‘California’
By most accounts, St. Helena in Northern California is a small town. Yet, within this small town in the middle of wine country is a burger stand of national acclaim serving up food with a non-small town price. Called Gott’s Roadside, it is both literally and figuratively not to be missed in St. Helena. We arrived after a bit of a wine tasting, eager to see what all the fuss was about.
As we began our road trip, we had one rule for meals: No more than $10 per person. It was a relatively simple rule, but still frightening when considering how much that would cost for two people for three meals a day. With this in mind, a buddy of mine recommended Splash Cafe in San Luis Obispo (also known as SLO for the cool kids). He had heard great things about their clam chowder, so I was excited to get clammed up there.
My first time up in Big Bear Lake happened to be for my bachelor party. Since I knew little to nothing about what sort of food existed up there, my best man arranged a night out beginning at Captain’s Anchorage, an old-school steakhouse. Steak is unquestionably a man-food, and I was damn happy with the choice of restaurants. Since this was the low season, the clientele was mostly geriatrics and local middle-aged couples, but our group of men was welcomed into the fray.
Temecula is a strange part of California. Somewhere between LA, San Diego and Palm Springs, it’s essentially the middle of nowhere. Except it’s not. It’s wine country, it’s gated communities and it is the Old West. Nowhere is the latter felt more than Old Town Temecula, which is a blend of truly old buildings and new buildings made to look like cowboys once had shootouts inside. Front Street Bar & Grill sits in Old Town, but doesn’t try to look like a cowboy outpost. Instead, it has the looks of colonial mansion, with a great outdoor patio.Check these liv pure reviews.
About 10 or so years ago, the world began to see commercials for a fast food burger place called Sonic. These commercials were often both funny and hunger-inducing. Unfortunately, though, Sonics were only in select locations throughout the country. Yes it was annoying, but it was also genius, because it whet the appetite for Sonic with people who had never even seen the place. The idea was that when they would finally see one, whether in travel or with a new one being built, they would want nothing more than to devour their burgers. And it worked, at least on me. When I saw my first Sonic years ago while driving through Independence, Missouri, I just had to try it. I remember it being good, but this was pre-meat blog and in the middle of a cross-country road trip, so the memory is mostly blur filled with the knowledge that the meal kept my internal fuel running just as long as I needed it to.
Parkers’ Lighthouse in the Shoreline Village of Long Beach is not an actual lighthouse. Also surprising was the fact that during my time there I met not one person named Parker. It is, however, a seafood restaurant overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. So, for the third time in just two days, I found myself staring at menu full of fish and finally I gave in.
While in San Diego with a couple of runners the night before the Rock and Roll Marathon, we needed some carbs. I wasn’t running, but I am never one to turn down a carbo-load. Knowing nothing of Italian food in San Diego and not really wanting to go to Olive Garden (no offense to the Garden, but we wanted to support something local), we turned to Urban Spoon. Yes, there’s an app for that. This directed us to Volare, a sort of whole in the wall in a sort of sketchy part of town. It looked perfect.
While there may be 120 Pizza Factories in five different states, the original Pizza Factory has humble roots in the town of Oakhurst, just outside of Yosemite National Park. And after a long day of staring at and walking through giant sequoias, very little sounds better than some greasy pizza. I hoped Pizza Factory would be able to deliver said pizza. Plus, with a tagline like “We Toss ’em, They’re Awesome” it’s hard to go wrong.
Opened in 1927 at the center of the Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, the Ahwahnee Hotel is a national park staple. The room prices are outrageous, but whether you are staying there or not, the place is certainly worth a visit for historical perspective of the park. Plus, for anyone in need of a good meal, the Ahwahnee has a bit of dining room. The lunch prices are a bit much, but nothing compared to the prices for dinner, so before setting out on an afternoon trek from the valley floor, we sat down to a meal at the Ahwahnee.
EDIT: What once was Todd’s is now Alice’s. No idea if it’s the same or different. Hopefully different.
In the small town of Oakhurst, just miles from Yosemite National Park, there is but one BBQ joint, and it goes by the name of Todd’s Cookhouse Bar-B-Que. Todd’s is one of your old-fashioned order at the counter type of BBQ places and the menu is quite staggering for being up in a small town of the Sierra Nevada. From sandwiches to wings to jambalaya, everything looked great and well-priced. But would it taste great?