Diverse Dinners Does the West Coast

I love the west coast, the weather, the culture, the food. Every time I visit I get a better feel for what life is like there, but I have a lot more to experience. Look out for part two of Diverse Dinners does the west coast in the not too distant future.

During my most recent visits, I explored San Francisco, LA and San Diego. 

San Francisco

There are so many great places to eat in San Francisco, I have lists, many lists from friends of their top five restaurants in this city. I haven’t quite formed my own list, still working on it.

However, I did find a wonderful bar during my most recent visit – The Riddler. A champagne bar, owned by females, and financially backed by females. It’s a gorgeous welcoming space. Great for dates and girls nights out. Or how I experienced it, completely alone with a smile on your face. I ordered a cheese plate and a half bottle of champagne, the reason for the smile on my face. 

Los Angeles

I do have a top five for LA. Not my top five of all time, but instead, my favorite top five restaurants of all the restaurants I visited during my recent trip.  Here it is:

1. Catch LA: Situated on a beautifully decorated rooftop. Go for brunch, the food is so good.

2. Delilah: Great food, impeccable service, and impressive ambience. They are very strict at Delilah, get there on time.

3. Bottega Louie: I have visited this restaurant so many times for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they never disappoint.

4. Mama Lion Supperclub: Cool, trendy restaurant and bar serving good food. I’m a fan of the way they style each dish.

5. Gracias Madre: They do a great matcha cocktail.

I must point out, that I didn’t eat at Gracias Madre. Jasmine, creator of FanciFantastic, convinced me to visit Gracias Madre as it has been said that they have the most extensive tequila and mezcal selections. I believe they might be right. 

This is a pic of most of the selection of mezcal at Gracis Madre, they have another wall of equal proportions displaying their selection of tequila.

Gracias Madre is a vegan restaurant. We would’ve sat down for a meal, but we had eaten already. It’s on my list to try their food when I return.

Jasmine still waxes lyrical about their matcha cocktail!

San Diego

I’m so glad that I was able to visit San Diego, I highly recommend a visit. San Diego has great charm.

I ate almost exclusively in Little Italy, and these are my favorite restaurants.

— Born and Raised

— The Crack Shack

— Ironside Oyster & Fish Bar

— Kettner Exchange

Whichever restaurants you choose to visit, I am certain you will not be disappointed.

On the last day of my trip, I was lucky to be able to spend a day at Hotel del Coronado. Where the movie Some Like it Hot was filmed. I was so excited when I arrived.

As I have mentioned many times before, I am an avid classic film enthusiast, so being able to visit the site where one of the best ever comedies was made was a great moment for me. Check out my pics.

I highly recommend a day at Hotel del Coronado, it’s a beautiful place to visit. There are restaurants and bars that can easily keep you busy for a whole day. Watch the movie after your visit, and you will see that so much has stayed the same.

In conclusion, my trips to the west coast was so much fun, and I truly cannot wait to visit each and every place again. If you’re traveling to any of these cities soon, give one of my restaurant recommendations a try and let me know what you think.

Fun Fact #1 – In the movie, Some Like it Hot, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon’s characters flee Chicago where they are wanted by the mob and take jobs in an all girls band which is headed to Florida, but not one scene was filmed in Florida.

Fun Fact #2 – Some Like it Hot won the top spot on BBC Culture’s 2017 – 100 greatest comedy movies of all time.