Hey Sushipup, I would recommend any of the following if you want something other than chain restaurants: George's Greek Cafe on Pine - standard Greek dishes, but very good quality ingredients and reasonably priced dinners La Creperie on Pine - Wonderful savory crepes. Good lunch option. I haven't been to this location as it's fairly new, but I really like the one in Belmont Shores, a couple of miles away. One option other than a taxi is the Passport Bus. It's a tourist bus rather than general service. It's free if you're riding around downtown (if you want to go from Pine Ave down to The Pike or the LB Aquarium for instance), and it's really inexpensive to go down to Belmont Shores (only 2-3 miles from downtown LB) which is, in my opinion, a much nicer area to walk around in. The area is comprised of three long blocks along 2nd Street with nice shops and restaurants. The Passport bus stops right at the far end of the street, and you can walk down one side then back and be at the bus to go back to downtown Long Beach. In Belmont Shores, I would recommend: La Creperie - same owners as the one on Pine Ave. George's Greek Cafe - same owners as the one on Pine Ave. Cafe Gazelle - very tiny (maybe 8 tables?), great food, reasonably priced, you'll feel like you're in Italy, but if you're claustrophobic, don't go. Sweet Jill's - bakery with GINORMOUS portions with offerings like cinnamon buns, cheesecake, brownies One other recommendation that not many people seem to know about... About one mile away is the Long Beach Art Museum. It's a small museum in an Arts & Crafts building with a wonderful indoor/outdoor patio cafe for breakfast or lunch. It's a little pricey ($12-15) but the food quality is wonderful and the setting overlooking the ocean is gorgeous. In that one short mile, you get away from the intense downtown urban feel. (The Passport bus has a stop right at the museum, or if you are a beach walker, there is a walking path / bike path that heads along the beach East. It's about 1-1/2 miles) A note about King's Fish House: We recently went and we were a bit disappointed. The restaurant seemed more run down and the waiters seemed young and inexperienced. It seemed more "chain restaurant-like" than I had remembered. The fish quality was very good, however. One option if you do go here, is they have a casual bar side of the restaurant - same great seafood, but more relaxed and a good place for lunch for seafood chowder, etc. Hope this helps. Ann Here is a link that might be useful: Passport Bus

Alisande, my sister and brother-in-law were in Petaluma recently with another couple, and they stopped in at the Petaluma Pie Company. Your friend wrote, "Nope. Uninteresting crust and even worse fillings." My sister, brother-in-law, and their friends all loved it. --------------- One place at which we ALWAYS have dinner when we're in wine country is Rustic, Francis's Favorites. It's inside the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville, which is in Sonoma County. (The tasting room is open until 6:00 p.m., but the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.) You can ask for a table on the patio, or you can dine inside. Even though it's in a winery, there is a full bar. If you click on my link to the restaurant, above, you'll see a button to click on for the Menu, which will pop up. (And then you will see links to the children's menu and drinks menu, as well as a link to download a PDF of the menu.) I do know that some of the items are only available on certain days (for example, in the center section [Francis's Favorites], the Braciole with Rigatoni in Meat Ragù is only available on Sundays. Reservations are recommended if you'll be having dinner, especially on a weekend. And it's a fun winery to visit, too. All of Coppola's awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.) are there, as well as the Tucker car from the movie, the desk from the Godfather movies, etc., etc. And, they sell a bunch of great stuff (love, love, love their pasta bowls). This post was edited by Lindsey_CA on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 2:23

I haven't been there in years, but it was very nice, and still top rated...Bee & Thistle Inn about 15 min outside of New London if you're looking for elegant. http://beeandthistleinn.com/ You can check out CT magazine reader's choice too. https://patch.com/connecticut/newlondon/connecticut-magazine-ranks-top-restaurants

DH and I are not sushi enthusiasts. The last time I had Korean BBQ was in Hong Kong on my honeymoon with XH. I loved it! Thanks, Lars. Pizzeria Mozza and Neighbor both look good. I don’t think I’d get DH to an Ethiopian restaurant. He will not touch his food with his hands (yep, he’s the guy eating pizza with a knife and fork) and he’s not a fan of “exotic” food.