Redondo Beach, Not Just Your Surfers Here

Visit the beach and King Harbor, eat at cool restaurants, and shop! There are many spas and salons here as well. You must check out Rivera Village. This is the artsy part of Redondo Beach. You will find a lot of good restaurants in this area as well as spas and galleries.

Quick Tips:

South Bay is home to a lot of ethnic cuisine. You can sample everything from Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Peruvian, Brazilian, Hawaiian, Samoan, the list goes on and on. If you're adventurous, you can sample a lot of foods in very little time. Check the internet if you have access. You can find reviews on the various pages (Zagat, Gayot, Citysearch, etc.).

Best Way To Get Around:

Walk to the places that are close by, drive everywhere else. There are buses that run, but considering that most people drive, they don't run that often. Cabs are available, too, but you will have to call a cab. This is not New York. Cabs will be expensive. Try Bell Cab (1-800-999-9977) or call around for the cheapest fare from the phone book in your hotel room.

I booked this place for a friend who wanted a place near the beach. You can easily walk from door to sand in under 10 minutes. The beach is literally less than three blocks away. It used to be a Travelodge, but now it is independent of the motel chain. It's clean, but doesn't have much in room amenities. I mean, it's a motel! But it's a very clean motel, and I would book this place for anyone who needed to stay in the area. It's also not that far from LAX (only eight miles), so it's very convenient. I have stayed in hotels that are just as nice as this motel, but one thing that those hotels do not have is the proximity to the ocean. Here is the web site for the Redondo Pier Inn.

Since I live near the beach, I tend to eat healthy foods. It's because I'm in a swimsuit more often than landlocked folks, and I can't afford to show any extra pounds.

The Good Stuff is a chain of restaurants around the LA area. The first to open is the West LA burger joint, followed by the place in Hermosa Beach. Then the owners opened the one in Manhattan Beach, followed by the restaurant in Redondo Beach. There is another one opening in El Segundo in the spring of 2004.

The first time that I visited, I ordered a grilled fresh salmon sandwich with a side of pineapple coleslaw. The sandwich was extremely bland as was the coleslaw. My sister decided on the tuna sandwich, which was also as bland as the salmon sandwich. Healthy doesn't have to mean tasteless, so although I was not pleased with my food, I decided to give them another try.

On my second visit, I ordered a California Wrapp, which had turkey, avocado, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tomato, wrapped in a spinach tortilla. It was on the bland side, but if you dipped it in the ranch dressing, it was OK. I decided to order a side of chicken-lime soup. It was similar to the Mexican tortilla soup, although it was the healthier version. I was pleased with this particular dish. I will definitely go back and try another dish. I do not think carnivores will be happy with this place. This is probably best for vegetarians or those who prefer health food like me. Their website is here.

Chez Melange is in the Palos Verdes Inn and is one of LA's top restaurants. There is a culinary school next door associated with this restaurant. There is also a café in Palos Verdes Estates called Chez Allez. The owners of Chez Melange are Michael Franks and Robert Bell. They come out to greet the clientele and see how their meal is while they are dining. The atmosphere was very romantic, dim lighting with tea candles at each table. The dining room is a bit cramped. There are tables close by, so you don't want to talk about private things here. Others will be able to hear your conversation.

This restaurant serves a hybrid or fusion of continental cuisine with Asian influences. The menu changes daily, but one thing that will never go off the list is the meatloaf, which was voted best in LA by Elmer Dills, a well-known restaurant reviewer in the LA area. There is an unusual item on their menu, rabbit. I have never had rabbit, but I wasn't adventurous enough to try it this time. I probably will next time.

I ordered a roasted beet salad to share with my friend. It had mission figs, walnuts, goat cheese, watercress, all with a white wine vinegar sauce over it. It was very good and flavorful. My friend decided to go with the Alakan Halibut. I tasted it, and it was very nicely done. I went with the mixed grill, which contained lamb and beef grilled to perfection. There were baby white potatoes served with the meat, so it was very filling as well.

