The list: work in progress
My favorite places in San Diego are below, neatly divided into four groups. Establishments in the higher groups are my personal favorites. This list is a work in progress-- I'll link these restaurants to their reviews as I write them.
Bronx Pizza......The best pizza in California.
Café 222......Great low-key downtown breakfast.
Café Chloe....Chic and cozy French bistro. Wear brown.
DZ Akins......Good Jewish food in San Diego? Yes.
El Agave......My favorite upscale Mexican restaurant.
Ichiban......Japanese noodle house. Mmm... udon.
Just Fabulous......The best dessert shop in San Diego.
La Posta......Everyone likes a good 24-hour burrito stand.
Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria......The best deep dish and dogs in town.
Mama Testa......Most original Mexican restaurant in the city.
Niederfrank's......Old fashioned ice cream.
Peet's Coffee......I know it's not local. It's still the best coffee in town.
Saigon......Tasty Vietnamese fare.
Sushi Deli......Great downtown sushi. Funky local flavor.
San Diego Chicken Pie Shop......Campy comfort food.
The Field......The best pub in the county.
The Turf Club......A hipster grill-yer-own-meat bar and grill.
Amarin Thai
Apertivo.....Italian tapas in North Park.
Bread & Cie......Remarkable breads and pastries. Try the breakfast plate.
Brickyard Coffee & Tea......The city's coziest coffee shop.
Café on Park
Hash House
Pete's Meats......Three men with mustaches, one grill, six items on the menu. Eat up.
Pokez
Princess Pub
Region......Upscale dining featuring the freshest locally-produced ingredients.
Ruth's Chris
St. Tropez
Station Sushi
The Mission......Mmmm, breakfast.
The Prado
Vincenzo's......The best Italian food in Little Italy.
Wine Steals.......Unpretentious, comfortable Hillcrest wine bar.
Beach Bar (W Hotel)
Café Italia
Capriotti's
Chive
City Wok
Kitima Thai
Phil's BBQ
Pipes
Sevilla
Sipz
The Fish Market
The Waterfront......A landmark neighborhood watering hole. Loyal following.
Arrivaderci
Big Kitchen
Café Cerise
Chilangos
Crest Café
Extraordinary Desserts......Extravagance, thy name is dessert.
Hodad's
North Park Deli
Nunu's
Pizza Port
Point Loma Seafoods
Voyage
Bronx Pizza......The best pizza in California.
Café 222......Great low-key downtown breakfast.
Café Chloe....Chic and cozy French bistro. Wear brown.
DZ Akins......Good Jewish food in San Diego? Yes.
El Agave......My favorite upscale Mexican restaurant.
Ichiban......Japanese noodle house. Mmm... udon.
Just Fabulous......The best dessert shop in San Diego.
La Posta......Everyone likes a good 24-hour burrito stand.
Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria......The best deep dish and dogs in town.
Mama Testa......Most original Mexican restaurant in the city.
Niederfrank's......Old fashioned ice cream.
Peet's Coffee......I know it's not local. It's still the best coffee in town.
Saigon......Tasty Vietnamese fare.
Sushi Deli......Great downtown sushi. Funky local flavor.
San Diego Chicken Pie Shop......Campy comfort food.
The Field......The best pub in the county.
The Turf Club......A hipster grill-yer-own-meat bar and grill.
Amarin Thai
Apertivo.....Italian tapas in North Park.
Bread & Cie......Remarkable breads and pastries. Try the breakfast plate.
Brickyard Coffee & Tea......The city's coziest coffee shop.
Café on Park
Hash House
Pete's Meats......Three men with mustaches, one grill, six items on the menu. Eat up.
Pokez
Princess Pub
Region......Upscale dining featuring the freshest locally-produced ingredients.
Ruth's Chris
St. Tropez
Station Sushi
The Mission......Mmmm, breakfast.
The Prado
Vincenzo's......The best Italian food in Little Italy.
Wine Steals.......Unpretentious, comfortable Hillcrest wine bar.
Beach Bar (W Hotel)
Café Italia
Capriotti's
Chive
City Wok
Kitima Thai
Phil's BBQ
Pipes
Sevilla
Sipz
The Fish Market
The Waterfront......A landmark neighborhood watering hole. Loyal following.
