Restaurants in San Diego at end of December-HELP
 

My family of 6 adults (mom amd dad, 2 brothers and wives) will be spending 5 days in San Diego. Our last night will be New Year's Eve. We are staying at Embassy Suites; we have a car but hope to find a few restaurants within walking distance. We love fine dining and fish. We visited SD 2 years ago but never found a really great restaurant. Doesn't necessarily have to be a seafood restaurant, just needs to have some great fish on the menu. Any suggestions?? What about New Year's Eve? Are there any restaurants that serve a regular menu? The ones that I've seen have a prix fixe menu. Have we waited too late to make reservations?
Thanks for your help.
Cheryl

I would recommend the Fish Market (near the USS Midway) for seafood.

Try Blue Point Coastal Cuisine on Fifth Ave:

http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/restaurants/bluepoint/

No idea what they do on New Year's Eve, sorry.

Also, At the Fish Market, I prefer going upstairs to the Top of the Market. You can make reservations up there, but not downstairs.

bookmarking

Oceanaire in the Gaslamp..excellent seafood.
Also, love JSix at the Hotel Solamar. (Kimpton Hotel)
Grant Grill at the US Grant Hotel too.

www.gaslamp.org

1500 Ocean at the Hotel Del Coronado is very good, the Hotel Del is gorgeous when lit up for the holidays. Merry Christmas! ***kim*** ((*))

Which Embassy Suites--the one downtown or the one at La Jolla?

I would second Blue Point Coastal. If you venture out and explore, there is a restaurant in Encinitas called When In Rome. It's Italian, obviously, but the halibut I had there was fantastic. Jack's in La Jolla also had a great fish dish, I believe it was the seabass.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We are staying at the Embassy Suites downtown. Last visit we stayed at a great inn in La Jolla but we drove during the day to explore and had long drives again at night to the restaurants. We were hoping that by staying downtown we would be either within walking distance of the restaurants or at least a short driving distance. Has anyone eaten at Bertrand at Mister A? The view looks beautiful. Is the Hillcrest area close to Embassy?

We dined at Mr. A's for my birthday in February. Incredible views and great food. Believe it or not, they are famous for their macaroni and cheese. It was delish!

Dress warm, arrive early and have a cocktail out on the patio before dinner. You won't be disappointed.

ps. its a little hard to find the entrance...look for the lobby with the elevator.

Oceanaiire is a great choice as recommended by others. The chef, Brian Malarky was a contestant on Top Chef a few seasons ago. I also second Bertrand's at Mr. A's. very good and a view to die for. Chive in the gaslamp is also excellent as well as Grant Grill. I just tried a new restaurant this weekend in Point Loma that I liked a lot called "Roseville" They had a few fish dishes on their memu that looked good. Google San Diego Magazine, they have a restaurant edition that features all the top spots. I am sorry you didn't find a great restaurant in Sd a few years ago, the food scene here is really wonderfu. Market+Bar, Blanca, JDRN, Papplemouse etc. are all wonderful restuarants if you want to drive.

itsv..
You have great taste on your restaurants.
Chive is closed..
Have to try Roseville..
Betrand's is excellent and Market in Del Mar is exceptional!
Wife and I love going to Pamplemousse and Cavaillon.

So sorry you didn't find a great place 2 years ago. Here's a sure bet:

http://0044fcb.netsolhost.com/index.htm

Easy walk from the Gaslamp area.

ksucat,

Thanks for the compliment. When did tracy close chive? I attend a great fundraiser every year in Sept. for the Emilio Nares Foundation where about 30 chefs do tastings so it gives me a wonderful opportunity to taste some wonderful food in San Diego. I agree Market is my favorite right now and I always say yes to Pamplemousse.

I forgot about a new place from the fundraiser that was very good called Cowboy Star Restaurant and Butcher Shop. It is on 10th avenue downtown and I loved what the chef did. The name is wierd but the food is very good.

Also don't forget Restaurant Week is coming up so time to try some new places. I have heard nothing but good things about Cavillon and will put that on my list.