Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Surf & Soul Spot touches down in La Mesa

A local football talent is behind the two-in-one southern styled eatery

Surf & Soul Spot's new location on El Cajon Boulevard at the border of La Mesa
Surf & Soul Spot's new location on El Cajon Boulevard at the border of La Mesa

The first time I ate at Surf & Soul Spot, it was operating as a pop-up restaurant, serving fried fish and soul food select days per week at a church banquet hall in the southeast neighborhood of Mountain View. I knew it was only a matter of time before Surf & Soul would find its own place, and at the end of 2019 it happened.

Place

Surf and Soul Spot

7229 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

I made plans a couple months ago to visit its new location, a small stand-alone kitchen on the western outskirts of La Mesa (7229 El Cajon Boulevard). The folk working the ad hoc restaurant had been a joyful and joking bunch, but being in a sublet church hall had meant Surf & Soul ownership couldn’t do anything to personalize the space. As much as anything, I was curious to see how it might decorate its own dedicated dining room.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Of course, events transpired to derail my visit, and when I finally made it back to pick up some take out, I found the new place fully locked down in deference to coronavirus: everyone in masks and gloves, with a table blocking the front door. My bagged order, paid over the phone via credit card, was passed across that table by the young woman working, and even if I couldn’t see the smile behind her mask, I swear I could hear it.

Surf & Soul Spot's fish hook sandwich, with fried catfish

I could only peek through the windows to see into the pristine little counter shop, and its large painted waves breaking across the walls. Also on the wall is a framed Eastern Michigan jersey of Sergio Bailey II. Bailey was a star wide receiver at Olympian High School in Chula Vista before racking up 16 touchdowns and 114 receptions in two years for Michigan. The past two years he’s pursued football at the pro level in both the NFL and XFL.

He’s the entrepreneur behind Surf & Soul Spot, which acts as two different restaurants depending which day of the week you visit. On Friday and Saturday, think of it as the Soul Spot, serving up big portions of fried pork chops and chicken wings, along with sides of mac & cheese, rice & gravy, and smoked turkey collard greens.

Those sides aren’t available Monday through Wednesday, when it goes full Surf Spot, dishing up $15 baskets of fried catfish or shrimp (or those fried chicken wings). It’s the rare restaurant that makes me wish I could eat shrimp: first, to try its blackened shrimp and crab roll ($16); and even more so to enjoy its popcorn shrimp and grits with smoked turkey gravy ($14).

That sounds so good, I might have to ignore my shellfish allergy to return one of these days with an epi-pen and just live dangerously. This time around I settled for a safer bet: the fish hook sandwich ($12), featuring some of that fried catfish with slaw and garlic remoulade, plus a side of fries.

I would have enjoyed the catfish better with some of those soul food side dishes, so I’ll probably stick mostly to soul days in the future. But for those who love eating shrimp, I don’t know what to think. I guess you’ll have to eat at Surf & Soul Spot twice a week.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Recalling a nighttime firefight in my Rolando condo complex

This was years ago, but I still freeze when I hear anything that sounds like gunfire
Surf & Soul Spot's new location on El Cajon Boulevard at the border of La Mesa
Surf & Soul Spot's new location on El Cajon Boulevard at the border of La Mesa

The first time I ate at Surf & Soul Spot, it was operating as a pop-up restaurant, serving fried fish and soul food select days per week at a church banquet hall in the southeast neighborhood of Mountain View. I knew it was only a matter of time before Surf & Soul would find its own place, and at the end of 2019 it happened.

Place

Surf and Soul Spot

7229 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

I made plans a couple months ago to visit its new location, a small stand-alone kitchen on the western outskirts of La Mesa (7229 El Cajon Boulevard). The folk working the ad hoc restaurant had been a joyful and joking bunch, but being in a sublet church hall had meant Surf & Soul ownership couldn’t do anything to personalize the space. As much as anything, I was curious to see how it might decorate its own dedicated dining room.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Of course, events transpired to derail my visit, and when I finally made it back to pick up some take out, I found the new place fully locked down in deference to coronavirus: everyone in masks and gloves, with a table blocking the front door. My bagged order, paid over the phone via credit card, was passed across that table by the young woman working, and even if I couldn’t see the smile behind her mask, I swear I could hear it.

Surf & Soul Spot's fish hook sandwich, with fried catfish

I could only peek through the windows to see into the pristine little counter shop, and its large painted waves breaking across the walls. Also on the wall is a framed Eastern Michigan jersey of Sergio Bailey II. Bailey was a star wide receiver at Olympian High School in Chula Vista before racking up 16 touchdowns and 114 receptions in two years for Michigan. The past two years he’s pursued football at the pro level in both the NFL and XFL.

He’s the entrepreneur behind Surf & Soul Spot, which acts as two different restaurants depending which day of the week you visit. On Friday and Saturday, think of it as the Soul Spot, serving up big portions of fried pork chops and chicken wings, along with sides of mac & cheese, rice & gravy, and smoked turkey collard greens.

Those sides aren’t available Monday through Wednesday, when it goes full Surf Spot, dishing up $15 baskets of fried catfish or shrimp (or those fried chicken wings). It’s the rare restaurant that makes me wish I could eat shrimp: first, to try its blackened shrimp and crab roll ($16); and even more so to enjoy its popcorn shrimp and grits with smoked turkey gravy ($14).

That sounds so good, I might have to ignore my shellfish allergy to return one of these days with an epi-pen and just live dangerously. This time around I settled for a safer bet: the fish hook sandwich ($12), featuring some of that fried catfish with slaw and garlic remoulade, plus a side of fries.

I would have enjoyed the catfish better with some of those soul food side dishes, so I’ll probably stick mostly to soul days in the future. But for those who love eating shrimp, I don’t know what to think. I guess you’ll have to eat at Surf & Soul Spot twice a week.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Codename Stasis found its format at SDSU

Local zine tells a magical local story
Next Article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader