Upcoming pork festival promises to bring out a few niche products...and a lot of bacon.

I don’t know if I can spend an entire day eating bacon, but I’m willing to try. For science. Yeah. Science! http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/30/44620/ Bacon Fest is going down on August 31st, a day affectionately dubbed “International Bacon Day” by devoted fans …

Hanan's Calypso Cafe has wines, sophisticated eating. Or every Joe Blow's breakfasts, at Joe Blow prices. You choose

Shiver me timbers! It’s only 142 days till this year’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day. September 19th, it be. Au quai, that be yet a long stretch, but I be thinkin’ about it today wandering through the cays of …

Neighborhood eatery Beaumont’s looking good under new chef

I live nowhere near Bird Rock and, though I think it’s a nice little community, it takes a lot for me to venture to that non-freeway-accessible, roundabout-slowed part of town. But one place inspires me to do it time and …

Food to make you sing at Aida

What’s this? I’m in the Civic Concourse. Someone’s just switched on the bow-wave fountain of the ship sculpture. Sun’s setting. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/27/44502/ What's new is a bunch of other people have set up tents around the Civic Theater (1200 3rd Avenue, …

Happy hour has limited food options but great Gaslamp location, specially at sunset

“The Lady Is a Tramp” plays on the sound system. That forties-style Sinatra song somehow fits this little piece of Tuscany. Sitting in the one sunny spot on Fifth Avenue. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/25/44426/ We’re outside Toscana Café & Wine Bar (238 5th …

If Juan Plasencia is any indication, the next generation of TJ restaurateurs will continue the dining renaissance south of the border.

Right now, high-school senior Juan Plasencia is living in the shadows of his father and uncle, the big names behind Grupo Plasencia’s family of restaurants in Tijuana (Caesar’s, Casa Plasencia, etc.) and San Diego. For a young guy just getting …

Ed bargain-hunts on the Street of Dreams

Whew. Made it to the last stool at the bar. This is game day in da Gaslamp. Sit down next to a guy named Travis. “I eat here, because inside Petco Park you’re going to pay at least double,” he …

Movie of life at 12th and Imp's snack gallery

At 12th and Imperial, switching from one trolley to another. Trouble is there's a third one gets in the way. Too late to jump through. Dang. Meantime my one goes. That's another fifteen minutes I've got to wait. So I …

Pan-Asian bistro replaces the short-lived Noodle Etc on Fourth Avenue.

I liked Kip’s, mostly because it had some history and they served up tasty frog legs, but with the oversaturation of restaurants in and around that block of Hillcrest it barely registered when Kip’s closed and Noodle Etc temporarily took …

Craft cocktails and exotic fare for hunters of all things hip

I may have waited over a year to check out the Lion's Share, but I'm certainly making up for lost time. Over the past few weeks it's been my go-to location for meeting colleagues for drinks or friends for dinner. …

Knowing about this Cardiff taco shop will come in handy for anybody hungry on the freeway.

Put this one in your back pocket. A gift from me to you. Knowing where El Pueblo is could be the difference between metaphorical starvation and burrito salvation along the freeway. There’s nothing charming about its location in a Valero …

New menu for Kearny Mesa southern-style kitchen and bar.

“Southern food” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. At Proud Mary’s Southern Bar and Grill (inconveniently located at the Kearny Mesa Ramada), it means Louisiana cooking. Back when Proud Mary’s opened, Naomi Wise gave …

These happy hour mini pizzas work great when you’ve still got a corner of your gut to fill

So glad these guys changed their name to Red House. Before it was Park Boulevard Wine and Pizza…see? I can’t even remember what it was, last time I came in. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/18/44047/ That was maybe two years back. Now the name …

Found a new kind of booze in Old Town, and some average curry too.

I was visiting a friend in Old Town the other day and did not want tacos for dinner. I know, right? I couldn’t spring for Harney, so we popped in to D’O Thai Cottage (2414 San Diego Avenue, 619-683-2506) and …

Pierview Pub or Pier View Coffee Co.? Choice is peanuts you shuck (free), or BBQ chicken sammies (cheap)

It’s the first thing you notice. When you come up from Oceanside’s pier at Pierview Way, you look to your left, and there’s Pier View Coffee Co (300 Pier View Way, Oceanside, 760-966-1150). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/17/44007/ To your right, Pierview Pub (301 …

Restaurateur Tracy Borkum turning Kensington Grill to seafood spot

When speaking with local restaurateur Tracy Borkum over a half-decade ago, she was already regarded by many in her industry as one of San Diego’s most driven and with-it eatery owners. At the time, the venues within her Urban Kitchen …

That isn't the only luscious question at Golden Hill's newest kabobbery

Dang. Thought I was pioneering this place. It’s a kinda shrinking violet in the wedge of a strip mall you’d whizz past on your way to the cooler bits of Golden Hill. But jes' been to the dentist. Had some …

Mira Mesa tasting room takes advantage of food trucks' portability, dispenses with the unreliability.

