Good local eateries

Forgot to mention this with my other post, but we enjoy eating where the locals eat , not the chains. Could anyone give us some suggestions? We will be staying in the Mesa LaJolla area. We like pretty much any kind of food and would be interested in places for lunch and dinner since we already have free breakfast at our hotel.

Thanks! g8trzz

Good local eateries

The Courtyard Sorrento Mesa advertises itself as La Jolla, but it isn%26#39;t very close to La Jolla at all - they should be ashamed of themselves confusing people by putting La Jolla after the Sorrento Mesa address. It%26#39;s 10 miles from La Jolla. I guess you know that from your question, but it really bothers me when hotels try to convince people they are near an area that they really aren%26#39;t. Sorrento Mesa isn%26#39;t a bad area, but it is in an area of a LOT of traffic during the day as it is a very busy business park; there are lots of restaurants in the general area, mostly fast food. One in particular that is quite good is the Karl Strauss Beer Gardens, just a couple blocks from your hotel. It does have really good food, even though the name would indicate just beer.

Of course the locals eat lunch around the area, but for dinner, you would probably need to drive out of the area to La Jolla, Carmel Valley (east of Del Mar), Del Mar, or UTC (University Town Center, east of La Jolla) . Several restaurants very popular with the locals in each of those areas to name just a few of the many: PF Changs and Flemings in UTC area, Jakes, the Fish Market, and Il Fornaio in Del Mar, Sammy%26#39;s Woodfired Pizza, Rubio%26#39;s, and Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Carmel Valley, and Harry%26#39;s Coffee Shop (GREAT breakfasts and lunch), George%26#39;s at the Cove, and Alfonso%26#39;s Mexican in La Jolla.

A little further away in Encinitas - Vigilucci%26#39;s Italian and in Solana Beach - excellent Mexican at Fidel%26#39;s.

Hope this gives you some ideas...

Good local eateries

Thanks chissis for such a fast reply. I wondered if you had eaten at the Alberts restaurant at the Zoo. We will be spending Saturday there with our 8 yr old daughter and I noticed a few people talking about it. Do you know if there is a website that provides a menu? Is it real expensive? Are there any other good eateries at the zoo?

Thanks again for your help! g8trzz

Albert%26#39;s is fun, and a really nice, tropical feel, you can usually hear the animals while you%26#39;re eating, you really feel like you%26#39;re in the jungle (in a nice way). It%26#39;s reasonable, and the food is not exceptional, but good, the atmosphere is excellent.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/dining.html

I couldn%26#39;t find a menu, but here%26#39;s a review -

鈥ignonsandiego.com/profile/246756

Hope this helps.

At the Zoo, Canyon Cafe has pretty good Mexican food and you%26#39;re right next door to the Panda Exhibit. We just had a panda born Aug 2. Although she isn%26#39;t on public view. you can check the Panda Cam at www.sandiegozoo.org.

I didn%26#39;t find a menu for Albert%26#39;s at the zoo%26#39;s website. I have eaten there once (my sister had her wedding reception there!), and the food was good. It is pricey, but they do have an early bird special from 3 to 5. I%26#39;ve also eaten at the cafe upstairs from Albert%26#39;s, the Flamingo Cafe, and the Koala Cafe. Probably all the others too, but I don%26#39;t remember all. The food is alright, nothing spectacular. Albert%26#39;s might be a fun treat, and a cool place to sit a spell.

My husband%26#39;s aunt lived in San Diego for many years and whenever family visited, she%26#39;d take them to Anthony%26#39;s. It%26#39;s wonderful seafood... for his whole family, half of the fun in visiting San Diego was knowing that she was going to take them there. They have several locations now, I%26#39;m not a local so not sure which might be closest to you, but do know it%26#39;s delicious.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions! Alberts sounds like it might be similiar to a Rainforest restaurant where the food is good, not great, but the atmosphere is fun! We are all in for fun right now, we are ready for this trip. We got hit by Katrina, although not quite as hard as Miss. and N.O. it was enough to drag Pensacola down again. Hope this is the LAST one for a long long time.