San Diego 2017 Restaurant Recommendations

We really had a slew of fantastic pics this time around for restaurants, although we ate breakfast and most lunches at the place we were staying, as it had a full kitchen. We ate at the Zoo and Sea World those two days, though, for lunch.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor

We stopped here to meet up with some friends at their recommendation after we got into LAX the first night, before we drove down to San Diego that night. It was a GREAT option for the kids! I wasn't super impressed with the pizza, although it was good, but it was nice to actually get to visit with our company, as they have a little arcade for the kids. The mojos were good, though! I'd recommend this as a great place for people with kids for sure!

The only pictures I got from here were of groups of people, so you'll have to check out their website for pictures of the place.

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Corvette Diner

Another really great option for kids! I found it while looking for recommendations for places that are kid-friendly, and it sure was! The only downfall I found was that it was almost TOO exciting for the kids, as they wanted to do anything but actually eat when their food came, and our 3 year old was pretty squirmy. They had a lot of special, fun touches for the kids, though, including their milk having sprinkles on the lid, throwing straws into the air, high-energy servers, and a balloon artist. Not to mention that for older kids (ours were a little young to go by themselves) there is an attached arcade as well, so while we didn't opt to check it out while we were waiting for our food, it'd be a great option for kids who are a little older to go off by themselves and let the adults visit at the table. I'd highly recommend this as well! I don't recall being completely wowed by the food, but I also don't recall NOT being wowed. It has just been a couple months since we were there.

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Phil's BBQ

This was one place we had on our "must eat at" list from our previous trip to San Diego back in 2010. It may have been the fact that in 2010 we had no kids and this time we had 3 with us, tending to make dining experiences in general a little hairy, and my taste buds may have been a little skewed due to being 16 weeks pregnant at the time, but while this was "good" bbq, it wasn't "OMG I'M GOING TO DIE IF I DON'T EAT IT" bbq like I remembered it being. Don't get me wrong: It was good. It was excellent, even. It just wasn't jaw-dropping, tell-the-world-about-it bbq.

We went a little off prime hours and were pleased that the wait was only to the back door at that time, as it tends to be a bit of a line around the lunch rush. The food came quickly, and the place easily accommodates larger groups. We had no trouble at all finding seating for our group of 10. You see a lot of business people here during the week. It's usually fairly packed most of the time.

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Paesano

Paesano's was one of those hole-in-the-wall places that don't get nearly as much notoriety as other spots in cities like this. We stumbled across it after failed attempts to eat (too late in the evening with kids, and we didn't want to wait) at Waypoint Public and some mexican restaurant nearby as well, and the place was pretty dead, but we decided to give it a try. It was a home-run! The food was delivered quickly, the wait staff was very friendly to our wiggly little family of over-tired kiddos, and the food was DELICIOUS! We ordered spaghetti and meatballs for our boys to share, my hubby got the baked meat lasagna and I went with the baked meat canneloni. Everything was good, but after taking just a few small bites of my kids' spaghetti, I about melted. Italian restaurants are typically the LAST place you want to order simple spaghetti, so I tend to stay away from it, but this stuff was so good I ended up eating the leftovers the next morning for breakfast. It was out of this world! If we are ever back in the area, we will be adding this place to our "must return" list. A+++++, Paesano's!

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Noodles & Company

I'm not going to go into great detail, but we had a great experience here with our little kids. We don't have one close by, although there is one in Mankato that is just on the opposite side of town we usually visit. The kids loved the curly noodles, and even Ryan ate it right up.
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For the rest of our meals, we either had fast food or ate at the condo, so there isn't much to write home about as far as that is concerned. We did In and Out burger one meal and it was just kind of okay, but nothing to write home about. We also ordered Papa John's after our Zoo day.