User Profile - SanDiego Eats It

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10 Eats.It Staff Recs

Pizzeria Luigi, Golden Hill
08/30/07
Pizzeria Luigi is home to the best New York style pizza in San Diego. Lookout Bronx!

What is it about hot dogs and pizza that gets Chicagoans and New Yorkers so riled up? Hand a New Yorker a Chicago style hot dog loaded with every condiment under the sun, and you'll certainly get a nasty look, and possibly even some nasty words to go along with it. Hand a Chicagoan a huge, thin slice of New York style pizza and they'll wonder where the sauce and the dough are. Both cities definitely have made their mark on these two American(ized) classic foods, and I have to say, I'm on Chicago's side for the hot dog and New York's side for the pizza. I've yet to find a satisfactory Chicago dog in America's finest city, but my quest for the quintessential New York Slice is over: I've found Pizzeria Luigi.

Lesser known than Bronx Pizza, the other New York pizza hotspot in town, Pizzeria Luigi is actually owned and operated by a former Bronx cook. At Pizzeria Luigi, you get the classic New York pizza that you'd get at Hillcrest's Bronx (possibly even better, if you ask me), but with the added bonus of delivery and ample parking. The Golden Hill location across from Krakatoa and the Turf Club is convenient to all of San Diego's main freeways, and the cheap rent keeps the price right. Big slices go for $2.25 for plain or $2.50 for those with toppings, and all tax is included. It's nice to be able to hand over a fiver, drop a buck in the tip jar, and walk away with two slices of tasty pizza. If you want a soda to wash that down with, Pizzeria Luigi has a meal deal for two slices and a soda for just $5.50.

And oh boy do I mean it when I say it's tasty. It's absolutely perfect: thin crust, quality ingredients, exactly the right amount of sauce and cheese, large and foldable, but still crisp. Bite into a slice and first you get the crunch of the crust, then a little bit of doughiness, and then the flavor of the toppings. Even the reheated slices are great. They have a large selection of various pizzas ready-made. Choose your favorite from spinach and ricotta, sun dried tomato, ham and pineapple, pepperoni, and more, and they'll run it under the broiler while you pay. Even better, pick up a whole pie, made to order for thirteen bucks, and sit out on the side deck with a beer while you wait. My favorite topping combination is spinach and ricotta, with a few shakes of red pepper flakes once it's on the table. Whoever had the idea of putting ricotta cheese on a pizza gets a gold star from me. Just a little creamy and a little gooey, ricotta perfectly complements the salty, stringy mozzarella.

Pizzeria Luigi is a casual place. Just your typical storefront with some tables and chairs and a counter dividing the dining room from the open kitchen. Nothing special from a decor point of view. The staff is just what you'd expect to see in Golden Hill: young people with tattoos and shaggy hair. The patrons are not much different, though there you see more of the Hispanic families that share Golden Hill with the hipsters.

In addition to the perfect pizza, Luigi's offers panini, calzones, stromboli, and recently they've started serving up pasta dishes, though to be honest I haven't gotten around to trying those yet. I just can't make myself go in there and not get pizza! That's amore.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here once or twice.
Ashoka the Great, Miramar
08/24/07
Looking for some rich and tasty Indian food, but not too concerned about style? Ashoka the Great is the place for you.

San Diego's Little India is a bit of an oddity. Situated in a strip mall amid mattress discounters, building suppliers, and car mechanics across from the base out on Miramar Road, our Little India doesn't win many points for charm. But who needs charm when you've got chicken vindalu and nan?

Ashoka the Great is one of several Indian restaurants in Little India. What it lacks in charm it certainly makes up for in flavor. The winner of several reader's choice awards from San Diego Magazine, Ashoka serves a typical Indian menu of chicken, lamb, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. For religious reasons, neither pork or beef are served. The style of food is best enjoyed by sharing a variety of dishes among friends at the table, so that the full spectrum of complex spices can be enjoyed.

One of my favorite dishes on the menu is the alu gobi masala, a delicious concoction of cauliflower and potatoes and spices. Other best bets are the lamb korma, an incredibly rich and creamy lamb stew, and the dal makhani, a thick lentil stew with ginger and spices. All of the dishes can be ordered medium, spicy, or very spicy, but since Ashoka is relatively westernized, even the spicy level isn't that likely to leave you sweating. If it does, order a mango lassi to cool off. The thick, creamy yogurt and mango drink is the perfect antidote to a mouth set on fire by chilies.

