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On 1/4/2016 at 8:03 AM, eatruneat said:

My brother moved from the southern edge of San Diego to a more central spot in Bankers Hill so I was able to explore a lot of new restaurants over my trip there for Christmas. Unfortunately, much of it was mediocre but some of it was great. The standout of trip was Crack Shack in Little Italy, affiliated with and adjacent to Juniper and Ivy. The place specializes in chicken -- fried chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, lollipop chicken -- served with a myriad of different housemade sauces. A fun outdoors place to eat and drink the day away. I only had the chicken nuggets and the lollipop chicken on my one visit there, and really liked it. A similar place in DC would go gangbusters!

I wanted to go here while in SD but it was raining and my dining partner didn't want to brave the elements! Instead we hit:

Jimmy's Famous American Tavern - nice view of the water and the Harbor Drive location is right across from the Holiday Inn. My red snapper (catch of the day) plate was fresh and simply dressed and the accompanying asparagus and mashed potatoes were worth eating. My dining partner enjoyed her spicy shrimp salad. It's a good place for a work dinner and super convenient when staying at the hotel, though I probably wouldn't return of my own choosing.

The Kebab Shop - not as good as last time, but still perfectly adequate for fast, cheap, and good food.

Ironside Fish & Oyster.- beautiful, soaring space in the heart of Little Italy with a carefully curated menu (seems to change and be freshly printed daily) of raw bar, classic fish-house eats, and daily specials. It's a shame I don't eat shellfish, because that really seems to be the draw here. I ended up with the fancy set of the night and it was a pretty, smallish portion of a tender white fish with some tasty vegetables (all good, all rather forgettable). My dining partner was happy with the calamari and we both enjoyed the broccolini (the green garlic, Fresno chili, and soy sherry glaze was terrific). It can get really bustle-y and loud and Happy Hour $1 oysters seem to be the best deal.

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I'll be on a solo trip soon, need dinner and breakfast recommendations. From the airport I have to head to La Presa (I think) to pick up the car, then I'm spending one night in La Mesa before heading out at o-dark-thirty. Will be tired, cranky and frazzled after getting the car, so would like to stay in that area rather than going back downtown. Sounds like Bo-Beau is the best option? Anything tasty and low-key will do.

Any 24 hour breakfast joints? other than Denny's, I mean, which is where I'm planning to eat breakfast if nothing better is around.

On the return, I have to drop off the car in La Presa by 5:30, then be at the airport by 6:30. Is there anything I can pick up and eat once I get to the airport? Or anything decent in the airport?

Many thanks.

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7 hours ago, porcupine said:

I'll be on a solo trip soon, need dinner and breakfast recommendations. From the airport I have to head to La Presa (I think) to pick up the car, then I'm spending one night in La Mesa before heading out at o-dark-thirty. Will be tired, cranky and frazzled after getting the car, so would like to stay in that area rather than going back downtown. Sounds like Bo-Beau is the best option? Anything tasty and low-key will do.

Any 24 hour breakfast joints? other than Denny's, I mean, which is where I'm planning to eat breakfast if nothing better is around.

On the return, I have to drop off the car in La Presa by 5:30, then be at the airport by 6:30. Is there anything I can pick up and eat once I get to the airport? Or anything decent in the airport?

Many thanks.

I haven't been back to La Mesa in a few years but high school friends have been reporting that the dining scene in La Mesa has really improved recently. Bo Beau is still a good bet as the restaurant group behind it is well regarded in San Diego and is pretty steady. The same restaurant group also opened a bar-cade called CoinHaus if you are in the mood for something really really laid back (and some arcade games). I haven't been, but friends also like Farmer's Table in La Mesa.

Unfortunately, 24 hour breakfast is hard to come by in La Mesa. If you can wait until 7am, Sheldon's Service Station will be a better option than Denny's as well as a pre-airport option. The aforementioned Farmer's Table starts serving breakfast at 8am. Not sure about your timing, but my favorite thing to do when taking food on the plane is grabbing a banh mi or three at A Chau (or even Cali Baguette which has a drive through) and taking it on the plane. 

