The Ginos thought they were saving money on tickets into a music festival, but it turns out they were opening a tasty BBQ restaurant in Vista Village. Granted, the entire process took over a decade. …

A good beer is never hard to find in San Diego, but recent developments have made it easier to stock your fridge with a few of the city’s most highly sought brews. Burgeoning year-round cans …

Ten years ago this summer, the stoner comedy Pineapple Express had a surprisingly profitable box office run. I’m guessing everyone who went to see it wound up working in the food and beverage industry, because …

Catching up for a quick lunch with a friend, I found myself back at the Little Italy Food Hall, scanning its several restaurant counters for something we can agree on. As often happens in such …

When I go to Vista, it usually has something to do with beer. Seventeen brewhouses call the hourglass shaped North County city home, offering at least that many reasons to visit. However, twelve of them …

There’s an actual table at the center of Oceanside eatery, The Miller’s Table. It’s a large, stoutly constructed wood high top, about 6'x6', topped with plants, candles, and eclectic décor. The community table is not …

Devoted fans of the Hillcrest bagelry Big City Bagel Cafe had to go about two months without this spring as a fire forced the 24-year-old breakfast and lunch spot to close temporarily. I don’t know …

The LOT theater at Liberty Station offers a posh moviegoing experience: you sit in cushy, reclining seats, each furnished with a swing out tray so you can eat and drink while you watch. There’s even …

It seems like just yesterday I was writing about a new hand roll-only sushi bar, and finding a way to compare its seaweed wrapped fish and vegetables to tacos. But here I am, today, stumbling …

The next sushi trend to conquer America could be something way simpler than we’re used to: the dedicated hand roll bar. To many, the sushi means sushi rolls, a.k.a. maki, wherein fish, rice, and sheets …

It’s Friday night on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, and it’s no easy decision where I’m going to drink beer. Looking south from E Street, I see lots of activity, evidenced by a squadron of …

On the block of 28th Street where South Park becomes Golden Hill, the small diner Giorgino’s has made a name for itself over the years for all things Philadelphia: cheesesteaks, pork rolls, Tasty Kakes, and …

If I didn’t already know the word cheba is slang for marijuana, I figured it out soon after walking through Cheba Hut’s door. It might have been the colorful mural of a surfer smoking a …

When dinner is a gift El Jardin, Cowboy Star, Coasterra, Born & Raised, Charles + Dinorah, Nine-Ten, Juniper & Ivy By Mary Beth Abate I burst with hometown pride George's, Himitsu, Kokoro, Starlite, Gelato Vero …

There are many places I might enjoy a nice night out, and only one of them provides its most crucial component: good company. Which could be anybody. Probably the nicest night out I’ve had this …

It’s an old joke by now, something along the lines of: "going to war is how Americans learn geography." I’ve laughed about it myself, but I’ve been able pick out Kuwait and Vietnam on a …

A fixture in Barrio Logan for more than 70 years, the tiny restaurant known as El Carrito sits inside a retired trolley car, a relic of nascent San Diego’s cable car era. After a stint …

“What can you tell me about the lamb shank?” I ask. “Well, do you like lamb?” comes the answer. At first, it sounds like a silly question. Actually, a non-answer to my question. But it’s …

When two-headed business Halcyon Coffee and Stella Public House launched in a new East Village construction in 2014, it created one of the best outdoor drinking spaces in all of downtown. Its perch overlooking Fault …

When the server placed it on my table, she warned me the platter would be sizzling hot. I appreciated that. And also the fact it was shaped like a cow. It’s place called Not Your …

Attempts to make food halls viable in San Diego have come and gone over the past five years, and when I heard about Nolita Hall opening recently at the north end of Little Italy, I …

Every time the San Diego brewery count starts to creep toward the 160 mark, word breaks that another local brewery or two are closing. Sure enough, even as a handful of new beer companies have …

A new sandwich shop has opened in Point Loma, right beside Bookstar, that book store doing business in a 1930s Art Deco theater. This sandwich shop is notable for crusty rolls (sourced from a local …

It’s my first time passing through the doors of Legacy Brewing Co., and I’m not sure what to expect. The place has been here five years this fall, but. I count about forty miles and …

After years of construction, Little Italy’s pedestrian-friendly Piazza Della Famiglia has opened, and the ten-thousand square foot, Euro-styled plaza has proven an ideal venue for the neighborhood’s Saturday farmers market. When I showed up on …