Arrivaderci
Big Kitchen
Café Cerise
Chilangos
Crest Café
Extraordinary Desserts......Extravagance, thy name is dessert.
Hodad's
North Park Deli
Nunu's
Pizza Port
Point Loma Seafoods
Voyage
posted by Doug Gates at 12:49 AM
27 Comments:
Where's the place that you, Laura, Julie and I ate at? Yeah, it was a dive mexican place in a sketchy part of town. But, the food was yummy.
Only someone who lives in the suburbs would call the East Village "sketchy". Oh what a sheltered existence you lead, country mouse.
Pokez. They're listed in my second group.
Their website:
http://www.pokezsd.com/
Their menu:
http://tinyurl.com/8jpmm
A review:
http://tinyurl.com/bl2jb
"chef taka" in La Mesa. Great specails and great food!! www.cheftaka.com
best sushi in east county. that's for sure.
does anyone know if that is related to "Taka" in down town?
Taka-san moved his staff and kitchen to La Mesa in 2003!
I'd recommend Apertivo, a wine bar and Italian tapas/small plates place in North Park. My wife and I ate dinner there recently for about $20 total (no wine, unfortunately), and had plenty of nice dishes. The service and decor were very nice too.
I must also challenge your nomination of Peet's for coffee. Have you tried Caffe Calabria (North Park) or Urban Grind (Hillcrest)?
Joseph-- Thanks for the recommendations! I haven't been to Apertiva, Caffe Calabria or Urban Grind. Yet.
You should look at the coffee that you coziest coffee bar in San Diego Serves and then explain to me why you think Peet's has the best coffee in town.
I'm always on the lookout for good coffee, Anonymous. I don't know which place you're recommending, though. Tell me and I'll go.
In my opinion, Peet's coffee is great because it is deep and flavorful, and they serve it very strong. To my taste, many other coffees taste watered down.
I have been to Apertiva and Calabria and just about every little "local" place. Whenever I go to a *new* place I order somthing basic...like a cup of coffee.... and at Calabria esp, it was *old* coffee, not fresh. Peets and *$ have some standards for a plain old cup of coffee....afterit has been in the pot for one hour, it is dumped and a fresh pot is made.
I also have similar 'tests' for food places- I order a quesedilla or bean and cheese burrito at a "new" to me Mexican place, veggie stir fry/Buddah plate at Chinese, tempura basics at Japanese, etc.....basic foods...if they cannot do that right, I have not spent too much money and had something 'exotic' that tasted bad.
Peets does make a good, fresh cup of coffee. Calabria does not. Daily Grind did not. Apertiva did not.
fini
Great idea for a blog! As a native San Diegan now living in NORCAL, here's my "must haves" when I visit SD a few times a year:
- Point Loma Sea Foods (right off the plane!) - Squid Sandwich...yuuuum!
- Alberto's (all over town) - Best carnitas and carne asada burritos on the planet!
- Cass Street Bar and Grill (PB) - Best Chinese Chicken Salad extant!
- Brigantine (Pt. Loma, La Mesa) - Fish tacos!
- Bustamante's (PB) - Lobster fritanga /refried beans breakfast!
Porkyland (Barrio Logan and Torrey Pines) - Carnitas!
Carnitas Uropan - Lemon Grove - What else? Carnitas!
Su Casa - (Baja La Jolla) -Dean's Prawns on the oyster bar menu!
Tip Top Meats - Carlsbad - The Big John breakfast and pretty much anything else!
Charcoal House - La Mesa - Steak and twice baked potatoes!
Bully's - Del Mar, SD. - Prime rib to die for!
Saska's - Mission Beach - Late night steak!
Taco Surf - PB - Mexican fast food!
Chuy's - Barrio Logan - Mexican food par excellence!
And of course, Puerto Nuevo lobster down the road in Baja. Margarita pitchers, bowls of refried beans and bugs....as many as you want to eat! Unbelievably delicious!
Hope this whets your appetites! Go Chargers and Padres!
Oooh. Lots of great places on your list. You'd probably like Mama's Deli (on Alabama, 1/2 block south of El Cajon Blvd, around the corner from Livewire; fantastic Lebanese food) and Barnes BBQ in Lemon Grove.
And a bit of trivia for you: Jason Seibert, chef and owner of Cafe Cerise went to Poway High.
