# California holiday help, please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368 "2005-12-06T16:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/61 "2005-12-07T23:25:50Z")
**fetus** , the burger joint in OB you’re thinking about is Hodad’s. And yes, they are pretty damn awesome. Any food establishment you remember from about 5 years ago in PB is probably no longer there. Stuff cycles through that place like mad. Only a few anchors remain. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/62 "2005-12-07T23:26:08Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Left side, right side, doesn’t really matter–driving in LA is a bad idea unless you’re packing heat. I’m trying to maintain my good nature, but this is the sort of thing that really drives me up the wall. You’re making it sound as if life here is a battlefield and the whole area is one huge gang turf. For the enlightenment of all, please remember the following: LA /= Compton LA contains South Central, but is not co-extensive with it. You actually can go outside and not get shot, sometimes even in the places I just mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/63 "2005-12-07T23:27:06Z")
**Rick** , there’s a street running right by the water called Coast Highway. I guess technically it’s the 101, but it’s certainly not a “highway” by any means. To actually say that the 101 runs all the way south is, IMHO, a false statement. And to me, Coast Highway will always mean PCH, which is CA highway 1, not 101 anyway. Accept no substitutes! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/64 "2005-12-07T23:29:41Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > You’re making it sound as if life here is a battlefield and the whole area is one huge gang turf. FTR, I was referring to road rage, not gang activity; to the danger of being in a car on the freeway rather than a supposed danger of being outside. Looking at my post, I can see that I wasn’t very clear about that. I apologize. (I also was not being entirely serious, although in hindsight I could’ve used a smiley or two.) Oh yeah–and here’s another LA eatery–Tito’s Tacos. Haven’t the faintest where it is, or if it’s in the city proper, but them’s some of the best tacos you’ll ever eat. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/65 "2005-12-07T23:31:39Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > **Rick** , there’s a street running right by the water called Coast Highway. I guess technically it’s the 101, but it’s certainly not a “highway” by any means. To actually say that the 101 runs all the way south is, IMHO, a false statement. > > And to me, Coast Highway will always mean PCH, which is CA highway 1, not 101 anyway. Accept no substitutes! 🙂 I’ve never heard of Coast Highway. Unless you mean Pacific Highway, where is it exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/66 "2005-12-07T23:34:03Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’m trying to maintain my good nature, but this is the sort of thing that really drives me up the wall. You’re making it sound as if life here is a battlefield and the whole area is one huge gang turf. On the whole, I have to say that LA is, generally speaking, one of the safer cities I’ve lived in. Outside of certain well-publicized neighborhoods, I can park a car on the street with much less expectation of it being vandalized or stolen than most areas of, say, downtown Chicago, Philidelphia, DC, et cetera. It ain’t Portland, but it’s not Harlem, either. And while the traffic can be bad at times, it’s not New Jersey Turnpike bad. Heck, I’ve been stuck in worse traffic in Minneapolis than in LA. Now, San Bernardino, on the other hand…well, just don’t go there. But then, there is absolutely no reason you would in the first place. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/67 "2005-12-07T23:53:02Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > **Rick** , there’s a street running right by the water called Coast Highway. I guess technically it’s the 101, but it’s certainly not a “highway” by any means. To actually say that the 101 runs all the way south is, IMHO, a false statement. > > And to me, Coast Highway will always mean PCH, which is CA highway 1, not 101 anyway. Accept no substitutes! 🙂 Also, any visitor should keep in mind that PCH does not hug the coast all the way along. IN many places, it curves inland to become the main street of whatever small town you’re passing through. And in some places, it completely loses itself in the grid of these places, so that you have to follow the signs to stay on it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/68 "2005-12-08T00:04:53Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Oh yeah–and here’s another LA eatery–Tito’s Tacos. Haven’t the faintest where it is, or if it’s in the city proper, but them’s some of the best tacos you’ll ever eat. I mentioned it on the first page, post #33. 😉 To be fair, I’ve had better tacos. But Tito’s was one of my regular places. First of all, they’re pretty cheap. Nothing like a weekend with a couple of Tito’s tacos (with cheese), a cup of refried beans (with cheese) and the torilla chips they throw in! (I’d forego the salsa and eat the beans with the chips.) Tito’s is technically in Culver City, but it’s all L.A. There are two streets there, Washington Place and Washington Blvd. I could never remember which was which, so I remembered which one Tito’s was on by thinking ‘Tacos del Norte’. (i.e., it’s the Washington that’s north.) The cross street is Sepulveda. Easy freeway access, too. 