Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Lime-Flavored Joy At the End Of the Road

This is the end of the road. End of Harbor Drive.

Here in National City it turns into Civic Center Drive.

End of the week, too.

But the start of my first true, real Mexican breakfast beer, along with a chorizo breakfast at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Love this place. Little dive just about under the 5 freeway.

Club 13, 640 Civic Center Drive, 619-477-2851.

Sign near the 5 freeway has seen better days

Wandered in here hungry as a horse. Walking a lot this mawnin', nothing on the gut.

In here, guys from the shipyards, and some of the fabulous car-tricking places that they have around the neighborhood. (Ever read Tom Woolf, "The Candy-Colored, Tangerine-Flake, Streamline Baby"?

Car from the Glory Age on the way to glory at Southland Transmission

It's about guys who transform cars like this.)

But right now, it's Norma who's got the guys' attention with her tight white short-short skirt. She hands me the simple green plastic menu. It's mainly tacos, tostadas, burritos, running from four to seven bucks.

And she says that Jose the cook - and "dueño" (owner) - is happy to do breakfast, even though it's late. Great news!

They have a choice of five. Chorizo and eggs, machaca and eggs, Spanish omelet, and huevos rancheros. Five bucks each. No question: Chorizo it is. I'll get some for the lovely Carla - she turned me on to chorizo in the first place - and, dammit, for myself.

Breakfast plate of chorizo

Plus, can't resist a taco. Two dollars for the hard shell, $2.50 for the camarones.

Shrimp taco

Now, question of drink. Coffee, normally...But this guy Jose comes and sits down with his buddy next to me and orders "Un vaso chelado con Dos Equis."

Norma grabs a glass out of the fridge, turns it upside down on a little plate with a pile of Tajin - basically a seasoning with salt and hot peppers - so that it sticks to the rim of the glass.

Then she cuts up two limes, squeezes them into the glass, adds ice, and only then goes and gets a bottle of Dos Equis beer, pours some in, and hands it to Jose. He pays $3.50.

"Now if you really want a hangover medicine," says Jose, "ask for 'Mi chelado,' and get it with carrots, cucumber, shrimp, lime and clams in the bottom, and then add your Dos Equis. Little bit hair of the dog, a lot of 'crudo' - hangover - cure."

Well, feeling fine right now. I go for the "vaso chelado con Dos Equis."

It all comes together nicely. I recognize the cook/boss, Jose Magadan, from last time I came here, soon after the Filipino ladies who used to run it gave the place up. Norma's fixing her make-up in the mirror, the singer Pandora's belting out "Por Tu Amor" on the juke box, bunch of guys are playing unbelievably hot pool at the table...

...and the chorizo's great.

And, hey, beer with the big lime factor and the salty heat from the rim for brekky is new!

Norma says come back Thursday nights for the karaoke. "People have fun," she says. "They sing their lungs out, and sometimes dance."

"I will if you'll teach me the Quebradita," I say. That's the Mexican break dance I long to learn so I can teach Carla.

Norma laughs.

Three of us at the bar talk about how the shipyards are dropping workers by the week, and the Superbowl.

In fact, despite the shipyard news, by now life seems pretty good, here under the freeway, at the end of the road.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Halloween opera style

Faust is the quintessential example
Next Article

The Fellini of Clairemont High

When gang showers were standard for gym class

This is the end of the road. End of Harbor Drive.

Here in National City it turns into Civic Center Drive.

End of the week, too.

But the start of my first true, real Mexican breakfast beer, along with a chorizo breakfast at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Love this place. Little dive just about under the 5 freeway.

Club 13, 640 Civic Center Drive, 619-477-2851.

Sign near the 5 freeway has seen better days

Wandered in here hungry as a horse. Walking a lot this mawnin', nothing on the gut.

In here, guys from the shipyards, and some of the fabulous car-tricking places that they have around the neighborhood. (Ever read Tom Woolf, "The Candy-Colored, Tangerine-Flake, Streamline Baby"?

Car from the Glory Age on the way to glory at Southland Transmission

It's about guys who transform cars like this.)

But right now, it's Norma who's got the guys' attention with her tight white short-short skirt. She hands me the simple green plastic menu. It's mainly tacos, tostadas, burritos, running from four to seven bucks.

And she says that Jose the cook - and "dueño" (owner) - is happy to do breakfast, even though it's late. Great news!

They have a choice of five. Chorizo and eggs, machaca and eggs, Spanish omelet, and huevos rancheros. Five bucks each. No question: Chorizo it is. I'll get some for the lovely Carla - she turned me on to chorizo in the first place - and, dammit, for myself.

Breakfast plate of chorizo

Plus, can't resist a taco. Two dollars for the hard shell, $2.50 for the camarones.

Shrimp taco

Now, question of drink. Coffee, normally...But this guy Jose comes and sits down with his buddy next to me and orders "Un vaso chelado con Dos Equis."

Norma grabs a glass out of the fridge, turns it upside down on a little plate with a pile of Tajin - basically a seasoning with salt and hot peppers - so that it sticks to the rim of the glass.

Then she cuts up two limes, squeezes them into the glass, adds ice, and only then goes and gets a bottle of Dos Equis beer, pours some in, and hands it to Jose. He pays $3.50.

"Now if you really want a hangover medicine," says Jose, "ask for 'Mi chelado,' and get it with carrots, cucumber, shrimp, lime and clams in the bottom, and then add your Dos Equis. Little bit hair of the dog, a lot of 'crudo' - hangover - cure."

Well, feeling fine right now. I go for the "vaso chelado con Dos Equis."

It all comes together nicely. I recognize the cook/boss, Jose Magadan, from last time I came here, soon after the Filipino ladies who used to run it gave the place up. Norma's fixing her make-up in the mirror, the singer Pandora's belting out "Por Tu Amor" on the juke box, bunch of guys are playing unbelievably hot pool at the table...

...and the chorizo's great.

And, hey, beer with the big lime factor and the salty heat from the rim for brekky is new!

Norma says come back Thursday nights for the karaoke. "People have fun," she says. "They sing their lungs out, and sometimes dance."

"I will if you'll teach me the Quebradita," I say. That's the Mexican break dance I long to learn so I can teach Carla.

Norma laughs.

Three of us at the bar talk about how the shipyards are dropping workers by the week, and the Superbowl.

In fact, despite the shipyard news, by now life seems pretty good, here under the freeway, at the end of the road.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

In a Sea of Moving Treacle

Next Article

Hora Feliz in Logan Heights

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader