diphthong

i know things are a little off and some places may have closed permanently or have changed hours with covid-19 protocols but what is/are your favorite grog and/or grub spot(s)
when you're riding out and about in socal? coffee/donut/pastry places? beer and burgers? tacos? bowls? pizza? noodles? vegan? bbq? sandos? fried fair foods?
whatever and wherever...name it here. is it a destination or is it a can't/shouldn't miss along a busy cycling corridor/path? do you go out of your way to hit it?
is it an occasional guilty pleasure? is it a once a year backup to the backup lunch spot because you can't be bothered to stop crushing a certain climb/segment? is it a place
you hit after your riding partner(s) split(s) off to avoid the absolute shame? is it historic and for good reason? some of these places will be obviously be cyclist-friendly with
big patios and/or easy to maintain visibility of the machine(s). this is also a guy that researched (and rode to) the last remaining two pioneer chicken stands left in a
once, massive franchise so we're not exactly talking fancy dining here.

i'll start with four:

tough for me to ride past the hat...known for their pastrami but have a huge menu. i've hit them in simi valley, greater la (alhambra multiple times) and out near lake elsinore.
not on any of my main routes in socal but seems to satisfy with their ridiculously-sized portions, decidedly not low-cal options and seemingly always
finding me in a state of indecisive weakness for lunch alternatives. did i already say huge menu?

another is lolita's mexican food in the san diego area-multiple locations. i would ride if only to burn off/flush the calories/cholesterol from their refried beans. people swear
by the california burrito or carne asada fries but i go with the #1 combo of the shredded beef tacos (no cotija) or the #5 chicken rolled tacos (guac vs sour cream) and a
small side of the refried beans (comes with some cheddar cheese on top).

yet another is pizza port...a few locations in san diego county (including carlsbad village and ocean beach-san diego) but they've got their southern orange county/san clemente
location on el camino real central to that main drag. fave, can't miss location is the og solana beach location on the coast highway across from the train station. great, own
brews along with usually at least 2-4 killer guest brews on tap. pizza slices are big, medium greasy and heavy on the oregano. their quintessential swami's ipa (west coast style)
is a perfect matchup with two slices of pepperoni. always a ton of cyclists riding past so plenty of opps to critique kits/bikes/positions/form/protocols.

up in the santa ynez valley, have hit the santa ynez billiards & café a few times. ne corner of edison and numancia a short distance north of ca hwy 246 (about a half mile west of
the 246/154 traffic circle). solid draft beers and a decent tri-tip sando. good spot to collect your energy before/after attempting to climb fig mtn and/or escape the valley via the 101,
dirty refugio or the 154.

what are your regular/irregular must-have's/can't misses?

Tycho Brahe 

I think one of the reasons why I have failed to find anyone to cycle with in 5 years in Los Angeles is the lack of facilities on the road. No place to congregate. There is nothing in the Santa Monica mountains (except for on the PCH), Hollywood Hills or San Gabriel mountains. The Cosmic Cafe at Mt Wilson is always empty and has been closed for over a year now. Baldy Village is too far from my area.

Can barely find water, let alone a place to eat.

CAT7RDR

Crystal Lake Cafe comes to mind as a destination place in the San Gabriel Mtns.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/crystal-lake-cafe-azusa

Tycho Brahe 

Crystal Lake Cafe is not a cyclist hangout. No place is, unlike other spots in the country.

CAT7RDR

How about the Mammoth Brewing Company? At least in the summer, that is a roadies and mtn bikers delight. Before the Wuhan Virus, my last trip up after coming back from the June Lake Loop, place was hopping with a lot of the aforementioned as patrons. Bikes parked outside of the patio area. Food was generous and tasty.

Elvo

Crystal Lake Cafe, Mt Baldy Lodge, Cosmic Cafe, Cinnamon Productions, Pain Du Monde

TGT1

Crystal Lake. The climb makes it the best burger ever, even if it's just because the tank is approaching empty at that point.

Proprietor is an interesting character and conversationalist.

