San Diego restaurants NYE (1 Viewer)

[97destroyer]

I’m headed to San Diego with a couple families for a few days including New Years Eve. We’ve never been to SD and are looking for a nice restaurant for NYE. Only requirement is that it must serve at least some steak but doesn’t need to be a steak house per se.

Would like to keep the food/drink bill under $150/pp. Only one person is under 21.

We are staying downtown.

Any suggestions much appreciated!

 

[warma]

I’m headed to San Diego with a couple families for a few days including New Years Eve. We’ve never been to SD and are looking for a nice restaurant for NYE. Only requirement is that it must serve at least some steak but doesn’t need to be a steak house per se.

Would like to keep the food/drink bill under $150/pp. Only one person is under 21.

We are staying downtown.

Any suggestions much appreciated!

How many people? NYE reservations were tough for larger groups when I went looking a while ago.

Try the following, I think they should all have at least one steak dish.

—Harbor Island (nice waterfront views)—
Tom Hamm’s Lighthouse (seafood)
Coasterra (Mexican)

—Little Italy (hot spot)—
Rovino (Italian)
Roman Roman Wolves (Italian)

—Balboa Park (inside the historic park)—
The Prado (Californian; quintessential SD place)

 

[97destroyer]

Thank you for the suggestions! We have 7. I’ll check out the ones on your list. I already made a couple reservations — one at Dockside 1953 and the other at Eddie V’s which I think will fall above the target price. Any thoughts on those two?

 

[warma]

Not familiar with Dockside 1963. That’s part of a resort on Mission Bay- haven’t been there for years so can’t speak to it.

Eddie V’s is just another steakhouse chain. If you like it, you’ll be good. It’s in that swanky tourist mall designed to capture convention goers. But as you’re in SD, I’d recommend you hit up something more local.

If you do go to Eddie V’s, or just looking for a nice SD experience, visit the Top of the Hyatt inside the Manchester Grand Hyatt next door. It’s a really nice bar ~40 floors high with a great view. (They totally do it up holiday style.) Drinks are a bit pricey- the price of admission, so nurse the drink, enjoy the ambiance, and head out to your next stop. It gets crowded around sunset because sunset views can be lovely. (Not sure what their NYE plans are.)

You can also pre (or post)-party party for cheap at the seen-better-days Kansas City BBQ across the street, where they filmed the piano bar scenes in Top Gun (tourist trap, but fun). Alternatively, you can get BBQ there another time. Quirky, but if you like Top Gun, it’s worth a visit to say you’ve been. Hahaha.

If you’re in that area, my wife just recommended Malibu Farm as well, which is tucked away in the original Seaport Village area. It’s not directly on the water, but it has great views as well.

There’s also Tacos al Gordo in Gaslamp, should you be looking for lunch in the area. Alternatively, for lunch, try any *bertos taco shop- they look awful, but they serve great SD Mexican food and are home to the CA burrito. (Robertos is the original, but Albertos, Alibertos, Roybertos, Filibertos or literally any *bertos will do.) For more, check out SD legend Mark Himmel’s Ode to Robertos from years past.

Unfortunately, it’s looking to be in the low 60s- warmer than Chicago, but a bit chillier than usual.

 

[Knoxymoron]

I second the 'Bertos (love me some Albertos)! Hodad's is really good if you want burgers. Probably not a NYE destination though. Might be better as a day after stop.

 

[Jacks]

Freshman year getting introduced to Carne Asada fries at Alberto’s. Good memories.

 

[pokerplayingpisces]

Freshman year getting introduced to Carne Asada fries at Alberto’s. Good memories.

Best hangover ever!

 

[Kam]

Of the options above, I think Tom Ham’s Lighthouse is a really good option for it’s downtown view and it usually has good space inside for tables (vs crammed spots in downtown).

I’ve been to Mister A’s a couple of times, great views and the planes come into land close to the height of the restaurant, although it’s probably slighty above your budget, but might be worth a look.

Agreed on the Eddie V’s comments, it was nice but nothing to write home about.

GL!

 

[97destroyer]

Thanks so much for all your feedback. I really appreciate it! We’ll definitely be hitting up a number of these spots over the course of our stay.

 

[97destroyer]

I forgot my wife also made a res at STK. seems like another chain. Better or worse than Eddie Vs?

 

[warma]

They have one in Chicago…

 

[warma]

Is Lou & Mickey’s available? Local steakhouse at the base of the Gaslamp.

Greystone or the Butcher’s Cut up the street in the Gaslamp.

Imperial Steakhouse on Banker’s Hill.

I’d pick one of those over the chains.