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Thanks, eatruneat - I was hoping you'd see my post.  :-)  Breakfast depends entirely on whether I make it to the car rental place before it closes. If I do, Denny's it is and on the road before sunrise. If I don't, I have no choice but to wait until 9 the next morning, in which case I'll go to Sheldon's.

So you can get a sandwich through security? Last time I tried something like that was with with some unusual cheeses in Montreal; we ended up having our airport picnic pre-security and an hour sooner than we wanted to, but at least we didn't have to ditch the cheese.

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3 hours ago, porcupine said:

Thanks, eatruneat - I was hoping you'd see my post.  :-)  Breakfast depends entirely on whether I make it to the car rental place before it closes. If I do, Denny's it is and on the road before sunrise. If I don't, I have no choice but to wait until 9 the next morning, in which case I'll go to Sheldon's.

So you can get a sandwich through security? Last time I tried something like that was with with some unusual cheeses in Montreal; we ended up having our airport picnic pre-security and an hour sooner than we wanted to, but at least we didn't have to ditch the cheese.

You can bring food as long as it is wrapped or in a container. https://consumerist.com/2016/06/27/heres-a-big-updated-list-of-the-foods-you-can-bring-through-airport-security/ 

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Bo-Beau is closed on Mondays. Instead I ate at a decent neighborhood Italian place, Antica Trattoria or something like that. The real find was La Mesa Bistro and Bakery, open at 0530. For something like twelve bucks I got a gigantic plate of eggs on chilaquiles - very tasty, way better than Denny's. But the coffee sucks.

Instead of bringing a sandwich through security I was able to time things right for a quick dinner at the bar of Juniper and Ivy, which I wholeheartedly recommend. Good, innovative California cuisine with an emphasis on fresh produce. And the coffee is good, too.

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On 12/26/2013 at 0:53 PM, eatruneat said:

Bo-Beau Kitchen & Bar (Ocean Beach)

Bo-Beau Kitchen & Garden (La Mesa)

When this place first opened, Bo Beau was short for bohemian boyfriend which is kind of a dumb name for such a great restaurant. When I think of having a bohemian boyfriend (which would never happen), I think of a penniless surfer who couldn't afford to take me to dinner, much less a French bistro, so I never understood the point of that name. That had always bothered me until recently when I found out that Bo-Beau now refers to bohemian beautiful, which is slightly better but still kind of odd.

Don't forget that "Bohemian" is also someone or something from Bohemia: a region in the Czech Republic ("The land of pleasant living and national Boh.") :) We won't get into the whole "Budvar" / "Czechvar" debacle.

(I'm not sure how widely known the term "Golden Triangle" is here in America, but for European travelers, it's a visit to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna, and is a known honeymoon agenda.)

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On March 18, 2017 at 1:52 PM, DonRocks said:

(I'm not sure how widely known the term "Golden Triangle" is here in America, but for European travelers, it's a visit to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna, and is a known honeymoon agenda.)

I always think of the Asian heroin trade when I hear the phrase "golden triangle." And yes, it makes me laugh every time I am over by Farragut and see the "Golden Triangle BID" signs.

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Heading to San Diego at the end of the month for 3 days to catch up with my son, the travelling engineer.  Open to suggestions local to San Diego, hopefully with great water views.  Thinking fish tacos, brewpubs, great seafood and Mexican.

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Mr. P and I spent a little time in San Diego recently. Recommendations: Juniper and Ivy for dinner, Extraordinary Deserts for anything, Herb and Eatery for breakfast, Devil's Dozen Donut Shop for when you just give up and decide to eat your way across the city, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters for your nth cup, City Taco in North Park for delicious and creative tacos, Hammond's Gourmet Ice Cream for an ice cream flight (single small scoops in mini waffle cones), Wow Wow Waffle because wtf you're so over the top at this point, why not keep going? Craft and Commerce for nosh at any time. And the Saturday farmers market in Little Italy is outstanding. Is San Diego underrated as a food town or do we just not talk about it enough here?

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Agreed about Juniper and Ivy. Great food. My only concern was the pacing. Took us about 2.5 hours for a two-top, which is much longer than I was expecting. The Tuna Wellington was truly interesting, though I'm not sure spinach makes an adequate replacement for duxelles. Maybe it does for Tuna though as opposed to beef.