The decor at Ashoka is simple and clean: crisp white tablecloths cover tables surrounded by black metal chairs in one large dining room. The service is attentive, courteous, and swift. Once you've placed your order and handed over your menu, a server arrives with the Indian equivalent of chips and salsa: papadums and chutneys. The tamarind and coriander chutneys and pickled carrots are complimentary, but you'll have to pay extra if you want mango chutney or raita. While the individual dishes are moderately priced, you'll also have to pay extra for rice and nan (an Indian flatbread baked in the tandoor oven), but both are worth it. I can't imagine a saucy Indian curry without a large mound of white rice, and the nan is perfect for wiping the last bits of tasty sauce from your plate.

The bread selection at Ashoka is extensive. In addition to the usual plain nan, they also make lamb, garlic, and spinach nan, and even a sweet dried fruit version, all of which are interesting variations if you're looking for a little change of pace. Also available are poori, paratha, and bhatura. Try them all to find your favorite.

In addition to the regular menu, Ashoka serves a lunch buffet seven days a week and a dinner buffet on Mondays and Tuesdays. Though you won't get to choose your dishes, the selection for both all-you-can-eat buffets is quite large, so you're sure to find several that you like. At $8.95, the lunch buffet is the perfect solution for the starving college student. After two trips to the buffet, you're sure not to need dinner!

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
Pannikin Cafe, Leucadia
08/17/07
This independent coffee shop in Leucadia mixes old-time country with charming hospitality.

I just adore Pannikin. Delicious handmade pastries, coffee roasted in-house, and the cutest building on the 101 . . . how can I not love it? It's the kind of place where the staff remembers your order when you're a regular. The kind of place where you go with your family or friends to catch up over a delicious latte and a slice of pie. The kind of place where you can slow down from today's hectic world and unwind in the atmosphere of simpler times. Pull up a chair and sit a while.

Pannikin Leucadia is housed in the historic Santa Fe train depot, albeit at a different location from where the station originally stood. Sometime in the seventies, the building was moved to the west side of Highway 101 from its original location where the Lumberyard now stands. Sunny yellow on the outside and spacious and rustic on the inside, it is the perfect shell for a homey coffee house. Inside, honest country music gently wafts through the rooms, which are decorated with antique metal signs and local art-for-purchase. Antique farm equipment and musical instruments dangle from the high ceilings.

The top floor of the split-level construction houses the dining room, with large sliding doors flung back for access to the wraparound balcony. Outside on the ground level there is more outdoor seating, and the two ground level rooms inside the station house the ordering counter and a shop selling mugs, kettles, and coffee by the pound. A coffee roaster and bathrooms take up the space on the bottom floor.

One of the major draws of Pannikin is the fantastic pastries. They've got homemade pies and cakes and cookies and scones and granola bars. Plus some incredible biscotti that are, I swear, the size of baseball bats. Walking in to order a simple cup of coffee is a dangerous business if you're on a diet. You'll be leaning over a wood and glass case just bursting with home-baked goodies. What's worse is that the case has a clear glass top, and if you're anything like me, you'll be powerless to turn down the friendly smile of the frisbee-sized cookies lurking just below the glass. Try not to look at the cake stands with chai tea cake and carrot cake sitting on top. Your waistline will thank you (though if you succumb to their swan song, your tongue will certainly be thrilled).

Pannikin also serves a limited lunch menu of bagel plates, sandwiches, salads, a soup of the day, and some egg dishes. All except the egg dishes are quite good, if a tad expensive. The savory-sweet curried chicken salad is my favorite; it can be had as a sandwich or served over a mixed vegetable salad with a tangy yogurt dressing and bread on the side.

Though you might not guess it, Pannikin is a local chain. There are sister coffee houses in Del Mar and La Jolla in addition to this one in Leucadia, though the Leucadia location is the grandest. It's the largest and its kitchens churn out baked goods for the other locations. The coffee beans for all the locations are also roasted here.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here dozens of times.
Swami's Cafe, Encinitas
08/09/07
Across from the Self-Realization Fellowship in Encinitas, Swami's Cafe serves up natural, fresh fare to beachgoers.

