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Entries
Azuki Sushi: The fifth app.
The most expensive appetizer in happy hour is worth all six bucks
First thing to do here is look at the front door. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/sep/03/52503/ Look close. It is a pane of glass squishing a solid wall of reddish beans. Azuki beans. Most people rush in without even noticing. I only see them …
Asti downtown: Happy hour, happy meal?
Ed dines with conventioneers, and still leaves with change in his pocket
The kind of weather we're having, this shady western side of The Street - Fifth Avenue downtown - is definitely it. Setting sun is baking the other side. It's that time of the afternoon, before the mad rush starts, when …
Kitchen 4140 promises much, delivers little
"New American" bistro in Bay Ho fails to live up to the pricey standards it sets for itself.
At first look, Kitchen 4140’s summery patio and dining room ooze charm. The place looks phenomenal, like a little oasis secretly hidden in the industrial park ugly of Morena Boulevard in “Bay Ho,” which Google assures us is the correct …
Facing the (eight) elements in Mira Mesa
Giant Indian crepes catch Ed by surprise
At first I think they’ve given me a big brown napkin to eat. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/aug/29/52272/ Then I touch it. Warm. Crispy on the rim, softer towards the center. I see it’s like a very thin, very large pancake. “This is the …
Mary's Donuts: equal parts quirky and delicious
24-hour Santee donut shop has decades of personality, and tasty donuts to match.
“I’ll be heading to dinner tonight in Lakeside,” says the woman behind the counter at Mary’s Donuts (9031 Mission Gorge Road, Santee, 619-448-4800). “At the rodeo,” she adds, almost as an afterthought. That introduction, unsolicited, prompts a long discourse on …
Dining room aesthetics and Saigon on Fifth
Vietnamese restaurant in Hillcrest is a textbook example of classy, effective design.
The ideas behind designing a proper dinging room often elude restaurateurs. Part of this is because the trend right now is to create big, open spaces that are more like lofts or barns than restaurants. But hanging an Edison bulb …
Sideways on Tenth
Ed waits for his bus with a big glass of Merlot
It's like 10:30 at night and I've got 45 minutes till my next stretch limo. There's nothing worse than being early for something. Where to fill in the time? Choices are: the bowling lanes, East Village Tavern + Bowl (930 …
New happy hour for downtown's oldest coffeehouse
Café Lulu reaches out beyond the late night hookah crowd
"Oh heck," say Sean. "Let's make it two dollars off everything in the menu." He's planning happy hour specials for Café Lulu (419 F Street, downtown, 619-238-0114). I popped in to see if they even had a happy hour. Turns …
Tijuana Vegetarian Cuisine & Arts Fair sprouts up in Food Garden
The third bi-annual VC&AF highlights veggie food and live music at outdoor artisanal food court.
Tijuana’s Vegetarian Cuisine and Arts Fair returns for its third bi-annual installment on Saturday, September 7 with over 15 vendors from Ensenada to Orange County. The fair will be held at Food Garden (Blvd. Rodolfo Sanchez Taboada #10650 – Zona …
Chef Miguel’s decision
A Chef takes time out from the big time to work with his family
“I was running around the world for 25 years opening restaurants for Ruth’s Chris Steak House,” says Chef Miguel Martinez. “They have over 100 restaurants all over the globe. Each time, you have to organize 50-60 trainers. It’s one on …
Leroy's Kitchen gets new chef, new menu, new style
Coronado restaurant leaves the South behind, embracing a menu that's less clumsy, but less adventurous.
Stylistic changes to the menu at Leroy’s Kitchen (1015 Orange Avenue, Coronado, 619-437-6087) reflect the addition of a new chef in the kitchen. JC Colon, formerly of the Kensington Grill, joined Leroy’s earlier this year. Before, the kitchen was hung …
Scenes from a snack hunt
The Street talks. Ed chomps
OK, so you caught me heading for Jack In the Box (1110 C Street at City College trolley stop). Yeah, sometimes I do. Quick bite before heading down to Broadway to catch the 210 for Mira Mesa. Alas and alack: …
First look at BBQ 81
University Height's brand new barbecue spot breaks out the mesquite and gets it right with the tri-tip.
BBQ 81 is fully operational in University Heights. Big news for uptown San Diego, which has had nothing but Brazen Barbecue in recent years. There’s some clamor over whether BBQ 81 (2302 El Cajon Boulevard, 619-255-1958) is a “real” barbecue …
South Park: Farewell, ma belle
Vagabond's in its last days. Ed is weeping
Maybe it's because they're closing. But I swear. These two unpretentious little happy hour tacos are thee most delicious I've had in a lo-ong time. Carne asada, queso fresco, a little avo, green onion, and that's it. Simple. They're really …
Davanti Enoteca, a sweet spot in Little Italy
If you make it past the hawker, you're in good hands
I know, it works, it must, otherwise why would they persist -- but that doesn't make hawkers any less annoying. I was strolling down the sidewalk in Little Italy, eager to finally see how my neighborhood location for Davanti Enoteca …
Downtown: Fat Cat Café's secret weapon
The new sandwich shop is starting a whole new (Korean) ball game. Call it midday heat...
What’s beefy and spicy and came in at #23 on a CNN readers’ poll of the world’s 50 most delicious foods? Bulgogi. Uh, say whu? That’s exactly it: Bulgogi, South (and North) Korea’s most famous food that’s not kimchee. I’ve …
Scone With the Wind: Outside at the Brick and Bell
Über-cute La Jolla bakery is scone Mecca for at least 357 people every day
Five-twenty-five. That's when I turn up. "We close at 5:30," says Kara... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/aug/14/51291/ ..."But no problem." This is in this ancient li'l brick cottage that looks like Little Red Riding Hood's grandma's place in da woods. This is the Brick …
Frauds and Swindlers grand opening set for August 24th
New cocktail and spirits bar downtown looks like a silent movie villain, but puts some very cool ideas onto the drink menu.
Frauds and Swindlers (820 Fifth Avenue, 619-814-5700) soft-opened over the weekend, but a grand opening date is set for August 24th and the staff swears, “it’s going to be a wild party.” That remains to be seen, but one thing …
Old Town: Back from the dead with a deal
Cabana-filled courtyard is just the start: great lunch deal is the real surprise
“Tuesday to Friday,12-3,” the sidewalk sign says, “small salad, flatbread and a glass of wine or beer, $8.” That stops me. I’m on my way up Old Town’s Congress Street, graveyard of restaurants. So near the plaza, so far from …
Sundara: underwhelming Indian food
Ocean Beach Indian restaurant is "Indian-ish" at best, and no better than the average takeout spot.
Sundara Indian Cuisine (1774 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, 619-889-0639) started life as a pop-up affair in a coffee shop, taking over the space in the evenings and selling a short menu of curries. Apparently, so successful was the Indian venture that …