 

[warma]

Where did you end up?

 

[97destroyer]

So we did end up at Eddie Vs. location was good for us and the reservation time was the best. It was a good place for NYE even if the steaks were over done a bit. Good live music in the bar area. We sat upstairs but could hear the music just fine. Today was a travel day. I’ll post some more tomorrow.

 

[97destroyer]

For a brief recap of some of the things we did/saw/dined at…

We started the trip by visiting Balboa Park which was amazing. Our friends arrived late morning so we got on the waiting list at Prado and had lunch there. Touristy, but the food was good and the restaurant had a cool motif with the blown glass. Reminded me a bit of the Chihuly glass at Bellagio.

Later that evening we went to Tom Ham’s. Great views. Was a bit chilly so we sat inside. Plenty of room and good service.

Next day was back to Balboa to visit the zoo which was even more amazing than the park. My daughter who is pretty “crunchy” loved it and wants to move to SD solely for that.

We wound up having a “linner” at this place called Asti in the Gaslamp district and checked out some sites for NYE. Honestly, I think the food at this place was the best of the trip.

Next day (Monday) we went out to La Jolla. Other than seeing some seals, I could have skipped this activity. Way too crowded and touristy — don’t know how people spend so much for property only to have the town become unlivable. Sorry if any of you live there but that was my experience.

We found a place to eat another linner in Old Town - Miguel’s. It was ok. We were all starving at that point and the three margaritas soothed my La Jolla experience. Didn’t walk around there too much but seems like a fun area to eat Mexican food.

Next day was a visit to the Midway for the guys. Gals went to a tea room whose name I can’t recall. Loved the Midway. The ship is in better shape and the tour is better than a similar carrier I visited in Charleston a couple years ago.

We squeezed in a couple hours of pickle at the resort before heading to Eddie Vs for NYE. Was it the best steak, no. But in fairness the server did say they were known for the seafood. I had the filet and lobster tail. Lobster was good. Filet overdone. I almost think the steaks were cooked in advance and somehow reheated. As my daughter said, over charred. Apps were good (bisque, sprouts, Mac, au gratin). Music was good. Atmosphere was good. We didn’t hit the $150pp budget but left happy campers.

Oh yeah, I really wanted this car parked outside the Midway…

Happy New Year!!

 

[warma]

Yeah, La Jolla over the holiday break is itself a zoo, especially around the cove. Being a tourist there is hard. The Cove’s a lovely chill place to hang on a normal day. We were there last week for brunch at The Cottage after taking my oldest on a tour of UCSD (which has dramatically changed). Looking at the map heading in, I saw all the red along Prospect and Coast Blvd and said no way- I had intended on taking the kids to the caves under the Shell Shop, but instead headed up to Torrey Pines State Reserve for a walk down the cliffs. La Jolla itself has changed so much over the years- but there are still some remnants of the village it once was if you knew it like a local. Couldn’t skip it, though, it was lovely to be back.

Midway is great, lots of cool stuff there. The Star of India, down the way, is also neat- the oldest continuously operating ship in the world.

Glad you made it to The Prado, a bit touristy, but it’s a thing.

I regret not recommending some Old Town places. Old Town Mexican Cafe is our traditional haunt.

We ended up at Roman Wolves on NYE. Food was good, and it’s great to see how much Little Italy has changed. We did Island Prime on Harbor Island the night before- good steaks, lovely view, but a bit pricey (you pay for the view).

And of course, we hit up Roberto’s on our trip. Sadly, my kids don’t like Mexican, so we only went once while we were up in Oceanside earlier in the trip.

 

[warma]

Next day was back to Balboa to visit the zoo which was even more amazing than the park. My daughter who is pretty “crunchy” loved it and wants to move to SD solely for that.

Oh, almost forgot. We took the bus tour at the zoo. Our driver had an amazing history. She grew up in the area, went to the zoo a bunch and saw them delivering a baby animal as part of a zoo tv program as a kid- and it just ignited a passion for her. She got a related degree and has travelled all over the world for various work opportunities and programs- South Africa, Central America, central Africa and one day found herself delivering a baby- the same species in the same location (I want to say elephant in Africa?), realizing her dream. So cool. My wife and kept looking ant each other in amazement at all the cool things she’s done and her passion. And she’s still young with more adventures to come. So yeah, if she wants to get involved and do stuff, there’s totally a whole range and career of things she could do.

 

[97destroyer]

Yeah, overall I really liked SD. It is so much more manageable than LA. We’ll have to get out there again. Many thanks to you and all the others who contributed ideas!

 

[warma]

LA is awful with small pockets of lovely.