If there’s one thing I knew for certain heading into Burgeon Beer Company’s new downtown tasting room, it’s that the beer would be fantastic. That’s been the case with Burgeon beers, pretty much across the …

There is no shortage of good Mexican restaurants scattered among the 40 miles between my home and Chicken Lisa’s, but we press on. We think we’re getting close when we start to spot Escondido freeway …

For several years now, Narumi Sushi, at the Fletcher Hills end of La Mesa, has been a favorite of my family. We’ve gone there for birthdays, when out-of-town relatives visit — any occasion we decide …

Tickets are now on sale for a new downtown San Diego beer festival. This wouldn't have raised an eyebrow two years ago. It would have been unthinkable this time last year. But this year, as …

It was the first time I stepped onto the campus of the Town and Country since its 2020 renovation. As I remember it from my last pass through a couple years ago, the Mission Valley …

“These stories are not mine and I do not vouch for their accuracy.” That was the all-caps message in the Instagram bio of East Coast craft brewer Brienne Allan, as she used the platform to share …

There aren’t too many exciting things that can be said about sandwich shops these days. Most of them carry one of two or three deli meat suppliers — usually Boar’s Head or Dietz & Watson …

Here’s a surprising add to the list of things I never expected to do: agree to pay $18 for a cheeseburger, in Imperial Beach. Moments later, another: add a $10 side of fries. And, no, …

Could lightning in a bottle strike twice in the same strip mall? Back in late 2017, a small group, led by brother and sister Vinnie and Carol Pavan, co-founded Babe Kombucha. The craft kombucha maker …

Masks on, because I’m pretty sure this is what the CDC was talking about when it said vaccinated people could uncover in public spaces, except in crowded settings. It’s Saturday afternoon, and Liberty Station is …

In the Gaslamp, Fifth Avenue is still closed to traffic five evenings a week, including most of the day Saturday and Sunday. This has been happening since August, part of a bid to keep restaurants …

Now, some of you kids may be too young to remember, but there was a time when haze wasn’t the dominant characteristic of IPAs made in San Diego. See, this used to be a West …

On the approach to Jamul, Campo Road wends between tree and scrub-colored hill slopes, blithely rising and falling among rugged peaks and large clusters of boulders. Though fewer than 20 miles from the densest center …

This is a story I meant to write over a year ago, before I owned any masks. That’s roughly the time Tabu Shabu opened up in the North Park property that was the long, long …

I spotted the photo in a friend’s Twitter feed, and almost scrolled past. Another photo of a San Diego-rolled burrito, nothing new about that, right? But then the word lumpia caught my eye, and I …

Even if you’re a devoted San Diego beer fan, it wouldn’t be totally surprising if you were under the impression Align Brewing had closed its doors for good. Back in the spring of 2019, word …

After ten minutes waiting for the line in front of me to grow shorter, it occurs to me there are two distinct types of patient people. The first kind has what it takes to show …

Tuétano is the Spanish word for marrow, and bone marrow has a lot to do with the success of the San Ysidro taco shop, Tuetano Taqueria. Since opening in 2018, it’s been written about in …

There’s a conspicuous cocoa flavor running through the green mint ice cream, it’s nearly as rich as the chocolate chips scattered throughout. But behind the frozen dessert’s sweetness lurks the tonic burn of alcohol. Because …

It used to be a Grab & Go Subs shop, conveniently located between the freeway and the airport, making it easy to pick up sandwiches on your way to catch a flight. Now it’s a …

“How many times have I driven past this place?” I muttered to myself. Too many to count. A better question might be, “How long have I been missing out?” The answer to that, I now …

What I considered a failure of April weather, my wife took for an opportunity to visit a tried and true staple for lunch. So with gray clouds firmly fixed over a cool, windy City Heights, …

One Season Brewing Co., San Diego’s newest nanobrewery, is now pouring — inside a small Grantville coffee roaster shop that sells bikes, skateboards, and house-made kombucha. About the only thing that could make the place …

“Try our smoked ribeye,” read the small, hand-painted sandwich board sign on the sidewalk out front. And if there’s any hand-painted sentiment more likely to win my attention, I can’t think of it. Which isn’t …

Count me among the many thousands of young transplants who, upon first arriving in San Diego, took a look around the city, and all it has to offer, and decided to settle first in Ocean …