Swami's Cafe is a small, relaxed eatery serving California fresh cuisine in Encinitas. If you want a major caloric recharge, head south to Pipe's in Cardiff, but if you're looking for a healthy, delicious meal to finish off your Saturday morning walk on the beach, Swami's is just the place. My mom saw Travis from Blink 182 in line here once, which should give you some idea of the crowd at Swami's. (Imagine how proud she was that she recognized him!) You'll find yourself sitting in the open ocean air -- though out of sight of the water -- amongst the Encinitas standard mix of young people in beach clothes and modern California families, kids included.

Though Swami's Cafe is located directly on Highway 101, the dining patio is surrounded with potted plants and is relatively peaceful, except perhaps when a posse of bikers roars by on their Harleys. The restaurant itself is inside a small, vintage house. You order at the counter and grab a table to wait for your food. When you hear a waitress shouting your name, just wave and say "Over here!" Try to keep your tongue inside your mouth and your drool to a minimum when plates of gorgeous, healthy food are plopped down on the table next to you. All the food is made fresh to order, so be prepared to drool for a few minutes. As the menu claims, this ain't fast food.

The menu offers a wide range of brunch and lunch items ranging from healthy burritos and huevos rancheros to tofu dishes and standard California sandwiches. Smoothies and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices are available to wash it all down with. My usual order is the banana walnut buttermilk pancakes and a large glass of their delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. If you're looking for something healthier than pancakes, the acai plate is sure to fit the bill. Imagine granola with a berry smoothie poured over it and then loaded with plenty of fresh fruit, and you've got a pretty good idea of what to expect. It's the breakfast of choice for the bikini-clad beach babes accompanying tanned surfer boyfriends (who usually go for something more along the lines of a breakfast burrito). Swami's also has a kids menu, so feel free to bring junior along.

The smoothie and fresh juice menu is a great advantage that Swami's has over many other surfer-breakfast places that dot the San Diego coastal towns. The smoothies range from healthy pure-fruit concoctions to, well, somewhat less healthy ice cream smoothies which bear a closer resemblance to milkshakes (a peanut butter coffee ice cream "smoothie"?) A few summers ago in Rio de Janeiro, I fell in love with fresh watermelon juice, so I was absolutely thrilled to find a place serving this nectar of the gods here in San Diego. Swami's also offers vitamin-charged veggie juice blends such as carrot and spinach or carrot and beet, if you're in the mood for some liquid salad.

When you've finished enjoying your meal, head across the street to the Self Realization Fellowship and take a digestive stroll through the meticulously maintained gardens. Watch the surfers from the cliff's edge, and try to guess how many of them will fuel up at Swami's after their morning session.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
Q'ero, Encinitas
08/03/07
Q'ero dishes up a taste of the Andes with a deep passion for good food and quality ingredients.

The menu reads "Q'ero is a Quechua word for the name of a ceremonial drinking vessel from the Andes. It is also the name of an indigenous people said to be the keepers of ancient knowledge." Originally opened and operated as a bakery by a brother-and-sister team, over the last few years Q'ero has evolved into a wonderfully unique eatery. The recent name change from Amici to Q'ero marks owner Monica Szepesy's vision of the restaurant and its artisan food as a part of the community, bringing people together with warmth and passion for good food.

Located in downtown Encinitas, Q'ero is a postage stamp of a restaurant. The small dining room is pushed to squeeze in about ten tables, though there is also a bit of seating outside on the sidewalk. Latin art crowds the bright orange walls and Peruvian textiles drape over the tables, set with rich blue water glasses and cute vases of fresh flowers. The service is slow, but the staff are very knowledgeable and passionate about the food. It's an incredibly cozy atmosphere, perfect for a romantic dinner with someone you want to impress.

And impress is what they do at Q'ero. The food is absolutely outstanding (though the prices are set to match). The menu consists of dishes from across Latin America, with a focus on Peru. Q'ero operates in keeping with the Slow Food movement, so it's not the place to stop in for a quick bite. Each dish is handmade to order with top quality ingredients and spices, giving you plenty of time to relax and enjoy the cozy dining room. In my many, many visits to Q'ero, I've never had a bite of food that wasn't completely worth the wait.

