JulieVikmanis

I try never to miss an opportunity for a good meal because of ignorance, so I need help getting good intelligence on the availability of good lunch dining between LAX and Getty Center. We'll arrive at LAX at 1:15, pick up a rental car and be off. Our first stop is Getty Center, so we need to eat somewhere close to our route between the two places. We're really ignorant about the freeways, etc. in that area. Anything goes--great burger joint or bbq, sushi, upscale, whatever. Just needs to be good. Your recs please. Thanks.

PeaceOut

The Getty Center itself has a nice cafe. It is such a beautiful place that you might really enjoy the gorgeous views and peaceful setting after LAX and your plane ride!

http://www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/eat_shop.html

JulieVikmanis

Thanks PeaceOut. Assuming reservations aren't needed/accepted I think I'll plan to look along the way and if we don't spot anything and stop in advance to the museum not panic knowing we can dine at the cafe and still enjoy ourselves.

PeaceOut

Sounds like a plan!

I love the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. Gorgeous views, architecture, gardens, and art. Have fun!

tracys2cents

The Getty has a great dining room in addition to the Garden Cafe. Serving lunch until 3pm I think. Also open Saturdays for dinner and on Sunday for brunch.
With your LAX arrival time, I would just head to the Getty because stopping somewhere along the way will put you into that horrible 3pm traffic that starts up in that area and doesn't let up until 7:30.

PeaceOut

Forgot to add that one of our favorite places for lunch is in Santa Monica, which is more or less on your way to the Getty, if you have time:

It's called Coast, at the venerable Shutters hotel:
http://www.shuttersonthebeach.com/sa...ch-restaurants

They have a gorgeous outdoor covered patio with full views of the ocean. We have eaten at Coast many times, for lunch and dinner.

bon_voyage

Having lunch at the Getty is probably the smart move given your arrival time. Even with the carpool lane, getting through LA on the 405 is typically a major hassle, and right now there's work going on between Wilshire and the Getty: http://www.metro.net/projects/i-405. You will not see anything enticing along the freeway. Still, if you want to consider all options, in addition to what others have said, I'd look at Venice, Culver City, and Brentwood.

JulieVikmanis

Gosh Coast looks tempting but it may mean the difference between arriving in Santa Barbara still speaking to each other--or not. Can I play it loose and see how traffic seems to be moving, etc. and go there without a reservation, assuming we'll arrive 2 or after?

Jean

I think it's unlikely you'd get to the Getty cafe before it closes. "Landing" and stepping off the plane are two different times, and you still have a longish walk to the car rental shuttle stop where you may have to wait a few minutes. If your flight is late or delayed on the tarmac even 10 minutes, forget it.

The Getty cafe closes at 3:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. on Saturdays) and the restaurant closes at 2:30 p.m. (3:00 p.m. on Sundays). It takes several minutes (15 or so?) to get from your parked car to the top of the hill where the museum and dining facilities are located. The museum closes at 5:30 p.m. (9:00 p.m. on Saturdays). GC is closed on Mondays.

Are you returning to LAX to fly out/home?

JulieVikmanis

Jean, very useful info. And no, afraid we're not going back through LAX. All of which means we may have to decide between lunch and the Getty Center. We arrive on Wednesday, so at least the Getty will be open. Need to think about all of this. Is a drive by for pictures of the exterior a worthwhile alternative, especially for people whose interests are more architecture than painting or sculpture?

PeaceOut

Julie, in your case, I would skip the restaurant, go directly to the Getty Center, and get a bite there. You can't really drive by and see it,, for one thing. You park down below and tide a tram up to it. If you like architecture, do not miss the Getty. Eat at Coast for dinner!

easytraveler

I second, third, fourth, the suggestion that you go directly to the Getty Center. The food is really quite good without all the fanfare of writeups to get you to go there.

There is really no need to stop somewhere along the way. It'll be especially valuable to miss the 3pm traffic problems.

