Sorry- we will be there for a week. Best beaches? Good upscale but casual restaurants? Other sites to see things to do?

Craig

Congrat's Craig!
These restaurants are must..imo
georges at the cove..sit on terrace
hacienda de vega.best authentic mex.
stone world bistro brewery escondido..
Del mar/la jolla shores/coronado..for
some of the best beaches..

haciendadevega.com
georgesatthecove.com
stoneworldbistro.com

JRDNS at Pier 23 in Pacific beach is upscale and fairly casual. Great food, especially their lobster bisque.

Coronado Beach is beautiful...long, white sand, nice little surf. Rent a bike and cruise around town. In Coronado, there are tons of good places to eat- Tent City, Peohe's, Il fornio, the restaurant next to Lamb's Theatre, Coronado Brewing Company.

Take a tour of SD bay, go to the Zoo, ride on the merry go round in the zoo parking lot (yes, adults do this...sit on the outside animals and try to catch the gold ring), wander, bicycle or skate the boardwalk from Pacific beach down to the roller coaster in South Mission.

Eat and hang out in the Gaslamp district.

Wander La Jolla. Lots of great eating there too.

Agree with everybody else so far. Balboa Park is beautiful, huge, and, for the most part, free. I believe The Prado restaurant there is quite well regarded, though I haven't eaten there myself. Definitely check out La Jolla, and Coronado Island and the Hotel del Coronado. Pacific Beach is great if you're younger and looking for a "crazy-beach-scene", including lots of good eats / views along the ocean [try upstairs at Canes, or La Hainas]. Downtown, check out the club at the top of the W, another one on top of the Omni Hotel, and I believe there is also a club at the top of the Marriot that is supposed to have stellar views of Petco Park. Seaport Village is a really cool spot down by the harbor for shopping, people watching, oh yeah, and have a drink at the "Top of the Hyatt" which is more or less right across the street. If you like horse-racing, the track at Del Mar is on right now, that's a fun way to spend an afternoon [and a fair bit of $$$] And lastly, depending on how far you are willing to drive, downtown Solano Beach, [The Cedors District] which is probably 30 minutes north of downtown SD, is a really quaint place to eat/shop/people watch. Oh, FYI, it is TOWER 23 in Pacific Beach, not Pier 23.

Thanks for the correction nealzibub...my brain must have been turned off while writing that!

My favorite restaurant in SD is Fish Market, next to the US Midway. Best seafood restaurant that I have been to there. Reasonable prices too.

Love the Fish Market but like the oyster bar or having app's on the waterfront patio better than the restaurant,imo..Top of the Market upstairs is outstanding but pricey..
On my recommendation on Stone bistro, I would say to go for the beer and app's more than a dinner but in your previous post you mentioned Escondido and for that area, its a really cool place to hang out.

I cannot agree more with TT - Stone Brewery is a sweet place to have an app and a beer, it is beautiful both inside and out, but creating a multi-paragraph description of each of their entries does not make the food good, nor worth the $$$. I'm sure you can find their website and even menus online.

Great minds think alike neal..

I also recommend The Fish Market downtown on the bay.

Piatti's Restaurant in the La Jolla Shores
Zenbu for sushi in downtown La Jolla
and as well as Tapenade (French, a little expensive but fantastic!- it is upscale but the dress code can be as casual as you'd like.

There are some fun Mexican restaurants in Old Town like Cafe Coyote, and Fred's (both are very casual with a fun party atmosphere).

Point Loma Seafood is also very popular (it sits on the bay and they bring fish right from the boats into the back of the restaurant so the fish is really fresh). The restaurant is in the front and crowded and fun!

Cabo Grill in Encinitas, located on the Coast Hwy...sit outside for a nice view of the ocean.

Just a note a couple of weeks ago George's on the Cove was being renovated and is now being called George's California Cuisine. EWWWW!

But, upstairs was still open. I believe it's called "top of the cove".

Top of the Cove is another restaurant down the block..
George's at the Cove just changed the name of the fine dining restaurant and the terrace and the bar are the same/old name..the renovations were done several months ago..
Why the EWWWWWWWWWWW?

I just thought the new name was cheesy, what was wrong with the old name? It hasn't been several months alread has it? My son and I went in early July and it was totally torn up. It seems like yesterday. Mmmm..I like upstairs better anyway, especially on a pretty day. At least they didn't change the name to "Stairway to Califonia Heaven".

Ooops sorry for the typo.

Hey Tina..
Couldn't agree more..
I'm a terrace girl too..why spend all that money for the same thing and way more casual!

Another restaurant with a fantastic view of La Jolla Cove is Brockton Villa (although the food is not anywhere near as good as George's California Cusine). But it is not bad.