As you can tell from the title, I will be sharing where and what I ate in L.A and San Francisco (with my sister and friend)! Whenever I plan a holiday, my first plan of action is NOT booking the tickets or accommodation (which is quite worrying as it should be) – it’s FOOD and WHERE I CAN FIND IT!

I spend hours on TripAdvisor, Instagram Tag Search, Google reviews and random blogs trying to find the best dishes, restaurants and food experiences in that city. After extensive research on where to eat in the L.A & San-Fran, we finally booked our tickets and all that was left was to get there and EAT EVERYTHING WE SAW. Which erm..didn’t quite work out as planned (I promise I have two good excuses!)

1. Firstly, the food portions for 1 person was really for 5 people – so after eating my 5 person meal, I mean 1 person meal the last thing on my mind was FOOD (surprisingly).
2. Secondly, the weather was out of this world hitting 40 degrees – all I could think of was getting WATER down my throat which just made my belly full.

Nonetheless, we still managed to hit some lovely spots in both cities which I have listed below and hope you get to try when you do visit L.A or San-Fran.

*In no way is this list a complete list of the best restaurants in L.A/S.F (as we did not eat at every restaurant) it is also not ranked in a specific order. It’s simply a list of some of the restaurants we visited and recommend you try.

1. Cheesecake Factory

4142 Vía Marina, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, USA

Cheesecake Factory was on the bucket list of restaurants to try and we managed to tick it off first. It’s a restaurant chain that serves a variety of dishes from sandwiches to burgers, and of course cheesecakes. It was on Marina Del Ray so we had a spectacular waterfront view whilst we were brunching.

What I ordered? Fried Mac and Cheese Balls with Marinara Sauce, Buffalo Chicken bites with fries, Strawberry Daquiri, & Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Fried Mac and Cheese balls were a new concept to me. I love Mac and Cheese so I knew I just had to try it! I’ll be honest, I did have my doubts as I thought it would be an oily mess! However, it was not oily at all – it was packed with so much flavour, the inside was so moist and creamy – just how I like my Mac and Cheese. The outer fried part was seasoned well and perfectly crisp! There was a SERIOUS celebration in my mouth.

Now, I’m sure there were over 20 flavours of Cheesecake on this menu ranging from Vanilla to Pistachio to Red Velvet Cheesecake. During the time of my travel, I was at a phase where I was obsessed with everything salted caramel so I already knew which flavour cheesecake I was going for. I’m not a dessert person (which you’ll often hear me say) simply because there’s never enough room for dessert and I find most desserts too sweet. However, this cheesecake did it for me – it was simply amazing! It had the right balance of sweetness and I could eat it without fear of my arteries clogging up.

2. Blu Jam Cafe

7371 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046, USA

Blu Jam Cafe is an all-day breakfast restaurant also serving various lunch items . After spending several hours searching through TripAdvisor, and reading plenty of food blogs – Blu Jam Cafe seemed to be one restaurant that everyone agreed on as must try restaurant. Also, a few celebrities have been sighted at this restaurant and if I’m not mistaken the Kardashians have brunched here a couple of times. So you never know, one day you might be lucky and bump into your fav Hollywood star over brunch (unfortunately, I didn’t come across any celebs).

What I ordered? I opted for the “Breakfast Trio – Three eggs any style, two classic pancakes with chicken apple sausage”.

I can’t be the only one who’s always stuck for choice when it comes to brunch. It’s always a tie-breaker between American breakfast, French Toast, or Eggs Benedict. When I chose one out of the three, I always make sure that the other person I’m dining with gets one of the other two so that I can taste it (they all hate me for this).

The Breakfast Trio was so delicious and filling! Before eating at Blu Jam, I never heard of chicken apple sausage in my life, so I was a bit sceptical. Chicken sausage? Apple in the chicken sausage? – what was the meaning of such combination? BUT I KID YOU NOT, despite the name it was remarkable! Better than the pork sausages we have in the UK!

3. Wing-Stop

Wingstop, 2201 W Rosecrans Ave, Gardena, CA 90249, USA; Wingstop, 3551 W Century Blvd #103, Inglewood, CA 90303, USA

Hands down, this was my favourite fast-food restaurant chain (I’m literally clapping my hands after each word). You know when you enjoy your food so much you start reading the ingredients and nutritional table on the packaging? My own enjoyment at Wing Stop was next level, I enjoyed the wings so much I went on their website to get information on how to set up a franchise business in my dreams (I was legit lost in the sauce).

So if you didn’t already know, Wing-Stop specialise in wings (of course), boneless wings and chicken tenders in a variety of flavours. They also have the regular sides like fries, vegetables, coleslaw and all that other good stuff. If you love chicken wings as much as I do – this is the place for you! I was impressed, almost made me a bit mad that I didn’t think of something like this before the owner did.

