Pajaro
California gets plenty of hype for tacos and avocados, but its deli scene? Underrated. We’re talking pastrami piled sky-high, crispy rye, and Reubens that make portion control look like a bad joke. One legendary Los Angeles deli has been serving hot pastrami since 1947. The sandwich became a hit...
The baking skills behind Wind Chime Foods’ granolas and sourdough flatbreads trace back to one of owner Ann Fata’s earliest memories: cooking up a box cake with a classmate for her pregnant third-grade teacher. But the breakthrough came through a little advice from her grandmother. “She was into...
Weebly co-founder Chris Fanini saw something worth saving in a California roadside stand with more than a century of history. After the business changed hands, his hospitality group spent about a year restoring the property and preparing it for a new chapter. The location first welcomed travelers as a root...
When most of California is asleep, a whole other crowd is just clocking in or heading home. Nurses, bakers, airport crews, and delivery drivers all need fuel, and for generations a lot of them have found it in a pink box. The shops on this list keep the fryers going...
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.
One California bakery sells its cookies in tubs, and those tubs have become famous enough that people plan trips around them. Then I found a shop baking cookies that taste like pancakes, bacon, and maple syrup. Another bakes for just one day a week, on Sundays, up in the mountains.
A familiar restaurant name is facing a business setback. Cerca Trova Restaurant Group, a major Outback Steakhouse franchisee, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it struggles with rising costs, declining customer traffic, and substantial debt. The company has pointed to higher food and labor expenses and weaker guest traffic...
Baba’s Hot Chicken is planning three more restaurants in California, with Irvine, Roseville and Napa on the list. The Riverside-born chain is joining a state where other fried-chicken brands are…
Some of the best meals in California hide behind doors you would walk right past. You expect a quick plate of fried fish, and instead you find crispy snapper, warm hush puppies, and a family that treats you like a cousin who finally came home. When a beloved little kitchen...
Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery is on the market. Known nationally for his cioppino—and for beating celebrity chef Bobby Flay in a “throwdown”—Phil DiGirolamo opened the popular restaurant in 1982 in Moss Landing, moving to a historic downtown Castroville location in 2022. DiGirolamo also listed...
Once solely focusing on cuts of pork and beef from well-known purveyors, including Stemple Creek Ranch and Niman Ranch, along with Mary’s organic chicken and Schwarz sausages, the newly expanded and renamed Carne in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Live Oak is making visitors’ keto-inspired dreams come true.
After months of delays, Oakland barbecue institution Everett and Jones has opened its long-awaited Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant in San Francisco.
One legendary pastrami in California gets steamed for about three hours before anyone slices it by hand. That is longer than most delis bother with, and I love that kind of stubbornness. Another counter on this list has been slicing Italian cold cuts since 1896. A third still builds a...
California has a Basque food tradition that many people have never heard about, and it is one of the most fun ways to eat in the state. Basque immigrants came to work as sheepherders, and the boarding houses that fed them grew into restaurants where food arrives in big shared bowls.
California has one of the biggest fast food cultures in the country, with major chains, drive-thru habits, and regional loyalties shaping what people order. Since no readable source was provided for a verified top-five ranking, this is an evergreen look at five chains that are widely tied to California fast food preferences. In-N-Out Burger stays…
Most great discoveries don’t announce themselves, and Annabelle’s Chocolate Lounge in El Dorado, California is proof that the best things are often the ones you have to go looking for. It’s a handcrafted chocolate lounge sitting quietly in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and it is absolutely worth the...
CALIFORNIA STATE – California is introducing new nutrition requirements for children’s meals at major restaurant chains, and the changes could mean healthier choices for families ordering at drive-thrus and restaurant counters across the state. Under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on September 28, 2026, large...
Ready to explore magical wineries in California that look like they belong in a storybook?. These 8 wineries offer stunning scenery and incredible wines worth discovering!. 1. Castello di Amorosa (Calistoga) There are places you visit, and then there are places that genuinely take your breath away the moment you...
