A lot of people will tell you that their favorite restaurants are “holes in the wall,” or “hidden gems,” or at the very least, “obscure.” It’s seldom true. Then, there’s Kim’s Texas Barbecue, down in …

The kitchen at Ballast Point’s Little Italy tasting room unveiled an updated menu last week to coincide with the opening of a monstrous (as-yet-undecorated) patio. It’s not a total replacement of the former menu, but …

As happens with so many restaurants, Bino’s Bistro fell victim to protracted delays as the Hillcrest crêperie sought a beer and wine license. Kudos to the restaurant for soldiering through a drawn-out permitting process (which …

I’ll Take Care of You, the new true-crime story from Caitlin Rother, is on bookstore shelves throughout San Diego. The exhaustively researched book recounts the murder of Bill McLaughlin, shot in his Newport Beach home …

Little differences matter. Imagine hobnobbing with a group of hoity-toity snobbish types, drinking port and discussing great matters of Western Civilization. They’re talking about Richard Burton and how he helped get the Kama Sutra first …

Abbey’s Real Texas BBQ makes bold moves, claiming “Best BBQ Brisket In San Diego” at the head of its website. Well, says who? These kinds of claims always beg for upholding or debunking. The restaurant …

Low Gallery’s new show, “Eternal Spring,” opened with an artists’ reception and live performance on January 17. The ongoing show features work from Portland-based photographer, Colin Manning; LA visual artist and psychic, Marcella Kroll; and …

If Ramona has one must-stop spot, it’s Pepe’s Produce, a grocery store in an ex-Pizza Hut. The place may be the king of dingy little holes in the wall. It’s a little country store, with …

If there were some sort of Reader coffee shop design award, Te Mana Cafe (4956 Voltaire Street) would be on the short list to win. This OB newcomer proves just how right it can be …

If they can raise $35,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, a group of high school students and their teachers want to purchase a food truck and retrofit it to include mobile film screening alongside basic food …

It’s been a year since Gang Kitchen’s initial Reader review, and the restaurant’s kitchen has seen some shakeups. Craig Jimenez, formerly of Roseville Cozinha and Craft and Commerce, is in as the new executive chef, …

In addition to Sycamore Den’s decision to get a few bites of food on the bar menu, the Normal Heights cocktail lounge with the beards-and-shotguns flair has a new series of winter cocktails ($9) rife …

“Sycamore Den got food!” That was the rumor, anyways, that the Normal Heights hipster-centric cocktail lounge, styled after a dreamy and favorable vision of the 1970s where men were men, had augmented its menu with …

“I just thought that doing My Little Pony toys would be different,” says Rizzo Michelle, reflecting on her decision to customize unwanted toys and try to sell them at Comikaze 2013. “When I went there, …

It’s evident in the first bite from Coop’s West Texas Barbecue (2625 Lemon Grove Avenue, Lemon Grove). You can taste the crutch. The Texas crutch, that is. The crutch, an aluminum foil wrap applied to …

It took forever to remodel Pink Noodle and turn it into East Village Asian Diner (406 University Avenue), a second location for the successful, Encinitas restaurant. Reportedly, permitting troubles plagued the buildout, but the construction …

While everybody has been obsessing over the protracted buildout process for Lucky Liu’s (Alex Thao’s new Downtown Chinese restaurant), the restaurateur quietly renovated Celadon, his Hillcrest Thai restaurant. Reborn as French Concession (3671 5th Avenue) …

In the College area, Tokyo Sushi Loha (recently relocated to 6502 El Cajon Boulevard) is a powerhouse. The place used to do slamming business out of strip mall, but the owners managed to finagle the …

The first goal of the new “Art Speaks” salon series at Thumbprint Gallery 2, at the back of Hillcrest’s Bamboo Lounge, is to “provide a platform for artists to engage in dialogue with their community …

At a Lemon Grove restaurant, looking at the shared history of soul food, barbecue, and African-American cooks.

San Diego's original barbecue restaurant still going after almost seventy years and half a dozen locations.

While not wholly unique, the concept behind San Diego Cellars is fun. The novelty lies in putting a fully functional winery, kitchen, and tasting room within the confines of the city, rather than exiling winemaking …

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to look at a picture of the cosmic microwave background. It’s basically the afterbirth of the Big Bang. This is sort of an interpretation of that, …

There’s just something about 1263 University Avenue. Restaurants there are always already doomed to failure. How many have come and come in recent years? Most recently, the Range (which wasn’t any good) made a go …

Photographs deceive from the virtual walls of restaurant website image galleries, or the constructed space of press releases, providing would-be guests with a virtual tour of a restaurant’s interior. Enhanced colors create an extra lustrous …

