I moved to the area 20+ years ago. The food scene was pretty dismal then. I remember when the local paper asked food people for recommendations for various kinds of food, and for Italian, several said "a plane ticket to San Francisco." It's gotten a lot better, but it's still not San Francisco. For moderately priced lunches near your hotels, I would recommend: Athen's Market, 109 W F St., good Greek food, friendly atmosphere, nice surroundings. Royal Thai, 467 Fifth Ave., Nice people, Thai food at good prices. Panda Inn, Top of Horton Plaza, right near the Westin, pretty good Chinese food. Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, 770 Fourth Avenue, adjacent to Horton Plaza. This is thin-crusted, California pizza with things on it you'll probably never see on a pizza in Philly. Good salads, too. Hey, you are in California, give it a try. Karl Strauss Brewery, 1157 Columbia Street, has great beer and decent food. I'm probably not the guy to recommend happy hour places, since my idea of a good happy hour is a quiet place with good drinks and a pianist playing Cole Porter. (The Westgate Hotel Bar is THE place if you are looking for this.) I do also like Lou and Mickey's (suggested previously) though. It was previously called the Royale Brasserie, but our downtown wasn't ready for a big French brasserie, so the same owners reopened it as Lou and Mickey's. The inside is the same, including a great zinc bar they brought all the way from Paris. Lively bar scene, although stick to the happy hour specials or you can run up a tab. They have good oysters and other cold seafood. No Cole Porter, but often they have live music. Fifth Avenue has many happy hour choices within walking distance of the hotels. Taka is the only place I can think of for sushi downtown. I can't think of anyplace for fish tacos downtown. There must be a Rubio's somewhere near, but I'm not a big Rubio's fan. The only wine bar I can think of is WineSellar & Brasserie, and it's way too far from downtown. Your post says you will be here for a week. If you are free during any day for an extended period of time, I would say my my number one spot for lunch would be the rooftop of George's at the Cove in La Jolla. It's a very long cab ride. You might be better off renting a car. The rooftop is open air, and I think it embodies Southern California at its best on a nice day. Bring your shades. The food, which includes some very good (somewhat inauthentic) fish tacos; sandwiches like ahi, burgers, portabello mushroom; salads; fish soup, and some more substantial dishes, is moderately priced and very, very good for lunch or early dinner. The view down to La Jolla Cove is awesome. If you have the whole day, you could have lunch there, do some shopping, check out the aquarium at Scripps, and then have dinner at the aforementioned Marine Room, which is truly first-class. The chef has a way with seafood. You should have to get there before dark for the view of the beach though. If you get a car, you could start early and check out the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma for a little history of California and a great view back to the city. The Gaslamp has a lot of dinner choices. The Prado is unique and a short cab ride from downtown. I'm dying to try Candela's. If you are jazz fans, you might check out Dizzy's on 7th. It's a jazz club without alcohol, which is to say it's all about the music. There is a cover of $5-$10 and they have snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. Have a nice trip.