Taylor Fields started small in 2018, parking her compact Nostalgia Coffee trailer at weekly outdoor markets and corporate campuses, to sell coffee by the cup. The former CPA says she “decided to leave the audit …

I’d gotten word about a spot in Chula Vista where food trucks gather daily outside a third-party DMV registration shop. And, sure enough, one day I found myself just a couple blocks away from the …

What I learned this week is that soup dumplings will get me out of the house. For months, I’ve been eating mostly at home, opting for take-out and a little bit of outdoor dining. But, …

Professional sports have returned to San Diego, and beer and spirit sponsorships have returned with them. Although we’re all accustomed to seeing “tastes great, less filling” ads during televised games, and light beer logos on …

They didn’t know it at the time, but Alexandra Garcia and Jorge Santillan were about to start a ghost kitchen.Garcia had lost her cooking job to the pandemic. She wanted to open her own place, …

A couple of youngsters I know were on spring break and asked if they could go out for a special treat. Muffins. Granted, I haven’t been a kid for quite a while now, but I …

Whichever cuisine they serve, planned restaurants that went ahead and opened after the pandemic started deserve a special kind of acclaim. The business is notoriously tough under normal circumstances — well publicized studies contend as …

Right about now, I’m supposed to be indoor dining somewhere and reporting how great it feels that we’re trending back toward normalcy. But not so fast! Yes, restaurant owners and their bottom lines may be …

San Diego’s wine industry had its best year ever in 2019, $46.2 million in gross sales marked a nearly 13 percent increase over 2018. Then came 2020. A year of pandemic closings and service restrictions …

Birria must be rising in popularity around San Diego, because it’s gotten easier, not harder, to find the stewed meat dish during the pandemic. Mainly, we’re talking about Tijuana-style beef birria (Jalisco, the Mexican state …

A pandemic has tested our collective love/hate relationships with delivery apps — enough at times to warrant government intervention. But before we all decide (or decide not to) return to indoor dining this spring, I …

Back in 2016, the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians established a 15-barrel craft brewery on its reservation near Valley Center. Called SR76 Beerworks, the brewery and tasting room operated alongside the Rincon Harrah’s casino. The …

With any luck, my quest to try all of the best donut spots in San Diego will never end. But for a moment there, it looked like it might have, and in an unlikely spot. …

I know indoor dining is supposed to be back, but some outdoor dining options are just too good to give up. Like one I recently checked out in Normal Heights. I’d driven by Ska Bar …

“You’re going to Spring Valley?” she told me, “You know, the best kept secret in San Diego is a Spring Valley meat counter. It makes the best carne asada….” A couple nights later, a wide …

UPDATE: Effective Saturday, March 13, California has removed the meal service requirement for breweries, distilleries, and bars. Until 8pm each day, customers may order adult beverages without also ordering food, for on premise, outdoor consumption. …

Don’t let anyone tell you the pandemic has scared everyone away from the restaurant business. Against the odds, we’re still seeing new restaurant openings happen in 2021. One of them even persuaded me to drive …

This week, I cracked open a cold one. Pulled the tab of a 12-ounce can and heard that satisfying cshhht sound that usually presages enjoyment of an ale or lager. Except it wasn’t beer inside, …

Scoring a weekend table at a decent outdoor dining venue has become something of a post pandemic sport. Go to any restaurant with patio dining on a sunny Saturday afternoon and you can expect a …

Spring wouldn’t technically arrive for another few weeks, but the sun was out. After what has nearly been a full, cooped-up year of covid, that was all the encouragement we needed to have a picnic. …

When a friend of mine started working as an eighth grade teacher, he reported a wave of addiction sweeping through his classroom. The kids, as he told it, were hooked on Flamin Hot Cheetos. The …

Back in the fall of 2019, O’Brien’s Pub co-owner and general manager Tyson Blake was manning the bar, catching up with a regular customer. O’Brien’s is well known as one of the city’s oldest and …

The food trucks in South Park seem to be multiplying. Alongside the usual Mariscos/fish taco truck holding down the Target parking lot, there’s now a Sonora-style grilled taco truck. The Shawarma Guys truck is a …

I felt like a kid in a pizza store, looking through the front window of Gelati & Peccati. Rather than post a menu, the North Park eatery lays out its colorful spread of Roman-style pizza …

Third-generation San Diegan Kaylee McLaughlin married her high school sweetheart. When his Navy career sent him to a remote corner of Nevada, she and their two young children followed. For someone accustomed to having ready …