Thursday, July 23, 2009

Food, Glorious Food!

As I promised you in my previous post, I want to show you some of the wonderful places we were able to eat at while on our trip to Monterey. Our first stop was lunch at Casa de Fruita and as always, the food is very good. Good old diner food. Nothing fancy but great. Oh, don't forget to order dessert because they have some outrageous pies!

Our first dinner was at Louie Linguini's. They have Italian food but I always order the fish and chips. One thing I always try to do when booking motels is to get one that has a free breakfast. Even if it's something small it saves money and time as well. Redmond especially loves to go down and eat as many muffins as he wants.

Thursday we had a wonderful time exploring Old Fisherman's Wharf. Samuel and Redmond just love sea food.

Samuel eating shrimp.

Redmond eating his first of two cups of shrimp and clams with spicy cocktail sauce. Did I ever mention that he doesn't eat hamburgers or pizza or any kind of sandwich? He has a very sophisticated palate.



See what I mean about Redmond? We went to Domenico's on the Wharf for lunch. It's a really nice restaurant with marvelous views of the bay. He ordered a plank of all sorts of smoked fish. Not only a sophisticated palate, but an expensive one!


Thursday night we ate at one of our favorite restaurants in Monterey, Willy's. According to my husband, they have the best bar-b-que ribs of anywhere and he has eaten bar-b-que ribs from coast to coast and all over the South. There is nothing on the menu at Willy's that isn't great. From their brisket to the macaroni and cheese to the grits. Simply wonderful. Also, they have some of the best employees of any restaurant we've been in. A must if you visit the area. It's in Cannery Row next to the Imax Theater.



AAAhhhhhhhh, sweet bliss!!!




This is some serious food here! Check out that mac and cheese.



When we were taking the boys to the My Museum (see previous post) I noticed this bakery across the street. It is called the Paris Bakery. After the kids had played at the museum we all went over and ate. The baked goods are wonderful, such a great selection. They also serve lunch and have quite a nice selection of sandwiches, soup and salads. I had what they called a Paris Croissant(I believe I have the name correct). O - M - G !!!!! It was thin sliced ham and Swiss cheese on a croissant, covered with bechamel sauce (BECHAMEL SAUCE LADIES!!!) and heated. You Monterey-ites have it so lucky with this place. I would be there every single day if I lived in the area.


Sweety and I have decided that we want to go to as many of the featured restaurants on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives as we can. So on the way home we stopped at Duarte's in Pescadero, which is on the coast highway between Monterey and Half Moon Bay. Sweety ordered their Abalone Sandwich which is one of their signature dishes. He loved it. They are also know for their Artichoke Soup. I had high hopes for it, but didn't care for it at all. Just being real there folks.



After Pescadero we pulled into Half Moon Bay and spent the night. Then it was further up the coast a little ways to Pacifica. After Pacific it's just a hop, skip and a jump and you are in San Francisco. In Pacifica is another restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Gorilla Bar-B-Que. It's literally in an old train box car and is take-out only. They open at noon and people start lining up early. The hours are Wednesday through Monday from noon till sold out and closed on Tuesday. This is one serious bar-b-que joint!


If you happen to have been driving up Highway 1 in California last week and noticed two little boys sitting and eating ribs on a fence by a parking lot, it was Redmond and Samuel! Sweety and I were there too. Making pigs of ourselves eating pork.

There you have it folks. A sampling of some of the restaurants we ate at on our little adventure. Eating isn't all we do on vacation. But oh, what fun it is to find great restaurants!!

6 comments:

Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek Ramblings said...

These pictures are just too cute- we'll have to check out the "roadside eats" website.

Lynn

Dawn said...

The boys look like a couple of true "foodies". It's so wonderful that they get to spend so much time with you. They'll never forget these summer trips.
Dawn

PamKittyMorning said...

So was that the Paris Bakery in downtown Monterey or the one in Seaside/Sand City? We just found the S/SC one last week! Frankie and I go to the downtown one for coffee after the farmer's market. I love that place.

Mumzie said...

Oh, all that wonderful food, especially the ribs! The Hubs would love those ribs, I guess we'll have to check out some of these places. PS: You have two very handsome grandchildren. Thanks for sharing.

The Green Pea said...

You are having a wonderful summer with those two boys. At this rate they will be men in a few more weeks. There parents will not recognize them. The ribs look soooo good. Sandi

Lydia said...

Monterey is truly one of the treasures of the world to visit. Or live.