A sister of Bare Back Grill in PB.
Tender Greens
PrepKitchen DT and DM
Piatti
Galaxy Taco
Red Tractons
Barbarela
Urban Solace
Water Grill
Aloha eatemup!!!
Let the party begin…
Have you been to the new resto next to Main Stage in Ramona, The Main Course?
www.themaincourserestaurant.com/#menu
By golly, I have. We went there on Saturday with high hopes. Might give it another try after some time passes. Let’s say there were some issues but only with the food and the service.They said they are trying to invoke a Chicago speakeasy. With no bar (only beer and wine) how could that be. I did not move to Ramona for the chow (er, food).
I haven’t posted earlier to this thread because I don’t really have a rotation, per se. I go to restaurants I’ve liked in the past, and try to get to new ones – the list keeps growing and is almost unmanageable. Everything is day to day.
But I’ll comment on a few of the places already mentioned above that I also like and that I try to get to from time to time:
Yakitori Yakyudori. Excellent ramen. What’s not to like? Except for the crowding.
J&T Thai. Not a favorite at first, but I’ve grown to like it here. (TY cstr and dagney.) There’s a large “secret” back room in case the front is full. Head past the WCs.
Shakespeare Pub. Last time I mentioned this place I got certain people “pea-d off” so to speak … (well, not literally, LOL) Chowhound
Cucina Urbana. A great spot, and one I always unhesitatingly recommend. Some sound conditioning would be appreciated.
Basic. Yes. Very. And really good.
Juniper & Ivy. Eclectic and inspired. Yes, that sounds like ad agency language. But true here.
Georges. One of our very finest restaurants. Elegant food.
Café Chloe. Excellent French cuisine, charming setting.
Cucina Basilico. Basic Italian things done very well.
Buona Forchetta. The “Fork Place” as my companion calls it. Our favorite place for pizza, but there’s much more.
Phuong Trang. Somewhat unsung. Heavily frequented by local Vietnamese. And me. Nice selection of dishes and all are pretty darn decent. (Well, ok, of those that I’ve had.)
Iceskimo. Bite after bite is ecstasy.
Carnitas Snack Shack. Good food but a pain. Not been to the one “up north”.
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As a kitschy tourist:
Clayton’s
Bluewater Seafood
El Pescador
The Cottage
Bud’s Louisiana Food Shoppe
Croce (because well it’s fucking Jim Croce).
Bluewater is another place that I always suggest to vistors and friends. You have to be patient, but it’s worth it. The salads are really good, and a good deal.
Croce’s was among the first places people felt safe at downtown, especially after dark. (Except for the Spaghetti Factory, of course.) I can’t remember the others. It was truly at the leading edge of the renaissance downtown. The food was just ok, but who cared? Its imminent closing sometime back was the reason I started actively posting about restaurant-related political issues, and then restaurant food.
My little sister was a huge fan of Jim Croce, and when she first moved to SD, we went there from time to time. She was living on 7th just north of University and we’d drive straight downtown on 6th. I wasn’t as big a fan, but liked the ambience of the place and identified with the kind of people who went there.
I haven’t been to the new location.
First Croce’s and Morgan.
Then Fio’s and it was “on” after that.
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sigh…
Yes, downtown was “on” after that. Until the crater. It hit too close. Just too damn close.
Ah, what could have been.
Starlite on Saturdays, Truluk’s on Sundays for HH. Antica for lunch or dinner.
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After trying Phatties food truck (where they park varies but I found it at mossy Nissan Escondido), it will be on my regular rotation.
Had a chorizo pambaso and a spicy pork/chicharron gordita—both were very good.
For gelato lovers, this week Ans Dry Cleaning is opening up in North Park @ 317 Adams Ave.
We had a tasting this weekend and I think folks will be in for a real treat.
I saw this place a few months ago and did a double take at the name. Is there a story that you know about?
Thanks Honkman, nice to see you posting here. Hope the Boston food scene is interesting.
Living in Boston is quite nice as this feels like a real city compared to SD which is quite spread out (but we miss warm winters). But living in Boston made as realize also two things regarding food - the produce (and to a certain degree access to local meat) in SD is unbelievable good and you tend to forgot it when you live in SD. Even at peak season in Boston local produce is disappointing compared anything you get in SD. But on the other hand it made us also realize how bad the restaurants are in SD. The level of cooking (and willingness to experiment with dishes) in restaurants in Boston is so much higher than SD especially considering the much better produce and we are not talking about high-end restaurants but average, neighborhood restaurants (and Boston is on average not a richer or more expansive city than SD). We live not in the middle of the city but also not too far away (perhaps comparable living in Scripps Ranch or Del Mar distancewise) and we have simple neighborhood Italian restaurants who make their own pasta etc or small Chinese restaurants with hand pulled noodles etc. which nobody would consider here as uniquely good restaurants somebody would drive a long distance but these two restaurants would beat 90% of all restaurants in SD. My wife and I are talking quite often that we now understand even less what is holding back the restaurants scene in SD (our current thought is that the quality of chefs in SD is lacking and they just can’t cook on that level)
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Going down to SD for Labor Day weekend. Planning on hitting up some new spots
Ironside Fish & Oyster
Yakitoi Yakyudori (lady said to call a week ahead for reservations). Does this place get crazy even at like 5:30-6pm?
Carnitas Crack Shack after the zoo before Del Mar
We’d add Buona Forchetta but the wait is tough
We’re venturing to Coronado Island one day. Anybody have recommendations here for a casual lunch?
You should check out Dija Mara and Wayfarer Bread & Pastry.
Both look very good. Both are far away from our hotel in Downtown. Will bookmark them for when we are driving down.
The Dija Mara menu looks fantastic. Would order 1 of everything.