Hidden History: La Piñata
“Ask me when I first came here.” “Okay. When did you first come here?” “In 1942. I came in with my aunt. This was Ramona’s Kitchen then. They had a kitchen with a to-go window. That was it. Tacos and …
Eat Like the Founding Fathers
Man. Jes’ walked up here to the south side of Mission Valley. From Old Town. I don’t advise it. No sidewalks! I crab-walked around the bluff below the presidio. No space for anything but crazy cars. You feel like a …
Search for Best Patio: Chapter One
Where’s the best patio downtown? “Right here,” says Tom Chifari. Tom and me jes’ got to talking here at The Brickyard. It’s easy to. You can see folks sitting, staring at the trees, listening to the wind sift through the …
Basil Is the Morning Hero in Old Town
Trust me. At the crack o'dawn, Basil is the only guy in Old Town. Who's open for coffee, that is. Proof? It's 6.30 a.m. right now. I've just walked the whole of Old Town plaza and up San Diego Avenue …
Tijuana, Revolución Revolution
“Three course lunch with lemonade, $6,” says Augustin. He’s standing between two cigar-chomping vaqueros. OK, they’re made of wood. But full-size. They guard El Museo, a new eatery at the bottom, oldest, part of Revolución, right by the “Reloj Monumental,” …
Smartest Café in the Park?
Welcome to the smartest café in town. Volunteer kids seem to know anything you ask about orphaned orangutans and skitty kid elephants, 'cause that's what the IMAX movie Born to be Wild is all about, here at the Reuben H. …
Arab Tacos?
“We’re the first in San Diego to have an Al Pastor spit,” says Adrian Villanueva. It’s late, around ten. He’s busy carving flakes of pork off the vertical spit into a, like, cutaway frying pan, ready to drop into tortillas …
Real New York Bagel? The Search Begins
And while we’re talking about East Village, across Island from Dirty Del’s, there’s this bagel place. It’s about two in the afternoon, but people seem to be traipsing in and out like it’s their regular thing. I see it’s called …
Dirty Del's Delicious Daily Deals
Blame Erin for this. Our good buddy is off to San Francisco. I asked what she was gonna miss most about San Diego. "Dirty Del's," she said. No hesitation. "It made the Village a neighborhood. It was our Cheers." She's …
Spring Valley Good Guys
Somebody bringing their prices down? Sunrise Café in Spring Valley (9945 Campo Road) did just that. Jorge and Raul, who started the joint eleven years ago, knew their customers. “We saw people around here really hurting,” Jorge says. I was …
Spitini Envy
What was Little Italy like before all us cool (haha) people moved in and spiffed it up? Stop by at Pete’s Quality Meats (1742-1/2 India). That’s the old Little Italy. It’s no-frills and only grills. The one thing that’s changed …
Source-Sipping in Barrio Logan, Organic Coffee Capital!
I’m sitting under a lone yellow umbrella on the sidewalk outside this 100-year-old brick building on National Avenue. Mmm. Sipping an Italian Roast coffee ($1.75). A vertical coffee-colored “Coffee” flag flutters next to me. You wouldn't know it, but Barrio …
Third Friday Food Truck Nite, Still Truckin' On!
7:00 pm...From the trolley. Dammit. Rollin' past on the Blue Line, saw 57 Degrees (1735 Hancock Street, At Washington), and at least a dozen food trucks parked around the back lot. Of course! Third Friday Food Truck Nite. See they …
Footlong at Four (a.m.)
Aah, Friday night and all is bright, but then it’s late. You need a bite…okay, Subway is a chain (and the biggest restaurant chain in the world as of the end of last year. It passed McDonald’s with 33,749 restaurants …
OM in OB
“It’s supposed to be ‘OM’ on a cupcake,” says Maria Sanchez. The Hindu symbol for the Original Vibration sits right beside the Stephanie’s Café sign in her window (Stephanie’s Café and Bakery, 4879 Voltaire Street) in OB. I’ve interrupted Maria …
Free Pool Downtown!
Sent from the 923 bus: At Time Out (634 Broadway) the downtown hangout for students of English-as-a-foreign-language, all you’ve gotta do to get your free game of pool on is munch one of their $6.95 sandwiches, like the club, roast …
Night'n Day Takes Back the Nite
Great news for homecoming Westpac sailors, and the rest of us: The Night & Day Café (847 Orange Avenue, Coronado) is back open 24/7. For a while it was only always open Thursday thru the weekends. I can see they’ve …
Bridge to Somewhere Delicious
Remember our very own $27 million boondoggle Bridge to Nowhere? Too far south for conventioneers, too far away from the Gaslamp to generate any pedestrian traffic? The Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge links an empty space near Petco Park to an …
San Diego Beermeisters: More to Celebrate
Kudos to Brandon for shining the light on Ballast Point Brewing Company’s achievements. I’ve been looking at the San Diego brewing scene too, and what a scene. The long shadow of Prohibition kept small, local brewing possibilities down at zero …
Does San Diego Have Tasteless Calamari?
Is our calamari tasteless compared to Morocco’s? Redouane and Hadda, a couple I met at the Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina in Old Town, say yes. I caught them eating mussels ($5 a bowl in a broth in Happy Hour). “The …