Hailing from a cuisine characterized by the likes of schmaltz, schmears, corned beef, and brisket, the staples of a Jewish delicatessen would not appear to be likely candidates for veganization. Nevertheless, the newest addition to …
Wander the tightly packed, urban neighborhoods of Paris, and you may expect to find a boulangerie on nearly every city block. Drive the sprawling blocks of Scripps Ranch, on the other hand, and it’s a …
A certain fried poultry chain garnered buckets of free press last week for announcing it will be serving vegan chicken options at its restaurants. Really, KFC is just the latest fast-food brand to make hay …
It’s 2022, and we’re all more or less accustomed to ordering food from touchscreens. That could mean delivery order placed from our phones, fast food order made at digital kiosks, or — thank you, pandemic …
However much I might like a restaurant these days, it’s tough to achieve regular customer status with a food writing gig that always has me on the lookout for new and different. But when Underbelly …
Not that I need encouragement, but the late year rain and chill reminded me that New Year’s is the traditional time of year to feast on pozole. Which meant the thing to do was aim …
If there’s a fine line between tradition and cliché, no action straddles it better than ordering Chinese take-out on December 25th. Noodles, dumplings, mistletoe — all swirl together in whichever part of the brain nostalgia …
Hot chocolate and Oreo pancakes might not be what my wife had in mind when she sent me off with the children in search of breakfast. But it’s a chilly morning, and we’re dining outside, …
How much does Lemon Grove like Italian food? The answer may be forthcoming, as a new restaurant and market has set up shop in the neighborhood. Inpasta Artisan Pasta and Pizza opened this month a …
Having recently moved out of San Diego’s urban center, I’ve spent much of this year reconciling myself to the idea that, beyond the city proper, sometimes independent restaurateurs manage to outdo competition within suburban shopping …
It’s fair to assume that the Michelin Guide will never revisit San Ysidro. Nor that any restaurants in the small border district will again receive attention from magazines including Food & Wine, Fortune, or GQ. …
It probably says something about which stage of the fried chicken craze we’ve entered that I can squeeze in a couple of minutes of grocery shopping while waiting for my hot chicken sandwich to be …
People under a certain age might know them as Hungry Man dinners: frozen meals sold in partitioned, microwave-safe trays, in order to keep entrees and side dishes separate as they’re reheated. But, back in the …
I’d like to be disappointed, but my surroundings won’t allow it. There’s Mission Bay, spread out to the west, with the first shade of sunset color taking form overhead. I’m seated in a spacious patio, …
This wasn’t intended to be a story about a robot. When Tofu House opened a new location near SDSU this October, this Korean food fan was elated. Usually, I’m happy to leave college area restaurants …
If seems as though Perry’s Café has always been there, always easy to spot from the 5-North to 8-East freeway interchange. They say the family-owned breakfast diner has been in business over 35 years, and …
“We got a tiii-iip!” sings out the cashier, after the customer at the front of the line drops cash in the jar. “We got a tip!” sings back the makeshift kitchen crew, in unison and …
Earlier this year, I moved to a new neighborhood across town, and one by one I’ve been trying all the area taco shops. But I’m still trying to identify my new go-to. Everyone in San …
Most afternoons, I would be disappointed to make the trek into La Jolla only to find the peninsula sheathed in fog. But on this day, I would welcome the chill, because there’s a new tea …
The vibe is feeling real along 8th Street, National City, as we circle the block to find parking. I’ve been hearing for nearly two years now about this aspirational project coming together: a public market, …
Wander into any American grocery store, and you’ll have no trouble identifying dozens, if not hundreds of snack foods that pair well with beer. But I would bet you can’t find any trace of one …
We hadn’t planned on stopping at K Sandwiches. But as our car crested the hill at Linda Vista Road, and its sign came into view, our reactions were spontaneous and simultaneous: let’s get lunch. Minus …
Eighteen months ago, we all saw the pandemic make things tough on restaurants, a few of which never made it back. However, if we liken that to a long winter of attrition, what we’ve been …
If you’ve happened to cruise Lake Murray Boulevard on a regular basis in the past couple years, it might be easy to presume that ten-year-old eatery The Vine Cottage didn’t make it through the pandemic. …
Did you know San Diego is home to “America’s #1 black-owned gourmet vegan cookie company?” I did not, until I found the website for Maya’s Cookies, a cookie bakery operating out of an industrial park …
