I'm looking for a restaurant for 8 adults. One is a vegetarian. I don't want a small plates sharing type of place because of the vegetarian. For location, I think downtown, Eagle Rock and Silver Lake would be ideal. So far, I've come up with this list:

Blue Cow Kitchen (downtown)
Bestia (downtown)
Pizzeria Mozza (realize not in ideal area but not too far, worried about no reservations on a Sat night)
Osteria Mozza(realize not in ideal area but not too far, worried about no reservations on a Sat night)
Cook's County (realize not in ideal location but not too far)

Anyone have any comments about the restaurants on this list or have any other suggestions? Oh, no Baco Mercat or Lazy Ox because quite a few of us were just there (plus it's small plates). Thanks.

We'll be staying at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point on a Monday for one night. We're looking for a place for dinner on Monday night. There will be 3 kids (an 8 yr old, a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old). We would like to go someplace nearby if possible. We are all adventurous eaters and will eat any type of food. Of course, I would want to eat at Stonehill in St. Regis, but I don't think they're open on Monday and with 3 kids, I think it might not be enjoyable. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

There will be 5 of us for dinner. We don't get to go out often, so we would like to have a good meal. We would like to stay in downtown and so I've narrowed it down to these two restaurants. I think everyone is pretty adventurous in terms of types of food. No food restrictions. Which one would you recommend?

Thanks.

Four of us are traveling to the Napa area for 3 nights. We are eating at The French Laundry the second night, and so we're looking for recommendations for the first night and the third night. I'm thinking that because we're going to be having such a decadent multi-course meal at TFL, we probably won't want to have another long multi-course meal. Here is the list that we've come up with so far:

Redd, Morimoto, Ad Hoc (another Thomas Keller so maybe not?), Bottega, Bistro Jeanty, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Restaurant at Meadowood, Cyrus

Are any of these too similar to TFL? Which two would you recommend as good counterpoints to TFL?

For lunch, one day we were thinking of getting together a picnic from the Oxbow Market. I'm not sure of the other day. Maybe Bouchon Bakery - do they have lunchtime items or is strictly a sweets only kind of place?

Also, someone had mentioned that drinks on the terrace at auberge du soleil at sunset is great - is it worth making the trip? We're going to be staying in Yountville.

Thanks!

My husband and I are having a rare night away from the kids. I would love to go for some great sushi.

I've heard a lot about Mori Sushi in the past, but I know he just sold it and left. So is it still worth going to?

Or should we try someplace else - if so, where? Any recommendations would be great. Thanks.

Thanks. I glanced at their menus online. Gelson's seems more basic and possibly more cost efficient, while Bristol Farms has more choices and may be more expensive. Have either of you actually eaten the food off of the Thanksgiving menu? Do you know how the portions run? Thanks again.

For a number of reasons, we aren't able to cook for Thanksgiving this year. Any place that you would recommend for the turkey and the side dishes in the Pasadena area? I'm willing to go to several different places for different things if need be. There will be about 15 of us.

Thanks.

I haven't been to Barbrix or Palate, so I can't comment on those two. I've been to Noir with a party of 6, so we were able to try a lot of dishes, but frankly we weren't that impressed. Nothing stood out, and there were quite a few dishes that really didn't do it for us.

But if it were my birthday and I wanted to stay in Pasadena, I would go to vertical. It's an adult atmosphere. They have a lot of wine flights, and it's small dishes. The executive chef is now Laurent Quenioux who is great. He was at Bistro K and then at Bistro LQ, which were both great and interesting. I haven't been there since he's started there, but I've been wanting to go. We have the same problem - child care.

We're going to Rivera tomorrow for the first time. Is there anything that we should definitely order? My understanding based on these boards is that we can order off of any menu now no matter what room we're sitting in.

Also, anyone know if they have a corkage fee there and how much it is? I've been trying to get through to them to find out and have yet to reach a live person.

Thanks.

