Vagabond: Eat your sprouts!
Hey hey! This is what they call serendipity. Heading towards 30th and Juniper, South Park, last night. Figure I’ll catch the Number 2 downtown. Instead I catch the warm glow of that clay-colored eatery across the road. Vagabond (2310, 30th …
Ice cream search: Late nite cone!
Ten-thirty. Gaslamp’s in full throat. Actually hoofing it to 12th and Imp. Twenty minutes till my stretch limo departs. Walk should take ten, so hey. Time to stop a mo and listen to Eric playing Santana’s “Black Magic Woman.” http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/oct/03/32815/ …
Ice cream wars: Sorbet from Sicily?
Nearly seven at night. Gaslamp. Hot. Harried. Hungry. Have a Hamilton. Or two. Hovering around …“Hardware?” “San Diego Hardware,” says the sign. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/30/32577/ Been here before, now I think about it, but trying to remember, a happy hour beer? Oh …
Clayton’s Mex Kitchen: It’s Hot in Here!
Spare a thought for the suffering chefs and cooks of our fair city. These days are hot enough outside. In the kitchen of, say, Clayton's Mex Takeout (1107 10th Street, Coronado, at 10th and Orange, 619-437-8811)... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/27/32356/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/27/32357/ ...you can …
Cuatro Milpas: Love the smell of lard-fried tacos in the morning
Had to check the Most Beloved Taco Shop in the Galaxy. That it had re-opened, that is. Las Cuatro Milpas ("The Four Cornfields," 1875 Logan Avenue, between Crosby and Beardsley, 619-234-4460) had closed on September 17th, but promised to re-open …
Sausages’re off, love
Sausage alert on India Street! Jerry, the cook who’s just as much an institution as Pete of Pete’s Quality Meats (1742-1/2 India Street, Little Italy, 619-234-1684), the place that’s famous for the sausages which Pete has always made right here …
Best Way to Start the Week? Menudo!
They say beat the heat with heat. So here I am in Barrio Logan looking for that sign at the corner of Newton and Beardsley… Aha. The big “TAMALES” sign, and next to it, “La Doña/New Mexico Café,” (1784 Newton …
Ice Cream Challenge: Freeze-Frame Little Italy
Ice cream wars continue. My new favorite place: Caffe Italia (1704 India Street, 619-234-6767.) Maybe just because I’m feeling hotter than a cat on a hot tin roof. First good thing: in the afternoon, they’re on the shady side of …
Café terraces: Bigger is better?
Jes’ thinking about the whole café awning issue (see Outdoor cafes: Gimme shelter!") I was complaining that café owners and the cities that regulate them don’t encourage enough shelter for us outside sitters in these sun-searing days. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/20/31932/ They had …
Fresca Deli: Crazy for Tostilocos
What’s loaded with cueritos, jicama, japoneses, pepino, chamoy, saladito, Tajin, Valentina and Tostito chips, costs $5, and is good for you? http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/19/31869/ I’ve just found out in National City. I was wandering along East Plaza Boulevard when I noticed this …
Outdoor cafés: Gimme shelter!
What price sunshine? Or rather, what cost sunshine? Was in Coronado the other afternoon. Orange Avenue, in the Village. Sunny side of the street. Roasting. Wanted to sit down have a coffee, ice cream, cerveza, anything. And outside, where at …
Poetic Peohe’s: Not just for the rich
“Peohe” in Hawaiian means a gathering of friends. That’s what they tell you here on the clunky plank deck at Peohe’s (1201 First Street, Coronado, 619-437-4474). I just happened on their happy hour (3:00 p.m. to 6:30pm, Monday to Friday) …
Low-pay sope!
I guess “make it yourself” has never been in my vocabulary. Till now. Talking National City. I was just turning onto 7th street when here’s this little tortilleria, El Grano de Oro (730 E. 7th Street, National City, 619-474-7401). Kids …
Is it OK to eat at cultish places?
You gotta read Barbarella’s piece on eating at The Yellow Deli. I’ve been there (315 East Broadway, Vista, 760-631-1888) a couple of times, liked it and them a lot. I mean cheery, businesslike, open people. I knew they were Twelve …
La Gran Tapa: Great Spanish Omelet, but "No Tips Accepted"?
“NO TIPS ACCEPTED." It's the first thing you notice when you get your check. But what does it mean? This is at the oldest of tapa joints in our fair city, the Café Bar Europa – La Gran Tapa (611 …
Desperately Needing Niederfrank’s
’Tis a roasting hot afternoon. Salty trickles run down, stinging my eyes. Reminds me of when I just about passed out in the Anza Borrego. Then I have a refreshing thought. Happens I'm heading up from the Old Town area …
Omygosh it's Ogawashi: But is it eats or art?
What a difference a couple of weeks make. Last time I was in here the place was clanging with carpentry and metal work. Last night, with three massive glass doors swung out onto Fifth Avenue and C Street, this corner …
Pepita’s cactus breakfast
How many times? A hundred, maybe, that I have trundled up Highland Avenue aboard the 955 bus, spotted this blushing salmon-pink cottage with the café in front... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/06/31068/ ...and wished I could jump off and go eat on its little …
Meijo: Gingering up IB
Hawaiian? Japanese? Down in IB trying to decide which takeout. On my right, Hawaiian. The Big Kahuna (600 Palm Avenue, Suite 117, in Silver Strand Plaza). Place I’ve had really good experiences at before. I liked their palapas and the …
Sausages for sail...!
Carla’s gonna faint. She’s the hot dog guru. Knows her kielbasas from her bratwursts, her American mustards from her French. What happens is I’m at the Festival of Sail... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/sep/02/30731/ ...between the Star of India and the long arcade of …