Los Angeles recommendations

I’ll also be in or around Huntington Beach and Laguna while there so anything there as well.

My favorite restaurant is Water Grill. There's one downtown and one in Santa Monica. Mastros is an excellent steakhouse. There's one in Beverly Hills and one in Malibu. Maple Block Meat Company in Culver City is damn good bbq. Hundreds of great sushi restaurants in LA / OC. Use yelp. Huntington Beach I recommend Dukes. Laguna Las Brisas. Food is just "good" at both but the locations are simply the best. Beachwood BBQ is a very good brew pub with locations in Long beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. They often have Russian River beers on tap.

Where in the Los Angeles area are you staying, specifically?

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Laguna

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The Deck on Laguna is really nice outside views of the ocean. Lots of "be seen" folks out there. Reminded me of George's on the Cove in La Jolla, if you've ever been down there.

As far L.A., it is hard to go wrong. But West Hollywood is where a lot of the best restaurants are concentrated.

Animal on Fairfax is crazy if you're super adventurous. Brains, marrow, organs, etc.

Lucques is pretty famous and still relatively hard to get into. Very highly rated. It is pretty nice, so might qualify for your fancy night.

Night + Market has been in a lot of media lately, deservingly so. It is a young guy who took over his elderly parents' Thai restaurant and turned it into a hip late night Thai fusion joint. Very cool decorated. Casual.

Norah is good for a cocktail and small plates, but kinda romantic. Maybe not best for you and coworkers. But a pretty place.

Gracias Madre for Mexican and margs. Down the street from it is Ceccino's, which might be in the top 5 best looking places I've ever been into. They surprisingly do a killer happy hour, though if you Uber, you might want to get a Black

Taste on Melrose is very typical California fare, but done really well. Chopped salads, fish tacos, etc. Good lunch spot because they have a nice back patio. Again, "be seen" spot.

There's a new place like across the street from The Ivy and I can't for the life of me think of the name, but the patio is legit. Big open bar, tables indoors and outdoors. Big lounge sofas with tables so you can eat there too.

The Ponte is Scott Conant's sister restaurant to Scarpetta. If you're into him, it is very good.

For bars, that's an entirely different post. But I will say if you like live music, The Mint is an iconic live music venue where lots of acts have started off playing before they got big.

I’m staying in Huntington so not staying in LA although I’m meeting with center’s from LA,Huntington, and Laguna.

Depending on how long you're going to be out there, a trip to Malibu might be worth it. Recommend:

Moonshadows;

The Sunset (steps away from the beach, great food, atmosphere and drinks);

Nobu for the experience.

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here one of the times I was in San Diego (I assume same owner?) 

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Yes the same. They have a location in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa too (op this would be the location closest to Huntington Beach). They opened their first store outside of California too in Dallas.

Their seafood is top notch selections and quality

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The Deck on Laguna

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Never heard of this place so i did some research. It replaced The Beach House which I went to many times. That might be the best restaurant location in all of Orange county. Highly recommend.

I am staying in the Huntington area, one of the days is going to have me being around the LA area meeting with different treatment center’s. But I’ll be in Huntington area the majority of the time. I thought it was closer Then it actually was. But I’ll have the opportunity to eat 4 meals in LA when I fly in, that day I’m there all day, and when I’m leaving.