow you away but the quantity will - its easily a place you can spend $10-$12 pp and have enough leftovers for 2 additional meals.

Soup Plantation is located on the 2nd floor of the shopping center on Maxella between Lincoln and Glendon Way. All you can eat salad for about $10 and they take AAA discount. Perfect for your daughter. Also there is Antica Pizzaria, pretty reasonably priced Italian.

In any case, there are tons of places in Venice and Santa Monica that are not too far to drive to that would be worthy, depending on how much you want to spend etc. Joe's in Venice as mentioned, Chaya on Main etc.

the only thing I ever enjoyed at Pizza Hut was their Priazzo, which they had for maybe 6 months then dropped - it was literally a pie (stuffed - one variety was spinach and cheese) with traditional pizza stuff on the top layer. It was really good.

These days, their actual pizza isn't even meh. I'm not sure how they stay in business.

Hi All - Looking for suggestions on where to go celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Mainly looking to have a good crowd, but good food/drinks = bonus. Do any of the various Irish pubs/bars around town stand out? Are there any non-Irish places worth checking out?

If you don't mind venturing a short distance outside of Culver City, then get thee to Outdoor Grill (located next to the carwash where Washington Blvd. and Washington Place merge/diverge between Centinella and Lincoln) for a really good BBQ Tri-tip sandwhich.

I'd also 2nd the rec. for Markie D's, but I'm 99% sure I read in another thread that its no longer there - taken over by a hot wings establishment I think.

Thanks for the tips everyone. Sounds like its best to pass on Simon LA for the main meal, but might hit it up after dinner. For dinner, probably gonna try Comme Ca instead.

Am thinking of taking my SO her for her birthday. Would appreciate it if anyone who has dined here can share with me their impressions - food, service, ambiance and crowd (what age range is it?) especially.

Hi all,

Looking to take my girlfriend someplace special for her birthday in a few weeks, and am having a bit of trouble coming up with a place that strikes the right balance between having the right crowd (mid 20's - mid 30's), great service and memorable food. Places that come to mind are Boa (but have already been with her), Vicente (food / service are brilliant but having only been one I recall the crowd as being a bit older), Campinelle (again, am concerned that the crowd might be too old). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I was thinking of recommending this as well, however I believe that they are closed Friday nights and Saturdays.

Is the Chart House in MDR open for lunch? That might fit the bill?

IIRC, the salad bar is not $19.50, more like $25-$30. And the $90-$100 included tax / tip.

As far as I know, the ice cream that they served at Thrifty's was simply Carnation ice cream. IMHO, the Cocolate Malted Crunch was to die for. The other flavors were nothing special. For the most part, not the best ice cream in LA, but without a doubt it used to be the most bang for your buck in LA ice cream. Not sure what they charge for it these days, but back in my youth it was like 30 cents for a single cone, in a time when the only people who could remember when you could get an ice cream cone for 30 cents most places were tripple my age.

You can go and just eat from the salad bar. You'll get charged less than you will if you eat the meat too. The sallad bar is really good - high quality etc., but its also around $25. $25 for all you can eat salad, no matter how good, is probably not for everyone. Also, I'm pretty sure that most of the side dishes that they bring to the table only come if at least one person in your party has the meat. In any case, the last time I dined there, one of us had the meat and the other opted only for the salad bar. With one cocktail the tab came to around $90-$100 as I recall.

Ate at Macaroni Grill last night for the first time. Ordered two dishes - Vodka Rustica - basically Penne with Chicken, Salami or Proscuitto (forget which) in a tomato / vodka sauce - I'd give this a B-, it was ok but I've had (much) better elsewhere. 2nd dish was chicken with Penne - somewhat bland and the sauce was odd - very oily with a strange tinge. C-. Maggianos is definetly a cut above Mac. Grill. When I've gone the food has always been large portions and tasty, if not the greatest Italian food ever its no slouch either and I'd go there willingly though more if I was nearby, rather than out of my way. Bottom line, if someone got me a gift card that I could use at either, to me the choice is easy: Maggianos all the way.

Yes, bought one of these as an xmas gift for a friend who is a dark chocolate lover. So far I've had the chance to sample about 3 of the bars. Very good and I can taste the difference between the various bars - though not being that much an expert on dark chocolate myself I couldn't really say if they're that good compared to what else is out there.

I suggest Viva Fresh, on Sepulveda just south of Centinella.

I tend to agree. I notice from comments on this board that the folks who like PF Chang's the most tend to be from parts of the country that I tend to think (albeit having not visited most of the areas in question) probably don't have much in the way of a local Chinese food scene - in fact I really feel like there are a lot of aspects to PF Chang's that seem geared towards the Chinese food novice. The place feels like an American restaraunt that just happens to serve Chinese food. But having said all that, where I live (Los Angeles) there is no shortage of 'authentic' Chinese food - especially in certain parts of the city, but that style of food is not my thing so much. Most of the Chinese places I prefer - and really, most of the Chinese places around town - serve food that is not altogether that different than what you get at PF Changs. The main differences, I feel, are that a) PF Chang is a bit pricey and b) most of their dishes are done better by the afforementioned places, leaving me with little reason to go to PF Chang.

I could have sworn that there's an A&W on Pico next to Factor's Deli?

Have you tried the various farmers markets around town? I know that there is a guy who shows up at the one in 3rd Street in Santa Monica who sells a wide variety of breads including sourdough and I recall it was really good.