My favorite way to enjoy the food is to order several appetizers for the table to share. Definitely not to be missed are the ceviche and the calamari. The ceviche is tender and fresh, flavored with lemon and aji amarillo and served with tostones (flattened and fried plantains) on the side. The calamari is different than any other I've had---delicate chunks of calamari are deep fried and then tossed with an impossibly tasty sauce with chile de arbol, mushrooms, and spices.

Also delicious are the saltenas, empanadas filled with a richly spiced stuffing of chicken or beef studded with peas and raisins. These and the vegetarian empanadas are served with a spicy aji sauce that is so good, they've started selling it by the jar.

Q'ero serves a vast variety of meat entrees. Lamb, short ribs, skirt steak, Kobe beef are all on the regular menu, and I've had specials from veal to venison. Wash down the intriguingly spiced food with wine or try the chicha morada, a Peruvian drink made of purple corn and spiced with cloves and cinnamon.

Q'ero is also open for lunch, which is a great time to check out the restaurant with less of a dent to the wallet. It's calmer then and you don't need a reservation to secure a table. Most of the dinner appetizers are available at lunch, as are smaller portions of many entrees and appetizer-salad combos called "lunch boxes."

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
Starlite, Mission Hills
07/27/07
A hip netherworld wedged in between freeway and auto repair shops, Starlite serves up inspired cocktails and handmade cuisine.

Chances are you won't just wander past this place and decide to take a look inside, since it's located on that charming bit of India Street between Laurel and Sassafrass that you only pass if you're driving from the airport to the northbound I-5. But perhaps, if chance smiles on you, someone will whisper the address in your ear, or you'll overhear some hipsters at Krakatoa talking about it, and you'll find your way there.

You're lucky. Someone told you about this place. On your first visit, you manage to drive straight past it, making it all the way to Washington Street before realizing your error. You decide to park there and walk back up one-way India Street hunting it down. After a bit of a slog past closed carpet installation offices and car mechanic shops, you pass the Aero club. You feel you're getting close. Up ahead you see a man with a bowler hat and handlebar moustache guarding a shiny glass hexagonal door set into taupe concrete block. This must be it. He checks your ID and opens the door. There is a hexagonal wooden tunnel, and when you emerge, you're in a cavernous lounge. People with cooler haircuts and more tattoos than you grace the bar, sipping exotic cocktails in copper mugs and martini glasses. Staghorn ferns dangle gracefully from high on the stone walls. A giant retro-modern chandelier sparkles over the bar. Is this Hollywood in the 20s or Manhattan in the 60s? Perhaps a bit of both. A beautiful hostess breaks your trance by offering you a table. You have arrived at the hippest spot in town: Starlite.

You have three choices for seating: cozy 60s lounge leather booths, the white U-shaped bar, or outside, though I'm not sure why you'd want to sit outside after walking into a place like this. Sitting at the bar has the advantage of chatting with Kate Wentz, the bar manager who designed the cocktail menu and selected the fine array of alcoholic bevvies. You'll know her, she's the cute one with the black and platinum hair and gorgeous smile. Her carefully crafted cocktails, made with freshly squeezed citrus juices and housemade syrups, are a main attraction at Starlite. Try the Galapagos, a sweet and spicy concoction of Pisco, cherry brandy, black pepper syrup, fresh lime, and kaffir leaves, garnished with brandied cherries and served up. The popular Starlite Mule is also a great choice: vodka, ginger beer, ginger syrup and bitters; served in a copper mug, it tastes deceptively non-alcoholic. If you're looking to get the most bang for your buck, order the Starlite Julep, a hefty pour of bourbon, lightened with fresh mint and sweetened with a touch of ginger syrup. Just plan on having a friend drive you home. All the specialty cocktails are just $8, quite a bargain considering the quality of the crafts(wo)manship.

If you fancy more than just a cocktail, have a look at Chef Travis Murphy's concise, ever-changing menu. The style of the food is akin to that of the Linkery: handmade, carefully selected, and honest. You'll find no squirts of sauce from squeeze-bottles or intimidatingly tall food here, just thoughtful seasonal dishes served fresh. Best bets are the burger and the steak -- these menu staples are both made with Brandt beef. The burger is as juicy as they come, topped with gruyere and perfectly caramelized onions. It's served with a nice heap of fries, which you can also get as an appetizer. Other nibbles to be tried are the housemade sausage plate, with its cute olive loaf and housemade "hot dog," and the frito misto, a mixed fry of calamari and veggies. The cheese plate selections change regularly, but expect something along the lines of Humbolt Fog or Cowgirl Creamery's Red Hawk. Finish off your supper with a slice of the tasty semolina-olive oil cake with whipped creme fraiche and stewed apricots, or follow the crowd and get one of the soon-to-be-famous housemade ice cream sandwiches.

