San Diego?

[Stu]

Brian and other forum members in San Diego: My wife is going there on a biz trip next month and was looking for shopping stuff for her downtime. Any recs for good places to go hang out, eat, shop, etc.?

Thanks.

Stu

 

[bachbeet]

If she's gonna be in SD proper, then the closest place is Horton Plaza. Nordtsrom's has excellent stuff with terrific service. She can also go a bit to Mission Valley and to Fashion Valley. Also a Nordstrom's. As well as Saks and NM (aka "Needless Mark-up" ).

I think there is a Macy's at both locations. If she wants to go even further, she should go to La Jolla. They have some great small stores which are very stylish and great quality stuff. For example, Gentlemen's Quarter which carries Zanella slacks. BTW, I first became aware of Ted Baker dress shirts there. Silk with hidden button down collar (the only type of button down I'd ever own). I have a pink one and a lavendar one. I saw them again a few years later at a discount place for about half price in Solana Beach. Anyone else like the Ted Baker line? The shirts feel great. As you'd expect from silk. Love that silk.

 

[Brian SD]

Huh.. I don't know too much about shopping that would really appeal to your wife, but I would probably recommend she stop by downtown La Jolla. There's a Polo store and some other independent clothing stores, and she'll be a 5-minute walk from La Jolla cove, which is the most beautiful little beach I've ever seen. Of course, living in Puerto Rico, beautiful beaches are probably a fairly common thing

There's a Living Room coffee shop on the corner of Girard and Torrey Pines rd. that serves the best chai latte on the face of the planet, so if she's into that, I recommend it. Horton Plaza is a great 4-storey (or maybe 5? I cant recall) outdoor mall, with a big Nordstrom as bachbeet pointed out. It's in downtown off Broadway street - if she was to take a cab there would be no issue with asking to be taken to Horton. It's pretty extravagant, and it's nice that it's outdoor, so it doesn't have the same horribly disgusting feeling that the typical American shopping mall has. For food, there are some great options in SD... Thai food, there's Celadon, Lotus and Amarin, all are in Hillcrest, and all are wonderful. Japanese food - Sushi Ota in Pacific Beach off Mission Bay Dr. is the best Sushi I've ever had in the US (and I've had a LOT of Sushi). Sushi Deli (no. 1 for divey, no. 2 for classy) has two locations in downtown, and they're incredibly cheap and pretty good for the price. If your wife likes Sushi, I cannot say enough about Sushi Ota though. Its mindblowingly good. There is some great seafood right by the ballpark/Omni hotel in downtown, but I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. For souvenir shopping and some more food, there's Seaport village which is basically in downtown. Sometimes the big navy ships are in there, and they're huge, and scary as hell, but definitely a sight to see. I live right by the Fashion Valley mall off Friar's road, and it's got some cool stuff (apple store, Saks), but I wouldn't recommend it personally, unless she wants to hit Neiman's or Saks. It's really busy and there's nothing really special about it. There's a little mall in Mission Valley that's a pretty sorry excuse for a shopping mall, but there is a Loehmann's, Nordstrom Rack, Marshall's and Off 5th all in one little area, so you can't beat it for good deals. I've only lived here for a couple years so I haven't been everywhere... but anything else or more specific, ask and I may be able to help

 

[bachbeet]

And, I might add that this has been an unusually warm May. We usually start having our May-June gloom now, but this past week we had temps well above 80 topped off with yesterday's 91. This am the fog buned off quickly and its still in the 80s. I live in a warmer part of the county, east of SD, but SD itself has been above normal in temps too. And sun. It proves that w/o the marine layer, this place heats up quite a bit. Not complaining though.

 

[bachbeet]

Brian: I also think Sushi Ota is very good. And, I have been eating sushi since about 80 or 81. I have been to sushi bars all over the world. Yet, the best one is STILL located in San Marcos, Katsu. In restaurant row. Check it out. It may be far to go, but it's worth at least once.

Hillcrest has my favorite classy dining, California Cuisine. If they have venison, order it. You won't be disappointed. Sometimes they have ostrich which is excellent. The SD area has some very fine dining, that's for sure.

On that note, one of the cities that has fine dining is San Luis Obispo. Halfway between LA and SF. It has more restaurants per capita than SF. And some very fine ones. It's way underrated in that respect.

 

[VMan]

And, I might add that this has been an unusually warm May. We usually start having our May-June gloom now, but this past week we had temps well above 80 topped off with yesterday's 91. This am the fog buned off quickly and its still in the 80s. I live in a warmer part of the county, east of SD, but SD itself has been above normal in temps too. And sun. It proves that w/o the marine layer, this place heats up quite a bit. Not complaining though.

Lucky. It's only in the high 40's here right now...

 

[bachbeet]

Versace Man: I was born in Chicago. When we moved out here it was in Jan. and I was wearing a heavy coat. Then we landed at LAX and it was 80. I was so happy. I thought "It's summer here all the time."

Since I moved to SD in 87, every year, in Jan, there are at least one or two days in the 80s. I remember talking to people back east where they are in the "minuses" at that time and noting that it's 85 here. I definitely know how lucky I am to be here. I love this area.

 

[Stu]

Thanks guys. Recommendations forwarded to her. She sends her thanks.