Every time I walk into Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, I hear Sean Connery's voice in my head, growling "That's the Chicago way!" Granted, his Untouchables character wasn't talking about deep dish pizza. But then, neither am …

Some of the most enjoyable salads I've eaten have come from the kitchen of Soltan Banoo, a Persian restaurant maintaining a low key presence on Park Blvd in University Heights. The place never seems to …

No visit to Paris is considered complete without a glimpse of the iconic Eiffel Tower. And if you want to truly capture the full romantic grandeur of the occasion, it's best to approach from the …

I'm not sure I've ever really had good Chinese food in San Diego. I've had good dishes at Chinese restaurants with distinctly English names, and I've had bad experiences pointing at what I think want …

Walking into Cali Steak Burger Bar forced me into a little semantic introspection. What makes a burger a "steak burger"? For that matter, what distinguishes steak from other cuts of beef? And if you make …

I've eaten lunch in Poway a lot over the years, and have even walked past Mamma Teresa a few times, sometimes on my way to the Five Guys next door, or to the Japanese restaurant …

Having realized my dog enjoys scoping waterfowl while I eat, I head over to the Shelter Island area to try out the deck at Mitch's Seafood. The place sits right on top of America's Cup …

One perk of writing for Feast! is that I get to eat out a lot. But to look at it another way, I have to eat out a lot. Like anyone else, I have those …

A lot's been said about Giorgino's cheesesteaks — after all, the sign over the Golden Hill shop boldly claims to have the best in town. But there's been another item on the menu that's aroused …

I doubt I'm alone in associating the word kabob (or kebab) with coastal Mediterranean countries — the skewered meat typically served alongside pitas and tahini, or tzatziki. However, Mira Mesa's Ariana Kabob House offers a …

Burritos are tough to write about because they're not photogenic. That probably says more about what people want to read than it does burritos. But some nights, when the bar shuts down and a stomachful …

As quickly as the past several years of gentrification took over South Park, one problem lingered: access to organic produce. Crack parks became dog parks, empty buildings became restaurants and restaurants became fusion restaurants, and …

I heard some Philly boys were serving up cheesesteaks in National City, so I set my hopes to high and hustled that way, past a half dozen dilapidated mini malls and food chains. Across from …

With crêpes, quiches, coffee and no shortage of charm, Café Madeleine gives Francophiles in South Park a destination to aim their morning strolls. The classy little shop pays attention to the small details while catering to the big picture; namely, that locals needed this sort of adorable little outpost to catch up with friends over light fare and hot beverages.

New York associations aside, packing a deli into a food truck actually kind of makes sense. It's tough to do better than a sandwich for functional street food. These guys make their own mustard and dressings, use fresh artisanal breads, and their pastrami is legit. Their traditional NYC-style sandwiches work, but skipping any grilled options will probably net you a better lunch.

It looks like a fast food restaurant, and operates like a fast food chain, but it focuses almost exclusively on wings, by all rights a bar food. Yes they serve beer and have a TV on, but the place would never work as a sports bar, and doesn't actually serve food quickly enough to qualify as convenient. It is extremely cheap though.

The nicest pond-side seafood dining in La Mesa is this sister restaurant to the better-known harbor location. A comparable menu and pricing avails its customers of fresh seafood at fresh seafood prices. While it doesn't break the bank, you do pay more for atmosphere than quality of preparation. That said, "pleasant" doesn't begin to describe its patio dining.

I hate to pigeonhole a place, but when you stake out a central-Gaslamp location, write the word "Shots" in giant letters along the back wall and name it Werewolf, you've pretty much decided to cater …

"Ain't nothing fancy about this place except me!" says Barbara Harris, the ebullient and charismatic lady behind Sister Pee Wee's Soul Food. And she's right. If anything's changed about the modest lunch- and dinner-counter over …

We're a hamburger town in a hamburger country, and whether it's fast food or fine dining, most of the American-style restaurants in the city include a burger on the menu. Hell, some of the Asian …

I love Japanese food, and I have eaten a lot of Japanese food. But if a recent visit to Izakaya Sakura proved anything, it's that I've developed a sort of Japanese comfort zone, and it's …

As of last summer, the stretch of El Cajon Blvd. between Highland Avenue and Euclid is officially known as Little Saigon. Unofficially, it's long been known as the best place to go in search of …

At the nexus of Hillcrest and Mission Hills, on Washington Street, in the generically named Mediterranean Café, a sign reads "Good food takes time." A block over, the fast food franchise Daphne's California Greek doesn't …

