When 2020 began, I did not expect to spend two and a half months writing about take out and delivery. Since dining rooms re-opened in late May, it’s been fun, and at times felt a …

It was a good night for the restaurants, I have no doubt. On Saturday, June 13, Little Italy closed streets to car traffic and allowed restaurants to extend their seating out onto the asphalt. The …

I’m sitting on the patio of La Jolla bakery and restaurant Sugar & Scribe, marveling at my “full Irish breakfast.” The $16 plate indeed goes the distance: two eggs, a thick slice of Irish bacon, …

Effective tomorrow, Friday, June 12, bars are allowed to re-open in San Diego County, which means brewery taprooms can pour beers again, regardless of whether they serve food. However, beer fans should expect a few …

In the nearly 80-year history of Clayton’s Coffee Shop, it’s never seen times like these. Coronado’s vintage diner was made to be a place where people gathered not just for food, but to listen to …

Dining rooms have returned to San Diego, but that doesn’t mean restaurants don’t still find themselves in a sort of pandemic limbo. As social distancing restrictions remain, most traditional restaurants can’t seat enough of diners …

When Carlsbad beer brand Rouleur Brewing Company opened its doors in spring 2017, owner and brewer Rawley Macias shared three goals he wanted his business to meet by the end of its third year. And …

I’m witnessing something this week I never imagined I’d see: local restaurants, already hurting due to the covid-19 shutdown, are openly promoting other restaurants. It’s due to the fact that injustice against African-Americans is on …

At a nearby table, a group of young women are discussing the weekend protests, which saw thousands of San Diegans demonstrate against police brutality. Primarily they express concern the message of peaceful protestors could be …

Forty years ago this year, Zvika and Debi Akin put their initials together to open D.Z. Akin’s, the San Diego region’s foremost Jewish restaurant, delicatessen, and bakery. Originally a small counter shop, the business expanded …

The past ten weeks have been a roller coaster ride for the San Diego beer industry, as abrupt public policy shifts due to coronavirus have kept breweries and fans on their toes. Every individual beer …

There was bound to be some awkwardness. The ‘rona closed restaurant dining rooms more than two months ago, and if the intervening weeks taught us anything, it’s to be leery of human contact. The government …

At noon on Thursday, May 21, for the first time in more than two months, Mike Hess Brewing opened its North Park, Imperial Beach, and Ocean Beach taprooms to customers, allowing them once again to …

It will be interesting to see what it’s like to hang out at Solomon Bagel Company. North Park’s newest donut and bagel destination has been open a few weeks, only since the shutdown started. So …

I have to be honest: I did not expect to find myself ordering from Madison on Park during this shutdown. The University Heights restaurant has much going for it, but near the top of the …

Last week, following ten months of development, Scripps Ranch hard kombucha maker JuneShine launched a new product line: JuneShine 100. Finishing at 100 calories and one gram of sugar per 12-ounce can, the diet-friendly drink …

As afternoon temperatures pushed 90 last Wednesday, ice cream fans lined up in Mission Hills to be among the first to get scoops from Mr. Trustee, the neighborhood’s newest ice cream shop. Like me, they …

The jacaranda blossoms have made their spring return to the trees out front, in striking purple contrast to the pale green A-frame that has been home to Influx Café for 18 years. And for the …

We’ve seen a number of restaurants successfully pivot in the covid era, whether they’ve transformed into on-site groceries or added family combo meals to the menu. Escondido’s premier fine dining restaurant has found another way …

Rock music should have been what drew me to Metl Bar & Restaurant. That’s the new mantle of the Gaslamp space previously called The Hopping Pig. New ownership gave it a rock bar revamp late …

Counted among the world’s top amateur brewers, national and state homebrew champion Nick Corona has steadily worked toward opening his own brewery, somewhere in North County. He came close on locations in San Marcos and …

The first time I ate at Surf & Soul Spot, it was operating as a pop-up restaurant, serving fried fish and soul food select days per week at a church banquet hall in the southeast …

Call me optimistic, but I still believe food has the power to bring people of the world together, even if the times call for us to maintain a certain distance. Under normal circumstances, restaurants serving …

The slow end of the Kalasho regime At a city council meeting in September Elia spoke publicly to Kalasho: “Ben, you need help. It hurts me to see fellow Chaldeans spiral like this. It might …

In March, to mark their fifth anniversary, Ike and Yulia Gazaryan decided to renew their vows with a small event where they originally wed: at their Pushkin Russian Restaurant & Bar. With the pandemic and …