Owned by Tim Mays (the Casbah, Turf Supper Club, and Krakatoa), filmmaker Matt Hoyt, and musician Steve Poltz, Starlite has been open for just over a month. The swank interior was designed and built by local design team Bells & Whistles. Starlite has been relying on word-of-mouth advertising, so don't expect a crowd . . . yet.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here three to five times.
Chow Noodle House, Hillcrest
07/20/07
In place of a Thai institution comes a pan-Asian noodle house with exotic dishes to fit your taste and your budget.

First came the sadness, then the worry. My favorite Thai restaurant, Celadon, was relocating! I thought that the relocation and associated price increase surely spelled death for my weekly drunken noodles fix, but boy was I wrong. I'm happy to report that Chow Noodle House, which has been opened in Celadon's old location in the heart of Hillcrest, can still provide me with my drunken noodles. Even better, I can get them at a price even cheaper than they were at the old Celadon! Just eight little bones. Granted, the portion is possibly just a hair smaller, but the noodles are just as aromatic and delicious. Wide, fat noodles are served with assorted veggies and your choice of protein in a spicy-salty-sweet sauce that is the epitome of Thai cooking. I could eat them all day long.

Chow Noodle House is the latest addition to the ever-expanding Celadon Restaurant Group, whose lineup already includes downtown's Rama and the recently relocated Celadon. Chow serves pan-Asian noodle and rice dishes in a casual and hip environment. The restaurant is decorated simply, but elegantly, with taupe walls displaying rotating art-for-purchase and a long, white, lit-up bar leading you from the entry to the dining room. The crowd appears to be similar to that of its predecessor, a mixed bag of Hillcrest hipsters and assorted twenty-somethings on dates.

Favorite Thai curries from Celadon are still on the menu, as are lad nar and the aforementioned drunken noodles, but the menu has been expanded to include new Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese options. You can have lo mein, fresh spring rolls, a Thai curry, and udon soup all sitting on the same table. They've even hired a chef for each cuisine.

The menu is divided into appetizers, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and soupy/brothy noodle dishes. My favorite new dish is the Vietnamese 360 beef. The steak is marinated in a secret marinade, and then quickly cooked and finished with lime, salt and pepper. Its incredibly interesting flavor is bound to inspire cravings akin to the ones I have for those luscious drunken noodles.

Other best bets are the extraordinarily aromatic green curry and the chow fun noodles, with their wide, tender noodles in a spicy Szechwan pepper sauce. Also good is the Thai coconut vermicelli soup, a fragrant curry loaded with thin rice noodles. Start off with an order of the delightful fresh spring rolls with two dipping sauces, and you'll be eating your salad with your hands. Who can resist? For dessert, take your choice of green tea, mango, or coconut ice cream for just three bucks.

Chow now offers an extensive alcoholic drinks menu, including wine, sake, and some pretty exotic sake cocktails (mostly interesting "martinis" made by replacing the gin or vodka with sake). And there's even more good news. Chow is open from 11am right on through until dinner, closing at 11pm. Now you can stop by and load up a pan-Asian plate anytime your heart desires, which, if you're anything like me, is at least weekly. Did I mention the drunken noodles?!

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
El Callejon, Encinitas
07/13/07
With a staggering selection of tequilas and traditional Mexican dishes, El Callejon has a loyal following of locals.

El Callejon means "side street" or "alleyway" in Spanish, and the arrangement of the restaurant reflects its name in style, if not in size. On two large gas-heated patios and one semi-enclosed dining space, colorful wooden chairs surround blue tables topped with fiesta-colored plates. The only part of the restaurant that is fully enclosed is the bar, where you can perch on stools at the bar or at small tables and choose your poison from over a hundred different types of tequila. With a selection that big, you're sure to find one to fit your taste and budget. If straight tequila shots (or "sipping," if you want to pretend to be mature about it) are a little much for you, try one of the ten margaritas, made with freshly squeezed lime juice, or an icy cold cerveza.