Back in September 2017, San Diego Distillery was poised to grow out of its small warehouse space in Spring Valley. The craft spirit maker’s “beer whiskey” approach — distilling craft beer into barrel-aged grain liquors …

“Confused?” asks the web site for An’s Dry Cleaning. A fair question, considering An’s is an ice cream shop. Better than that, it’s a small batch gelato and sorbet shop, devoted to local sourcing, freshness, …

For those of us in South Park, a visit to our friendly neighborhood brewery means a short walk to South Park Brewing Company. It’s not always a no-brainer. Owner Scot Blair opened the brewery right …

On the opposite shore of the Sea of Cortez from Baja California, due south of Arizona, sits the Mexican state of Sonora. Despite our relative proximity, San Diego doesn’t see a lot restaurant dishes attributed …

If I tried to tell you everything going down at Miralani Makers’ District, reading this article would take an hour. Let this suffice: in a pair of neighboring Miramar business parks, nine individual beer and …

In military parlance, West Pac refers to the western Pacific, which may include Hawaii, Japan, and much of southeast Asia. As a military brat, I grew up familiar with the term, and ultimately spent time …

Though the cooking technique dates back countless centuries to natives of the Pacific Northwest, here in latter day America, cedar plank salmon has largely become the provenance of upscale dining venues. But don’t tell that …

In all the tasting rooms, representing all the breweries, within the entire county of San Diego, there’s only one requiring that even local residents buy an airplane ticket to get there: Stone Brewing in Terminal …

It’s noon on a warm Sunday, and I’ve just come from pinching produce at the Hillcrest Farmers Market to quench my thirst a flight at Hillcrest Brewing Company. It’s a journey of about twelve feet. …

Call San Diego the land of beer and honey, because the guys behind a local mead startup have won a nationally televised beer contest. Andrew Segina, John Botica, and Mark Oberle co-founded Meadiocrity Meadery in …

Can healthy food be franchised? That’s the question I ask myself while waiting for my order at Fresh, a fast casual eatery that recently opened within the North City development of San Marcos. It’s the …

One pesky little problem inhibiting the craft spirits movement is that it’s technically not legal to distill alcohol as an amateur. So, while hobbyists have been homebrewing beer legally four decades now, distillers aren’t allowed …

This was my first time in a Laotian restaurant, so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. “Actually,” said the guy manning the counter of Bane Phonkeo’s, “a lot of dishes on Thai …

There’s an oft repeated myth in our country that alcohol kills brain cells. Not only is that claim bunk, but in some instances, drinking a few beers can actually make you smarter. Case in point: …

A tee shirt sold by new Pacific Beach restaurant Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks calls it, “The Michael Jordan of Cheesesteaks.” It’s a brash statement, for a couple of reasons. “Why not the Dr. J of cheesesteaks?” wonder …

The owners of Guthrie CiderWorks are looking for a little help deciding which of their upcoming cider flavors will eventually make it into bars and shops. To do so, the young Miramar business has decided …

Keeping the recreational beer drinker in mind, a number of local breweries offer games for customers to play in and around their tasting rooms. The beanbag toss game cornhole is a common sight. So is …

The inconsistencies started piling up. Knowing I would wind up in Escondido at the end of a long workday, I poked around online to find some convenient place to grab a snack before tackling the …

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was due to reopen this week after a long renovation, but it left a Gaslamp Quarter in need of ice cream heading into summer, and now Ghiradelli returns to find fresh …

Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, Italian master chefs would hone their culinary arts in France, then return to cook for aristocratic households in Naples and Sicily, plying French techniques with Italian ingredients and …

I walked in shortly before sunset, by design. OB Brewery sits a short block from the Ocean Beach Pier, and its main attraction is a rooftop deck that peeks over adjacent buildings to offer a …

When a friend recently sought tips on local eateries he could take his children to learn about the food of foreign cultures, one of the first that came to mind was Kaiserhof. For over 30 …

After decades of drinking hop bomb IPAs, San Diegans have whet our palates and wholeheartedly embraced craft lagers like never before. Local beer now offers an unprecedented variety of crisp, clean blondes, and this summer, …

Over the past decade, there’s probably not a commercial district in San Diego I’ve walked, biked, or driven through more often than that along 25th Street in Golden Hill. There are only a few dining …

“We’re not a brewery,” stresses Beau Schmitt. Schmitt and business partner Mike Sill opened the Brew Project in Hillcrest in fall of 2015, converting an old craftsman home into a bar and restaurant outfitted with …