HotelChatter

The two restaurants, Stonehouse and Plow & Angel, can normally be a drain on your pocketbook with prices ranging from $25-40 or so for a main course. However, if you have some friends in the know and can get there any night from Sunday-Wednesday, you can take advantage of the world-class dining with a special Friends and Neighbors discount menu at P&A.

For $37 a person you get a choice of soup or a garden salad that includes some crops from Chef John Trotta’s garden, the entrée of the day, which is usually some version of their specialty ribs dishes (or paella on Tuesdays), and a choice of dessert. Despite the fact that the special menu is for Plow & Angel diners, since the San Ysidro Ranch is such a classy place, they’ll let you enjoy it at either restaurant, and if the nightly menu does not whet your appetite, you can order off the normal menus from either P&A or Stonehouse.

The two drags are the prohibitively expensive wine list (though there are some very impressive vintages) and the $25 corkage fee, so you might find yourself just having to order their spicy habanero margarita. What a sacrifice.

The luxe-rustic dining room of the Stonhouse is located in a 19th century citrus packing house with rough stone walls and a crackling fireplace, but if the weather is nice, take a table on the outdoor patio beneath olive trees strung with gourd-shaped lamps.

We're not trying to get all soft on you but it has to be one of the most romantic spots in the world. And with room rates starting at $595 a night, this is a cheaper way to enjoy the beauty of the SYR without looking like a total cheapskate.

Open for dinner from 6:00-10:00pm daily. Call (805) 565-1700.