I need some good Chinese food recs. The chinese food I have had in San Diego has been generally terrible. Any picks?
Here are my Chinese food recommendations. Maybe someday I'll get these written up on this blog.
Dumpling Inn, 4619 Convoy St., Kearny Mesa, 858-268-9638 (Hole in the wall, outstanding food)
Spicy city, 4690 Convoy St., Kearny Mesa, 858-278-1818 (strip mall, outstanding food)
Jasmine Seafood Restaurant, 4609 Convoy St., 858-268-0888 (Their dim sum is especially popular. Long waits on Sundays.)
These are the best I've found, and they're all a brief drive from downtown.
I've been running through your list (by accident, not by design), and I have to say that every place that I've tried has been great! Conspicuously absent though: Kazumi Sushi in Hillcrest.
I'd also be interested to hear your opinion on Parallel 33. I went there once and I didn't think it lived up to the hype, but maybe I should try it again? Give up?
Two others: Pomegranate (Georgian food on El Cajon) and Yakitori (Hillcrest, get the Hatsu).
I've been to Parallel 33 exactly once, and I was disappointed. It's an interesting idea (world flavors from places at the same latitude as San Diego), but most of the flavor combinations seemed forced.
I tried to go to Pomegranate a few weeks ago, but I couldn't find it! Is it still in business?
Haven't been to Yakitori in Hillcrest. Will do. :)
Pomegranate. Definitely still in business. We were there last week and had (low alcohol) vodka, which they sell by the inch and comes with a bowl of pickles. It's on the north side of El Cajon between Mississippi and 28th, in the same block of buildings as Dao Son noodle house. Unpublished number is 619.297.4007.
Confirmed. I ate my first dinner at Pomegranate last night. I'm not a Russian/Georgian food expert, but the food was tasty, the service fantastic, and the atmosphere was cozy and chic. I was heartened by the many Russian / Eastern European accents I heard there.
The unpublished number threw me off. Information had no record of them, and I've never heard of a restaurant that didn't want customers to call them. I found them by chance last night as I was driving on El Cajon blvd.
I realize your list will become intolerably long if every visitor adds their 2¢ but I feel I have to suggest at least one because it is so deserving of distinction. Hash House a Go Go. Please let us know if you feel differently.
Jason Seibert also went to Abraxas High. I see Cafe Cerise is Quite low on your list.Id love to hear your oppinion.
Oooh, Hodad's!! There are several of us in the Boston area who believe that Hodad's may be the best place for burgers in the entire country. I am definitely one of them, though I've only been to about 30 states so far. But it'd be tough to beat their mouthwatering burgers!
I must add on the chinese restaurants in SD. Emerald in Kearny Mesa/Convoy is another good place for dimsum. Another one - Jamillah Chinese-Muslim Restaurant has great food too, serving north chinese cuisine. Must order the home-made northern bread that is in the appetiser section - yummy.
I love Mexican food.
PAPAS & TACOS -- 2239 First Ave, 92101 -- Food is EXCELLENT and the prices are even better. Looks like a hole in the wall from the outside but the inside is cool, you absolutely have to try the food there if you enjoy Mexican. This is #1 for me in San Diego. Not super fancy, it's cheap and the food is ridiculous. Cash only, open 9AM-9pm (usually) 619-233-6079
Breakfast -- Perry's Breakfast cafe on Pacific Hwy, 4620 Pacific Highway, 92110 -- American breakfast with a definite Mexican influence. $5,$6,$7 plates and they fill you up like no other. The interior is 70's style like Clairemont, go there. (619) 291-7121
John Simon Ritchie says that it's a sad day indeed that Cafe Cerise was so low. Not only was the food outstanding and the help really great, but on top of that being just outside of the gaslamp most of the cool kids were distracted and you could actually enjoy the outstanding food by the worlds nicest, smiliest chef-
On the several occasions I ate there everything was just right and twice- count 'em TWICE- the chef came out and made smalltalk and asked us how we were doing and how the meal was. That kind of treatment is priceless.
Just sayin'. Sad day indeed. That chef is a quality guy and a prince among men.
I second the Papas and Tacos comment. I was in San Diego for vacation, and I was walking from my hotel up to Balboa Park. I ran into this place and had the best carne asada burrito I had ever had in my life. This is a must in terms of Mexican food.
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