😉 Washington and Sepulveda have three eateries on the southwest corner: One used to be called Lucy’s, but its name was changed a while ago. They have a much larger menu than Tito’s, but I would almost always go to Tito’s unless I wanted a specific burrito. Tito’s is next door to the West. Johnnie’s Famous Pastrami is next door to the South. I thought Johnnie’s was overpriced. If I wanted a pastrami sandwich I’d go to Sorrento Italian Market on Sepulveda a mile or two South. Gods, the smell of that place when you walk in! I’m not a big pastrami fan, but that’s the only sandwich I’d buy there. (Well, I’d get a meatball sandwich from time to time. I’d eat the pastrami and save the meatball for dinner.) Anyway: **Tito’s Tacos, Washington (north) and Sepulveda**. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/69 "2005-12-08T00:10:27Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Now, San Bernardino, on the other hand…well, just don’t go there. But then, there is absolutely no reason you would in the first place. Seeing as I can see SB from where I am… I totally agree. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/70 "2005-12-08T00:17:54Z")
**Johnny** with some of the best mexican food in the world in LA, why do you suggest that they go to some place as 2nd rate at Titos? 😕 Compared to some of the local places that are all over Southern California Titos is shit. Titos seems to be proof that with the right PR you can get people to think anything is good. About Johnny’s. The guy that owns Johnny’s always drives a high end car. Jag or a MBZ or whatever. It always seemed like whenever he got a new car, the prices on th menu went up. 🙂 I guess he had to make those car payments somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/71 "2005-12-08T00:22:47Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > **Johnny** with some of the best mexican food in the world in LA, why do you suggest that they go to some place as 2nd rate at Titos? 😕 You can get good Mexican food anywhere in L.A. But you can only get a Tito’s taco at Tito’s. 😉 Dude. It’s like Jack-In-The-Box tacos or Wienerschnitzel chili-cheese dogs. Ya just gotta. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/72 "2005-12-08T00:24:32Z")
But I don’t agree that Tito’s tacos are shit. The other two _are_ shit, but good. Tito’s tacos are good. Not as good as you can get in some little hole-in-the-wall, but good. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/73 "2005-12-08T00:26:37Z")
Don’t bother with Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH aka State Highway 1 aka State Route 1 aka “The 1”) south of Santa Monica. It’s not scenic enough to bother. For clarification regarding highway numbers and names: > [@California Streets & Highways Code section 301](#): > > 1. Route 1 is from: > (a) Route 5 south of San Juan Capistrano to Route 101 near El Rio. > (b) Route 101 at Emma Wood State Beach, 1.3 miles north of Route > 33, to Route 101, 2.8 miles south of the Ventura-Santa Barbara county > line at Mobil Pier Undercrossing. > © Route 101 near Las Cruces to Route 101 in Pismo Beach via the > vicinity of Lompoc, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Guadalupe. > (d) Route 101 in San Luis Obispo to Route 280 south of San > Francisco along the coast via Cambria, San Simeon, and Santa Cruz. > (e) Route 280 near the south boundary of the City and County of > San Francisco to Route 101 near the approach to the Golden Gate > Bridge in San Francisco. > (f) Route 101 near the southerly end of Marin Peninsula to Route > 101 near Leggett via the coast route through Jenner and Westport. > (g) (1) The commission may relinquish to the City of Dana Point, > the portion of Route 1 that is located within the city limits of that > city and is between the western edge of the San Juan Creek channel > overcrossing and the city limits of the City of Laguna Beach, upon > terms and conditions the commission finds to be in the best interests > of the state, if the commission and the city enter into an agreement > providing for that relinquishment. > (2) A relinquishment under this subdivision shall become effective > immediately following the County Recorder’s recordation of the > relinquishment resolution containing the commission’s approval of the > terms and conditions of the relinquishment. > (3) On and after the effective date of the relinquishment, that > portion of Route 1 so relinquished shall cease to be a state highway. > (4) For portions of Route 1 that are relinquished under this > subdivision, the City of Dana Point shall maintain within its > jurisdiction signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route > 2. > [@California Streets & Highways Code section 635](#): > > 1. (a) State Highway Route 1 from Las Cruces to San Francisco > shall be known and designated as the “Cabrillo Highway.” > (b) State highway routes embracing portions of Routes 280, 82, > 238, 101, 5, 72, 12, 37, 121, 87, 162, 185, 92, and 123 and > connecting city streets and county roads thereto, and extending in a > continuous route from Sonoma southerly to the international border > and near the route historically known as El Camino Real shall be > known and designated as “El Camino Real.” > © State Highway Route 1 from south of San Juan Capistrano to > near El Rio shall be known and designated as the “Pacific Coast > Highway.” ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/74 "2005-12-08T01:02:55Z")