Now this is the right way to use food trucks! The tasting room at Green Flash Brewery (6550 Mira Mesa Blvd, 858-622-0085) hosts a different food truck every day (except for Mondays when the brewery is closed to the public) …

“Today, it’s not really important”

It’s a “where were you” moment. Me, I was hanging around the Café Madrid coffee cart (1029 Orange Avenue, Coronado), thinking of getting one of their buns to go with my $1.50 medium coffee (one of the best brews on …

Italian kitchen trying hard to make it stick in quasi-cursed Hillcrest spot.

I liked Caffe Vergnano (they had good coffee), and I thought Taco Bahn was a cool idea even if it was only open for about 14 hours before closing and turning into Urban Eats. I never even got to go …

Roy Yamaguchi's Pacific Rim Cuisine surprises and delights

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the medical industry from my sister Jane, who works for a massive pharmaceutical company, it’s that those people like to have meetings in restaurants -- particularly in major chain restaurants. I imagine this …

Jay Porter weighs in on the closure of his "New Baja" restaurant and shares his plans for the future.

El Take it Easy lasted much longer than a lot of us gave it credit for. It has always attracted a small cadre of fiercely defensive loyalists, and a larger majority of vocal detractors, which isn’t a conventionally successful business …

The 90-year-old art of making corn dogs is revived for the after-work crowd

"St. Germain?" says Christian. "The ketchup of cocktails." So wow. You know you’re in sophisticated circles just from that. He's mixing the yellowish French liqueur in with a bunch of other stuff, including absinthe. Me, I'm happy downing my Old …

New pizza spot along Adams Ave has architectural superiority and tasty pie to boot.

After achieving success in waffles and happy hours, the Kensington Cafe’s ownership has opened the Haven just down the block. It’s a little confusing, since the Haven looks for all the world like it’s part of the Kensington Grill, being …

Alternative tour service offers a taste of Tijuana on April 20

Turista Libre continues to surprise both regulars and first-timers in Tijuana with atypical tours intended to get visitors away from the usual traps and into a genuine, one-of-a-kind experience. On Saturday, April 20, Turista Libre invites you on a taco …

Silver Streak has Ramirez, fastest chef in the west

On the road again. Hands are trembling. Heading for that dreaded Coaster ticket machine. There's hair on the platform all around it from people pulling it out in frustration. You need a PhD and 20 minutes to even understand the …

Meet the "Ivan and Brandon Hate Your Taste Buds Tikka Masala Burger"

Most people take a step back in wonderment when I tell them that, growing up, I was the fat kid. I’ve since gotten a handle on my eating habits, but back in the day, I ate like there was no …

North Park eatery hosts beer-pairing dinner with didactic Kearny Mesa brewery

Since opening in 2007, Ritual Tavern has been known for its farm-to-table values and - like many of its sister restaurants lining North Park's 30th Street corridor - carefully selected taps and bottles of craft beers. In August 2012, Kyle …

Hot spot next to Petco gives Dragon's Den a run for its money

Across the road from Dragon’s Den, and right outside Petco Park’s main eastern gates sits the Tilted Kilt (310 10th Avenue, East Village, 619-814-5458). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/09/43507/ Not a bad spot to be. On game days anyways. The Kilt’s all about their …

Baseball bar battles: Opening shots (Bourbon or Saktea?)

They’ve closed off J Street between 6th and 10th Avenues for the baseballs season’s opening day block party. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/09/43462/ And the Dragon’s Den (315 10th Avenue, East Village, by Petco Park, 619-358-9332) is using hi-tech to cope with the onrush …

Quiet neighborhood bar in Old Town serves up cheap eats.

Around the invisible barrier where Old Town starts getting seedy, or at least unglamorous, sits Kelly’s Pub (619-683-3200). It’s got a pretty good juke box, two dart boards, two pool tables, a parking lot, and a crowd that tends towards …

More from chef Trey Foshee's uber-gourmet dining experience at George's California Modern

Yesterday, I started explaining a recent exploration of chef Trey Foshee’s TBL3 dining experience at George’s California Modern (1250 Prospect Street, La Jolla). The 12- to 14-course experience includes some of Foshee’s more out-there and modernistic techniques and is, as …

New food court in Tijuana hand-picks vendors to help their businesses grow

Declared as the "first of its kind created in Mexico," Food Garden Gastronomic District opened just three weeks ago in Tijuana (at the corner of Blvds. Sanchez Taboada and Misión Santo Tomás). Ricardo Nevárez, the business man behind this more …

A free look at a pricey, but delicious dining experience at George's California Modern

It’s always good to be in with the chef, but sometimes it really pays off. Case in point for me—on a recent trip to George’s California Modern (1250 Prospect Street, La Jolla), executive chef Trey Foshee was in the process …

Rest assured, no cars are dismantled at this Mission Beach teriyaki spot.

