I think I said I'd round-up where we ate in California, when we were vacationing there a couple weeks ago. Whether or not you care about restaurants you may never try yourself, I'll still throw this post up. If only to live vicariously through my three-weeks-ago former self.
When we got off the plane, it was only 8am, but we'd been up for something like five hours already, so we were ready to EAT. We flew into LAX, even though we were staying in Orange County, so we decided to go in the completely opposite direction (it was 8am! we had all the time in the world!) and head to Hollywood for breakfast.
We ate at Joan's on Third. I had a delicious omelet (though you can ONLY get three things in your omelets there, no budging, which made me pout) and the rest of the table had pancakes, which I sampled (yum!). I also had the strongest cup of coffee of my life because, again, UP FOR FIVE HOURS AT 8AM.
We dined outside! Because California sure knows how to do weather even if it really doesn't know how to do inexpensive anything.
Hours and hours later, I headed down to Laguna (dragging Natalie along with me) to visit with some of my favorite bloggers. Rebecca suggested Nick's, and we had this lovely table right by the street, with a breeze coming in. I had already eaten a big meal, so I got the fried deviled eggs (they were....interesting) and a delicious farmer's market cocktail. It was filled with fresh berries and was just so refreshing. A few ladies got burgers that looked mouth-watering.
The next morning, we found Off the Vine, a breakfast place that was Zagat-rated. It was off the beaten path (a little bit) but INCREDIBLE. I still can't believe I didn't give in and get the peanut butter and chocolate French toast! Intsead, I opted for a mimosa (yay vacation!) and the chili verde quiche. It was TO DIE FOR. So good! I'd go back in a heartbeat, if I could.
I would like a mimosa right noooooow.
After some time at the beach later that afternoon, we were driving along the PCH and decided to stop for dinner somewhere nearby. I turned to Mike and said, "What do you feel like?" He answered with pizza, so I grabbed my phone, typed pizza into Google Maps and we were two minutes away from a pizza joint. We risked it and stopped into Gina's Pizza. It was good! (I love love love it when that happens.)
The next morning, we planned a beach day, so we met up with friends at Mutt Lynch's for brunch. We left so full, I could have napped right on the beach. It was insanely crowded, but on a non-Labor Day day, I'd recommend stopping here before your own day at the beach.
Disneyland was the next day and after a full day of searching for Mickey and riding rides and eating mouse-earred ice cream, we just wanted a good, sit-down meal. So we sought out a place Mike really wanted to go to (even though we were exhausted and it was 20 or so minutes away) and I'm SO GLAD WE DID. We went to Slater's 50/50 (here's the review I wrote on Food Lush) and it was FANTASTIC. Best burger ever! We had such a nice final night in California, toasted glasses, grubbed on food (all while Kyle snoozed on the bench, zonked from his day at Disney), and just relaxed a little after such an exhausting day. This place might be our first stop if we ever return.
I felt like we had non-stop restaurant winners on our trip. Good job, California!
