Hi All,
One of my best friends wants to surprise her parents by arranging a nice getaway weekend for their wedding anniversary in La Jolla.
Thanks in advance! (@ipsedixit and all SD FTC’ers.)
If they need a place to stay, highly recommend La Valencia, right down the street from George’s.
Although I haven’t been for quite awhile, Galaxy taco is nice though it may fall short of a special occasion type place.
Wayfarer for breakfast the next day if they are spending the night.
Reccs from ipsedixit and JL are good ones.
I always look forward to dinner at Nine-Ten, but since the menu changes so frequently, I’d check on the prix fixe offerings. Another option is A R Valentein’s at the Torrey Pines Lodge–that’s where we went the night after our wedding–the Craftman details are stunning and the food has never disappointed.
I hate Galaxy Taco with so much passion.
So much potential. All felled by utter futility.
Skipping a place that has since closed, I think the best meal I had in La Jolla was at George’s. Kind of safe for my taste, but delicious food and world-class views. I thought I posted about it but apparently not.
Not sure what to say to that. We’ve been a few times, but not for quite awhile, and always liked it. There are lots of places we like better but they’re not in La Jolla and don’t have much ambiance.
Addison in Del Mar (20 mins away from La Jolla) has great service and a spacious dining room. It could be a nice place for a couple having a nice anniversary getaway. I did Addison and George’s at the Cove in a trip to San Diego (stayed in Del Mar, which is leisurely more in a golf resort kind of way). I’d say the food at Addison isn’t quite 1* imo, but it’s aiming for that style of tasting menu restaurant, clearly. It’s maybe like some of the nice places in Vegas - pretty good, but not destination worthy (to my tastes). I kind of think one can enjoy San Diego without having super high expectations for the food.
George’s at the Cove (“California Modern”) had tastier food, though it was fairly safe. Tbh, the big, square purple couches looked quite 90’s. In terms of ambiance, I expected a bit more from George’s, but the water views are very nice. It was an impromptu trip, so George’s was unable to accommodate us with a “TBL3” tasting menu - we just did the normal tasting.
How about Puesto (on La Jolla Cove and Wall St.)?
Thanks everyone for the recommendations! 
And thanks @BradFord. So you’d rate the Addison a bit higher than George’s?
And I agree about SD: When we head down it can be a casual enjoyable trip without trying to stress out about where to eat.
Hi @ipsedixit,
Oh yah there’s a Puesto in Irvine as well right? How is Puesto’s food overall? Thanks.
It’s fine for places like La Jolla and Irvine, but I would not go out of my way for them, in either city.
Apples & oranges. Addison tries very hard (and is on the expensive side), while George’s is a standard with nothing to prove.
I can see the ambiance at Addison being preferred by some who are celebrating a special occasion. It feels more “traditional fine dining,” and the service was better at Addison. The food at both was pretty good, though nothing destination worthy or super impressive for me. Maybe I didn’t get the best foot forward at George’s at the Cove California Modern, though it was tasty enough, and perhaps their talked-about “TBL3” experience is better. The purple couches were a little off putting, and for “coastal Californian” so to speak, I think Aubergine in Carmel (yes, way up the coast unfortunately) has been more of go-to for me on such celebratory weekends (and make sure to hit Revival Ice Cream in Monterey ~15 mins away). Sorry, I’m diverging - but between Addison and George’s at the Cove, I don’t have a strong opinion either way. If one is looking for QPR of the food, I didn’t think highly of Addison, especially relative to what else California has - but in the area, it was a nice enough night. Given the price and grandiosity of the room, one might expect more from the food. However, please note that I’m going off single visits of both Addison and George’s; maybe repeat visits would convince me which is a better restaurant for the occasion.
Bottom line is both were fine, so ambiance, price, and convenience might be the factors to decide between these (if these are in fact the two you’re considering…I don’t know of any other restaurants nearby that might fit).
Puesto is decent (like you said it’s fine for La Jolla). Galaxy tacos in my opinion was quite a bit better but sounds like I need to go back again before continuing to recommend it.
If I feel like a taco in La Jolla, I just sort of settle for Taco Stand.
I just feel like the further north you move from places like Barrio Logan / National City / Chula Vista, the lower your expectations have to be for Mexican food, until you reach about the 55 hwy and creep into the Santa Ana environs.