I’m not saying we jinxed it, but San Diego sports were enjoying an uncommonly good year before all sports were canceled due to coronavirus. Aztecs basketball started 26-and-0 and figured to make noise as a …

It was about three years ago next weekend that I got my first taste of the Corazon de Torta food truck. It was parked towards the back of the Reader’s Tacotopia taco festival, but buzz …

Throughout most of the county, weekly farmers markets were initially shut down on March 13, while the first rounds of covid-19 restrictions were put in place. Though many of the markets have re-opened in April, …

Whether for work, fun, or plain hunger, I reckon I’ve tried a good six or seven hundred San Diego restaurants over the years. But at remarkably few can I claim to know the whole menu. …

On El Cajon Boulevard, just about the point North Park becomes University Heights, the new taproom for Serpentine Cider was originally slated to open this weekend (2311 El Cajon Boulevard). The coronavirus had other ideas. …

A gluten free cinnamon roll shouldn’t taste this good, I tell myself, before taking another bite. Then I recall what the woman behind the counter had told me. “We sold out of the iced cinnamon …

This spring was supposed to be sort of a moment for vegan sushi in San Diego, a reminder that — minus the fish — rice, rice vinegar, and seaweed fit well within the plant-based ethos. …

It’s been a dozen years since I first started getting tacos and burritos from Los Reyes Mexican Food in Golden Hill. The family business has been at it since 1991. But only since restaurant dining …

Normally, a late morning visit to the James Coffee co-op in Little Italy would mean searching for a place to park, bumping into someone I know on the street, standing in line for a pour …

The seven pieces of sushi were packaged in the sort of container you’d expect to find in a grocery: one of those rectangular trays with a clear plastic, snap-on top. Except grocery store sushi boxes …

Since the call went out for all but essential businesses to close during the coronavirus crisis, exactly what constitutes an “essential business” has been a point of public debate. “Are restaurants?” some wonder; “Are bakeries?” …

Drink local. This has long been a rallying cry of San Diego’s beer industry. But nearly a month into California’s covid-19 shutdown, the overture has more urgency than ever. Particularly for breweries that rely on …

I don’t know what it says about our appetites in isolation, but well before noon the stand for Da-Le-Ranch meats had sold out of rabbit. Duck breast and Cornish game hen too. This was the …

Once upon a time, before people wore protective masks outside the home, there was a new North County restaurant at the top of everybody’s must-try list. Given another week of open dining rooms, I would …

In the weeks since American public life was officially put on pause in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, too much the news out of the restaurant industry has been dire. Dining rooms closed, millions out …

East County Dirty Birds D.Z. Akin's Funky Fries and Burgers - El Cajon Sammy's Woodfired Pizza - La Mesa South Bay Tijuana For restaurants in the San Diego beach area, click here. For North County …

55 Thai Kitchen Board & Brew - East Village Crest Cafe Dirty Birds -College Area Farmer's Table - Little Italy Funky Fries and Burgers - Hillcrest For restaurants in the San Diego beach area, click …

Board & Brew Donut Bar Gaglione Brothers Lemonade Mr. Moto Pizza House Snooze, An A.M. Eatery Swami's Café Woodstock's Pizza For restaurants in central San Diego, click here. For restaurants in East County, South Bay, …

Betty’s Pie Whole Karl Strauss Brewing Company Senor Grubby's - Carlsbad Senor Grubby's - Oceanside For North County inland restaurants, click here. For restaurants in central San Diego, click here. For restaurants in East County, …

Stay-at-home orders may keep us from going out to restaurants, but it doesn’t mean they can keep us from trying new things. Early on during this age of social isolation, my cravings went for the …

I was sitting on my couch watching TV when I had my first experience with no-contact delivery. First came the text message, letting me know my food was arriving. I watched through the peephole as …

Spruce Street suspension bridge brings out demented thoughts It’s early, the marine layer still a veneer over the city, when we park the car just shy of the suspension bridge. The day promises to be …

Last night, I placed an order for delivery from the restaurant Tender Greens. Dinner was good, but what will help sustain me in the week to come was the grocery box I ordered. For $33, …

Bars closed last week by government order, but there’s a catch: bars that serve food can stay open, and serve food to go. More than that, in a notice of regulatory relief aimed at the …

Tijuana destroys Spanish and English “Tengo que ir hacer laundry, then I have to study en la biblioteca,” I’m paraphrasing what the Latina students in my college sounded like. My first real encounter with Spanglish …