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Spent 10 days in San Diego to do the wedding thing. Mostly based out of La Jolla, but were able to go here and there for meals.

Trust - Highly recommend. Little brother scored our group of four the chef's table and it was a great time. 

Catania - Great 12 person dinner here on their patio. Everyone raved about the pasta. Hard to go wrong with tomatoes and burrata, but that was a standout as well. 

Pho Cow Cali - Family says Pho Hoa has gone down hill and Pho Cow Cali is now the place to go, especially if you enjoy a lighter broth.

El Pescador - A bit on the pricey side, but the seafood is very fresh and the portions are generous.

Taco Stand - Amazing tacos worth waiting in line for.

Galaxy Taco - Had our rehearsal dinner here. Better than expected, especially the steak and the mushroom. Shrimp balls were also a fave.

Whisknladle - Solid place. 

Duke's - Go for drinks and the view. Food is okay but not great and pricey.

We Olive and Wine Bar - Great place for an incredible view and several glasses of wine. Snacks are good too.

Sugar and Scribe - Great place for breakfast and sweets. 

 

 

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We ate well and expensively during a shortish SoCal stay for a family function. 

Sushi Nekosan - this is where the cat titans from Isle of Dogs dine, if they're okay with being seen at a hole-in-a-wall place.  The fish (and A5 Waygu) here is impeccable and beautifully presented and well worth the (not cheap but not expensive) price.  If this is an indication of the level of SoCal sushi then sign me up now for a return trip!

Fishing with Dynamite - Also impeccably fresh and beautifully presented.  The hot dishes are great.  The raw bar is exceptional.  It's a bit pricy but a wonderful way to end our SoCal stay and trudge our way to LAX (due to ongoing construction.  It's less than 20 minutes to from our LAX rental car return and then it literally took 1 hour to travel the 2 miles between the rental car return and our terminal.

Whist-n-Ladle in La Jolla - we went for brunch and it was perfectly fine.  Decent service, well prepped food, not too expensive, and nice atmosphere.  My only regret is eating here before we happened upon Sushi Nekosan.

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Does anyone have any intel or suggestion for a restaurant in the Little Italy area (or nearby) for New Years Eve?  Let's just assume it's a normal year and places will be open......that may be foolish, but I figure it's easier for you, dear reader, to list favorite places, and then have me do the research to see if they're open, than have it go the other way around.

Also, please feel free to weigh in if this is a horrible mistake.   Not the dining out during Covid, part, but the dining in Little Italy part.  I don't know anything about San Diego and was given the task of finding a place in the Little Italy area, but if that's a bad idea, I'd rather know now than after the food arrives!

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@Bart, we had to cancel our annual Christmas trip to San Diego this year because of COVID. I will note that there is a stay at home order in San Diego right now and restaurants are only open for delivery and takeout.

That being said, I would advise against a nice dinner in Little Italy. We stayed in Little Italy the last few times we've been in San Diego and I think the places are not as good as they once were with the exception of Crack Shack, but that is very casual. If you really had to do NYE dinner at (or from) a place in Little Italy, look to Juniper & Ivy, Herb& Wood, and Kettner Exchange. The first two were started by chefs from Top Chef (Richard Blais and Brian Malarkey) and the third is a carbon copy but with more of a night club atmosphere. 

Our absolute favorite place in San Diego is Trust, but it is closed. Its sister restaurant, Fort Oak, is doing takeout/delivery and is not too far away from Little Italy in Mission Hills. 

You didn't ask, but had we gone to San Diego our itinerary would have been: Huntress Steakhouse, Trust/Fort Oak, and Born & Raised. Jasmine for dim sum, Pho Hoa in City Heights (or wherever my family wants to go for pho) and its neighbor Minh Ky for egg noodle soups, Taco Stand (for tacos), and Oscar's (fish tacos). 

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Thanks ERE!!!!   Like others upthread, I was hoping you'd respond!!!  😊

Thanks also for the info on restaurants only doing carry out.  I had a surprisingly hard time finding out the status of restaurants and dine-in eating in San Diego.  I found lots of color coated rating charts, but nothing on what the current color-rating level is!  

I did some research last night and found that most places were only offering carry out and Juniper and Ivy and Herb & Wood and a couple others were already sold out on the Christmas/NYE meals, so it might be a home cooked event anyway.