I keep waiting for Golden Hill to finally give up on Krakatoa. The converted craftsman coffeehouse is plenty inviting, with a shaded wraparound deck and ample parking in the back. But it's slow. The frustrating …

It looks like food truck design must be the next commercial art boom. A lot of these guys are clearly paying special attention to how their business gets represented in mural form on the side …

I'm not often a dessert guy, and will often walk right past Heaven Sent without a second thought about what kind of cakes might be on display within. However, I am a coffee guy, and …

If you lived in Japan, any local place you can think of with the words "Public House" in its name would be called an izakaya instead. The relatively casual type of Japanese restaurant may basically …

You look for a couple of things when you visit a sandwich shop. Occasionally, a place will stand out by making its own meat, or offering exotic cheeses. A lot of places impress thanks to …

The "other white meat" has been enjoying quite the golden age in American cuisine. Bacon, which has always been popular, has been elevated to iconic status, praised daily on Twitter and prevalent on bumper stickers …

Following a month that saw a violent carjacking and excessive tagging, residents of the normally quiet neighborhood of Sunset Cliffs have been left to wonder whether urban blight is going to be a persisting problem …

Shelter Island may be rightfully perceived as the domain of boat owners and fresh seafood restaurants, but every community needs a reliable burger and beer spot, and in this little corner of Point Loma, it's …

On Wednesday, February 19, what seemed to be an attempted dog-napping at Grape Street Dog Park was thwarted by park regulars, who stopped the would-be perpetrator in the parking lot. More than one eyewitness claimed …

From the outside, The Market Place looks like a convenience store four or five decades past its heyday. But, like other nearby fixtures Hobnob Hill and Nunu's, the place must have been doing something right …

City efforts to replace the water mains in Bankers Hill have subjected residents to road and lane closures in the past few weeks, but it's the water runoff streaming down Fifth Avenue that has residents …

I never made it to Café Paris, but there's enough Francophile to me that I'd looked forward to it. Wine and small plates can be just the thing some evenings, even if you have to …

Juan Miron and Kevin Ho seem intent on feeding beer drinkers. Their MiHo Gastrotruck established a following by parking outside breweries and bars, serving street food to happy hour denizens and craft beer fans. Now …

Sitting near the base of the Alps in southern Germany, Münich's nearest coastline would be where Venice slowly sinks into the Adriatic some 300 miles away. But while one might make the case a gondolier …

On February 12, the Golden Hill Planning Committee unanimously voted to deny support of a proposed extension of the Balboa Golf Course clubhouse. All present members of the community advisory group took issue with the …

It's probably best to make something clear up front: I am not reviewing the popular Convoy Street restaurant Tofu House. I visited a different establishment named Convoy Tofu House. Okay, they're both on Convoy, both …

Americans tend to be sentimental about Southern food whether or not they've ever lived below the Mason-Dixon. It seems to be linked to some sort of nostalgic national identity, to the point that poor-quality biscuits, …

When a restaurant describes itself as having "a new dining concept based on the ancient art of sausage making," a lot of thoughts pass through my head, but two words that don't leap to mind …

I spent a disproportionate number of my high school days eating katsu from a small, family-owned restaurant just outside the gate of a military base on Okinawa. Attempts to replicate the experience in San Diego …

Due more to bad luck than to any exhilarating lifestyle choice, I've found a nail stuck in my tire four times the past two years. It's made me somewhat of a regular at a Grant …

A certain La Jolla resident/presidential candidate made the wrong kind of headlines a couple years ago when he suggested not enough Americans have the entrepreneurial spirit required to borrow twenty grand from their parents to …

The orderly rows of architecturally identical old Naval buildings of Liberty Station are not the easiest to navigate. But I'm more than willing to get lost for a few minutes on a quest for a …

For all the talk in the past few years of East Village having become someplace worth being — with upscale restaurants, condo developments, an urban ballpark, and a big new public library – it's got …

It may yet be years before Paris opens its first San Diego-style restaurant (though it has apparently availed itself of California cuisine in food truck form). While French gastronomy might be missing out on the …

On January 9, the City of San Diego’s Development Services Department issued a notice of site development at the corner of Granada Avenue and Fir Street in South Park. Within days, dozens of nearby residents …

The new San Diego Central Library officially opened its doors to the public on September 28, 2013, capping 3 years of construction, 17 years of planning, and 36 years of talking about it. The 500,000-square-foot …

I'm not above a little light reading before dinner. So when the menu at Brabant — South Park's newest Belgian theme restaurant — opened with a list of recommended food and beer pairings, I embraced …