We'll be staying in La Quinta for the weekend and are looking for good places to eat. Food is definitely more important than ambience. There will be 2 babies in the group, so no fine dining please. We would like to stay in the La Quinta area or relatively close by because of the babies. We like all types of food. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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La Quinta Restaurant
1000 C St Ste 40, Galt, CA 95632

Ok, who has the best French onion soup? I love French onion soup - all that melted cheese, the bread, the onions. What's not to love. But all the versions I've liked have been outside of Los Angeles. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Oftentimes, I worry when I try restaurants that seem hyped because too often they are a letdown. But not animal. I know I'm late to the game and it seems well-liked across the board here, but I thought I would give a review.

My husband and I had the hamachi tostada (delicious), the foie gras with biscuit and maple sausage gravy (wow!), the poutine with oxtail gravy (also delicious), and the BBQ pork belly sandwiches (my husband liked it, but I thought the other dishes were more interesting. The sauce might have been a bit too sweet for me, though I was happy about the use of cabbage). It was all so good that my husband wanted another dish even though we were full. We had the pig's ear with fried egg. I liked it, but he thought it was too limey. That was his least favorite dish but he agreed that at most other restaurants, he would have thought it was excellent. We also had the sticky toffee pudding for dessert. I'm not a fan of orange flavor in my desserts, but I think it needed it to balance out the richness.

All in all, we had a great meal. He had two beers, and before tip, the meal came out to $107. The service was great as well. There were so many other interesting things on the menu. It's definitely a place we would like to go back to, and there aren't that many other restaurants like that. Usually, we like to try other restaurants before going back to one. I hope we make it back before they change the menu because I want to go through and try each dish!

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Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

A good friend is coming into town, and he's really into food. He eats everything. I'm trying to decide among these restaurants. I haven't been to any of them. Which one would you go to?

animal
lazy ox
osteria mozza
playa
rivera
son of a gun

thanks.

So our anniversary is coming around again. Usually, we do a tasting menu at a fancy restaurant. This year, we were finally going to get around to Melisse. But I'm 5 months pregnant, and a 3 hour meal sounds like too much for me right now.

Geographically, we're willing to go as far west as Beverly Hills (we live in Pasadena). There are a lot of newish restaurants that I want to try, but most of them are small plates kind of places. I find that it's better to go with a group to those kinds of places because hubby and I aren't big eaters and we end up not being able to try that much stuff, which is disappointing. We're definitely more into the food than ambience, but since it's for our anniversary, we'd like it to be nicer than a hole in the wall. We like all types of food.

Any suggestions?

Our standby is Sitar, but it's been very inconsistent recently. We've given it enough chances to think it's time to move on. We tried All India Cafe and wasn't particularly impressed.

Any other suggestions?

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All India Cafe
39 S Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105

We will be in the Palm Springs area (La Quinta to be specific) over Christmas. We are looking for somewhere that will be open for Christmas Eve or Christmas and that will be a nice dinner. There will be 7 adults and 2 children (7 yr old and 15 mos old). We were thinking about the clubhouse, but it's closed both nights.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

My husband and I are traveling with our 14-month daughter to Chicago in November for a week. We will be staying at the Ritz Carlton. We would like some ideas for lunch and dinner, places that we feel comfortable taking our daughter with us and that are fairly close and accessible. Some places within walking distance for lunch would be great. For dinner, we're willing to take a cab if necessary. We love all kinds of food.

I've done a search of these boards and haven't come up with much.

Thanks.

Hubbie and I are trying to get reservations for Bistro LQ this Friday. We want to go for the tasting menu, but we may not be able to because of babysitting constraints.

So, if we can't do the tasting menu, what should we get? We want to try as much as possible, so we'll probably go with the half portions. Based on past posts, it looks like the cheese cart and the uni pudding are musts. Anything else? No food restrictions - we like everything.

Thanks.

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Bistro LQ
8009 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Hi,

We'll be in Vancouver this weekend. We're looking for a place for dinner for 6 adults plus an almost one year old for this Saturday. We would like to eat early because of the baby, so probably around 5 or 5:30. My dad only wants to eat Asian food these days, so it will have to be an Asian restaurant.

