MattG

Hi Guys/Gals,

I'm going to be doing the touristy thing in California around December, amongst other things.
In particular I'm going to be staying in Anaheim around the end of December.

We already plan to see Universal Studios and Disneyland. Any suggestions on other things to do, or even tips on shopping/food etc would be most welcome.

Thanks

AP2kyle

For eats definately try Pink's hot dogs on La Brea and Tommy's burgers on 3rd St.

LivingLegend

And of course you have to go to Hollywood

DustySlider

Farmer's Market / The Grove (LosAngeles) Brazlian BBQ stand cannot be overlooked. Nice selection of shopping stores.

Sunset Strip: If you want to go clubbing/drinking

C&O Trattoria (Marina Del Rey): Excellent Italian food, in mass quantities. You need to have their garlic rolls. Bring breath mints.

Gale's (Pasadena): Another Excellent Italian restaurant.

Old Town (Pasadena): Nice walking area, some big name shops. Good eats. My personal favorite hangout area.

3rd Street (Santa Monica): Similar to Old Town, but close to the beach.

Westfield Shopping Mall (Century City): Open air style mall. It's right near the Nakitomi Plaza that was in Die Hard 1.

South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa): Huge shopping mall. Almost every big name designer and high$ companies have stores there.

Shabu Shabu (J-Town/Japantown, near Downtown LA): Excellent Japanese Shabu Shabu. I don't remember the exact name, but it's in a plaza across the street from Weiland's Brewery.

California Chicken Cafe (Westwood): Excellent Chinese Chicken Pasta

Newport Beach (eh, in Newport Beach): Nice chill area, walk along the beach. Much cleaner than Santa Monica. Ask locals for a secret steak restaurant. When you get there, you gotta order the super-garlicky bread and bacon-wrapped filet mignon.

Sam Woo (Alhambra): Go to the one on Valley Blvd. for authentic Chinese food.

Beverly Center (Los Angeles): Another nice shopping mall.

Neptune's Net and The Reel Inn (Malibu): Not exactly known for their top notch decor, but the seafood is among the best.

Matsuhisa's (Los Angeles): Excellent Japanese food, but avoid the oysters on the half shell. They're about 3 bucks each, but the size of pennies.

Safety Zone (Koreatown): Excellent Korean BBQ, plus you can smoke (or not if you're not a smoker) because it's in a tent. Decor is pretty much as bottom level as you can get, but the beef is excellent.

Yardhouse (Long Beach, Irvine, Pasadena): Beer, beer, beer. You gotta get a whole yard of beer.

Irvine Spectrum (Irvine): Another open air shopping mall. Lots to do there.

The Block (Anaheim/Irvine): Same as Spectrum, but a bit smaller. I recommend Spectrum over The Block.

In&Out (Everywhere): Probably one of the best burgers around.

The Hat (Everywhere): Pastrami

Shaka's (Montebello): Good Hawaiian fastfood.

The Curry House (Japantown): Excellent Japanese curry.



Damn. Running through this list, I realize I eat out too much. And I eat too much.

MattG

Thanks AP2kyle - sounds good.
Livinglegend - yeah we plan on doing that, whish is part of the reason we are staying around Anaheim for a couple of weeks.
Thanks Dusty, seems like all you think about is food

So what do you guys think of Six Flags Magic Mountain & Knotts Berry Farm ?
Maybe I'll have to go there for some insane rollercoaster speed fix.

DustySlider

Six Flags -> Yes
Knotts -> No


My brain power is split between females and food.

LivingLegend

ya go to fright fest at Magic Mountain its really fun and scary, iv actually never been to knots.

dreamcation

1. Well if your going to down in Dec, you can go and check out the Christmas decorations off of Brookhurst and Hiel. Pretty crazy naborhood that goes all out to see who can out do who, plus it's free

2. Spend a day at Balboa

3. Attend one of the meets in Dec if any

I've been married w/ kids for so long it seems, I've forgotten all the fun things to do

Nicotunes

You guys are old enough to have kids???

Nicotunes

mostly, but Supreme Scream at Knotts is pretty cool. You can see the Queen Mary from the top but you gotta look fast before you faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!