Smoked cashew mole. Squid ink pasta. Elk carpaccio. Those three dishes live within a short stroll of each…

A mountain lion was spotted strolling near a quiet street called Skelly Way. That’s not a nature documentary….

A butcher counter in California smokes its brisket for 18 hours, then piles it onto sandwiches. That alone…

Over 75 pasta and sauce combinations, and the pasta gets made fresh every single morning. That’s a lot…

One public library in California sits inside a 1904 mansion with Moorish-style domes. It once belonged to the…

One Georgian restaurant in California carries a name that simply means mother. Another uses the Georgian word for…

A redwood that may be 1,200 years old just got its visitors back. That tree lived through centuries…

One Milpitas diner reportedly serves three or four eggs with its breakfast plates, plus a pancake about ten…

A scone packed with cheddar and kimchi is sitting in a California bakery case right now, and I…

In one tiny mountain town, you can climb into the cab of a real diesel locomotive and actually…

A chef painted Levi’s Stadium and the Winchester Mystery House onto blue-and-white kitchen tiles. Then he built a…

Every new house in one foothill town must have a Class A fire-rated roof and ember-resistant vents. Buyers…

A family business here once supplied Italian provisions to a working tuna fleet. That detail alone made me…

One antique shop on this list opens for just three hours on most weekdays. Its doors swing open…

A baker who started at age 11 now fills glass cases with pink conchas, guava pies, and coconut…

A vintage clothing shop near the Bay will sell you a jacket and read your tarot cards on…

Anyone who loves sewing knows that buying fabric can be just as exciting as finishing the project. You…

There is something about seafood hitting a hot grill that makes dinner feel especially promising. That smoky aroma,…

Some road trips make you feel like you have escaped the modern world. This one takes that feeling…

Breakfast gets a lot more interesting when you venture beyond the usual eggs, toast, and pancakes. Especially when…

Some bike rides are all about getting a little exercise. Others give you a reason to stop pedaling,…

A sausage made from rattlesnake and rabbit sits on a real menu in California, and I can’t stop…

A big mountain lake got its name by borrowing letters from three sisters: Alice, Martha, and Elinore. Put…

One California steakhouse carves its prime rib at your table from shiny steel carts nicknamed Zeppelins. Another still…

Old newspapers reportedly documented about one confrontation a week in this mountain mining town. Some miners even stacked…

Green plantain mashed with garlic kombu miso and sofrito garlic butter. That one sentence had me hooked before…

Somewhere in California, you can try on vintage clothes inside dressing rooms designed to look like pastel 1950s…

A soft tamal hides at the bottom of a bowl, buried under fresh toppings and a jammy egg….

Not one straight line. That’s the rule this brand-new museum building follows, from its curving white skin to…

Chicken hearts. Okra. Eel. Bacon wrapped around enoki mushrooms. Some of the best bites I know of arrive…

A nursing home with a therapeutic garden caught my eye first. Then I spotted a five-star boutique facility…

One San Francisco pizzeria runs pies out of several kinds of ovens, including coal-fired and wood-fired. I still…

A hilltop senior home near one of the priciest coastlines in America, built for low-income residents? That sounds…

A donut shop that never locks its doors sounds like a sweet rumor. Yet a few counters on…

Students at this school once hijacked a Rose Bowl card stunt so a stadium crowd saw the word…

One golf hole in the desert has an island green nicknamed Alcatraz. I love that a golf hole…

A jockey who rode Seabiscuit may still be keeping an eye on the dinner crowd. His portrait hangs…