You'll find a great variety of traditional Mexican food offerings here -- many more choices than your average enchilada, burrito, and taco joint. The extensive menu is arranged into sections comprising appetizers, soups and salads, entrees by type of meat, quesadillas, and tacos. Each section has around ten choices, making your first visit a bit mind boggling. That's just fine, though, since they bring out some especially tasty chips and two kinds of salsas for you to munch on while you make your decision. Dip back and forth between savory green tomatillo salsa and bright pico de gallo while you navigate the menu.

In the appetizer section, you'll find standards like guacamole and calamari, but I recommend trying the rajas, a spicy-creamy mixture of green peppers, cream, and cheese, served with corn tortillas. There are other opportunities to try rajas in other parts of the menu, so you might want to skip the appetizer if your entree comes with some on the side. Another good way to start off your meal is a bowl of tortilla soup, either with or without chicken. They've got two sizes to choose from, and even the small size is generous, not just a tiny cup.

Moving right along through the book of a menu, you'll find combination plates with choices of tacos and enchiladas, but more interesting choices come if you turn the page. In the pollo section, try the red mole, but ask for the black beans on the side instead of refried. Newly added to the menu is conchita pibil, a slow roasted Yucatanean pork dish flavored with annato seeds. There are lots of fish and shrimp options, but I like to go for a few tacos al pastor, the Mexican answer to a doner kebap or schwarma. Chicken or pork is marinated in spices and stacked onto a vertical rotisserie. Once cooked, slices are chopped off and served atop small corn tortillas with pineapple and cilantro. These tasty tacos are small and priced to match at $1.85 each, so you can order one on the side to try it out.

With separate vegetarian and kids’ menus, there is something for everyone at El Callejon, so the casually dressed crowd tends to be made up of local families and young people in search of a good margarita. Though there are plenty of tables, there are also plenty of people who want one, so expect to wait in the bar at peak times like Friday and Saturday nights.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here three to five times.
Soltan Banoo, University Heights
07/06/07
Looking for a friendly, family-owned neighborhood restaurant, serving up healthy Persian food in a warm and inviting setting? You're in luck!

To walk in to Soltan Banoo is to walk into an inviting, richly colored world, where neighbors linger over glasses of wine and scents of lamb, pomegranates, and Turkish coffee hang in the air.

The restaurant is run by Mahin, who emigrated from Iran to New York in 1988, and her two daughters, who Mahin followed to San Diego. The three found their business outgrowing their small cafe and tea house (Cafe Caspian) on Park Blvd, so they moved the business across the street to a larger location and changed its name to Soltan Banoo.

Together, the mother and daughters seat, wait, and bus the tables in a relaxed and comfortable fashion, as if you are guests in their home. Dining at Soltan Banoo, you'll find yourself surrounded with people from the up-and-coming (or perhaps already there?) University Heights neighborhood. Families and hipsters sit side by side at closely packed tables in the dimly lit, richly decorated dining room.

The restaurant is divided into two parts: a smallish dining room and a semi-enclosed patio. Both are lavishly adorned with Persian rugs, paintings, pillows, and wooden furniture. Inside, you can peek into the kitchen through the glimmering curtain in an arched window. The patio features a wonderful wooden table for six, three of whom will sit on a rug-covered bench strewn with embroidered pillows.

The food is decidedly fresh, tasty, and healthy. Mahin does her best to use organic produce when it’s available, and most dishes on the menu have a vegetarian option. The menu is Persian, but with nontraditional, California-inspired touches like soy ginger dressing on some salads and kebaps made with tofu. There are plenty of your standard Near East appetizer offerings -- hummus, baba ghanoush, dolmeh, and the like -- but the best way to start your meal is with a cup of the delicious pomegranate soup, ash anar. This hearty soup of lentils, beans, wheat, and spinach soured with pomegranate juice is my favorite dish on the menu.

Other best bets are the kebaps, which make for an exotic meal when the plain rice is swapped out for one of their specialty rice polos for just a dollar extra. The loubiah polo is a great option, with its lightly spiced, tomatoey flavor and chopped green beans. On the sweeter side is the zereshk polo, white rice bejeweled with barberries, cranberries and almonds. Most entrees come with a side of the Shirazi salad, which is a tasty, cooling counterpoint to the warm, earthy dishes.