Barbecue has its roots in the humblest corners of the American South. The “low and slow” cooking method was developed as a way of increasing the palatability of tough, sinewy cuts of meat. ‘Cue isn’t …

“I know that when you combine statistics and art, you have a way of reaching people that’s much deeper, because you’re reaching them through the heart,” says Kira Corser, director of “Sea Changes: Act.” The …

Any survey of San Diego’s barbecue scene would be woefully incomplete without considering the juggernaut of local ‘cue: Phil’s BBQ. (3750 Sports Arena Boulevard) Phil’s needs little introduction. The restaurant’s website runs a webcam so …

Lightnin’ Jack’s (4705 Clairemont Drive) has some things going for it, not the least of which is the movie deal: 10 percent off if you show a same-day movie ticket from the Regal across the …

“Fast Forward,” a new group art show at North Park’s Low Gallery, opens Friday the 13th with an artists reception from 6-10 p.m. Following that, the show will remain on display through January 14, 2014. …

Highly-anticipated LA pizza restaurant serves exceptional cuisine, living up to its own hype and then some.

After all that talk about barbecue without a legitimate smoking pit, meritorious as it may be, this is where shit gets real. Walk into the [Wrangler Family Barbecue]1, where a taxidermied bison overlooks the dining …

"The idea for the portraits on paper money came from a Thumbprint Gallery show called C.R.E.A.M. which stood for ‘cash rules everything around me,’ explains Isaac Coronado, better known as Optimus Volts. “I found a …

It took a while, but somebody finally moved into the spot, formerly Lotus Cafe, at 3955 Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest. That somebody is RB Sushi, a North County and College Area stalwart most known for …

When they want the finances to materialize their dreams, San Diego’s creative minds turn to Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowdfunding website. Kickstarter hosts a bevy of San Diego-based projects (it’s easy to filter the website’s …

If smoky flavor is the sine qua non of barbecued meat, then sauce is the desideratum. Barbecue without sauce is like the ocean without swell: beautiful, but where’s the fun? As much as meat choice, …

How does the 4646 Convoy Street mini-mall manage to contain such a staggering array of tasty foods and drinks? Crab Hut, Shabu Shabu House, Raki Raki (except for that damn ramenburger), etc. Add BABS to …

Arthur Salm spent twenty years as the book critic at the Union-Tribune, interviewing authors and writing about the works they created. To hear him tell it, he would have been perfectly happy spending the rest …

Another entry in the barbecue-without-a-smoker category is Lil’ Alex BBQ (4020 Bonita Road, Chula Vista), a self-described “mesquite wood grill” where the meats get their smokiness from a smoky grill instead of the authentic barbecue …

The fact that the Boston Red Sox won the World Series has almost zero bearing on San Diego’s restaurant scene. Almost zero. So many New England sports fans live in San Diego — particularly in …

Dunkin’ Donuts’ imminent arrival in San Diego is understandably big news; perhaps even more so now that the company has officially returned to California with the opening of a store in Barstow! San Diego’s glut …

The barbecue orthodoxy argues over much, but stays firm on one thing: barbecue must be smoked. That assumption demands to be challenged. As the late Naomi Wise, the Reader’s former restaurant critic, pointed out, smoking’s …

Where’s a better place to start a San Diego barbecue excursion than Kansas City Barbeque (600 W. Harbor Drive), the place most famous for appearing in the movie Top Gun? There’s no escaping the anecdote …

Question: What’s made of mystery meat and gets people all twitterpated with its unpredictable availability? Answer: The McRib. The fact that such a pitiful excuse for a sandwich can generate a following worthy of a …

A new show, “Post-Pop,” opens at Low Gallery (3778 30th Street) in North Park on Friday, November 15. The show is a collaboration between painter, Sean Brannan, and sculptor Jonathan Entler, curated by Meegan Nolan …

“I incorporate a lot of garbage and trash imagery because that’s the byproduct of our culture. When we all die, we’re leaving our garbage behind. It’s like when we find old pottery, or whatever, from …

The Snooty Asian (3925 Fourth Avenue) showed a lot of promise during its soft opening period. Making it work in the cut-throat restaurant quarter of Hillcrest is no easy task, and Snooty has yet to …

Here’s the text of the recommendation that came in for Pho Point Loma & Grill (2788 Midway Drive): “Dude! Goooood!” Yeah. That’s five o’s of good. With a sign that obscures the surrounding night sky …

For whatever reason, 2121A El Cajon Boulevard went tentantless for an eternity after the departure of Eclipse Chocolat. Downtime for empty restaurant buildings is usually minimal. Landlords want rent paid, and there’s no shortage of …

The last time Brianna Lopez danced was during the end of her studies at SDSU. Choreographing “Mind the Gap,” a short composition for four dancers, represents her first real engagement with dance in three years. …