An email about plant-based poke bowls caught my attention. Which is weird, because I didn’t actually stop to read the thing. But it must have made an impression, because days later I found myself driving …
Honestly, I thought the matter had been settled: that the parade of restaurants rolling through the corner shack at 25th and Market Street had come to an end. Following half a dozen ill-fated concepts in …
It must have been creeping toward late afternoon, because traffic began to clog the streets around San Diego’s shipyards. The early risers who service Navy vessels and other massive boats were clocking out for the …
If you told me last week I would show up in Encinitas to find a long line of people waiting to order food, I would have offered a few guesses what that food might be. …
“It’s a cacao bar,” I tried to explain to the kids, as we approached Maya Moon Collective. They shot me a funny look, pretty sure I was either promising them cocoa or a candy bar, …
Outside holiday lights season, there’s no better time of day to visit Balboa Park than a quiet morning. And while that’s likely been true for more than a century, such mornings at the park have …
The table next to us is large and round, with a lazy susan built into its center. As it rotates, we get a clear view of terrific-looking dishes we might have ordered instead: whole steamed …
At the time a friend first recommended a local fish market serving straight-off-the-boat poke and sashimi, it didn’t seem likely the tip would lead me to a Sorrento Valley industrial park. But here I was, …
The hashtag, painted across the top of the truck, reads #worldsbestbirria. It doesn’t beg, it insists on a comparison with the best you’ve had. It doesn’t matter all that much whether the boast rings true, …
It’s been around for going on ten years, but I’d never once seen the place before making my first order at the counter last week. East of Birdland, south of the Montgomery-Gibbs airport, up the …
The Michelin Guide has cast its latest cursory glance at our city, and a handful of quite good restaurants across town are now basking in attentions bestowed by a car tire manufacturer. I know it’s …
When our server places it on the table, it’s so large that we assume the kitchen has sent out the two-person order by mistake. But no, this large bowl contains the single order of the …
Did you know there’s a neighborhood in San Diego specifically named after silent film actresses of the 1920s? I was surprised to learn this week that Talmadge was founded in 1925, named in honor of …
Alongside death and taxes, there’s at least one more certainty in this life: accumulate a few of food writing bylines, and publicist emails will find you. I receive dozens per day, occasionally duplicates finding me …
All things being equal, I’m going to choose the local restaurant over the out-of-town chain — especially when a clash of brands or menu items are involved. But that doesn’t mean I can’t give a …
I’m not a big fan of making lists, but within a couple bites of this pambazo, my mind starts sifting through all the hot sandwiches I’ve tried in San Diego. Can I think of five …
There is a lot going on at 4646 Convoy Street, suite 101. I was here just a couple months ago to try the Japanese style fried chicken of Junya’s Crispy Karaage. That counter shop shares …
I wonder, when the crack cocaine addiction became an epidemic in the 1980s, did anyone foresee that we would someday use the word crack to describe food? Yet, in the darker corners of American humor, …
Jerk chicken, goat curry, oxtail, brown stew. Having spent fifteen years sampling dishes from at least that many Jamaican restaurants, I’ve come to view these as staples of the island cuisine built upon the pleasures …
There’s an aisle of shelves in Spring Valley grocery Valley Farm Market almost entirely devoted to barbecue. It carries sauces, seasonings, wood chips, pellets, and a litany of accessories for the wannabe backyard smoker. I’ve …
I’ve photographed burritos, dumplings, and egg rolls, but probably the most challenging photo I’ve ever tried to take centered on a lump of fudge. I’d ordered the rocky road flavor, hoping that the large, white …
Out in search of a romantic dinner, we approached a rather nondescript, gray storefront on University Avenue. The place didn’t even have a sign up — were it not for a handful of diners enjoying …
The past couple years have brought plenty of changes to Split Bakehouse. When Vanessa Corrales launched the brand in 2018 with acclaimed pastry chef Kristianna Zabala, the idea was to offer a wholesale pastry menu …
Other than the word sushi itself, there’s usually not much to learn about a sushi restaurant by looking at its name. Sometimes, if there’s a Japanese word, you can run it through an online translator …
Plant-based eateries aren’t as tough a sell as they used to be in San Diego, but they’re still part of the volatile restaurant business, so even some of the good ones close before their time. …