Kelson Reviews Businesses

Best Western Silicon Valley Inn (Sunnyvale, CA) ★☆☆☆☆ I hope it’s better now than it was in 2008.

Looking down a green field to the coast at night. A path winds toward the ocean. Low, lit buildings are in the distance. A bright orange light shines out near the end of the path.

★★★★★ Not really a resort (at least in the late 2000s), just a very nice motel. Right on the coast and conveniently near Heart Castle.

Coffee Cartel ★★★★★ Offbeat local coffee house with atmosphere that makes you want to hang out there.

The Comic Bug ★★★★★ Open, inviting, and kid-friendly, with friendly staff and a wide selection. Frequent artist/writer signings.

Comics Toons N’ Toys ★★★★★ The best comic store I’ve been to in Orange County. The staff is friendly and helpful, and the selection is incredible.

The Crafted Scone

★★★★★ Not just great scones, but a great variety of scones. Good for breakfast, lunch (they also make ‘sconewiches’), a snack, or just coffee or tea.

Doma Kitchen (Closed) ★★★★★ Used to be a great Eastern European restaurant. Bounced around the South Bay for most of a decade before closing.

Dōh Creamery ★★★★★ An ice cream shop that also specializes in cookie dough. Good selection of flavors for both, and you can mix and match however you want.

El Amigo #3 ★★★★★ Great spot for takeout Mexican food. I particularly like their Chile Relleno. Dine-in, limited parking.

The Empanada Shop

The front of a low building with an extremely shallow gabled roof, right off the sidewalk, with room for two storefronts. On the full-height windows in white, and hanging from a smaller, red sign facing the sidewalk, are the words THE EMPANADA SHOP. Two small white tables, each with a pair of orange chairs, sit in front of the window, and you can see several stools inside.

★★★★★ Great selection of both meat and veggie fillings, plus desserts (the chocolate one is intense).

Holiday Inn Express Murrieta ★★★★☆ Nothing fancy, but nothing bad either. Friendly staff, clean rooms, free WiFi and breakfast, ample car chargers. Next to a great coffee shop.

Holiday Inn on the Bay (San Diego)

A somewhat tall, pale blue building with balconies lining one side and palm trees at the base, seen on a bright sunny day. A lower, round building is visible in the foreground. Beyond it are a street, some more parking, then docks with warehouses and a still harbor. The far shore is also visible, with lower buildings near the shore and low hills fading into the haze in the distance.

The hotel worked out well for Comic-Con, both on its own merits and in its location near Little Italy and just close enough that you can walk if you have to.

Hotel St. James (San Diego)

Panoramic view of a cityscape from a rooftop. Lower buildings with flat roofs, and in the distance taller buildings of all sorts of shapes. A few of the shorter ones clearly have old-fashioned facades, and you can juts make out the sail-like covering of the San Diego Convention Center.

★★★★☆ Historic hotel in the Gaslamp area that’s been renovated since I was last there.

Kéan Coffee ★★★★★ Great indie coffeehouse. Good coffee, good place to hang out. Established by the founder of Diedrich Coffee, a local chain back in the 80s and 90s.

Lavender & Honey

★★★★☆ Good coffee and sandwiches, maybe a bit expensive. They also sell artisan honey and beeswax products.

Mark Twain Hotel (Closed) ★★★★☆ Classic hotel, small rooms, right on the line between the financial district and Tenderloin. Now the Tilden Hotel, closed since 2020.

Mosser Hotel (San Francisco)

City street during daylight. Across the way a boxy building with trees in front of it. Beyond an intersection is a taller building with a large glass front-pane at the corner labeled METREON. An old-style extruded window area is visible at right, close to the viewpoint.

★★★★☆ Nice, well-located for conventions at Moscone Center, but tiny rooms by modern standards.

Mysterious Galaxy ★★★★★ Bookstore specializing in sci-fi and mysteries, involved in local community and conventions.

Natureba

Small building painted green next to a sidewalk lined with palm trees. Dried palm fronds cover an awning, and two small round tables, each with a pair of chairs, flank an open glass door.

★★★★★ Tiny small business, great smoothies and tropical juices, plus Brazillian-style grilled sandwiches and Açaí bowls.

Neighborhood Grinds (Closed) ★★★★☆ This used to be a great local coffee shop.

The Press Espresso ★★★★★ Good coffee with a wide range of flavored drinks. Small but inviting.

Pure Bean ★★★★★ An indie coffee shop and roaster that opened in a space vacated by CBTL a few years back.

Remembering Diedrich Coffee

★★★★★ Small OC-based chain that used to be my favorite coffee place until Starbucks bought them out. The founder has since opened Kéan in Tustin and Newport Beach, and it’s every bit as good.

Rival Coffee Co.

★★★★★ Good coffee and creative flavor combinations. REALLY good breakfast sandwiches. A bit out of the way, but worth it.

Taishi Hainan Chicken ★★★★★ Variations on chicken and rice, all of them good.

Two Guns Espresso

Stark black and white image of a sign painted directly on an outer wall. Wooden boards are visible next to it, and the top of a window frame below it. The sign reads 'How about a cup of' in cursive, and then in MUCH LARGER SANS-SERIF BLOCK LETTERS, 'JOE'.

★★★★★ Serious coffee. Small chain in LA’s South Bay that introduced the Flat White to the region in the early 2010s.

Union Pizza ★★★★★ Thin-crust pizzas are good, deep-dish pizzas are REALLY good. My favorite is the Classic Deep Dish (spinach, roasted garlic, ricotta and mushrooms) - and normally I don’t even like mushrooms.