I'm going to start going through your list for NYE choices and just general eating.  Bummer about Trust being closed, but I'll be googling Fort Oak in seconds!

Thanks again!!

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I'll post more in depth later, but we've just spent a week in San Diego. Much of that was to watch the Padres (booked the trip before they went into the tank), but had some good restaurant meals as well. By far the best one was Fort Oak. Incredible meal. Herb & Wood was also solid. Juniper and Ivy was much worse than either. Horribly slow, and just not as good. I doubt I'd return. Fort Oak is a definite re-visit for us however. 

On the bar side, J & Tony's Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Emporium was wonderful. Everthing I want in a bar. The Neighborhood, from the same restaurant group, was also great. Open late, with food, and wonderful. They had a late night steak tartare when I needed it. 

 

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Spent nine rainy-ish days in San Diego. @MichaelBDC and I decided that nine days was way too much to spend with family so we booked a hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter for the first three nights before six very intense family filled days. 

Our first meal was at Civico 1845 with my brother and his lady friend. It was on Eater San Diego list of "essential restaurants" and while the meal was solid, nothing was particularly memorable or outstanding. The following night we went to another one of Eater San Diego "essential" restaurants, Animae which is a pan Asian restaurant from serial restauranteur and Top Chef personality, Brian Malarkey. It was a big bust and we left many dishes unfinished and stopped ordering food even though we were only moderately full and could have eaten more. I do not recommend. The best meal we had in downtown San Diego was at Callie, a Mediterranean restaurant and winner of a Michelin bib gourmand. Our meal was outstanding, especially the uni and Iberico ham toast and the lemon and saffron rigatoni w/confit bluefin tuna and bottarga bread crumbs. We would definitely go back. We also checked out J & Tony's given @Mark Dedrick's recommendation and the proximity to our hotel. It was a totally fun vibe with great drinks. Perfect for a sibling reunion. Remember to say hi to Ronald. 

In between family meals (including an early birthday party for yours truly with such amazing Vietnamese food I know people on this here board would enjoy), we did A LOT of fish tacos. Sadly, Oscar's was not as amazing as the last time we visited. Maybe it is due to the pandemic, but the piece of fish was paltry and dry and the taco was mostly cabbage and other filler. The salsas were still great though. Fortunately, PB Fish Shop had great grilled tacos with some very fresh fish. Finally, we hit up the Brigantine in La Mesa for old times sake. My brother, cousins, and some "hip" aunts and uncles used to hit up happy hour here back in the day. For $2.50, the fish tacos were amazing. At $14 for two...no thank you. Both the battered fish taco and the sonoran marlin were tasty and it was good to revisit an old haunt. They have locations all over San Diego and it's a solid option, but don't go out of your way. 

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Missed one great place in the Gaslamp that was so good I came back to write about it. Karina's, a must if you love ceviche and Mexican seafood. Karina's is a local chain that started in the South Bay but has expanded across San Diego. @MichaelBDC and I had planned to go to either the Chula Vista or Eastlake locations on this visit with my brother but we weren't able to make it. However, we were walking from Little Italy back to our hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter one day thinking about what to eat and I saw that Karina's Cantina was very close to our hotel. It is more cleaned up than the one we had visited before so I was a little nervous the food wasn't as good, but I had nothing to worry about. @MichaelBDChad an order of the pescado ceviche and I had an order of the aguachile de camaron. There was a healthy amount of fish/shrimp in each of our dishes and with the free chips and salsa, we weren't able to finish our plates, which was really a shame because that was some of the best seafood I had in a long time. If you see a Karina's in San Diego, I urge you to go at least for the seafood. I'm still thinking about the aguachiles. 

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@Mark Dedrick @eatruneat thanks for the recommendations. I'm heading to SD at the end of the month and will do some more research on Callie, Fort Oak, Herb & Wood, and Karina's (Karina's Cantina in Gaslamp, right?).

Any good coffee places? I've only seen Portal Coffee and  Dark Horse Coffee Roasters mentioned.

Also looking for other things to do besides a Padres game and the Zoo. We'll be there 4 days.