If it's close to our condo, that would be even better, but that's not necessary since we'll have a car. We will be staying at 1166 Melville Street. Also, if anyone could tell me what neighborhood that is, I would appreciate it. I tried to figure it out and gave up.

Thanks so much!

So, my dad has requested Japanese food for Father's Day. He loves sushi. Because of my baby's bedtime, my dad's golf schedule and another family member's conflict, the best time for us to get together is around 2 or 3 pm.

I know Japanese places (I mean, real ones, not places like Todai) are usually closed between lunch and dinner. I've looked up Mori, Asanebo, Kiriko, and a few others, and none of them are open during that time and some aren't open on Sundays at all. Are there any good places that are open at the time we need? We live in Pasadena but my dad will be playing golf on the westside, so anywhere between Pasadena and Santa Monica would work.

I know about Noshi Sushi. That's our fallback, but we've been going there for 20 years now, so we wanted to try somewhere else. Noshi Sushi is comfort food to us.

Thanks.

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Asanebo
11941 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604

Kiriko
11301 W Olympic Blvd Ste 102, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Noshi Sushi
4430 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004

Thanks so much for all the advice. It sounds like I really can't go wrong. You've just convinced me that I must try it in every season!

Thanks!

So, as a present to me for giving birth to my daughter, I'm going to Urasawa!! Along with my husband, but he's an afterthought. Ha ha!

Anyway, is there a best day of the week to go? A best month? A best season?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I've waited for this for so long (9 months without sushi is a LONG time) that I want to make sure to at least plan the best experience.

Thanks.

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Urasawa Restaurant
218 N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Thanks for the links and suggestions! I'll look into them.

Thanks for the info. We're more into food than ambience. The only things we're not too fond of is having tables so close to each other that you're practically eating with your neighbors and when it's so loud that we can't have a conversation. We don't have a budget - any price point is fine.

My husband and I will be visiting NYC with our 8 month old baby Mon through Fri (no weekend) in May. We will likely be staying at the Four Seasons at 57th and Park. Though we haven't finalized any plans, we would love to go to MOMA, the Met, the Natural History Museum, the Public Library and Central Park. Can you recommend any places for breakfast, lunch and dinner near these places that are baby-friendly? We love all sorts of food, as long as it's good, and price point doesn't matter, as long as it's baby-friendly. If we could fit in a good pizza place and a place for bagels, that would be great.

Our 8th year anniversary also happens to fall during that week. We're hoping to get a sitter and go out for one fantastic meal. After looking at these boards, on the list so far are Babbo, EMP, Momofuku (not sure which one) and Per Se. Is any one of these a clear winner? Or should we be thinking about someplace else?

Any help would be great! Thanks.

We have a friend visiting who has requested sushi for dinner. We have a 6 year old and a 2 month old. Most of the sushi places I can think of are small and on the quiet side, not exactly children friendly, e.g. Sushi Gen.

Any suggestions? We live in Pasadena. Closer would be better but we are willing to travel as far as mid-Wilshire to the west. Anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley, downtown, Burbank, etc would be okay.

Thanks.

We're looking for a restaurant for our annual holiday dinner. There will be about 20 people. We are willing to spend $150 a person for food and drinks, excluding tax and tip. Both food and ambiance are important. A private room would be preferred but is not necessary.

We've narrowed it down to Melisse, Ortolan Osteria Mozza and Providence. What do you think?

We'll be visiting SF later this month. A friend recommended we try Saha in Hotel Carlton. It will be just my husband and me, so unfortunately, we won't be able to try a lot. What's especially good? My friend is a vegetarian and we're not, so she wasn't able to make recommendations on meats, etc.

Thanks.

I hope this isn't too late. We ended up getting a lemon cake from Cakery Bakery in La Canada. It was really good - we all liked it. I would get it again.

So, I'm thinking of finally making the trip down to Glendora tomorrow (June 14, 2009) for the famed fresh strawberry doughnuts at the Donut Man. Does anyone know if they still have them, or am I too late?

Thanks.