Feast has moved!
For articles posted after October 8, 2013, please visit the new Feast section.
Related content: Happy Hours | Food & Drink Events | Tin Fork | Here's the Deal | Set 'em Up Joe | Breakfast | Burrito Barato | Burger Time | By the Slice | Gastro Trucks | Hot Dawg! | House Specialty | Musical Chefs | Open & Shut | Rad Patios | Tour de Cheesesteak | Search restaurants
Entries
Breakfast: Eat with Matisse!
Ed eats brekky surrounded by art, French signs and red trolleys. Result: zero I.G.I!
Came off the trolley at the Santa Fe around nine in the morning. Looking for a quick breakfast. But not much time. Have to catch the Coaster, 9:48. Ooh, yes this'll give me a chance to check out the St. …
Cafe Hue rules at waffles
Convoy Street bakery is worth a trip for coffee and dessert
How a place like Cafe Hue (3860 Convoy Street, 858-571-7947) comes to be is a mystery. If the name indicates anything, it’s a Vietnamese business, but they sell Liege-style waffles, crepes, and gelato; none of which are known as specialties …
Rakiraki brings ramen burgers to San Diego!
But don't rush out to stand in line for one.
Ramen burgers are taking the world by storm! At least, that’s what the bloggers and foodie pundits--who thrive on buzzworthy stories about food crazes and celebrity chefs--would have you think. To hear them tell it, the ramen burger will bump …
Gluten-sensitive beer the new norm at California Kebab
Pacific Beach kebab joint and beer garden is sensitive to celiacs.
Though celiac disease - an autoimmune disorder triggered by the consumption of gluten - affects less than 1% of the U.S. population (1 in 133, actually), as many as 6% are allergic or gluten-sensitive. That means no pizza (except for …
Night Caldo in Chula Vista
Ed discovers a primo birrieria, and he hasn't even crossed the border
We're in the Deep South of Chula Vista, near Palomar. Just walked the dusty sidewalk-free sidewalk of Industrial Boulevard, looking for La Taquiza, cute little place I'd spotted from the trolley, but whack! Closed. Guy in Lucy's Liquor Store next …
Crazy over bread sticks again
Bread sticks are like lovers: you think you're through, then you taste them again, for the first time
I have always been disappointed by bread sticks. I mean they look so tempting, but when you bite in they're usually doughy, maybe a little cheesy, but just not very tasty. And carbs? That's what you're eating: pure carbs. Only …
Baby steps in Baja: Day One - Puerto Nuevo
Navigating Baja's lobster capital is easier than you think
We planned our road trip with a lunch stop in Puerto Nuevo for langosta, their famous spiny lobsters, in mind. Thanks to a remarkably fast border crossing, we made it to the city entrance just after noon. Puerto Nuevo is …
Why not drink more bitters?
After-dinner digestives aren't as big a custom in American restaurants as they could be. Urban Solace, for one, leads the way in stocking a bar with the herbal cordials.
Rumors of a new-ish dessert menu led me to Urban Solace. I guess you could call something that came out in May “new,” since sometimes it takes a while to stay on top of things. Regardless, I thought perhaps some …
Bonita: Tuna tostada trial!
Ed goes for a simple happy hour, and finds happiness itself
Oh man. Always dangerous to say "best." But his ahi tuna tostada has to be the best in 'Diego. No. Best in the universe. OK. Let's just limit that to best in our particular galaxy. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/12/53026/ Sitting here in the …
Heart & Trotter: whole animal butchery to open in North Park
Locally-sourced, sustainable meat comes to Uptown.
We San Diegans like things crafty. We shop for locally-sourced produce and homemade hummus at the farmers’ market. We drink hop-heavy beers at neighborhood gastropubs and sip artisanal cocktails in Downtown speakeasies. We slather organic jelly on home-baked bread and …
Tokyo Playground heading for the Gaslamp
Should we have a problem with “schoolgirl-clad” servers?
George’s on Fifth, the well-settled steak place you’d see downtown powerbrokers eating at as you hurried by, is history. Even their closing down is history. They served their last meal at the end of March. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/10/52960/ But in their place, …
Burger for Breakfast
At Vigilucci's in Coronado, breakfast is all about style
Thank goodness for Jan. Carla's old flatmate is across from Florida for a couple of weeks. I'm mostly sitting watching a tennis match as these two have at it. Gabfest! Who had whose boyfriend. Who stole whose blouse. Who did …
Feast! Pier-end party people chow down
Sunset's the magic moment for the annual moment to chew the fat, and just, well, chew
Whew. Just come from the Feast! party at the cruise terminal... Stuffed with burgers, truffle fries, wines, beers, including hey hey! Arrogant Bastard from Stone. And all of it free - after gettin' in, of course. I mean yes, we're …
Izakaya Ouan replaces Yu Me Ya
New sake house in Hillcrest improves upon the old, better fills the niche between Tek Chan and Masa.
Yu Me Ya Sake House struggled in Hillcrest despite the sterling reputation founded by the restaurant’s original location in Encinitas. Its main problem was an inability to distance itself from its competitors. Masa always had the late-night ramen crowd on …
The other Mickey D’s
At McDini’s you eat history, one corned beef sandwich at a time
Oh Lord. It stands in front of me, sparkling, sending dewdrops down its side. “Come on, come on,” it says. “Just one sip.” It’s a stein of beer, 32 ounces, the kind you’d see in Oktoberfests. Bud inside. Costs $7. …
Twist Sandwiches and More replaces Philly Grill
North Park sandwich and munchie shop offers something a little different.
It pains me to have invested so many bites and miles into Tour de Cheesesteak, only to have the place that began it go out of business! Philly Grill is no more. 86’d, as they say. In its place, Twist …
National City: Getting your ginger back
Can Niederfrank's, this town's original ice creamery, really help you fight the heat?
This stinkin' hot weather, there are only two places to hide: whatever bus you're riding in, because at least they have A/C, or get off at National City and head for Niederfrank's, 'cause not only are they the first ice …
Baby Steps in Baja
My first road trip to Mexico makes my wine and food dreams come true, satisfies my fish taco addiction.
Let’s address this right up front. Crime there is out of control. Gang violence is so rampant that children follow acid yellow street signs to school to avoid being ambushed. But enough about Chicago.* I’ve traveled to several countries in …
J&H Hopia open in National City
Filipino bakery's cheese balls are a must have among many tasty confections.
Here’s a place so new and off the radar that it’s hard to google: J&H Hopia (3403 East Plaza Boulevard, National City, 619-479-0056). It’s so new, they don’t even have the credit card machine up and running yet (bring cash!), …
Tips, lies, and the Linkery
A response to Slate's publication of an article by former Linkery owner Jay Porter
After eight years of stuffing sausages and pushing the issue of farm-to-table dining, sometimes earning short mentions in major media outlets, North Park’s Linkery called it quits. Prior to the mid-July closure, its then-owner Jay Porter published a sanguine farewell …