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On 5/15/2022 at 9:16 PM, hapatite said:

@Mark Dedrick @eatruneat thanks for the recommendations. I'm heading to SD at the end of the month and will do some more research on Callie, Fort Oak, Herb & Wood, and Karina's (Karina's Cantina in Gaslamp, right?).

Any good coffee places? I've only seen Portal Coffee and  Dark Horse Coffee Roasters mentioned.

Also looking for other things to do besides a Padres game and the Zoo. We'll be there 4 days.

I was referring to Karina's in the Gaslamp, but the ones in Chula Vista and Eastlake are great if you are in the area.

Bird Rock Coffee is a local chain that is pretty good. Not sure if it's worth seeking out but a good option if you are in the neighborhood. 

As for other activities, spend a day on the beach if you just want to relax. La Jolla Shores and Pacific Beach are to good options. If you have kids, Legoland. Balboa Park is worth exploring post Zoo if you aren't too tired but also worth a trip on its own as well. 

Have fun!

 

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We spent a few days in San Diego around our Valle de Guadalupe trip.

Fort Oak – We returned here because we loved it last year, and were also really trying to pick quieter spots as my dad has trouble in loud restaurants. It did not disappoint.

Civico 1845 – Very good Italian restaurant in Little Italy. We were seated outdoors, and the food was wonderful.

The Neighborhood – Another return venture for us, we love this spot. We had drinks at J & Tony’s beforehand while waiting for our table, and then great steak frites here.

Petco Park – We ended up eating dinner at the ballpark one night (we went to two games). Petco has probably the best food and beer situation of any ballpark I’ve been to. The smoked brisket poutine at Grand Ole BBQ is outstanding.

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Spent another 10 sunny days in San Diego for Christmas with the family. Like previous years, @MichaelBDC and I stayed in the Gaslamp District for a few days before family festivities. A run down of some of our dining adventures. 

On 7/5/2022 at 5:48 PM, Mark Dedrick said:

Civico 1845 – Very good Italian restaurant in Little Italy. We were seated outdoors, and the food was wonderful.

The Neighborhood – Another return venture for us, we love this spot. We had drinks at J & Tony’s beforehand while waiting for our table, and then great steak frites here.

We owe a great debt to @Mark Dedrick for recommending The Neighborhood, our favorite spot during our stay in the Gaslamp. We were starving after a five hour flight from Dulles to San Diego and headed straight to The Neighborhood after checking into our hotel room. Ordered the pierogies and the sausage platter exactly what our tummies wanted. Drinks were very well made too. I have never had a rickey I liked until the ones I got here. Highly recommend. 

Looking for a light dinner after the aforementioned pierogies and sausage platter, we wandered over to Taka Sushi and sat at the counter. We ordered some nigiri a la carte, all of which were very good. A little over priced (but what isn't these days), wish there was better variety, and there was quite a bit of upselling by the sushi chefs (they sold me on the live shrimp but we passed on the others), but overall we were pleased with our meal. 

One day we wandered over to Little Italy and spent a few good hours at Vino Carta, a wine bar and retail shop. Wish we had something like this in DC. I would describe this as Maxwell Park, if Maxwell Park also had a retail shop. After our wines, we headed to Crack Shack for some fried chicken. The only thing we ordered were the chicken oysters and they were as good as we remembered them! Finally, stopped by Civico 1845 for a solid pasta dinner. 

Our one big miss this trip was Karina's Cantina in the Gaslamp. I can't be 100 % sure, but I am pretty positive I got food poisoning after eating the agua chiles here one day. That resulted in us having to cancel our reservations at Callie, a meal we were really looking forward to. 

A few other highlights from our trip was some delicious Bun Bo Hue (and some banh nam, banh beo, and banh bot lot) at Hoai Hue in City Heights, a go to for our family. If you have a car and don't mind crappy parking lots, I highly recommend. Another great area for Asian food is on and around Convoy Street  in Claremont Mesa/Kearney Mesa area. Pho Duyen Mai has a solid bowl of pho (we did not make it to Pho Hoa this time) and I enjoyed the best Chinese food in a while at Eastern Dynasty two miles down the road. 

Finally, FWIW, my family reports that Jasmine is not as good these days resulting in no dim sum this trip. A bummer to be sure. 

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