Our family will be traveling from San Diego to Monterey over spring break and I am looking for family friendly restaurant recommendations along the way(we have two boys: 4 & 6). Most of what I have researched is for higher end places. What are some great Mexican, Chinese, pizza places, burger joints, etc, that we should look for? Thanks!

Your question is very broad.... There are a few possibilities vis-�-vis route-- you have to tell everyone which way you're going. If you're going through Santa Barbara, you'll probably get a few suggestions, for example.

There's a chain Mexican restaurant in Carmel Valley called Chevy's that's actually quite good and fresh--it's in the Carmel Crossroads shopping center, a few minutes drive from Monterey. There is a super fantastic pizza place in Monterey, on Lighthouse Avenue, called Gianni's that's very family-friendly and also serves pastas, salads and desserts. Sea Harvest is a seafood place, also in Monterey, also on Lighthouse, that is very casual and serves the freshest seafood, and has a kids' menu; it's very simple and unpretentious. Lastly, but never least, there's a Ghirardelli ice cream parlor in Monterey on Cannery Row that serves awesome sundaes, shakes, floats, etc. and is very popular with the kid crowd; there's also tons of chocolate sold there, too, of course! The best part about all of these places, IMO, is that the adults will enjoy them, too! Have fun!

I just noticed your title, navy wife--are you guys staying at DLI by any chance? Or does NPS have lodging, I can't recall? We lived in Monterey for a year, while hubby was at NPS.

Thanks for the hints E in Monterey! We are not using any of the Navy Lodges for this trip. Although you can't beat the price, they don't have swimming pools, which is how we bribe our kids to be good in the car. Other places along the way that we plan on spending time in: Santa Barabara, Cambria, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo.

There are branches of El Cholo in Irvine or Santa Monica, the original has been around since the 1930's. Apple Pan in LA for burgers. Little Pizza Heaven in Carmel for pizzas, pasta and salads. Monterey's Fish House for good seafood and steaks. These are all casual, family appropriate places. Hope you get some other recs.

Here are some recommendations for the Santa Cruz/Capitola area. The nice thing about this area is that most places are very laid back and so they are all family friendly.

In Capitola Village there are several restaurants right along the beach that are very casual. Most have outdoor seating on the beach side.

The Santa Cruz wharf has some good restaurants. Stagnaros is my favorite. Gildas is owned by the Stagnaro family, but has more of a coffee shop atmosphere. Gilbert's is good too. From the wharf you get great views of the Boardwalk and Steamers Lane.

For specifically mexican food, here are my favorites:
El Palomar on Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz
Manuel's in Aptos - near Seacliff State Beach
Casa Rosita's on Portola in Santa Cruz
The Whole Enchilada on Hwy 1 in Moss Landing - about 15-20 minutes north of Monterey.

For pizza,
Tony and Alba's on Soquel Ave in Santa Cruz.
Pizza My Heart on Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz and on Esplanade in Capitola.

If you have a chance to hit San Luis on thursday night, it is farmers market night downtown and there are lots of good food stands.

San Luis Obispo... Hudsons Grill (corner of Monterey and Osos) or SLO Brew (downtown between Marsh and Higuera, on Garden) are fun.

Cambria is small you can look at all the restaurants if you want. I love Robins there. Not geared for kids really. There is one mexican place there and a Mustache Pete's I haven't eaten at either though...