Food and Drink

The torta at the end of the tunnel

Crossing the border to fly has its benefits

For most of my adult life, the intentional misspelling Xpress has been applied to services including oil changes and dry-cleaning — it certainly hasn’t been a word I associate with crossing international borders. But Cross ...

How Mother Earth quietly became one of our most successful breweries

Brewing in Idaho even made its Vista beer better

Fun fact: Idaho’s largest brewery is headquartered in Vista, California. That’s because, in 2016, Mother Earth Brew Co. expanded beer production to Nampa, Idaho, a small city about 15 miles outside Boise. San Diego beer ...

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Da South In Ya Mouth ribs at a Chula Vista Mobil gas station

“Pork is a Georgia thing. We’re from Georgia.”

“Good wine needs no bush,” says Annie. We’re standing at a Mobil gas station, on the corner of 3rd and L in southern Chula Vista. “Say again?” I say. I know I know this phrase. ...

Simsim Outstanding Shawarma a hit in Carmel Mountain Ranch

The new chain brings scratch Middle Eastern cooking to shopping center land

From a food lover’s perspective at least, good things have been happening in Carmel Mountain Ranch. Frankly, I ignored the place for years, because this is shopping center country, the sort of place populated by ...

Now Sushi is vegan

Is it possible to love a vegetable as much as a fish?

“This is the kind of place you take your non-vegan friend,” says a woman to her friend as they walk out of Now Sushi, a Mission Beach eatery that makes sushi without the fish. Entirely ...

Goi Cuon makes a meal out of spring rolls

All the Vietnamese rolls you can think of, and plenty of dipping sauce

Every time I’ve eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant with a group, deciding on appetizers has become a whole discussion. Should we get spring rolls, or egg rolls? How many? Tofu or pork? Shrimp or sweet ...

Latitude 33 sold its brewery and only got bigger

Vista brewer doubles capacity shifting production to Green Flash brewhouse

After seven years in business, Latitude 33 Brewing met a crossroads. Led by flagship beers including Blood Orange IPA and Honey Hips blonde, the Vista beer company had quadrupled beer production in 2016, and doubled ...

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Hooked On Crab in Eastlake

“That’s why we give gloves. People should be messy.”

We came here for fish, but not this sort of fish. Hank brought his rod to this totally cute little pond surrounded by houses. The lake that gives Eastlake its name, he says. But what ...

45 years later, at Sandwich Emporium...

Food trends and tech are a part of the neighborhood sandwich shop's lifespan

“Established in 1974 in the neighborhood of Clairemont,” is the first thing that stands about Sandwich Emporium. That makes it about 45 years old, which would have to put it not far down any list ...

Neff Coffee, a roaster on the go

A father-and-son mobile roasting operation hits the streets

While exercising my dog last week, I found San Diego’s newest coffee roaster; or should I say the coffee roaster found me? Neff Coffee Roasters isn’t San Diego’s first coffee truck, but it is the ...

How to find Alex’s Brown Bag

When it comes to Philly-style cheesesteaks, where’s a Feaster to look?

Just a few years ago, it made a list of “the best cheesesteaks outside Philly” compiled by the Food Network, but when I went looking for Alex’s Brown Bag at its home inside Pacific Beach ...

Hopnonymous Brewing unmasked

With a new taproom, an under-the-radar beer company comes into the light

Back in June 2018, a small startup started offering local restaurants a chance to pour their own house beers, using custom-branded, 3-D printed tap handles. In this way, Hopnonymous Brewing Company began as a specialty ...

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