Lunch along LA Coast

[SLU Billikens]

I need the help of my fellow cruise critics.

 

My DW and I will be in LA next Friday taking the Sapphire on Saturday. We are planning on driving up highway 1 from Newport Beach to Marina Del Rey. We are looking for a nice place along the ocean to eat lunch. Sometimes simply guessing as you drive gets ugly.

 

Any suggestions? Nice casual preferred.

[SeaYa52]

We drove from SFO to San Diego - so I'm not sure of exact locations (if these will work for your itinerary). Dukes in Malibu is fun - on the water ( we'v visited all the Dukes in Hawaii). Las Bristas in LAguna is another favorite...nice views from both.

[SLU Billikens]

Thanks for the tips. I looked both up on the internet and both look perfect. I must say the fish taco's at Dukes have my mouth watering. I think we may try Dukes in Huntington Beach.

[mrsheldon88]

Duke's is good, and Chimayo under it is also good (southwestern). Between Seal Beach and Long Beach, a block away from PCH, is Joe's Crab Shack (very casual, great views of the harbor, excellent crab cakes). Near the Aquarium of Long Beach, there is an area with a few restaurants and pubs but is better for dinner than lunch. There is a pier area in Redondo Beach (a bit farther off of freeways and PCH, so maybe too inconvenient) with several places. Marina del Rey Fisherman's Village has a Cheesecake Factory, among others.

 

There are really lots of good places along the coast with views and food. Just don't expect the food to be cheap. Lunchtime is usually not busy unless there is some local event going on. Dinner is usually busy, esp. Fridays.

[Billiken 77]

No advise on where to eat but just a quick note to a fellow Billiken. I graduated from Parks in 1977.

 

Dennis :)

[bdwyer]

Cafe del Rey in Marina del Rey is great. Steer clear of MdelR Fishermen's Village mentioned in a previous post - very tacky and the restaurants are subpar. The Cheesecake Factory is not in the Village, but back on the northwest side of the Marina and is very good, but busy at lunchtime.

[merela]

There is a portion of Highway 1 that does not have oceanview (after Long Beach--from Harbor City/Lomita/Torrance/Redondo Beach/Hermosa Beach/Manhattan Beach/LAX) and it will take you over 2 hours to drive the entire way from Newport Beach to Marina Del Rey on Highway 1. I would suggest you use hwy 405 from Newport Beach to Manhattan Beach by getting off at Rosecrans West (they have another exit for Rosecrans East). Check a map and you'll see what I mean. Only the part of Highway 1 that borders the ocean front has wonderful view.

 

Have lunch at Mama D's in Manhattan Beach. It's off Manhattan Beach Blvd. 2 blocks from the Manhattan Beach pier.

 

Mama D's Italian

Address: 1125 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Phone: (310) 546-1492

 

After lunch, then you can drive along Highway 1 (Sepulveda) all the way to Marina Del Rey.

 

If you want to stick to Highway 1 all the way, there are a couple of Chinese restaurants in Lomita that's worth trying. These two restaurants are across the street from each other. Regal Palace has dim sum for lunch.

 

Regal Palace Seafood Restaurant

Address: 2166 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717

Phone: (310) 326-3228

 

Szechwan Chinese Food

Address: 2107 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717

Phone: (310) 534-2280

 

Or if you feel like a Japanese picnic, go to Nijiya Market within a outdoor mall complex (Bed Bath and Beyond is the anchoring store). You can buy sushi or other Japanese delicacies at the market.

 

Nijiya Market

Address: 2533 Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance, CA 90505

Phone: (310) 534-3000

 

For dessert, a few doors down from the market, there is a wonderful Japanese bakery (it's actually owned by a Taiwanese family, but the servers are all Japanese) where you'll find baked good you won't see in American bakeries.

 

Vie A Paris Bakery

Address: 2525 Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance, CA 90505

Phone: (310) 539-1877

 

If you don't feel like going out Friday night, you can grab something simple--sandwiches, salads, etc... at Trader Joe's. It's a specialty supermarket that has the look and feel of an expensive tres chic market, but it's affordable and offers the best quality food stuff. This Trader Joe's is right in the same mall complex, but closer to the street (PCH) than the Japanese market and the bakery.

 

Trader Joe's Co

Address: 2545 Pacific Coast Hwy # B, Torrance, CA 90505

Phone: (310) 326-9520

 

Of course, you will find lots of McDonald's along the way. But if you are not a native Californian, you must try Fat Burger on the corner of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway/hwy 1) and Palos Verdes Blvd. in Redondo Beach. Oh, for a real Mexican meal, there is a place call El Burrito Jr. at the corner of Avenue A and Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach that has people lining up from 10 am to 10 pm. The food is real, fresh and tasty! El Burrito Jr. is only 2 blocks from the beach, so lots of beachgoers eat there.

 

None of the places I've mentioned above are close to the ocean, except for Mama Di's. You can smell the ocean from Mama Di's but you can't see it. I can't think of an oceanview restaurant off hand along highway 1. Any oceanview restaurant will be expensive. Why don't you buy your lunch at one of the markets and just eat at one of the beaches along the Pacific Coast highway.

 

You can try the Redondo Beach Pier or the Marina Del Rey Pier where each pier has a Cheesecake Factory and they are ocean front (or rather harbor front). Most women like the Cheesecake Factory, so your wife will enjoy it.

[SLU Billikens]

I knew my cruise critic friends would come through. Thanks for the tips. Now I have to choose one. The idea from Merela about getting food at a store and making a picnic of it at the beach was an interesting idea.

 

Thanks :-)

[merela]

go around 11:30am or after 2:30pm. Anytime in between, you are facing a possible 35min to an hour wait. Also, I dislike their policy of forced valet parking. The restaurant is surrounded with parking spots, but they provide like 10 spots for self-parking, so you are left with no choice but to valet park. They cordoned off areas so their valet parking people can use these areas to park. I think it's Cheesecake Factory's way of making even more money. This is true for both the Marina Del Rey location as well as the Redondo Beach location. This fact alone is enough to turn me off to go to this restaurant.

 

Ever since Costco started to sell the Cheesecake Factory's frozen cheesecakes, I see no reason to go to this restaurant.

 

But as I mentioned before, Cheesecake Factory is the only restaurant with reasonable prices that sits right at the edge of water (harbor view).

[llund]

Laguna Beach is further South from Newport and Malibu is too far North from Marina Del Rey. Long Beach has so many restaurants around the Aquarium area, but more touristy. We had a wonderful lunch at a Belmont Brewing Company (BBC) in the Belmont Shores area of Long Beach, which is on the ocean. You can eat in their patio area and look at the beach. Their address is 25 39th Place, Long Beach. We really enjoyed it-not in a touristy area and really nice.