California

Some people drive more than an hour across Southern California just to pick up dinner from one corner…

By Evan Cook · Oct 23

San Diego has no shortage of seafood, but one Mission Valley dining room has people lining up before…

By Evan Cook · Oct 23

Some families plan their whole week around one meal, and in Murrieta, that meal often lands on a…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Some Los Angeles restaurants chase trends every season. This one has barely changed its playbook since 1947, and…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Some restaurants chase trends every season. Others decide the golden years were just fine and never left them.…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Some people come to San Francisco for the cable cars and the bridge photos. Others come with one…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Restaurants come and go fast in California, so a place that stays in one family’s hands for decades…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Some sandwiches are lunch, and some are a reason to cross an entire city. In Los Angeles, one…

By Evan Cook · Oct 22

Owning a home near the Mendocino coast sounds like a dream reserved for people with very deep pockets.…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

Some people drive to the hills of north San Diego County for the views. Plenty of others make…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

Some of the best burgers in California do not come from big chains or fancy dining rooms. They…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

San Francisco loves a good argument about bread, and few debates get as heated as the one over…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

Some sandwiches need two hands, a stack of napkins, and maybe a friend to help finish them. California…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

Some Fresno restaurants come and go, but a few become part of family routines that span grandparents, kids,…

By Evan Cook · Oct 21

Some sandwiches earn fans, and a rare few earn loyalists who keep coming back for twenty years. In…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

Weekend mornings in California have a special kind of ritual, and for a lot of families it starts…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

A slice of apple pie tastes best when it is still warm, and a handful of California bakeries…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

Some restaurants open and close so fast that nobody remembers their names. Then there is a little Chinatown…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

Some San Francisco restaurants chase trends, and one downtown dining room has spent generations politely ignoring them. Its…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

Highway 1 south of San Francisco has a way of turning a quick drive into a full afternoon.…

By Evan Cook · Oct 20

Some retirees spend years dreaming about vineyard views, then look at the price tags up north and quietly…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

Soggy chilaquiles are a breakfast heartbreak, and anyone who loves this dish knows the struggle. The trick is…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

Some meals come with a warning label, and this one is printed in garlic. On a busy stretch…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

Some San Diego families have stood in the same breakfast line for three generations. One dad has been…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

Some burritos are lunch, and some burritos are a two-handed project that might also cover dinner. California has…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

A warm concha with its crackly sugar shell is one of the best reasons to set an early…

By Evan Cook · Oct 19

Highway 99 runs straight through the heart of California’s Central Valley, past farm towns, packing houses, and plenty…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Some meals come with a side of memories, and Los Angeles has a small dining room that serves…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Retirement in Bakersfield does not have to mean a quiet porch and a long list of empty afternoons.…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Some road trip stops are about gas and snacks, but a few are about a plate of round…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Some Pasadena restaurants chase every new trend, and one little counter spot has spent decades doing the exact…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Carne asada fries are San Diego’s unofficial late-night meal, and nobody here needs convincing. Picture crispy fries piled…

By Evan Cook · Oct 18

Some road trip stops earn their spot on the map with a view, and others earn it with…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Some dinners are quick stops, and some are full-blown events that leave you asking for a to-go box.…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Ask anyone who moved from Oahu or Maui what they miss most, and malasadas usually land near the…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Some of the best donuts in California are sold while most of the state is still asleep. Night-shift…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Some restaurants follow trends, and a few have outlasted almost all of them. On a busy stretch of…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Some breakfast spots try hard to look old. This one simply is old, and it has never pretended…

By Evan Cook · Oct 17

Free things at restaurants are rare, and free things that arrive before you even finish ordering are rarer…

By Evan Cook · Oct 16