Sebastian Gibson's Top Southern California & Arizona Best Restaurants, Great Bars and Nightclubs

Salty Senorita, Scottsdale, AZ - Great outdoor area right on North Scottsdale Road with great appetizers, margaritas and a college scene that’s out of this world.  Get the little pot filled with melted cheeses for the chips and a large margarita and watch what comes in the patio entrance.

Los Olivos - Scottsdale, AZ - Scottsdale’s oldest Mexican food restaurant is still the best for food purists and their margaritas and chips and salsa are excellent also.  If you just want great Mexican food in Scottsdale, this is the place.

Mastro’s, Laguna Beach, CA and Scottsdale, AZ - A great, but small chain of unbelievable steakhouses in CA and AZ.  The best ones for meeting people are the ones in the Newport Beach/Laguna Beach area of CA and the new one just off of North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale.  Great steaks at each of them.

Scoma’s in San Francisco, at Fisherman’s Wharf - Everything is fresh and tastes great, but the Cioppino is to die for.

Old Town Mexican Café, San Diego - Best Carnitas and tortillas in California, next to the Restaurant at #1 on Olvera Street in Los Angeles, whatever it is called.  After you eat, walk across the street in Old Town to Fred’s Mexican Café for a great bar scene.

BJ’s Pizza Restaurant and Brewery, Southern California - The best deep dish “works” pizzas in Southern California.  Good beer and salads also.

PB Bar and Grill - Best Sunday brunch during football season at a beach with beautiful young beach people, great food and lots of TVs.

Bellagio Casino Buffet - The best buffet spread you’ve probably ever seen and the highest price.  But for something in the high $30s, it has unbelievable food.

Great Bars and Nightclubs

June through August - Skandinavian Bar, Mykonos Greece - Great Island, Great Village, Great Food and Unbelievably beautiful eye candy for every taste.  This bar rocks and if you want to meet someone from another country, this is a great place to do it.

Sept. through May - Heroes, Fullerton, CA - While college is in session, this bar is still one of the best in a city (Fullerton, CA) that has an unbelievable number of bars, clubs and restaurants.  Easy to meet people and free peanuts in the shell.  Good combination for a bar.

All year long - Duke’s, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu - Best bar to meet someone or be met in all of Hawaii.  Hard to top this place on the islands of Hawaii.

October 1st through May 15th - Weekends in the downtown area of Palm Springs are packed with people and a good place to meet other singles.  Why Palm Springs draws so many people during the season when the downtown area is so badly in need of revitalization is anyone’s guess.  But with plans in the works for a Hard Rock Hotel and additional nightlife, this place will only become more and more of a hot spot on weekends.

All year long - Barcelona’s, Scottsdale, AZ - Huge complex, lots of bars, live bands, dance floor and lots of beautiful people from Scottsdale.  All age groups, so if you want a young crowd exclusively, go to whatever club is in vogue this week for the college crowd.

June through September - Las Brisas, Laguna Beach - Great outdoor patio that’s almost always filled with Orange County and visiting beautiful people.  A great place to go on Sunday afternoons for a beer and some chips and salsa.

All year long - Sapporo, Scottsdale, AZ - Huge bar, great sushi, rock & roll music and a great crowd every weekend.  A great place to meet other singles.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

October 1st through May 15th - The River - Rancho Mirage, CA - It’s not just one restaurant, but more than half a dozen great ones, including the Yardhouse and a great place to hang out in the desert area between Palm Springs and Palm Desert on weekends. The summer is a little hot.

All year long - The Gaslamp District and Pacific Beach, San Diego - Take your pick and you can’t go wrong.  The nightlife in each of these areas is fantastic and there are more great bars, restaurants and nightclubs than we have space to describe.  Just park your car, follow the crowds and you can walk from one great spot to another.

Weekends throughout the year - The Temecula Valley Wineries - There are more than twenty great wineries and probably another twenty or more that are up and coming.  Almost all of them have tasting rooms that are filled with fun people on weekends getting sloshed on some great wine.  Some of the bigger wineries have concerts, especially in the summer and many now also have restaurants.  This is a great place to find a bed and breakfast and have a romantic weekend.

July 1st to August 31st - There is a small beach and village on the coast of California that is so special, so romantic, so natural and so undiscovered, that we can’t spoil it and tell you about it.  It has great little hotels, some fantastic restaurants and it’s still amazing how few people know about it.  If you find it, don’t tell anyone else about it.  This one needs to remain hidden from the developers and chain store mall operators.