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

Hubcap

El Take it Easy's staff made the transition to Hubcap with blinding speed and not a moment too soon.

Well, that was fast! Not much sooner than I foretold the coming of Hubcap, the restaurant opened up for business. I would have speculated that some unknown delays might have prevented the changeover from El Take it Easy to Hubcap, but the staff clearly had all their ducks in a row and the switch happened almost overnight. I gave the new restaurant a little while, but I had to get in there and grind a burger sooner rather than later.

At first glance, Hubcap is still very much like EZ in appearance, although the addition of some polished metal and a few well-placed racing stripes gives the interior a Cannonball Run makeover, albeit a subtle one.

The menu is impressively streamlined. A $9 burger forms the basis of the operation and a few, $2-$9 side dishes and starter plates round out the menu. That’s about it. In that respect it couldn’t be more unlike EZ. The focus may be narrow, but the appeal will be much broader. And perhaps that’s already showing results. Even on a weeknight, there were plenty of people in the dining room. I was always tentatively in support of El Take it Easy, but I can see that Hubcap is already the better restaurant.

I ate the burger, and it was good. Grass-fed beef, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, mayonnaise and “fluffy cheese” (a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar, and blue cheese, or so I was told) exploded out of the bun. I grabbed a fork and knife, finishing the burger via utensil rather than watch it disintegrate. Paying an extra $1 for caramelized onions was a good idea, but the $5 addition of uni paté didn’t seem to offer much in the way of extra flavor for a 50% increase in price.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45269/

On the side, fries with red eye gravy and fluffy cheese ($9) impersonated poutine in a huge basket. The fries themselves were insufficiently crispy--something Hubcap will have to mind in the future if it’s going to bill itself on burgers and fries--but the smothering in gravy and cheese made them delicious.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45270/

Jalapeno poppers ($7) were filled with the everpresent fluffy cheese and served with a thin, tangy ranch-style dressing. There’s some irony in conceptual restaurants emulating Hooters, and I’m OK with it for now.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45268/

Pickled eggs ($2) were perfect, not yet rubbery from over-curing, and they’ll always be wonderful provided the restaurant sells enough of them to keep using fresh ones. Woe befalls the patron who bites into an egg that’s sat too long in the pickle, for that way lies rubbery chewy madness instead of briny whites and creamy, alkaline yolks.

With the food being delicious, Hubcap’s biggest challenge going forward will be dealing with the service. EZ (much like the Linkery) struggled with ineffectual service and Hubcap seems no different at the outset. The servers seemed overworked or undertrained, perhaps both. I’m aware that the concept is new, but the staff worked together at EZ and should be on their game and up to the level of the burger. No amount of tasty beef can erase the bad taste of poor service.

Still, it was a very good burger.

3926 30th Street
619-291-1859
Closed Mondays, 5-Late Weekdays, 12-Late Weekends

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

Previous article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief

Well, that was fast! Not much sooner than I foretold the coming of Hubcap, the restaurant opened up for business. I would have speculated that some unknown delays might have prevented the changeover from El Take it Easy to Hubcap, but the staff clearly had all their ducks in a row and the switch happened almost overnight. I gave the new restaurant a little while, but I had to get in there and grind a burger sooner rather than later.

At first glance, Hubcap is still very much like EZ in appearance, although the addition of some polished metal and a few well-placed racing stripes gives the interior a Cannonball Run makeover, albeit a subtle one.

The menu is impressively streamlined. A $9 burger forms the basis of the operation and a few, $2-$9 side dishes and starter plates round out the menu. That’s about it. In that respect it couldn’t be more unlike EZ. The focus may be narrow, but the appeal will be much broader. And perhaps that’s already showing results. Even on a weeknight, there were plenty of people in the dining room. I was always tentatively in support of El Take it Easy, but I can see that Hubcap is already the better restaurant.

I ate the burger, and it was good. Grass-fed beef, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, mayonnaise and “fluffy cheese” (a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar, and blue cheese, or so I was told) exploded out of the bun. I grabbed a fork and knife, finishing the burger via utensil rather than watch it disintegrate. Paying an extra $1 for caramelized onions was a good idea, but the $5 addition of uni paté didn’t seem to offer much in the way of extra flavor for a 50% increase in price.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45269/

On the side, fries with red eye gravy and fluffy cheese ($9) impersonated poutine in a huge basket. The fries themselves were insufficiently crispy--something Hubcap will have to mind in the future if it’s going to bill itself on burgers and fries--but the smothering in gravy and cheese made them delicious.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45270/

Jalapeno poppers ($7) were filled with the everpresent fluffy cheese and served with a thin, tangy ranch-style dressing. There’s some irony in conceptual restaurants emulating Hooters, and I’m OK with it for now.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/09/45268/

Pickled eggs ($2) were perfect, not yet rubbery from over-curing, and they’ll always be wonderful provided the restaurant sells enough of them to keep using fresh ones. Woe befalls the patron who bites into an egg that’s sat too long in the pickle, for that way lies rubbery chewy madness instead of briny whites and creamy, alkaline yolks.

With the food being delicious, Hubcap’s biggest challenge going forward will be dealing with the service. EZ (much like the Linkery) struggled with ineffectual service and Hubcap seems no different at the outset. The servers seemed overworked or undertrained, perhaps both. I’m aware that the concept is new, but the staff worked together at EZ and should be on their game and up to the level of the burger. No amount of tasty beef can erase the bad taste of poor service.

Still, it was a very good burger.

3926 30th Street
619-291-1859
Closed Mondays, 5-Late Weekdays, 12-Late Weekends

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

The Counter: East Village's littlest burger?

Next Article

Turf Club happy hour: First, learn how to grill

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