They have an extensive wine list, so you can find just the right glass of wine to pair with your meal. I ordered a glass of Sangiovese to go with my meal. My friend and I split a English sticky date pudding for dessert, which was very good. This is a restaurant that will leave you very satisfied and wanting to return. Our bill came out to over $100 since we had ordered an appetizer, wine, and dessert. Their web site lists their menus online.

Some people rave about Versailles. I prefer Havana Mania. They have spicier dishes than Versailles and have good prices. They have live music on the weekends, and Mojito Mondays, which is like a Cuban happy hour from 7pm-10pm with live music and all kinds of mojitos being served up. Tuesdays they roast a whole pig. They get great reviews, and I have always left the place quite satisfied with my meal. Their mojitos are pretty strong, too. There's nothing worse than a weak mojito. You can look at their menu online here.

The food is pretty much what I consider Californian cuisine -- fusion of Asian, Latino, Native American, and European cuisine with lots of vegetables and fruit. This is important because there are so many vegetarians in California! I like the grilled portabella on a bun, the grilled eggplant sandwich, and the charbroiled ahi. They have a copy of their menu on the Cheesecake Factory website.

Beware of the cheesecake! It's so rich, I have trouble sharing a SINGLE SLICE with someone else. Unless you're used to eating that kind of rich confection, make sure to split the slice with at least two people or go for something lighter.

Service is good. It gets crowded on weekends. There are lots of families and friends who like to do lunches on the weekends, so you will probably end up having to wait a while. They will give you a pager that will buzz you when your table is ready.

Cheesecake Factory is right next to a harbor. You can eat outside and look at the boats docked outside or eat inside. People like to eat outside, but it's really crowded. You'll be jostling elbows with your party or overhearing conversations from the next table as there is no music to drown that out. I prefer eating in unless I'm with someone who really likes eating out.

On cold days or nights, they light the heat lamps for the tables outside. The tables are not covered by tablecloths, so I am always careful to put my silverware on my plate or napkin.

Start a drive from Redondo Beach on Palos Verdes Drive and keep going all the way up to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. That one road will take you all over Palos Verdes. It hugs the cliffs so that you see an ocean view as you drive. Be careful, people have driven right off the cliffs as they gazed at the ocean glittering beneath those cliffs.

You can drive all the way to San Pedro if you want, and take a look at the Korean Friendship Bell, Fort MacArthur, or the San Pedro Pier. From San Pedro, you can take the Vincent Thomas bridge to Long Beach. Or you could stop at the Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes. It's a glass chapel made entirely of glass and wood; it's pretty and is booked solid for weddings. It's tiny--I think it holds only 50 people, so if you are thinking of having a huge wedding there, think again. It's also haunted, so you might want to visit it during the weekday when it's less crowded. You might even encounter a ghost.

Avenue C is where the last scene of the movie "Tequila Sunrise" was filmed. One of my friends actually watched the shoot when we were in high school. (One of the characters went to Redondo Union High.) You can see the "Baywatch" beach vehicles driving around during the day. No, "Baywatch" was not shot at Redondo Beach. (It was Seal Beach in Orange County.)

The beach is pretty crowded, especially if it's a really hot day. Try coming at less crowded times. If you come on a weekday at sunset, there are very few here. You and a few other diehards can watch the sun dip down into an orange and pink-tinged horizon. It's something you have to see if you haven't done it yet. At night, it's dark, but you can watch how the sand glows silver under the moonlight. It's a completely different atmosphere at night versus day.

If you want, you can wander over to the pier. There are a couple of late-night bars there. Live bands play at one of the bars on the pier. The beach at night is one of my favorite things to do. It's totally relaxing.

Redondo Beach is part of the South Bay, which is known for the large variety of ethnic communities that reside here. There are Polynesians, South Americans, and Asians, as well as others. You can find an Argentine market here, or a Korean market in nearby Torrance. You can find an Indian video store or a Peruvian restaurant. It's mind-boggling to realize how many different ethnic communities are clumped in a small region of L.A. called the South Bay, but it exists. Unfortunately, most people don't discover it unless someone points it out to them.