The Getty Center itself is a work of art. A work of art housing works of art. I love to explore and wander around to places where there's not another soul but quite revealing in how the architect designed such a wonderful building.

clarkgriswold

Sign up for fast speed exit with your car rental company, if your flight arrives on time you'll be in your car by 1:50 and at the Getty Center by 2:15. Grab something quick at the Cafe (beautiful outdoor seating area) and enjoy the afternoon. You problem is getting out of there at 5:45 and heading into traffic. You're heading to Santa Barbara? I suggest rooftop happy hour at the Angeleno Hotel around the corner from the Getty. You really can't hit the freeway towards Santa Barbara until 7:45 and that'll put you in SB around 9:30. If you hit the freeway at 5:45, you'll probably get to SB at 9. So spend two hours having some tapas or two hours sitting in 15mph traffic, you decide.

JulieVikmanis

Thank you all so much. So Clark, what time do I need to be on the freeway to miss the problems? Would 4 be ok? Otherwise I sure need to revise my dinner reservations in SB. How do people survive out there? That traffic situation sounds truly awful. I've always heard that, but never had to face it. Ugh!!!

tracys2cents

Clark is right, the 101 northbound out of the Valley is notoriously slow from 4pm to 7:30pm on weekdays. If your flight arrives on time and you exit quickly, you might consider going to the Getty Villa in Malibu for a short visit instead. From there you could drive the coastal route up to Santa Barbara, it would still be slow going after 4:30pm but at least you would have a nice seaside drive, not just 8 lanes of madness. From Malibu you'd want to allow 2 hours up to Santa Barbara (it's 1.5 hours when the traffic is lighter)...so I would probably make a dinner reservation for maybe 8pm? Opal maybe? (yummy).

Jean

What's more important to you, the dinner in SB or seeing the Getty? Are you very interested in art or just want to see the Getty that you've heard about?

Although the Getty collection is enormous, the exhibit space at the Getty Center is small and what's on view at any time is a within a narrow scope. Which is not to say there aren't interesting exhibits and displays from the Getty collections to see in a beautiful and unique setting (with great views), but, to give some perspective, the Getty's garden area is larger than the gallery space. Unless the Getty is really important to you, I'd skip it and head to SB. And I'd drive the coast from LAX.

Jean

If you decide to see the Getty Villa instead (per tracy2cents' suggestion), you'll need a timed parking reservation which could be tricky since you don't know exactly what time you could get there. You might investigate what kind of 'grace period' the Getty Villa allows for the parking reservation time.

easytraveler

This is strictly my two cents,

BUT

I wouldn't miss the Getty Center, particularly if you like art and architecture. It's worth visiting just for the architecture alone.

As for the Getty Villa, yes, it's worth visiting if you have to miss the Getty Center. However, the traffic out there may not be any better. Recently, I had to call a relative of mine who works in the Malibu area - it just so happened that Obama was in town for a fundraiser and the traffic was backed up even in Mailibu, so, depending on what's happening the day of your arrival, traffic could be just as bad in Malibu as in Santa Monica.

I'm with Jean on this: what's more important to you, dinner in SB or visiting the Getty Center/Getty Villa?

JulieVikmanis

As Adam Gopnik would say, "the table comes first." However, in this case I'm thinking I have a shot at it all. Here's my plan:

1) figure out how to get "fast speed exit" (I'm working on that right now but it looks like it may not apply to reservations made before you sign up for it, so I'll need to get that fixed.)
2) high tail it out of the airport asap and head for the Getty Center
3) walk around the center paying primary attention to the architecture and the gardens, spending about an hour or less, grabbing something quick at their cafe--no sit down
4) get on the coastal road (Hwy 1) as quickly as possible --ideas for how to do that gratefully accepted
5) Hwy 1 all the way to Santa Barbara
6) Change dinner reservations from 7:30 to 9 p.m. --tough for us having started 3 hours earlier which will make 9 seem like midnight, but if you're going to have it all you need to make sacrifices
&) Now checking Opal to see if we'd prefer it to Stella Mares where we're booked. If so, cancel our reservation at latter and book at Opal.

Apparently this plan could go wrong at almost any point, but at least we can try to make it work. If anyone sees a serious flaw already please let me know. If not, we're set to try it. My thanks to all of you who provided such useful guidance. I'll let you know what happens.
6)

PeaceOut

Why do you need to be in Santa Barbara for dinner? Can't you slow down, enjoy the Getty Center for more than ONE hour, eat dinner someplace at the water on your way to Santa Barbara? What's the rush?

There are great restaurants with ocean views on your way. We frequently go to the Charthouse Malibu for its great views, food and reasonable prices.