Reply #2: I can recommend a dozen great restaurants

[kwassa]

LA has great ethnic restaurants, and most of them are very cheap.

Great Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Cuban, etc.

If you are going as far north as Hearst Castle, I would continue north into the high cliff areas of Big Sur, which start just north of the castle. The scenery is spectacular. Visit the Pfieffer state parks, one a redwood forest, the other a beach with a natural rock arch.

South of El Segundo are the beach towns of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach, the South Bay. Hermosa is my favorite, Redondo has tons of restaurants. The Rancho Verdes penninsula south of that is nice to drive around, too.