What we’re about
Time to tempt your palate with all the pleasurable flavors that LA, and beyond, has to offer!
Join Pleasure Palate as we do culinary adventures exploring of restaurants (both high-end & holes-in-the-wall), food & beverage tastings, and more. From savory to sweet, spicy to tangy, ethnic to All-American, we'll taste it all! Come along and let us take your taste buds on the ride of their life!
Because we want to burn off some of the calories that we eat, many of our events will have both a dining and physical activity paired together. We do many day trips and weekend adventures that combine the best of both dining and experiencing what LA, SoCal and beyond has to offer in terms of dining options and points of interests.
Pleasure Palate has been around for over 13 years now and in that time we have had over 2,000 events. We offer at least 8 events per month for our members to choose from. This is a very active MeetUp group.
We will focus on various aspects of urban, suburban and rural life, ranging from architectural to cultural, historical to quirky and/or a combination of any of the above to help give you a better appreciation of where we live. Oh, and bring your camera because we encourage all our members to take photos and share their experiences with us on the event pages.
MeetUp charges over $200 each year to maintain the Pleasure Palate site. In addition, it costs a lot of money to maintain memberships to historical societies, newspaper and magazine subscriptions - all to get ideas for future events. So we ask for a voluntary $12.00 annual donation to help defray the costs that MeetUp charges. Members who donate $12 per year get Plus Member status which allows them to bump off a Regular member for a event which is already full. Plus Members can't bump off other Plus members.
To learn more about Pleasure Palate, check out the links below:
Membership and Guidelines
Attendance Policies & 3 Strikes Rule
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Rowland Heights: Family Style Lunch at Gao's Crab & Kabob老高烧烤洛杉矶店 Gao's BBQ & Crab, Rowland Heights, CA
Please Note: Read the directions carefully below BEFORE you RSVP "Yes" for this event.
- This is a family style dining event. We will order as a group and divide the bill evenly, excluding beverages.
- You cannot have any dietary restrictions for this event.
- The estimated cost per person for this event is about $60, so please bring that amount in CA$H. Your cost will be higher if you order beverages.
- Menu at Gao's: Gao's BBQ & Crab - Allen - Food Menu
I recently heard about Gao's BBQ & Crab and thought it was an interesting mishmash of Louisiana style seafood broil and Chinese style skewers, especially lamb skewers. I enjoy eating both types of foods, so I figure why not give it a try! So come join me in Rowland Heights to try out Gao's!
- Mexico: Day of the Dead at San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca & Mexico CityEl Palomar, San Miguel de Allende
Please Note: Read the directions carefully below BEFORE you RSVP "Yes" for this event.
- This is an overseas event where we will fly to San Miguel de Allende, then to Oaxaca and finally to Mexico City during the Day of the Dead festivities.
- In order to participate in this event, you need to have attended several PP events, preferably the weekend/day trips that I have offered so that you get a really good sense of how I lead tours/excursions. I am not being paid or earning money on this trip - you are essentially joining me on vacation. So I only want low maintenance, "drama free" travelers who don't get easily upset if the itinerary suddenly changes due to circumstances beyond control - like heavy rains, natural disaster, site we were supposed to visit is suddenly closed, etc. An adventurous spirit is a must!
- I do not have a total cost yet for this event and I am partnering with two tour companies to cobble the itinerary together. The estimated cost will be around $2,500 per person, not including air travel. You will need to book your own hotel and air travel. For some tours or sites, we will need to take Uber. For others, we will have a passenger van. Our lunches and dinners at San Miguel are not covered by the tours, so that's out of pocket.
- We will fly out of LAX on Friday, October 25th early morning to San Miguel de Allende. Visit the botanical garden and Chael of Jimmy Ray.
- October 26 - Historical and cultural walking tour, lunch break and then cemetery and withes tour
- October 27 - Visit the Artists Market, Las Ranas, Fabrica, Galeria Atotonilco, Otomi and dinner.
- October 28 - Fly to Oaxaca. Have lunch and visit the botanical garden and textile museum. Dinner.
- October 29th - Very full day of markets, specialty shops, workshops and local restaurants
- October 30th - Monte Alban and Mitla with lunch and dinner
- October 31st - Fly to Mexico City - have lunch and visit National Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec Castle and Museo de Templo Mayor
- Nov 1st - Xochimilco Canals, lunch, Day of the Dead Parade
- Nov - any last minute shopping and possible lunch before flying back to LAX
- Check out a video of the Day of Dead Parade in 2022: Day of the Dead celebrations: "La Catrina" skeletons parade through Mexico City (youtube.com)
In the past 14 years or so, I have taken the group to Mexico about a dozen times. 3/4 of these frays were into Baja. The other trips were to Mexico City (twice), Michoacan, and Puebla. Mexico is a large and wonderful country, with many places to visit and experience. This time we are going to San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca and Mexico City. The focus will be experiencing all these cities during the most festive time of Mexico - Day of the Dead! I have been wanting to visit Oaxaca and San Miguel, and even though I have been to Mexico City twice already, I want to experience teh Day of the Dead parade there. So come join me on this adventure filled with wonder, enchantment of course, delicious food!
- 4th of July Weekend Getaway: St. Louis!Gateway Arch National Museum, St. Louis, MO
Please Note: Read the directions carefully below BEFORE you RSVP "Yes" to this event.
- This is a 5 day event where we will fly to St. Louis and explore as much of the city as possible.
- Average estimated cost per day will be between $150 to $200 depending in what places we visit (admission costs) and also what restaurants we will dine at.
- I will be renting a vehicle for the group which we will evenly divide the costs for, including gas.
- Because you will be joining me on my vacation and I'm not charging anyone extra for this, you MUST be Drama Free and also in decent physical shape. When I say Drama Free, I mean, not have a negative attitude and easily complain if something in the itinerary doesn't go as planned due factors beyond our control. You must be easy going and okay to go with the flow. When I say decent physical shape, I mean you must be able to walk well over 10k steps per day, since there will be A LOT of walking each days, including outside during the heat of summer.
- You MUST have already attended several Pleasure Palate events in order to join in on this event. Brand new members are not allowed to participate since I need to be familiar enough with you to allow you to join me on this trip.
- I haven't booked my flight and hotel accommodations yet, I probably won't do this until November or December and will share it with those of you that have decided to sign up.
I have visited more than half of Route 66 states and points of interest at this point. I just have 3 more states to go. So for 2026, I want to visit the city of St. Louis because it will be the 100th anniversary of Route 66th and the 250th anniversary of the USA. So the fireworks display around the Arch of St. Louis should be impressive. We will also go on historical tours of the city.
There are also many places to see and visit in St Louis: Things to do in St. Louis Missouri | Travel Guide
4th of July fireworks at the Arch in 2024: 4th July Fireworks at Gateway Arch National Park, Saint Louis, Missouri USA #fireworks #4thofjuly
