Carmel Valley
One San Francisco pizzeria has been firing pies in its original wood-burning oven since 1935. That oven has outlasted generations of diners, and I love that it still does its job. The longevity streak doesn’t stop there. In California, you’ll find singing waiters serving pasta, a family market slicing deli...
Every fall, while Americans argue over the best way to cook turkey, the real star of Thanksgiving sits quietly on the dessert table, waiting to be smothered in whipped cream. For many, stuffing a wedge of pumpkin pie or three down your pie hole is an essential part of the third Thursday in November. More pumpkin pies than poultry are eaten during this culinary holiday — 50 million pies versus a mere 46 million turkeys. While some consider a confection made from squash controversial, pumpkin pie fans far outweigh the naysayers. It’s the most popular holiday pie, beating out apple and pecan by double digits.
I have a few beefs with In-N-Out Burger (bun intended), but I, like so many with ties to California, grew up eating here. Founded in Baldwin Park in 1948, the fast-food chain feels like it's woven into the fingerprint of the Golden State at this point. And with generations of my mom's side born and raised in Southern California, it should be no surprise that it was a family tradition to eat at In-N-Out when we were visiting our loved ones. With these meals marking our gatherings, reunions, and Disneyland trips with everybody, In-N-Out Burger has never just felt like some random fast-food joint to me. It feels personal.
In-N-Out is almost every California resident’s favorite fast food chain, and for good reason. The chain’s consistency in serving up juicy burgers combined with stellar customer service ensures that any In-N-Out will be at least semi-packed with people at all hours of the day. One thing In-N-Out has...
Some of the best food finds in California hide behind plain signs, gravel lots, and humming deli cases that look like they have not changed in decades. Step inside one of these old-school butcher shops and you start to understand why so many families skip the big grocery chains. The...
California tri-tip has a funny habit of vanishing early. At some of the best barbecue counters in the state, the smokers start before sunrise and the doors close by mid-afternoon, so a late lunch can turn into a missed lunch. This list covers six spots from the Central Coast to...
The smell of fresh tortillas can ruin a perfectly good grocery list. You walk in needing tomatoes and onions, then suddenly you’re carrying enough tortillas to feed the entire neighborhood. Some Mexican markets in California take their tortillas seriously enough to dedicate entire production areas to making them. You...
One Thanksgiving feast on my list takes place inside a replica farmhouse beside an airport, complete with a military theme. Another restaurant has served roasted duck and whole lobster alongside traditional turkey. I love that kind of holiday plot twist. California restaurants clearly don’t treat Thanksgiving as a one-bird show....
Nov. 10, 2026—Owner Dania Alvarez was blown away by the response to the opening of Con Azúcar Café (“with sugar” in Spanish) in Santa Cruz this past weekend. For weeks, people had been knocking on the door to ask when it would open. On soft-opening day, a line stretched down the block, including people who traveled from Watsonville.
Pass the cranberry sauce as Thanksgiving dinner in Northern California is serving up something for every kind of table. The post Thanksgiving Dining in Northern California 2026 appeared first on Fabulous California .
A pilot program launched by CalFresh offers matching dollars to low-income California families on purchases of fruits and vegetables.
A California wine brand is writing a new playbook on getting Gen Z’s attention. But the wine industry might not like what it says.
California’s Gold Rush towns still have a few old saloons where you can grab a midday meal under the same roof miners once knew. Some of these buildings date back to the 1850s, and they still open their doors for lunch today. This list covers six of them, from...
Inspectors sent to check on California prison kitchens found rotten tomatoes, moldy peppers, spiderwebs and bug-covered fly traps at Corcoran, and moldy ceilings at Corcoran and California State Prison, Sacramento, along with equipment failures and missing utensils serious enough to raise security concerns. The findings come from an audit by the state's Office of the Inspector General, which examined food programs and services inside California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities.
Every November, a lot of Californians quietly accept that their turkey is negotiable but the pie is not. The trouble is that the best pies in the state often come from tiny towns, mountain hamlets, and roadside farm stands, and those places run out fast once Thanksgiving week arrives. This...
It opened to long lines and social media fanfare.
Every town has that one table where the same group shows up each morning, orders the usual, and settles the news of the day before most people are awake. In California, some of those tables have been claimed for so long that the regulars outlasted the menus, the paint jobs, and a few of the coffee machines.
At Beamz, find flavors such as olive oil and salted caramel and date cake and passion fruit toffee. Beamz, a new ice cream shop from LGS Studio’s Noel Hennessy, has landed in the Arts District at the Signal Shops. The design-forward scoop shop opened at the end of September with California-inspired ice cream and sorbet made in-house on an Italian Bravo Trittico, plus sodas and floats.
Leading Smoothie, Açai Bowl and Raw Juice Chain Steepens Growth Trajectory and Increases Nontraditional Store Count with Recent Openings in California and Arizona. , one of the nation’s leading açai bowl, handcrafted smoothie and raw juice chains for over 30 years, is thoughtfully investing in nontraditional growth opportunities. With a flexible footprint and streamlined operating model that accommodates a range of spaces, the brand is expanding access to its popular menu through travel centers, university campuses, convenience stores, military bases and other high-traffic venues. With many new locations under consideration and others already in development, including a planned location at one of the largest Air Force bases in California, Juice It Up! is leveraging a model designed for compact footprints, efficient preparation and a range of guest occasions.
