Will be vacationing in San Diego for a few days in late August. Staying at the Hyatt in the Gas Lamp District. Any suggestions for good sea food dinning or lunch that will not break the bank?

Lou and Mickey's is awesome, but that will break the bank.

Some people like the Fish Market which is a good walk. I think their grilled fish is very ordinary, unless you are just going for chowda and sour dough bread. Their sushi I think is pretty good. Lovely views of the bay.

Some friends of ours love Sally's. That is a restaurant in the Hyatt. Will break the bank I believe.

If you have a car, drive about 15 (?) minutes to Point Loma Seafood in Point Loma. Excellent bargains on the freshest fish. You can eat it right there at their picnic tables on the dock. Their crab sandwich is to die for.

Also Old Town has Cafe Pacifica. Great seafood and very interesting preparations. Nice, cozy place. If you don't have a car you can get there by trolley. It is 8 stops away, I believe. Old Town also has a lot of Mexican restaurants, but they are very popular and have long waits on the weekends in the evenings.

Gaslamp has a thousand restaurants. Most of them good, if not great. Wonderful Italian. Your concierge can help you as well. That is how we found Lou and Mickeys. It is an East coast looking place, very sophisticated, great steaks and seafood, wonderful martinis.

But good food is everywhere in San Diego.

Heavens: Just to piggy-back on this thread, I may be heading down your way to visit friends who live right on Balboa Park (condo-- great views!), and I'm yearning for good seafood in the Balboa Park/Hillcrest area. Anything REALLY out-of-the-park great in those areas for fin fare? Thanks in advance!

Hillcrest has good sushi, Sushi Itto is from Mexico City, I think, and very good. There are some others. Hillcrest is mostly neighborhood type restaurants, is my experience. Good not great. But I don't spend much time in Hillcrest.

In Balboa Park is the Prado. Very intersting menu. I have not eaten there, but others really seem to like it. It is southwest type menu, but they might have some seafood.

The Fish Market is better upstairs, the Top of the Market, and you can make reservations up there. Try to get a table outside (well, it's not actually outside, it's all glassed in, but you're right next to the water). In the Gaslamp, try Blue Crab Coastal Cuisine. Neither is particularly inxpensive. Point Loma Seafood is always good and is inexpensive.

3rd Corner in Ocean Beach and the near world class George's at the Cove in LaJolla.
M

Sorry, www.sandiegomagazine.com
August issue has "annual" restaurant reviews.
M

One note about the fishmarket, the upstairs section is a little nicer and I think you have to wear a coat. Downstairs is alright and I've been there a couple of times but I just didn't think it was as good as it's been talked up to be. The food tasted fresh, just nothing really excited me.

No coat required, just a collared shirt.

I wasn't entirely sure, we showed up in jeans and tee shirts and wanted to go upstairs but decided to eat downstairs.

Tee shirts are not OK, but polo-type shirts are fine.

Barbara,
Did you mean Blue POINT Coastal Cuisine in the Gaslamp?

We just returned from San Diego and had a wonderful meal at Lou and Mickey's. My son wanted to eat somewhere with Crab Legs and our concierge recommended Lou and Mickey's. We knew going in that the crab legs were going to be expensive, but we always seem splurge on a couple dinners when we're on vacation. We had appetizers, salads, 4 entrees (1 order of crab legs, 2 filet mignons, and a white fish-can't remember what exactly), 2 desserts and 1 mixed drink. Our bill was about $250 with tip. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your help. The wife and I are both sea food lovers stranded in Michigan which for a short time will be fat and happy!

Malvado, yes, indeed I did. Thanks for noticing that. I was so tired yesterday that, although I knew something was wrong with that name, I just couldn't figure out what it was!

No problem, Barbara. Just hoping you were not recommending the Blue Crab, which I believe was that horrible place by Shelter Island that thankfully shut down a few years ago.

My vote is for Blue Point also.