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My husband loves a good spicey Bloody Mary. I am going to surprise him with a pitcher of these as he watches football!

I grew up and now live in "fly-over country", as the media call us. While I spent nearly 20 years away living in San Diego and Atlanta, we do holidays very traditional. While your menu sounds lovely, what a disappointment it would be in my family. For Christmas dinner "musts" on the table include: a ham from Heavenly Hams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (using french style greene beans), Rhodes Texas-style rolls, devil eggs, cranberry jelly (from the can, sliced), cannied sweet potatoes/yams. I know this might not be a very sophisticated menu, but there's nothing like tradition. We have our dinner on Christmas Eve and then eat left overs on Christmas day. We love making sandwiches from the rolls and ham. We get the honey mustard from Heavenly Ham for the sandwiches. This year my hubby and I went to a Christmas dinner at a friends house. They had grilled tenderloin, champagne risotto, corn souffle and I brought the green bean casserole. Everything was yummy, but it sure didn't feel like a Christmas dinner. ;o)

I lived in San Diego for 10 years and there are SO many GREAT places to eat!! Not sure where you are, but many of these places have several locations:

RUBIO's Fish Tacos - THEY put Fish Tacos on the MAP! Oh my, great tacos. Whenever I'm anywhere where there's a Rubios, I'm there!! Better than Wahoo's who is a new comer to fish tacos. The two guys who started Rubio's began the fish taco craze in California. Don't knock 'em until you try 'em.

Pick Up Stix - a SoCal fast food chinese place that is FAB-U-lous. It's been voted #1 for years and years!

In and Out Burger - always fresh, family owned. You will become addicted to their burgers!

Sammy Wood-fired Pizzas - wow, great salads and pizzas. Awesome.

Pat & Oscar's - great breadsticks, wings and salads!! Yummy!

Seau's - fabulous sports restaurant in Mission Valley. I have friends who swear they have the best calamari in town.

Prego's in Mission Valley - OMG, great food! Just the best.

Jake's n Del Mar - a nicer resaurant with fabulous food!

Sally's on the Bay near the Grand Hyatt downtown San Diego, always great food.

Claim Jumpers in either Carlsbad or La Mesa is a great family restaurant. The portions are huge, the food just plain good. Kinda reminds me of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

George's at the Cove in La Jolla is wonderful. In nice weather, sit atop the roof. Go at lunch on a Sunday.

For special occasions, a MUST is the brunch at the Hotel Del on Coronado. It's $65/per person, but you have NEVER seen anything like it. Amazing food, amazing amounts of food, amazingly good. Yum, yum!

There are more, but this will get you started!

I haven't been to San Diego since the days when my budget forbade "fine dining" but two places come to mind. Of course In-n-Out Burger makes the world's best burgers and fries are always from fresh potatoes. Also there used to be a deli called D.Z. Akins. If your from the east it's the closest thing to "real New York Deli".

Glad to see San Diego represented in the comments. We're closer to Mexico, and definitely closer to the fresh fish (we fish for yellowtail and albacore right off the Coronado Islands every year, and the Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) make it to San Diego first when the water temperature is warm).

Some great spots mentioned in the comments above - South Beach is really good, but I always go for some of their other dishes - like wahoo, thresher shark, or mahi-mahi platters.

Bay Park Fish Company is very good, as well as Taco Surf in Pacific Beach, Las Olas in Cardiff by the Sea, and the Del Mar Brigantine.

However, in my humble opinion, the best fish tacos that I've had in a U.S. restaurant are from Mariscos Mazatlan in Chula Vista (south San Diego County). This is the fish taco that you dream of!

That said, we have a house about 30 KM south of San Felipe in Baja. San Felipe is where Ralph Rubio of the Rubio's chain got the inspiration for his business. There are numerous taco stands that serve up great fish tacos there. You just need to be vigilant about food safety, but I've eaten many times at a couple of stands where all the asaderos are in town (by the arch), and the fish tacos are phenomenal!

I love La Sirena, and actually my friend from high school worked there! Whoa, I'm impressed, amakat. You are a true Lagunian.

Taco Loco, of course. Their "special" brownies and blackened mushroom-tofu burgers are classic Taco Loco things, but the fish tacos, eh. They actually didn't do it for me. But they did have neat fillings like lobster and swordfish.

The suprise hit of my Christmas Eve (other than the lobsters of course) were Twin Shrimp. Two jumbo shrimp, curled around each other yin/yang style - add a little chopped garlic, chopped tomatoes, S&P and bread crumbs, drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 15-20 minutes in a hot oven. The shrimp turned out succulent with just the right tooth. The secret is the round shape - they cook evenly.

Thank you all for your help. They all sound wonderful. The Mimo's grilled goat cheese and proscuitto sounds delightful. We're definitely going to to Ramos House. We went to Sammy's in the Gaslamp a few weeks ago, and, you're right, WOW. Again, Thanks.