The Coast Highway I’m referring to in San Diego runs through the northern part of the county. Like Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, Del Mar, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rhinocerous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f14d63/32.png) [@Rhinocerous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhinocerous)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/75 "2005-12-08T01:17:25Z")
I live on the Ocean Front Walk in Venice, CA. I have visited San Diego, and LA is way more fun. There will be traffic, but if you plan it right you can minimize the pain (i.e. don’t travel very far at all during rush hour, avoid the 405 Freeway as much as possible). If you go to LA, you have to visit Venice. It’s pretty cool, and the best part is that once the novelty wears off (seen enough freaks, bought enough hemp necklaces and imitation sunglasses, Bob Marley t-shirts) I could direct you to a few cool places I’ve found now that I’m a local. If you walk a few blocks inland, there is a drag called Abbott Kinny that has my favorite tapas restaurant “Primitivo” and my favorite bar “The Other Room.” None of which are worth travelling for specifically, but if you’re in the area you should check out. Just north is Main Street, with amazing bars and restaurants, and leads into Santa Monica, with the same, including the 3rd Street Promenade, which has cool break dancers and street performers. Also, when you go to Hollywood, there are alot of bars off the beaten path worth checking out, like Beauty Bar and Star Shoes. The Getty is awesome, when I was there, I stumbled into a Rembrant exihibit (didn’t know it was going to be there . . . it was amazing). Then there is Malibu, which is northwest of the LA beaches. You can watch some awesome surfers and drink cocktails right on the water at Dukes. Don’t waste your time with the Tarpits, they are boring and there’s nothing near them to make it worth the trip. There’s nothing to see north in the San Fernando Valley. Overall, my opinion is that an LA trip should include Venice, Santa Monica, and Hollywood, and Malibu. If you’re interested in any of the above places, I’d be happy to find links (out the door at work or I would have done it already). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/76 "2005-12-08T01:19:55Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Dude. It’s like Jack-In-The-Box tacos or Wienerschnitzel chili-cheese dogs. Ya just gotta. 😃 I hear you. The monkey can be a fierce master. But sometimes, usually at 3am, only a Jack taco will do. Sad, really. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/77 "2005-12-08T01:51:36Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > The Coast Highway I’m referring to in San Diego runs through the northern part of the county. Like Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, Del Mar, etc. Ah, that’s why I’m not familiar with it. I don’t spend any time up there at all. As far as I’m concerned, there’s really nothing in North County worth seeing unless you live there, maybe with the exception of the performing arts theater they have up there, which I haven’t been to yet. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/78 "2005-12-08T01:53:29Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > The Coast Highway I’m referring to in San Diego runs through the northern part of the county. Like Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, Del Mar, etc. [This website](http://www.gbcnet.com/ushighways/US101/) says that “Pacific Highway” refers to Old US 101 in the San Diego area. In fact, some of Pacific Highway is still intact in dowtown San Diego. It is now a street called Pacific Highway and runs parallel to I-5 to the west. I have driven on that street many many many many times and never knew that. Great stuff! It used to head up along the I-5 alignment on the eastern shore of Mission Bay, cut west on what is now Grand Avenue, then north on Mission Blvd., La Jolla Blvd., Torrey Pines Road, Camino Del Mar (in Del Mar), and what is now Old US 101 through Solano Beach and up to Oceanside. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/79 "2005-12-08T02:04:27Z")
A note to foreign visitors: For the sake of all that is holy, unholy, or indifferent… Don’t go to Taco Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368/80 "2005-12-08T03:37:14Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > The 101 goes that far south? The 101 joins Interstate 5 in East LA, and I was unaware of it ever leaving it again. The southern terminus of 101 is by Hollywood. It used to go all the way to San Diego before I-5 was built. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-holiday-help-please/334368.md?page=5)