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Entries
Escape
Downtown fish bar charges a premium price, but the fish is seafood is indeed fine.
A sense of good humor marked the menu at Escape Fish Bar with little snippets and jokes (“stalk us on Facebook!”). The staff, while perhaps a shade over-friendly on a quiet night, came off as nothing if not hospitable. Spirits …
Jing Si: East Village has good coffee, place to think
The Taiwan-based Buddhist bookstore has really vibes for daydreaming, or writing your thesis without pressure
“From good thoughts to everlasting deeds.” These sayings are all around you, but they’re the only things interrupting your thoughts in this pretty elegant coffee-contemplation place just waiting for the new domed library to open, right across 11th Street. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/11/38287/ …
Santee gets a brewer in Butcher's
Butcher’s Brewing takes over Manzanita Brewing’s original brewhouse
It seems like only yesterday I was venturing to North Park’s Ritual Tavern to get a taste of a brand new beer from a brand new brewery. And a brand new brewer for that matter...as far as I knew at …
Sherman's Shack replaces Urban Chicken
Grant Hill loses a chicken house and gains a burger joint.
Urban Chicken was cool. It wasn’t the best place in the whole wide Grant Hill, but the chicken was tasty and the funky building had some charm. Naturally, I was a little bummed when the place shuttered and quickly deteriorated, …
Currant's HH: Mussel deal makes a ripple
Happy hour at Currant is, uh, raisin' the bar...
So I’ve just swung by Sushi Deli 2 (see blog yesterday). Didn’t go in, but last time I was there, in May, you got those totally delish “green mussel dynamite,” four green-lipped mussels baked in the shell with spicy mayo …
Anniversary ales abound
Alpine Beer, Societe Brewing pay sudsy homage to O'Brien's Pub
When assessing the San Diego craft beer scene, most people see two camps—breweries and the venues that deal their product. While these are two separate factions, there is more overlap then ever before between them. Numerous owners of brewing companies, …
Japanese in Hillcrest
One yakitori grill closes, another opens in its place.
Raku is gone, replaced by Tec Chan, which isn’t all that different. The inside looks basically the same, although some bamboo awnings and booths went up on the north wall where, if I’m correct, only tables stood before. Lights and …
Sushi Deli 2 downtown: If you could bottle their secret…
Is it a rock star? Is it an iPad 5 launch? Is it their soy sauce?
This was the scene downtown at 3rd and Broadway, next to the Spreckels Theater. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/10/38192/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/10/38194/ Except this crowd has nothing to do with rock stars or showbiz. They’re lining up to get into Sushi Deli 2. What is it …
New Mexico Cafe: vuelve a la vida!
A visit to the ladies in Barrio Logan cures the bug
Oh man. This was the only place I could come to. Last two days Carla and I have been heaving. Stomach bug. Lost five pounds! Now, want to come back gently to the world. So I homed in like a …
Beer's birthplaces vs. home sweet home
A post-European perspective on San Diego's beer scene
For years, I stowed away as much extra money as I could muster, storing it in the bank and fighting the urge to spend it on big-screen TVs, musical instruments, or bottle after bottle of high-priced craft beer. Truth be …
Cheapest steak in town?
North Park bar may just have the best deal on a steak dinner, but it's only one night a week.
I don’t know how I missed out on steak night at Gilly’s, living right around the block and all, but Tuesday now has a new old hotness. I guess they’ve been doing it for a quarter-century--grilling up steaks for the …
First Look: ChuckAlek Independent Brewers
Sights and details from the debut of Ramona's first craft brewery
The first time I wrote about ChuckAlek Independent Brewers (2330 Main Street, Suite C, Ramona), the only thing I had to show you all was a sleek black-and-scarlet logo; a crest displaying a cardinal and a poppy. Those carefully selected …
Prep Kitchen Little Italy: 2012 was a very good year...
Honors keep rolling in. My honor: best bread to soak up sops
Spotted this on India… http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/07/38013/ Wow. That's two nods for Best New Restaurant, a Best Chef (Ryan Johnston) and a Top Ten. Not bad. This is at Prep Kitchen Little Italy (1660 India Street, 619-398-8383). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/07/38012/ Have to agree about …
Fresh wasabi at Ikiru
Japanese restaurant in Liberty Station has the hard to find condiment on the menu
I’ve had my eyes open looking for fresh wasabi ever since a reader told me about a (since closed) sushi place in La Jolla that served the green horseradish prepared fresh instead of the ersatz powder that’s more commonly used …
Imbibe blares, "Blair's the man!"
Local craft beer champion named Imbibe Magazine's Beer Person of the Year
A few weeks ago, San Diego bar owner Scot Blair and I were touring the Malheur brewery in Buggenhout, Belgium. About an hour in, he leans in and discreetly announces to me that he’s been named Beer Person of the …
Sora on Broadway: Drink and ye shall eat
Free HH food as long as you buy full-fare drinkies
Wow. This is swank. Sora (655 West Broadway, downtown, 619-564-7100). I’ve come in for happy hour. Thursdays and Fridays, you buy a drink, you get free food, like pasta and pizzas and edamame. Choice is not surprising since Sora is …
Luncheon at Pamplemousse Grille
The illustrious-sounding Pamplemousse Grille in Solana Beach is not cheap, but Chef/Owner Jeffrey Strauss does his best to assure that you get what you pay for. The service is outstanding, and it definitely feels like a high-end affair. I recently …
Suds, second chances at The Local
Revisiting a previously black-listed downtown bar and restaurant
Sometimes one’s experience at a venue can be so remarkably bad that it results in that place being black-listed for life. That was the fate I had figured for downtown bar, The Local Eatery & Drinking Hole (1065 Fourth Avenue, …
Ida's Deli: Lebanese surprise in the giant black building
Ida's got a big following for her hot beef melts
Walking past that big black glass building at 7th and B in the financial district. Thing I notice is the single table and chair under the tree outside that slope-glass frontage. Gets me curious. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/03/37854/ So I haul inside into …