Laura G.
8 Recs
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Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe, Little Italy
04/15/07You’ve been to the French Quarter and stuffed your face full of crawfish and po’ boys while cheap Mardi Gras beads swung from your neck. You’ve happily found yourself amongst the other tourists hungrily awaiting your greasy beignet at Café du Monde. You’ve taste-tested all of the red beans and rice the Bayou has to offer. But now you’re back in San Diego. And you’re craving a little jambalaya and Cajun goodness. What’s a girl to do? Well, head to Little Italy of course!
Bud’s Louisiana Food Shoppe is a small and welcoming eatery on Kettner Blvd, right next door to the famed Waterfront Bar. The interior is cheerful and casual, the food hot and flavorful. The menu is not particularly vast, but the basics are covered – from gumbo to jambalaya, etouffee to fried oysters. If you can’t make up your mind, you can opt for the Cupa-Cupa-Cupa, which allows you to sample the gumbo, jambalaya and red beans & rice. If you can’t stand the heat, the fried catfish is a nice, mild offering. Be sure to supplement your feast with the moist and tasty jalapeno cornbread and Bud’s bread pudding, a creamy egg custard baked with French bread and crowned with white chocolate Frangelico sauce and toasted pecans.
The servings at Bud’s aren’t gargantuan, but are more than adequate for an average eater. (If you don’t find yourself in this camp, might I suggest that you re-rent Supersize Me at the next opportunity?) The prices are reasonable, though not rock-bottom. I’ve found the staff to be incredibly friendly on every visit, but should you prefer your gumbo from the comfort of your couch, they also do a lot of takeout business or, as they like to say, “to geaux”.
Bud’s seems to draw a lot of repeat customers – on my last visit, I met a man who had eaten at Bud’s six times in two weeks. That’s either extreme loyalty or the sign of someone in a serious rut. Either way, I think the man is onto something.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
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Niederfrank's Ice Creams, National City
01/28/07This is San Diego. It’s warm outside. Don’t you want some ice cream?
It seems that independent homemade ice cream shops are few and far between in today’s world of Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no ice cream snob and I certainly have been known to darken the doorstep of many a chain ice cream establishment in my day, but I still hold a particular appreciation for the old fashioned local ice cream parlor. In San Diego, my parlor of choice is Niederfrank’s in National City.
The ice cream at Niederfrank’s is sometimes described as “adult” ice cream because it tends to be a little less sweet and a little more sophisticated in flavor than typical commercial varieties. They never use artificial flavors and everything is made in house, including all of their flavor bases, their golden waffle cones, and even their fruit marbles.
The folks at Niederfrank's proudly claim that they make their product "by the most antique, inefficient, outdated, and expensive process in the world" and you can taste the difference. All of the mainstay flavors are available of course, like Chocolate Chip and Strawberry, but they also offer more creative concoctions, like Avocado, Red Mint Chip, Sweet Cream and Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Mexicano.
As with most ice cream shops, the majority of patrons get their cone to go, but Niederfrank’s does have a couple of tables as well as an impressive assortment of pop culture magazines, so I typically opt to enjoy my ice cream while flipping through the latest People or Entertainment Weekly so as to indulge all my guilty pleasures in one sitting. I can kick back, savor my Macadamia Nut Toffee, and feel sorry for those poor souls who are lactose-intolerant.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
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The Mission, East Village
01/27/07The Mission isn’t exactly a well-kept secret in San Diego. There are already many Mission devotees in the city, and with good reason. The breakfast menu at The Mission is tough to beat, with a mix of decadent pancake options and savory Latino plates, you really can’t go wrong by starting your day at one of their three locations – Mission Beach, North Park and East Village.
I have a few favorite dishes that I have on rotation. First is the crispy yet gooey Mission French Toast made with homemade cinnamon swirl bread and embellished with berry puree and powdered sugar. The second is the Plato Verde con Huevos with eggs over medium, outstanding sweet corn tamales, black beans, and tomatillo salsa. Finally, when I feel like I should behave, they’ve got a healthy option of poached eggs, grilled zucchini, Roma tomatoes and superb grilled rosemary bread.
If you find yourself waiting for a table (which, alas, is likely given The Mission’s popularity), you can bide your time with a beverage from their espresso bar, where you can choose from the obvious standards like lattes and macchiatos, or branch out a bit more with the Mission Mocha Thai or the Vincent Vega – Coca Cola with a shot of espresso and vanilla syrup, served over ice.
In a town full of great breakfast options, The Mission certainly holds its own. If you’re one of the few San Diegans who somehow missed the memo on The Mission, I recommend you add it to your to-do list next weekend.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
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Cafe Chloe, East Village
01/14/07Café Chloe, in the East Village, somehow manages to feel chic and distinctive like an upscale urban bistro, yet comfortable and welcoming like a neighborhood family restaurant. Since opening in late 2004, Chloe has become one of my very favorite places in San Diego.
The menu at Chloe tends toward simplicity, though I’ve found every dish to be impeccable and delicious, whether I've been there for a special occasion dinner or for a casual Sunday brunch. The French classics are well-represented – mussels in broth, chicken vol au vent, and savory custard with bistro salad – but the daily specials can hold their own as well. My favorite dish is probably the macaroni, pancetta and gorgonzola gratin - basically adult mac and cheese, so what's not to like? And, by all means, the frites are a must. Perfectly shoestringed, they arrive in a paper cone with three dipping sauces and are great for sharing (but only if you can stand to give some up). Of course the desserts don’t disappoint either – after all, the place is French.
