What is Salinas like?
 

We can get a reasonably priced room in Salinas in August - we plan to go to the historic races at Laguna Seca, and everything in Monterey/Carmel is sold out. What is Salinas like? Any good restaurants there?

It's not Monterey or Carmel but it's the most convenient if you're going to the races... just about a 10 minute drive from the track. (I grew up there many years ago and have not been back for awhile.) I don't have any specific recommendations for you, except that the part of town you choose will make all the difference. It's close enough that you can certainly drive in to Carmel or Monterey for dinners.

Where are you staying in Salinas? There are really some areas that you do not want to be in. The Marriot hotels off of 101 are ok. They are very close to the town's chain restaurants, Applebee's, Outback, Chevy's, Marie Calendar's and IHOP.

To get away from the chain restaurants consider Gino's for Italian food, on the left on Hwy 68 as you are returning to Salinas from the races. Further down Main Street some other good choices include Hullabaloo's, The Fish House, and The Brewery. Next to the Brewery is a good breakfast spot called First Awakenings.

I can second the reommendations for Gino's... delicious!

Salinas is an agricultural community, the dirt is so rich there that it appears black. Lots of farmers, lots of farm workers. Salinas is home to the largest rodeo in California in July and also the birthplace of John Steinbeck. If you have any interest, you can have lunch and a tour at his boyhood home.

We would be staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Salinas. I love Italian food, so thanks for the recommendation for Gino's.

Brush up on your Spanish.

Curious

As others have said, Salinas is ok. It is convinient to the races and has the Steinbeck center. It is really a very large town without a lot else to draw tourists. Agriculture is big there. Chain restaurants are easy to find, have to dig a bit deeper for the non-chain places.

I don't know if you have used Priceline, but the Marriott in Salinas is the 2 1/2* property that comes up. You may be able to save some money by bidding. (It's the only 2 1/2* so you will know which hotel you are bidding on.)

The Steinbeck Museum is really interesting. Near there, is Sangs Cafe and First Awakenings. Both good for breakfast and lunch. I'm not that familiar with the accomodations there.

There are good and bad parts to Salinas. I used to own a hotel reservations service and people would call and tell us how they found a cheap room just off of 101. Salinas can be a very dangerous place if you stay in the wrong areas. I would stick to some of the newer facilities like the two Marriotts and the Best Westerns. If it sounds too good to be true (price range compared to other places), it probably is.

A couple of months ago we stayed at the Best Western Salinas Valley Inn & Suites. It is conveniently located, right off 101. We took a suite, so we had a sitting room in addition to the sleeping area. It is not an upscale place, but it is clean and comfortable.

I sure wish we'd known about Gino's or some of the other places mentioned by lisa. We ate at Outback for a not particularly memorable meal.

We were somewhat disappointed by the Steinbeck Center. It seemed to be a huge advertisement for agriculture and movies produced from Steinbeck's writing, with only a bit about his life. I had hoped to see manuscripts, or something... The center is really "showy" and commercial. They do have a wonderful selection of books in the gift shop.

We ate at Outback our first nite just because it was right there and we were starving. Then the next two nights, we ate at Gino's. It was excellent (that's why we went back again after our first dinner there). I highly recommend it. We really only used our hotel room at the Res. Inn to sleep so it worked out fine.

Glad Gino's came through! :) I used them to cater a bridal shower luncheon a few years back and I can still remember that I ate wayyyy too much!