Compared to the bar- and nightclub-saturated stretches at both ends of Mission Boulevard, the northern sections of Mission Beach are heavily residential, with apartment patios running right up to the sidewalks along the busy thoroughfare. There’s some room for restaus, …

Best way to appreciate prize-winners like their “Manhattan Project” beer, is to chomp spudlets, too.

Last time I popped in here to The Beer Company (602 W. 6th Avenue, at Broadway, downtown San Diego, 619-398-0707) I never got beyond their Great American Beer Fest Gold Medal winner, the Manhattan Project. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/07/43370/ Man. What a cerveza. …

Downtown "Asian modern eatery" is attractive, at least.

I wanted to check out J Wok (744 Market Street, Downtown, 619-231-1088) because I’d heard it was a triumph of interior design, replete with a huge tree made entirely of chopsticks. That much at least is true. The chopstick tree …

Pan-Mediterranean restaurant opens in Hillcrest.

Walking into Eba’s (142 University Ave, Hillcrest, 619-269-0123), I was surprised to find that it was a Mediterranean restaurant and not a French place. The purple walls and curlicue decor gave off a sense of Parisian cafe, or at least …

What the hell do I know about burgers—let’s find out!

Between eating, drinking, interviewing, photographing, writing, editing, and posting, it’s natural for a writer to wonder every now and then if there’s anybody listening out there. Fortunately, we have shares, retweets, and web analytics to quell the fear that one’s …

Some talk about insurance has customers hoping fire-damaged Babbo’s may reopen after all

Oh no. I’d been hoping that things may be starting up again by now… But Babbo’s Bar and Grille looks as dead as it did last September after a fire and sprinklers ruined the newly moved restaurant. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/04/43199/ This place, …

The talkingest café in Uptown can make you late for the rest of the day

“This is San Diego’s first veteran women-owned and operated café,” says Kathy. We’re in the back patio, looking at a picture of her ship, an LSD (“Landing Ship Docking”) named USS Pearl Harbor. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/03/43176/ “I was a Command Master Chief …

Hillcrest to receive a combo butcher shop and speakeasy

There’s a real sausage fest coming to Hillcrest. Sorry, had to go there when I heard about Salt & Cleaver (3805 Fifth Avenue, Hillcrest), a venue devoted to house-made meat-in-tube-form scheduled to open this month, likely by April 15. All …

Getting on-the-spot tacos on Orange Avenue just got easier – on Taco Tuesday

Carla – here for hair – is late. I’m standing outside Bay Books when I hear “Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!” Then a silence. Then “Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!” I head south and here’s this feller Ferrer holding a hand-painted sign. “Los Tacos …

In honor of National Empanada Day on April 8, customers will receive a history lesson in food with one free traditional empanada from Papa Luna

Thousands of Argentineans like their empanadas stuffed with chicken. Parts of Colombia pack their empanadas with peanuts and top them with a spicy aji sauce. In El Salvador, people take 'em with plantains and sour cream, while many in Ghana …

Chinese seafood, condensed milk drinks, and crazy muzak in Rolando.

Someone described Lee’s Garden (4055 54th Street, Rolando, 619-583-8208) as an Asian wedding destination. I even wrote that down in my notes, “Asian wedding destination,” wondering exactly what that would mean for me as a non-Asian person not shopping for …

But what’s with the Health Department shutting down outside cooking at Mexican eateries?

“Used heart for sale,” sing Los Tigres del Norte. “Because I just don’t want to mend it…” Aah. I can relax. Sunset, cocktails, music. Love it. Okay, so the cocktail is guayaba juice (guava, totally delish, $1.80), the appetizer’s gonna …

Credible neighborhood bar open for business in Bay Park.

I watched Dan Diego’s get built along Morena Boulevard as I passed by it a couple of times every week. The “coming soon” sign tantalized me, dangling a new restaurant out there. The only thing was that it looked a …

South African chef makes fine French cuisine in Mexico

Baja Med is the cool, edgy sibling of the slow food movement, and it's reserved specifically for the foodie frontier in our own backyard. In T.J., the term is tossed more frequently than an organic spring mix. In San Diego, …