I remember being so spoilt for choice when I was ordering – you had to pick how many wings you wanted, the flavour you wanted, and then whether you wanted wings with bones, boneless wings or tenders.

What I ordered: Louisiana Rub boneless wings (Wouldn’t recommend it as it was too salty), Spicy Korean BBQ boneless wings and boned wings, Lemon Pepper Wings (favourite!).

4. Eggslut

Grand Central Market, 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013 Downtown

Eggslut is another delicious breakfast/brunch spot, where this time, Eggs are the star of the show. They specialize in breakfast-style sandwiches and known for their signature dish “The Slut” – smooth pureed potato topped with coddled eggs. I visited the EggSlut in Grand Central Market LA which is a large indoor food market.

I loved Eggslut’s simplistic décor and atmosphere. It almost mimics a bar area with bartenders making your drinks in front of you, except the bartenders are the amazing chefs cooking your slutty eggs in all its glory and you’re eating your meal on the “kitchen bar table” in front of them. It’s quite intimate, I like that.

What I ordered: Cheeseburger – ground angus beef, cage-free over medium egg, caramelized onions, bread and butter pickles, cheddar cheese, and dijonnaise in a warm brioche bun

5. Tacolicious

 1548 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133

Tacolicious is a Mexican eatery which mainly specialise in Taco’s. I’m a sucker for Taco’s, especially when the tortilla is freshly made. The restaurant itself was decently sized and quite cosy. Not long after we were shown to our seats, we were greeted with complimentary tortilla chips and salsa dip (free food = automatic brownie points). The tortilla chips and salsa dip tasted unbelievably fresh I could tell I was in for a treat with the Tacos (DELICIOUS free food = automatic brownie points X10)

What we ordered: 6 Tacos – x4 Traditional Carnitas and x2 Baja-style Pacific Cod

The tacos were quite pricey for the portions we received, but I must say that the flavour was spectacular and the flour tortillas were so fresh. I am not seafood fan, but the Fish tacos were the best out of the platter! Coming from someone who doesn’t really like Fish, you have to take my word for it!

6. Brenda’s French Soul Food Kitchen

652 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA

This picture is self-explanatory – I devoured my meal and whatever was left of my sister’s friend’s meal – it was amazing. Brenda’s is a Louisiana French Soul Food cuisine serving big hearty breakfast and wholesome lunches. The restaurant is known for their famous Crawfish Beignets (Beignets are deep fried breakfast pastries which are similar to Nigerian Puff-Puff/Hamburger Schmalzgebäck). I am ashamed to admit that I ordered a typical “American brunch” dish in a FRENCH SOUL FOOD KITCHEN (I know I know, I need to do better.) However, you’ll be pleased to know that I’m not a total disappointment as I did try the Chocolate Beignets which was really tasty.

What I ordered: Fried Chicken, Biscuits and Fries.

*The restaurant can get busy with waits of up to 20-30 minutes, so be sure to get there at a decent hour.

7. In-N-Out Burger

Anchorage Square, 333 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA

In the extremely loose words of the Notorious B.I.G… “If you didn’t know about In-N-Out Burger now you know!” (Well he didn’t say that exactly, but as I said “loosely”). In-N-Out Burger is a fast food chain restaurant similar to Five Guys and Shake Shack. The burgers are will leave you fully satisfied. The beef burger itself tasted so fresh and well seasoned,it also had that grilled taste to it, which usually does it for me! If like us you opt to do the Bike Ride from Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalitos (and like us, you get lost and a 1.5 hour journey turns into a 4 hour journey) the ferry from Sausalitos will drop you back to Fisherman’s Wharf, where the In-N-Out burger is about 5 minutes away from here and this meal will be WELL DESERVED

What I ordered: Double-Double burger with Fries

*The queue was leaving the restaurant and inside was overcrowded. This could be because it was right on Fisherman’s Wharf and it was around dinner time so everyone was ready to get their munch on. I’d advise you go to an In-N-Out that’s not right in the middle of a tourist attraction.

8. Mama’s on Washington Square

1701 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA

Mama’s on Washington Square is a family-run breakfast restaurant serving all sorts of breakfast items from French Toast to Eggs Benedict all day. First of all, their food is so amazing it creates a queue that will leave you waiting outside for about an hour (which if I’m honest is quite long but worth the wait). Secondly, their AMAZING customer service is not only found inside, but also extends to the queue of customers waiting outside with waitresses bringing you hot drinks to keep you warm outside. Thirdly, the food is delicious, I ate from everyone’s meal (as I do).

What I ordered: Mama’s Benedicts – Classic: Two poached Eggs with Hollandaise Sauce, Canadian Bacon and Mama’s Grilled Potatoes.

That’s all for now, so if you’re visiting L.A or San-Francisco make sure you try out one of these spots! Also, if you’ve been to these cities and know of any other “must-try” restaurants please share and comment below!