The Whale & Ale ~ San Pedro, California

First visit: Apr 2008

Mrs. RJG and I decided to spend this year's anniversary in the LA / Orange County area (early April). It had been many years since we last visited, and if nothing else, we knew the food would be to our liking. Prior to me meeting Mrs. RJG, she had lived a couple of years in the LA area in the mid 1990s. She had recalled fondly of earlier times her sister and brother-in-law would head to San Pedro to go to the beach and eat seafood. Now Mrs. RJG hardly has what one would call an eidetic memory, so she had no idea what restaurants were her favorites, but was rather certain that if we drove there, she'd remember. NOPE. As a backup plan, I had researched some finer dining options, while keeping my eye on the Regular Joe's Guide theme. Neither Mrs. RJG or I enjoy ostentatious displays of grandeur. But we didn't want to celebrate our anniversary night in a dive either. And for that, The Whale & Ale was a nearly perfect compromise.

Definitely a welcoming tavern setting, in the old downtown area, clearly a place frequented by locals, since the tourists are at the beach locales (tacky and overpriced at that). We enjoyed a bottle of wine, crab cake appetizers and we both went for variations of swordfish - mine was blackened. All delicious and the meal was finished off with some coffee and Irish whiskey. This was Mrs. RJG's first try at the latter, and she's still making a face. Looks like Irish Creme only in the future.

6/7/08 (new entry); 1/29/23 verified