Soltan Banoo also serves a rotating menu of daily specials. Monday, you'll find a traditional adas polo, but if you happen by on Tuesday, oh lucky you. You'll be able to dive into the fesenjoon, a delicious and intriguing stew of pomegranates and walnuts served over chicken or tofu. It may be a bit too much pomegranate for an entire meal on your own, but go with a friend and order one of these babies and a kebap and share the two. The ghalieh mahi fish special, served Fridays and Saturdays, will please Asian food lovers with its tangy cilantro tamarind sauce.

If the mood has taken you and you're not quite ready to leave, a cup of Turkish coffee or roobios tea is the perfect excuse to linger for a while.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here five to ten times.
Cafe 976, Pacific Beach
06/29/07
An eclectic mix of surfers, students, and families awaits you at this cozy PB coffee house and café.

Walking down Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach, you’ll see tattoo shops alternating with bars and sushi joints, with a few swimsuit stores thrown in for good measure. If you turn the corner onto Cass Street, something of a mirage catches your eye. What's that -- a garden? And with it . . . a cute yellow house? Head closer, and you'll see that it's a cozy little cafe and coffee house, tucked into a 1920s beach bungalow with a wraparound porch and plenty of patio seating among lush vegetation and flowers.

Café 976 is a vibrant, lively oasis of hominess among Pacific Beach's bars and two-story apartment complexes. Order your favorite espresso drink at the counter and grab a table on the patio or porch if the weather's nice. Or sit inside and check out the local art hanging on brightly painted walls. You're likely to see all kinds of people gather here. The inside tables are crammed with students poring over textbooks, while the outside tables are favored by friends gathering on bright mornings to catch up with the latest happenings.

My favorite spot is one of the two long tables in the little sun room, where the music isn't too loud and the sun warms your back. Dogs are welcome on the patio, and the weekend crowd is decidedly young and relaxed, nursing hangovers with breakfast burritos and coffee. Café 976 recently added free wireless to its long list of perks, so if you're tied to your laptop, it's a good place to plunk down and churn out some emails. But beware -- power outlets are in short supply.

The drinks menu is extensive -- this is a coffee house after all. I usually just go for a latte, but if you're in the mood for something more elaborate, 976 is there for you with sweet, chocolatey concoctions with cute names like the Penguin, the Nutty Irishman, or the Funky Monkey. I love the Milky Way, a chocolate-caramel-espresso symphony, and the White Almond Latte, with its sweet white chocolate and aromatic almond flavors. They use Café Moto for all of their beans and have a good selection of loose leaf teas to choose from as well. Also up for grabs are fruit smoothies, which are made with real frozen fruit and juice, no overly sweet pre-made syrups here. Try the strawberry mango raspberry with additional vanilla yogurt.

Along with the full espresso bar, 976 serves up a California style menu of fresh salads, sandwiches, and breakfasty things. The kitchen serves breakfast until 2pm and lunch until 8pm, but they also have a wide selection of after-hours items, which you can order up until closing. I love the spinach cobb salad, with fresh crunchy bacon, avocado, cheese and egg. The spicy eggplant sandwich is also a good bet, as is the Indian Tuna Curry (both are available late night). The Grecian bagel is sure to satisfy, piled high with hummus and veggies.

But my absolute favorite is the deadly chocolate cake. It calls to you (well, to me anyway) from behind the glass under the left counter, with its layers of rich, dark cake, chocolate ganache, and coating of chopped nuts. Eat me! Eat me! And I happily oblige.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.

3 Recs

Celadon Fine Thai Cuisine, Hillcrest
03/31/07
Walking into Celadon for the first time, I was doubtful---a nicely decorated Thai restaurant? It's probably terrible. In my experience, the quality of Thai food had always been inversely proportional to the quality of the interior decor. As I walked out with a bellyful of spicy noodles and curry, I reconsidered my theory. The food is fresh and flavorful, the prices very reasonable, and service is extremely efficient and polite. Celadon is on my short list of inexpensive sit-down ethnic eateries.

A Thai meal is best eaten with a group of friends. I love to order a bunch of dishes and share a social meal, eating family style with my good friends. This way, you and your friends get to sample a wonderful variety of complexly flavored and aromatic dishes. Celadon is the perfect place for this kind of dining. They serve a good selection of standard Thai dishes, plus a great variety of house specialties. For a group of four, we usually will order a salad, a noodle dish, a curry, and a special.

