Food and Drink
The other day, a friend asked where I was off to in such a hurry. “I’m gonna check out a restaurant I’ve heard good things about,” I told him. It’s an answer he’s learned to …
Perhaps the most overused cliché in all food writing is to call a restaurant a gem. One might be an absolute gem, or a neighborhood gem. Most trite of all would be the term “hidden …
Fans of tea and coffee have an intriguing new flavor to explore in Pacific Beach. Yerba Mate Bar opened last week, San Diego’s first café dedicated to the caffeinated beverage of choice for the southern …
“Believe it or not,” said Douglas Hasker, “Once upon a time this was the hot shit brewery in town.” Hasker was speaking to a crowd assembled at the Gordon Biersch brewpub in Mission Valley, where …
Aztec drums thunder out from Chicano Park. Conch shells honk. It’s eight o’clock at night. People dance barefoot. Their ankle rattles sound like sleighbells. Now a woman steps forward with a smoking incense burner. It …
We can argue all day whether the American carnival classic corn dog was worth riffing on, but a Korean reinterpretation of hot dog on a stick has already arrived in Kearny Mesa with a world …
I’ve paid lip service to vegan ramens before. Interesting, I’ve said. Oh, that is good,” I’ve agreed. But I haven’t meant it. Not to the extent that I would choose to order one over a …
Macaroni. I’m not talkin about the feather stuck in Yankee Doodle’s cap, but the cheesy pasta dish. The one that’s somehow both originally Italian and OG American. The one that, when I see it on …
Each spring, three California-based beer contests assess thousands of craft brews for quality, and each spring they send San Diego brewers home with a fresh heap of medals and ribbons to show off in their …
You can see that David’s proud of his dad. “His name’s David, too. He started off not far from here as a dishwasher. He was born and raised in Tijuana, then his parents brought him …
A musician plays acoustic guitar ballads on the patio, while servers shuttle drinks to a mixed crowd, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s. There are no seats left at the bar, where busy …
Last week, I found myself at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, feeling dizzy. Funny thing is, I hadn’t even made it on any of the rides yet. What addled me were the sights and smells of …
While tasting ciders at Raging Cider & Mead in San Marcos last year, I got talked by the bartender into trying one of the tasting room’s house cocktails, dubbed a StrawPerry. That the concoction involved …
Got to hand it to Hank. He keeps finding these places that give you more gobbles for your greenback. It’s Friday. I ask where he’s going to eat with the money I give him. (Paying …
The term meatless has got to be one of the biggest words of 2019. Every other time I check a news feed, or turn on the radio, there’s more news about the rise of meatless …