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Entries
Is everything still tasting great?
A call for an end to an ill-advised yet ubiquitous service question
Good service can turn even a bad meal into something with redeeming memory hooks, and can turn a great meal into the stuff of enduring personal legend. I often talk about how, for me, the food always comes first—and it …
Voyou: Great little wine bar but…
Looking for best bang for Le Buck at Hillcrest's French wine bar
I’m not the first to burst into this cubby-hole of cool. Ian Pike gave a connoisseur’s four-course breakdown last year that says it all. That said, I came in here, spent a short time, and left wanting to love it …
Lunch at Saigon on Fifth in Hillcrest
The Vietnamese food place that's Actually on University Avenue
Finding an available parking meter in the heart of Hillcrest is like finding a stiletto in Ocean Beach. Fortunately, there's a parking lot few people know of beneath Saigon on Fifth, which is accessed off of Fifth Avenue (despite the …
Non-native Native Foods in Encinitas
Newly arrived veggy-vegan chain committed to speedy delivery
A new restaurant just opened in Encinitas and its staff is officially on the clock. I’m not talking about 15 minutes of fame or the brief window a debuting eatery has to make a success of itself before it fades …
Wackness at the Joint
Ocean Beach sushi bar is best when things get weird.
A Newport Street hotspot, the Joint is a weird place. It appears appropriately seedy and OBecian from the outside, promising the beachy awesomeness of a Hodad’s or South Beach, but the interior had an aura of North Park hip courtesy …
Beaucoup Banchan at Grandma's
Endless array of tastes at Grandma Tofu & B.B.Q. on Convoy
I thought Tofu House was the only Korean boiling chili tofu pot joint in town, but this week, David proved me wrong by bringing me to Grandma's Tofu & BBQ. David had dined there a week before with our fellow …
Lincoln Park: Red Rooster’s got catfish, if you can find it
It’s a hole in the wall, but the word is out: for catfish, frogs’ legs, call Frank
You’d never find Frank in a thousand years, if you didn’t know where to look. Like, get off the Orange Line trolley at Euclid Avenue, walk through the shopping center with all the domes and towers... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/02/39433/ ...turn right, cross …
Pacific Beach eateries cook up culinary tribute to Super Bowl
California Kebab and Papa Luna's Empanadas pay homage to 49ers and Ravens
Two Pacific Beach eateries are celebrating the Super Bowl this Sunday with special dishes inspired by the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers. Mediterranean restaurant and bar California Kebab (4150 Mission Blvd.) will have a creamy San Francisco Bay …
Beer of the Week: SD TapRoom Coconuts on Rye
Vista’s Latitude 33º goes ‘nuts over PB’s SD Tap Room
I love it when I effectively spot a trend. Granted, trends, by their very nature, are relatively easy to spot so long as you’re looking. I’m always paying attention to beer, especially the varieties produced in San Diego County. A …
New wine bar in Talmadge
Romeo and Julieta's Wine Cafe is open for business.
I Followed a tip out to Talmadge’s sleepy neighborhoods and the unlikely corner of Monroe and 47th. There, lo and behold, sat Romeo and Julieta’s Wine Cafe, new (and only) kid on the block for wine, espresso, and Polish-inflected tapas. …
Ra downtown: $3 sake and free sushi lessons
Ed finds Rogelio the sushi chef doesn't laugh at his, well, ignorance
“Patience, Grasshopper. Quality sushi takes time.” That’s what stops me, at the head of the menu. A kinda quote from that David Carradine TV series, Kung Fu. Carradine played Kwai Chang Caine, who tried not to fight at least until …
WNL5: La Jolla’s Whisknladle celebrating a successful half-decade
It was 2008, but I remember it clearly, sharing a table with young restaurateur Arturo Kassel and discussing the origins of the name for his farm-to-table Whisknladle (1044 Wall Street, La Jolla). He explained it was the name of a …
Ocean Beach mini-donuts
The OB Farmers' Market contains wonderful, portable, miniaturized treats.
I was minding my own business, waltzing through the Ocean Beach Farmers’ Market (Wednesdays from 4-7 on Newport Street) in a vain search for a guy who sells photo journals, when the unmistakable scent of fresh donuts wafted my way. …
Downtown: Nose to the phos at Pho Xpress
It's the aroma, getting richer and richer...
The thing about the Vietnamese soup-meal pho is the more you slurp it down, the better it gets. The more concentrated, the more flavorful. That’s my tragedy tonight. In a rush. Truly ten minutes before the trolley. Won’t have time …
MOGL cares for La Mirage
Locally-run loyalty program establishes a fundraising drive to help an ailing restaurant owner.
Yesterday, I (and all the other MOGL subscribers) got an email with the subject, “request to help a restaurant owner in need.” I subscribe to the loyalty program, which rewards customers at restaurants with cash back, as much for the …
Eclipse falling on Fern Street
Local chocolatier seeping like molten morsels into South Park
After spending the past half-decade in North Park, Eclipse Chocolat is moving to South Park. In doing so, owner Will Gustwiller will be taking over a 4,000 square foot space that is a whopping four times larger than Eclipse 1.0. …
Hillcrest: farewell Urban Eats, welcome Parma
More musical chairs at a challenging location
First it was an Italian coffee house, Caffe Vergnano 1882 - it had been going since 1882 at the chain's HQ in Turin, Italy. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/29/39232/ That lasted a matter of months at this location in the beautiful ol' French-Indochina style …
Shkoffing pizza Chicago style
Berkeley Pizza in the Gaslamp has the right crust.
I will shamelessly admit that every time I go to the Little Italy Mercato, I snag a sample of Berkeley Pizza. They are there every Saturday morning, selling take and bake pies and giving out bites to taste. There’s always …
Overseas Suds, Part 2: Italy
Cucina Urbana adds Italian craft beer to its repertoire
Many in the craft beer know are on to the fact that Italy is gaining a great deal of notoriety for its burgeoning beer scene. Microbreweries dot the Mediterranean country like raindrops on a suede boot. Major publications are reporting …
High expectations for Gang Kitchen
New, pan-Asian spot downtown set the bar high, delivered in some respects. Still has lots of potential.
Gang Kitchen was hyped and hyped, and then hyped a little more in the months leading up to its opening. But, hey, it’s been open for a little while now and my curiosity was up, so I stopped by for …