On weekends, Celadon is crowded and you should expect to wait for at least 15 minutes. On weeknights, there is usually no wait.

My favorites:

Beef satay - an extremely flavorful satay

Yum Nua steak salad - a spicy-salty-sweet amalgamation of seared, sliced beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucuber, with a fish-sauce based dressing.

Larb salad - very similar to Yum Nua, though the meat (usually pork, and I'm forgetting what Celadon serves) is ground rather than sliced

Drunken noodles - I insist on these flavorful, tender wide noodles whenever I eat at Celadon.

Panang curry - highly aromatic and citrusy red coconut curry

Note: The above review refers to the University Ave, Hillcrest location.

Edit: Celadon has recently moved to where Region used to be, on 5th near Pennsylvania. I ate at the new location with some friends tonight, and the food was good, if less spicy than the University Ave location. The decor is now posh and completely un-Thai, and I have to say it is lacking the charm of the University Ave location. The menu is the same, but with the addition of semi-seasonal selections. The prices, however, are not the same. On average, it is about 33% more expensive. Drunken noodles, which used to be $9.95 are now $15. Curry, which used to be $10.95 is now $15. Yum Nua salad, which used to be $7.95 is now $11. The portions are still generous. I think that both locations will be operating for a while, though they have plans to convert the University Ave location to a noodle house.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here dozens of times.
Mama's Bakery & Lebanese Deli, North Park
03/29/07
Mama's is a hole-in-the-wall Lebanese place serving up great food on the cheap. Two people can stuff their faces with a wrap each, an order of grape leaves, and baklava for under $15 (combined). It's on Alabama St, just off El Cajon Blvd, in an old converted house. The kitchen and order-taking counter are squeezed into what used to be the garage, and there is some semi-enclosed seating just nextdoor---bring a sweater if it's cold.

The menu is made up of wraps, plates, pies, and various sides and mezze-type items. The wraps are a best bet for value. There are about 10 varieties, all served on freshly cooked flatbread, baked on a bullet-shaped oven called a sajj. They come filled with falafel or chicken or beef schwarma or lebneh, plus veggies and hummus or tahini or baba ganouj. The list goes on. My favorites are the falafel, which is made with favas as well as chickpeas, and the chicken schwarma, but the garlic chicken is also quite tasty---just make sure your friends get something with garlic paste in it too, or they won't be talking to you much for the rest of the day. Do try a side of the grape leaves---they are out of this world. The tabouleh is great also: lots of parsley, as it should be!

In short, it's fantastic, honest, cheap Lebanese food, so if you're hankering for a burrito alternative, give Mama's a try.

Note: Mama's closes at 8pm on the weekdays and on weekends they close at 4pm.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here more than ten times.
Pipes Cafe, Cardiff
03/27/07
If you've been surfing all morning and are in need of an inexpensive caloric recharge, look no further than Pipes. Located on a side street next to the Seaside Market in Cardiff, Pipes offers great all-American food with a soCal twist. It's just out of view of people driving the 101, so the crowd (and I do mean crowd) tends to be local.

My parents live up the street, and they stop by for a burger at least twice a month. My dad is on a first name basis with a few of the girls, and this is typical of Pipes. It's a neighborhood joint that gets to know its customers, so they usually know that my dad wants a burger and an order of fries, extra crispy. The burgers are moist and messy, with patties patted fresh in house. They come with the usual toppings, and you can add avocado, bacon and cheese. The fries are steak-cut and lightly seasoned.

If I'm in the neighborhood, I tag along with my parents, though I usually opt for french toast or a breakfast burrito, both of which are great. The breakfast burritos are some of the highlights here, made with giant soft flour tortillas and stuffed to the gills with potatoes, cheese, and eggs. They have several varieties to suit your mood, and the chances are that you'll have trouble finishing whichever one you choose.

In addition to the food you can order at the counter inside, there is a coffee bar outside for lattes, mochas, and the like.

The atmosphere is extremely casual and friendly. We're talking beachwear---shirt and shoes are optional. The majority of the seating is outside on two decks packed with tables, so bring your shades if the day is warm. The inside is decorated with surf memorabelia and about a year ago they had someone paint a mural on the eastern side of the building. On the whole the place has a surfside laid back charm.

I do not have any connections with this business. I've been here dozens of times.