Details: Located at 560 4th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://www.lapuertasd.com/
I came here on a Monday night. Place is was packed. However, once we were seated, we were informed that happy hour would go on all night. That meant drinks, appetizers, and quesadillas were half off ALL NIGHT. HELL YES.
Details: 2266 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site http://www.crack-shack.com/
The Crack Shack is a fried chicken place with a pretty cool outdoor space. I came here for lunch on a Monday.
Details: Located at 135 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://www.sushidelitwo.com/
I’ve written about it before, but there are tiers of sushi. In terms of price, high-end is generally around a hundred dollars or more for omakase (e.g. Masa, Nakizawa), the new middle is now places that offer omakases at around fifty dollars (e.g. Sugarfish), and then there’s the low-end that price around twenty dollars or less. If you want some low end, but still satisfying sushi, Sushi Deli 2 is a great place to go.
I came here at night during a weekend. It was packed. They don’t take reservations here. You have to physically come here and write your name onto a list. Then you wait outside until your name is called. I don’t think they call or text or anything, so you just have to physically wait their until your name is called. Kind of annoying, but there were still a ton of groups waiting with me outside the restaurant… for about an hour.
Like many lower end sushi places, they had “specialty” rolls. It’s stuff with ingredients like fruit, cream cheese, smoke salmon, etc. It’s stuff that traditional, higher end sushi would never put in sushi, but there is a need and desire for this kind of food and Sushi Deli 2 fulfills that desire.
I ordered the Verano Roll (spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, avocado, cilantro, crab surimi, lemon slices, spicy sauce) for around nine dollars. It was okay. It was a little odd that they actually put thin slices of lemon, rind and all, on top of the thing.
I saw a lot of people order the nachos. Maybe that’s good. I wouldn’t know since I didn’t get it.
The environment was fun. It’s a Japanese restaurant, not a bar, but one where you’d feel comfortable drinking as if you were in a bar. The service people were nice.
Overall, an okay place that serves a very specific need. It’s cheap Japanese food with heavy Western influence, to the point where you could argue that the restaurant is more American than Japanese.
Score: 5.8/10
Details: Located at 888 Prospect St, La Jolla, CA 92037. The official site is http://www.bubbassmokehousebbq.com/
So I traveled all the way to San Diego and I got some true, authentic, San Diego… barbecue? I’ll admit, this isn’t the south, but I was still glad to have come to this place for their barbecue.
I ordered the Bubba Combo Platter, which comes with three meat options with a side and cornbread for $16.99. I had the quarter rack pork ribs, single beef rib, and the chopped beef brisket with a side of macaroni and cheese. The ribs were good. They slid off the bone a little to easily which implies they were overcooked. I still enjoyed them. The chopped brisket was really good, really fatty, just the way I like it. The macaroni and cheese and cornbread were all right.
I like the environment they have here. It’s casual and kind of has a no-waiters-but-sort-of-has-waiters system. They don’t wait on you and you don’t have to tip, but they do bring the food and take your trays. I liked it very much and kept things relaxed and casual.
Also worth mentioning is that the barbecue sauce they have is kept WARM. My goodness does that help. A small thing, but one that definitely has a positive effect on taste.
Overall, I loved this place and would easily recommend it.
Score: 6.9/10
Details: Located at 1917 India St, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://barbusa.com/
I came here for dinner. I can’t remember if it was a weekday or the weekend. Whatever day it was, it was packed. Luckily, the host squeezed us in even though we had no reservations. He did ask us to try to eat within an hour… which wasn’t great. We did it anyway.
Most of my group had pasta which was great. I ordered the Carbonara Con Piselli (fettuccini, sweet peas, caramelized onions, pancetta, farm fresh egg yolk) for around sixteen dollars. It was really good and the pasta was really fresh. My only complaint was that the portion was a little small in comparison to similarly priced pasta I’ve ordered in New York City. Additionally, a friend ordered the squid ink pasta and loved it.
One thing worth mentioning is that their pizza is crap. A friend ordered it and when it came, it looked like shit. The friend also described the taste to be similar to shit. Overall, pretty shit pizza. Don’t order it. Get the fresh, somewhat small portioned pasta.
The environment was comfortable and lively. All of our waiters and hosts were nice.
Overall, a good place to get some pasta. A terrible place to order pizza.
Score: 6.4/10
Details: Located at 969 Ninth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://doghaus.com/
Came here for lunch one afternoon. I had the Scott Baioli (smoked bacon, white american cheese, garlic aioli, caramelized onions) with a side of tater tots. It was all right. I like that they used a split top bun versus your average. The tater tots were average.
I think more important than the food was the space. There were benches and televisions everywhere. It’s a comfortable space great for hanging out. The bartender was also really nice.
Overall, I enjoyed the place. It’s a good place to just relax, hang out, and have a few drinks.
Score: 6/10
Details: Located at 1654 India St, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://www.ironsidefishandoyster.com/
I went to San Diego recently so there’s going to a bunch of San Diego related reviews.
When I got here the place was packed. It is lively and comfortable. The interior was nice as was the service people.
I ordered the fish and chips for sixteen dollars. It came with battered and fried fish, french fries, and coleslaw. The fish was good and the fish was very fresh and flaky. The batter was a little soggy however. The fries were fine. The coleslaw really surprised me. There were nuts and I think dried cranberries in it… or perhaps dried grapes. It’s surprising how a little thing like that can add so much to coleslaw. If it isn’t clear, I enjoyed the coleslaw very much. There were also two cups of sauce… I think they were both tartar sauce but I’m not sure.
I’ve had a lot of fish and chips throughout my life. Mostly in New York, not in the United Kingdom. It’s always been pretty disappointing. This place’s fish and chips were not. In fact, this was probably the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. To be clear, this was not a high bar to pass, but the fish and chips were still good.
Worth mentioning is that the kitchen is in the back and in plain view for the customers. Watching the chefs work was informative in that it is a very clean, organized, and professional kitchen. It’s clear after a glance that the people working in that kitchen have likely had formal training at a cooking school or a lot of experience in the industry, especially the guy who was giving the final once-overs on the plates before they were being sent out.
Overall, a fun, lively place with good seafood that I can easily recommend.
Score: 7/10
Details: Located at 3102 Sports Arena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110. The official site is http://www.in-n-out.com/
I’ve finally visited the much vaunted In-N-Out Burger. As an east coaster, I’ve never really had the chance to try In-N-Out.
I ordered the Double-Double (cheeseburger with two beef patties, lettuce, tomato, and mayo) and the animal style fries (“secret” but not so secret fries topped with chopped grilled onions and a thousand island type sauce). The burger was under $4.00 and the fries were under $4.00, too.
When it comes to burgers, Shake Shack is usually the hamburger I use to compare with other burgers and currently my favorite fast casual burger in New York. Compared to Shake Shack, the Shake Shack burger comes out slightly on top. The fries were about as good as Shake Shack.
However, when considering the price, In-N-Out is easily superior to Shake Shack. Everything at Shake Shack costs around five to ten dollars. The fact that In-N-Out can price a fast casual burger and fries at under four dollars a piece is nothing more than miraculous.
Overall, the taste and quality of the burger and fries at Shake Shack and In-N-Out are about the same. When price is considered however, In-N-Out is clearly far better than Shake Shack. It’s a shame then that In-N-Out is a west coast thing and will likely not be coming to the east coast in the future to compete with Shake Shack.
Score: 7.5/10
Muse Bank 