Feast has moved!
For articles posted after October 8, 2013, please visit the new Feast section.
Related content: Happy Hours | Food & Drink Events | Tin Fork | Here's the Deal | Set 'em Up Joe | Breakfast | Burrito Barato | Burger Time | By the Slice | Gastro Trucks | Hot Dawg! | House Specialty | Musical Chefs | Open & Shut | Rad Patios | Tour de Cheesesteak | Search restaurants
Entries
The One-Taco Dinner
On Fifth Avenue, tramping uphill, north. Get to Nutmeg Street, St. Paul’s cathedral. It’s five o’clock. Unbelievable pink sunset. And I’m looking at it from this maroon stucco corner place almost the same color as the clouds. Huh. I remember …
New Name for a Brew That’s Still a Treasure
It’s hard to find fault with anything produced to raise money to fight breast cancer. I mean, who does that? Well…sometimes I do. Obviously, the creation of such beers is a wonderful thing, especially when they taste great. Unfortunately, they’re …
The Yellow Beehive
Hey hey! Another candidate for Best Sidewalk Patio. Was waiting for the bus just south of University up in Hillcrest the other night. And glowing across Fourth Avenue was this, like, yellow jewel. A café-bistro, long, luminous, and packed with …
It’s About Time: Killer BBQ Comes to Town
You walk in, see the skyscraper-like trophies strewn throughout Brazen BBQ Smokehouse and Bar and immediately assume whoever is responsible for the menu and that incredible mixed aroma of smoldering wood and slowly melting animal fat must be from somewhere …
Serious Rising: Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria
I love pizza. New York style, Neopolitan, Chicago style, thin, thick, red, white, I don't care. I have a few non-negotiables (no Hawaiian style, barbecued chicken, or green bell peppers), but those are just holdovers from my days of eating …
Un-Leftover Friday: UnderBelly
I spent last Tuesday-Thursday in my kitchen, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. So by Friday, I was dying to see the sun again and have something not-Thanksgiving-ish for lunch. I’ve also been dying to try UnderBelly, the brand new Nate …
Caffe Vergnano: Sign of the (Opening) Times
Went striding confidently up to Caffe Vergnano 1882 (3850 Fifth Avenue, Hillcrest, 619-255-1882) the other night. Always liked their Olde Worlde outside and Italian Moderne look inside. Tonight, I basically, jes’ wanted one of their nice $1.95 espressos (There’s no …
Street Surprise
You never know where your next tamale is coming from. Mine’s come from here, at 16th and Imperial. Was crossing Imperial when I hear the call. “Ta-MAA-les! Ta-MAA-les!” It’s this cheery-looking woman in a white teeshirt and jeans, hauling a …
A Jiggerful of Judgment at El Dorado
Last week, I wrote about serving as a judge for the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. Experiences like these tend to be few and far between. Yet, come tomorrow, I’ll be back in the critic’s saddle, weighing on …
Bobby Flay and Local Chef Rumble in Kitchen Stadium
It’s shot in a studio, lit within an inch of its life, and hosted by a hokey acrobat-slash-actor playing the descendant of an equally hokey yet far less agile Japanese actor. Yet, for all its manufactured Hollywood glitter factor, Food …
The Port of San Diego?
“First real coffee house in California,” says the sign. Oh. Guess I’m the last to find it. This is Café Bassam (3088 Fifth Avenue, at Redwood, Bankers Hill, 619-557-0173). Used to be downtown, right? It’s coming on evening. Have to …
Rainy Days and Sundays: Union Kitchen & Tap
We get about three days of rain in San Diego, so why do they all seem to happen on the weekend? I'm sure the artists and vendors at the Encinitas Fall Festival were thinking the same thing this past Sunday. …
How to Eat Burgers Raw
Oh boy. All that turkey… Lessee. Healthy alternative? I’m looking up at the green menu board here at Evolution (used to be Nature’s Express) at 2949 Fifth Avenue (at Quince), 619-550-1818. Everything’s guaranteed “100 percent Vegan.” And what I’m seeing …
Hall of Dreams
Oh, man. I'm holding my belly, full as a bull. I come out from Father Joe's Thanksgiving lunch (1501 Imperial Avenue, two blocks from 12th and Imperial trolley/bus transit center, 619-233-8500), me and hundreds of others. When we'd all piled …
Beer and Cacao Worthy of Serious Buzz
When Friday comes around, I embrace my vocational freedom in tandem with a few cold ones. Last week, my workweek-erasing boozing was put on hold. I had a date with some friends to take in a chocolate tasting at a …
El Porvenir: The Sign in the Window
I’m worried about El Porvenir Tortilla Factory (1782 National Avenue, Barrio Logan, 619-233-4038), home of the Most Awesome Burritos in the County. It has been open and closed -- but mostly closed -- for the past three years. At first …
Most Colorful Pizza?
Hauling up through Little Italy. Couldn’t resist stopping by Landini’s Pizzeria, the most colorful eatery on India. Of course the selection in the display cabinet is huge. Gotta be a dozen sliced-up pies in there, plus I could've got one …
Free Turkey Lunch: Lining Up on JFK Day
It's one of those talky moments. We're all waiting to register with Mike for the lunch tomorrow. "Hey, it's 11-22," says someone. "Yeah, I'm old enough to remember, too," this lady named Wendy next to me is saying. "I was …
Eating History
Ooh. Don't you just love the smell of tamales in the morning? Sitting with Marisol Arteaga and her friend Maria Alvarado, here at the tamale stand next to Rancho Fresco (1852 National Avenue, Barrio Logan). I've got a pork Tamal …
Thanksgiving: Setting Up Pavo Day
Hey, Thanksgiving's two days away! So what about those of us who can't be cooking a giant turkey? Well for starters, one place will be open. Valentine's downtown (842 Market Street, between Eighth and Ninth, 619-234-8256). It's been open nearly …