The Palace Grill

The Palace Grill in Santa Barbara has to be mentioned on this blog. They say that it's the best Cajun food this side of the Mississippi River, and it's definitely in my top 3 restaurants of all time. I've been there so many times, and I have NEVER had a bad experience, or tasted anything that came out of their kitchen that wasn't extraordinary. My family has a tradition of going to The Palace for birthdays. At first, we would go 1-2 times a year for my mom's, or mine, or whatever. Now, we go anytime we can - birthdays, dinner if we had someone visiting from out of town, or just because we were up in SB!

Details:
The Palace Grill

8 E Cota Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

tel: 805.963.5000

http://www.palacegrill.com/

I'm going to switch it up here and break my review down by groupings, since there is soo much to love about this place.

Bread: They serve the most amazing little muffins instead of bread. My favorite is the molasses walnut one.

Starters: They have a bunch of great appetizers, but the one I always get with dinner is the Cajun Crawfish Popcorn. My favorite, however, is one that they only serve with lunch - Flash Fried Artichoke Hearts. It's like little pieces of gold sent from heaven for your taste buds. Your Palace experience is not complete until you have had these.

Main Courses: My hands down favorite is the Blackened Filet Mignon. The filet is always cooked to perfection, and the flavors make your mouth water before they even touch your lips. Other faves include the Chicken Tchoupitoulas and the Jambalaya Pasta.

Desserts: This is not the restaurant at which you skip dessert. Even at lunch time. Their house dessert is the Louisiana Bread Pudding Souffle. It is out of this world. Order it with your meal, because they need time to bake up your own little souffle. They also have a Dark Chocolate Souffle, which we have tried. It's amazing as well, but we always go back to the bread pudding.

Coffee: They serve the classic New Orleans-style chicory coffee, as well as regular coffee AND espresso drinks. I always get coffee with our dessert here, because it just feels like it completes the dining experience for me.

Good for:

- Everything!

- Lunch

- Romantic dinners

- Flash fried artichoke hearts and bread pudding

Addy's Rating: 10/10!

Friends Cafe - Port Hueneme

I was a little hesitant to blog about this place, since it's one of our favorite places for breakfast and I almost wanted to keep it a secret... But it's out of the way enough that only true Ventura County-ers will go, so here you are!

Details:
Friends Cafe
429 E Port Hueneme Rd
Port Hueneme, CA 93041
tel: (805) 271-9641
Open for breakfast and lunch

There is a very beachy and family owned feel to this little cafe. It's small, but clean, and in the several times that we've gone, we've never had to wait for more than a minute or two to be seated. It can get crowded with familys later on the weekend mornings, but the food is worth it. Best Eggs Benedict I've ever had, perfectly poached eggs, perfectly toasted English muffin, and surprisingly fantastic hollandaise sauce. I was actually shocked that it was so good - the cafe does not seem like the place for gourmet Eggs Benedict, but there it was!

They also have decent "combos" and good omlets, and we have also enjoyed the breakfast burrito there.

Good for:
- Early morning breakfast
- EGGS BENEDICT
- Great coffee and tea

Addy's Rating: 9/10

Caffe Lucio - Santa Cruz

We had a really great dinner in Santa Cruz at this place called Caffe Lucio. It was awesome. Lucio is this wiry little Italian guy (that's him on their logo) who is just bursting with energy and so awesome to everyone who walks in. He greets everyone in Italian, and I automatically responded in Italian. He then seemed to take a liking to us, rambling on in Italian while putting his arm around my shoulder and guiding us to our table.

Details:
381 Soquel Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
tel: (831) 427-0164
Open for dinner
http://www.caffelucio.com/

We sat at the bar and shared Bruschetta di Caprino (bruschetta with goat's cheese and grilled marinated veggies), home made gnocchi with tomato sauce, and a thin crust pizza. It was amazing. If you are ever in Santa Cruz, you MUST go there. Everyone working there just seemed to be having a fantastic time.

The pizza cook was wearing this hilarious shirt that said "Free Chorizo" and had an arrow pointing down, and the couple next to us at the bar commented on it. The woman was all "Has your mother seen that shirt??" And the cook just laughed and motioned Lucio over, pointing to his shirt. It said "Half Man," pointing up, and "Half Horse," pointing down. Later, we saw Lucio's very pregnant wife sporting a shirt over her huge belly that said "Lucio JR" on it. Points for the humor and having fun!

I've read a couple reviews that mentioned having to wait - we didn't have this problem, and we went on a Saturday night when there was a college reunion dinner taking place as well. The reviews also mention it being loud and Lucio yelling at waitstaff - it was a bit loud, but we did not witness any verbal abuse. My take was that he was very typically Italian - vibrant and a little bit abrassive. The prices were on the higher side, but that's sort of to be expected at an Italian place in a town with a high volume of tourists.

Good for:
- Atmosphere
- Romantic dinners
- Group events
- GREAT home made gnocchi and pizza

Addy's Rating: 9/10

Acqua Al Due - San Diego

Details:
322 5th Ave.
San Diego, CA
tel: (619) 230-0382
Open for lunch & dinner
general site: http://www.acquaal2.it/
San Diego site: http://www.acquaal2.com/index.php

This place is probably in my top 5 restaurants in the world. There are two Acqua al Due restaurants - one in San Diego's Gaslamp district, and one, the original, in Florence, Italy. The one in Florence is located at 2 Via del Acqua... thus the name Acqua al Due ("two" in Italian).

They have the most amazing menu (yes, menu, not menus, it's the same menu in Italy or San Diego!) and my favorite by far is the pasta sampler. It's a sampler of 5 different pastas, and they are "chef's choice," so you get slightly different dishes each time you go. (No worries, though, the dishes are 90% vegetarian)

It's on the fancier side dress-wise, but it's not formal, and dishes range from $10 - $25.

Get the pasta sampler, the filet mignon marinated in balsalmic, and be sure to follow it up with the panna cotta (sublime) and the tirimisu. Amazing food, amazing staff, and amazing atmosphere = the perfect dining experience.

Addy's Rating: 10/10