Café Chloe is the perfect date destination, with a great, eclectic wine list and enough charm to keep the date interesting even if your dining partner turns out to be a dud. The space is inviting and cozy and the wait staff is friendly and unpretentious. It won’t break the bank, but won’t leave your date thinking of you as a cheapskate either. And hey, if you can’t get a date, I’d still recommend Chloe. There’s nothing like a glass of wine and an indulgent cheese plate at the bar to make you relax and enjoy your solitude.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
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Bread & Cie, Hillcrest
01/09/07I grew up in a family with a strong appreciation for home-baked bread and pastries. I once saw my mother get excited over a riverboat gambling billboard advertising “hot rolls” because she mistakenly thought it was a promotion for fresh bread. Needless to say, when Mom comes to town we head to Bread & Cie.
You may have seen the offerings of Bread & Cie at your local grocer or farmer’s market since they distribute locally, but I highly recommend a trip to their Hillcrest bakery to indulge firsthand. Grab a coffee from Peet’s next door and settle in with the Sunday paper and some of the best baked goods San Diego has to offer.
I think the best deal going at Bread & Cie is the breakfast plate, which consists of 3 large servings of their delicious, crusty artisan bread (to call them slices would be a severe understatement), with an assortment of butter, cream cheese and fruit preserves to mix and match. The breads available change daily – some of my personal favorites include Three Raisin, Seedy Sourdough and Country Levain. You also need to try their cinnamon rolls, with their flaky, buttery exterior and their dense and sugary, almost candied, cinnamon core. Mmmm…..
Bread & Cie is typically busy on weekend mornings, but I’ve always been able to find a seat either inside where you can watch the tattooed bakers in action or on the sidewalk patio where you can people watch the Hillcrest crowd to your heart’s content. Either way, you’ll be happy you’ve had your “daily bread”.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here dozens of times.
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San Diego Chicken Pie Shop, North Park
01/08/07The Chicken Pie Shop isn’t the place to go if you’re on a diet (particularly of the lo-carb variety) or if you’re in search of chic surroundings and stylish people, but if you’ve got a hankering for comfort food and are the least bit nostalgic for your school cafeteria, you couldn’t find a better place to fill your stomach.
Before going any further, I must confess that I get the exact same thing every time I go to the Pie Shop – the Chicken Pie Dinner – so I can’t vouch for anything else on the menu. But at $5.25 for pot pie, mashed potatoes, gravy, cole slaw, vegetables, roll, and dessert, why bother with anything else? The pie crust, however, is buttery and flaky, the cole slaw is the best I’ve found in San Diego, and the fruit and cream pies are just like Mom used to make. A word to the wise: skip the veggies and ask for double cole slaw instead. The veggie medley is the one thing that’s perhaps a little too reminiscent of cafeteria days of yore.
It isn’t just the prices and the homey food that make The Chicken Pie Shop such a throwback. The dining room is filled with enough rooster memorabilia to meet all your kitsch needs and enough senior patrons to satisfy your court-mandated community service requirements. All kidding aside, you’ll find the surroundings to be comfortable and welcoming and the servers to be warm and efficient.
And if you just can’t get enough in one visit, The Pie Shop offers frozen pies (both baked and unbaked) to go.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
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Mama Testa Taqueria, Hillcrest
01/08/07You might have thought the last thing San Diego needed was yet another taqueria, but that was before you tasted the El Cazo salsa at Mama Testa.
So let’s start with the salsa bar. Yes, I realize that many local taquerias, particularly the chains, feature salsa bars to keep their patrons occupied while awaiting their entrees. But have you ever tried a tasty combination of tomatillo and parmesan or perhaps chile de arbol and sesame seed?
Mama Testa, a colorful taqueria in Hillcrest, may just be your best Mexican restaurant option north of the border. The food is outstanding, original and authentic. Owner Cesar Gonzales will proudly explain the regional origin of each of his carefully-crafted dishes. One of my personal favorites is the Mojados de Pollo, rolled corn tortillas filled with chicken and floating in a tasty but mild chicken broth, but you certainly can’t go wrong with the simple Yucatecos, corn tortillas filled with marinated pork and served with habanero salsa.
The place is comfortable and bright, with a subtle nod to the art of Mexican wrestling to give the place added character. Mama has recently acquired her beer license too, so you can wash down that chorizo or al pastor with a frosty cerveza.
Oh, and did I mention the salsa bar?
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here dozens of times.
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Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, North Park
01/08/07For most adults, the joy of a good hot dog was abandoned somewhere around the age of twelve, save for the occasional ballpark outing. A few years back, however, I rediscovered the delight of these amalgamated meat products during a visit to Chicago’s Lincoln Park and a small family-run joint that unfortunately has since closed its doors. Piled high with onions, peppers and neon green relish, a true Chicago dog can certainly hold its own as a culinary masterpiece. Since that trip, I have often recounted the merits of the dog and was only too pleased to discover North Park’s nod to Chicago, Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria.
Lefty’s opened a few short years ago and seems to have found a diehard following, as evidenced by the long lines and full tables. It’s a small, casual place with a few indoor tables and a counter, along with an outdoor patio. The walls are adorned with Chicago sports memorabilia, and the air is filled with the smell of caloric indulgence.
Now, while the Chicago dogs were the initial draw for me, I would be remiss not to acknowledge the outstanding deep dish pizza that is really the focus of the menu. The pizza is as good as any I’ve found in Chicago and certainly the best deep-dish offering in San Diego County. My personal favorite is sausage with roasted red peppers – trust me on this one. Of course you can wash it down with your choice of a few domestic brews on tap.
You have to mentally prepare yourself for the 45-60 minute wait (or wisely call ahead) for your pie, but you’ll find it's well worth the wait. If you’re flying solo or feel impatient, you can buy a couple slices instead. Or just go with a hot dog. Or both. You won’t be sorry.
I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
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