Great Places to Hang While in San Diego

Hi J.,

I lived in San Diego for 5 years before moving to AZ and still go back frequently to visit. In addition to Sea World, you must take your kids to the World Famous San Diego Zoo! Nearby is Balboa Park which is a great place to walk around with the kids. Near the harbor downtown is Seaport Village (shopping and restaurants) and USS Midway which our boys may be interested in touring with the navy ships. Head over to Coronado is you can either by ferry or car, its beautiful! Now as for restaurant recommendations:

Anthony's Fish Grotto (Downtown on Harbor)
Point Loma Seafoods (Point Loma, near your hotel-great fish tacos!)
Hash House A Go Go (Downtown, 5th Ave)
Miguel's Cantina (Point Loma, near your hotel-great Mexican food, the best cheese sauce for your chips!)
Old Spaghetti Factory (Downtown)

Old Town is right near your hotel as well, they have a bunch of Mexican restaurants, shopping.

Hopefully this helps, have a great time!

Coronado Brewery over on the Island. SUper yummy and kid friendly!!

The zoo is great!! and so is the Scripps aquariums!

Point Loma Sea Foods is wonderful. It is very relaxed, walk up to the counter and order, the food is amazing. Very family friendly. My family used to go to SanDiego every spring break for about 5 days and we would always go to Point Loma, usually twice.
Another really fun place is Sea Port Village. It is basically an outdoor mall, but the shops are all these cute small shops (the kite shop, the shell shop...) Great place to find souvineers, they also have an amazing fudge shop. Oh, this makes me what to go! Have fun!!

We go to SAn Diego at least a few times a year and never miss Guadalajaras in Old Town (Mexican) and Filippis Pizza Grotto on Garnet (or Grand.) I lived there 20 years ago and both places were around then. They're delicious. In Filippis, be sure to ask for a complimentary dough ball to entertain your child while waiting for food.

At Belmont Park (the big roller coaster)on Mission Bay is the Wavehouse which is a lot of fun. It is a bar/grill restaurant inside that is great for kids of all ages. They have a wave pool inside that surfers/boogieboarders ride that you can watch while you eat, plus the tables are all in sand and they have a section of hammocks, both of which my kids enjoyed.

Saska's!

Great steaks and crab legs for a big night out!

My husband and I just returned from San Diego yesterday with out 2 year old son. We had a lot of fun, but just so you know, Sea World only has 1 "restaurant" that sells grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and salad. Everywhere else in the park only sells junk food like popcorn, churros, cookies, cotton candy, etc. The first day we didn't know any better and were subject to buying what was available. The second day we were there we packed water bottles, apples, crackers, bananas, and sandwiches and that made a huge difference. As for places to eat around the town, we found several restaurants that we liked. Unfortunately I don't remember their names, but we ate at an italian restaurant off the main street that gets you to mission bay. They also have a few Greek restaurants and a mexican restaurant on Rosecrans. I believe there is also a Sizzler off Rosecrans st., too. Good luck with finding what you want and have a fun and safe trip.