And the Baldy Lodge makes for great incentive to keep the pace up since the to die for cinnamon rolls are usually sold out by 10:00

joesch

Through this week of winter storms in TX I have been doing a fair share of CA dreaming.
Thinking of long warm and easy coastal rolls doing my favorite trio activities, eating, drinking and cycling.
Riding to the brew pubs really makes these dreams.
Some of my choices would be Ballast Point, Stone Brewing, Karl Strauss, Pizza Port, Port Brewing Lost Abbey.
So many other good choices and ways to do a nice long pub hop trying to balance the food and beer for the best (and safest possible) riding experience. Maybe a designated draftee and/or support pickup would help

Wulf

Crooked Duck in Long Beach
Bagels and Brew in Mission Viejo
Bruxie in Orange

urbanknight

There are places frequented by cyclists (mostly cafes), but yes it seems they mostly meet on the internet or in clubs and then ride together from that. Water is a matter of knowing where to look (mostly public parks and businesses that have a built a reputation).

NeedARealBike

My favorite place was Ruby's at the end of the pier in Seal Beach. Got a photo of it with my film camera a few months before it closed. Moved shortly after. Burned down a couple years later. Never going to get to do that again.

I still remember the police station nearby on the PA telling people to walk the bike. I always parked mine in the bike zoo over looking the parking lot there. Lot's of space, lots of bicycle in summer. Was nice and relaxed riding around there compared to PCH. Even with the busy touristy roads there were plenty of residential backstreets and alleys to go through and slow speed main roads so never too much of an issue.

diphthong

have hit that one 3-4x on rides back to san diego from dtown la. always love riding on south on n. glassell into old town orange immediately after
hitting that particular bruxie across from chapman college.

CAT7RDR

^^^^^^Yeah, about three miles before the Crystal Lake Rd turnoff. Drank from it about four times without problems. Will probably bring a filter straw just in case a black bear has a sense of humor and answers the question, "Does a bear $#!^ in the woods?" E-coli and Giardia are no laughing matter.

Nachoman

Some appetizers and gourmet beer, at Stone Brewery in Liberty Station, is always quite enjoyable.

diphthong

wanted to hit the fatburger in redondo beach today but it was a little too early mileagewise in the ride...decided on trying the big ballast point
tasting room/resto on the southern end of long beach, just over the little bridge when the sgrt starts/ends and seal beach but there were like 35-40
people outside waiting for a patio table so no burger for me. held off on grub until i finally got to irvine spectrum area and hit the pf chang's there.
at that point, i was in the mood for their salty hot & sour soup and some spring rolls and it was only about a 5 min wait and they have a
pretty decent-sized patio. the irvine train station is about 1.5 miles away so i've hit it about 3x now before a train trip back home. good bathroom to freshen up in
but not much in the way of close places to lock up the steed and keep a watchful eye. was able to lock up right outside the front door but i couldn't see da bike.

joesch

Some of my old digs as I lived in Redondo back in the 80s.
I like stopping at the https://caltransit.org/about/50-year...ation-network/ because you can take a bike inside and I even take it into the bathroom so I dont need a lock. Nice easy ride from HB on SART.

diphthong

me too. love redondo.

that anaheim regional transportation building is impressive and handy.

diphthong

hit el barbecue at 25th/market near the sherman heights/golden hill/94 fwy interface (about a half-mile east of the edge of dtown san diego) for a beef brisket sando.
usually get the tri-tip sando but now i'll hafta make a tough decision (or get both on a century ride). place is small but convenient (for me) heading to/from
coronado or near the dtown san diego/balboa park area. no bike rack but you can lock your bike to the sturdy redwood (i think) patio fenceposts. beer selection
minimal (drafts are super cold tho-multiple visits confirm this) but they do have mexican coke.

joesch

This place would do well in SoCal https://www.tacosymas.com/ especially on Taco Tuesday when all on menu are $1.99
I had 3 diff fish and 1 brisket all pretty tasty and satisfying after my longest ride in the last few weeks.
Also an impressive selection of salsas
What are the SoCal versions (not Taco Bell

diphthong

the taco seems to be our preferred conduit of foodstuff consumption here in socal. seems like nearly every little neighborhood has at least one solid choice
if not more. you've got the street vendors, the old-school places and the newer places trying to maintain the balance between the tried/true and crazy newer
offerings. honestly, can't remember the last time i had a taco in socal that left me meh. it all seems to be pretty good and everyone seems to have their
multiple go-to's...not just one place. i will say it's harder to find a great pollo taco than carne asada, adobada, veggies or lengua. man oh man...those perfectly
sized street tacos double wrapped with the fresh tortillas tho...been about three years since i did a taco ride in the dtown la area...might be time to hit 5 different places
for one taco apiece, again.

joesch

Sounds like a good plan.
Another of my mex favs from SoCal is carnitas. Tx has TexMex which is very good but not the good variety of carnitas like SoCal.