Orange County

We'll be staying at Dana Point and will have a car for 4 evenings. Any suggestions? We don't mind travelling a bit for a good meal. We like everything!

Yikes, you gotta be a LITTLE more specific than that!

Breakfast/lunch/dinner? Budget/Price ranges? Any particular types of food? Are you a Chicagoan? Do you want some "Chicago-style" food (yes, it exists).

See my post below on San Juan Capistrano...I'll start out by just dropping a couple of places on you. Trabuco Oaks Steakhouse in Trabuco Canyon is perhaps my favorite restaurant in Orange County. Great steak in a unique atmosphere (if you can find it!). A drive up the coast into Newport Beach will get you to one of my hidden gems as well...Sabatino's. Related to the original Sabatino's restaurant family from Chicago, it's a great italian-Sicilian place with the best sausage I have ever had.

RSMBob wrote:A drive up the coast into Newport Beach will get you to one of my hidden gems as well..Sabatino's. Related to teh original Sabatino's restaurant family from Chicaog, it's a great italian place with the best sausage I have ever had.

What is that relationship, exactly (if you know)?

Here's a couple of links with some info...I don't think any Sabatino's still run the Chicago restaturant and I have never known them for their sausage, but the info here says that Peter Sabatino of the CA restaurant is the son of the founder of the Chicago one.

http://www.sabatinosausage.com/about_family.htm
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=198294

Orange County is a big place! If you have a car and want to do a little driving (hell, you gotta get the total L.A. experience) you might want to head down to Seal Beach and go to Walt's Wharf. Fantastic seafood and a great beer list. The grilled calamari is outstanding.

A little closer and off the beaten track is Mulberry Street in Fullerton. New York style, what I call, comfort Italian.