San Diego Eats

Back in June, I took a trip to San Diego and I was really good about taking pictures of not only my San Diego vacation but also my food adventures. I diligently did my homework pre-trip in researching the San Diego restaurants I thought I should pay a visit. However, I was visiting my friend, Ori, who lives in San Diego and is even more of a foodie than me. I’ve been telling him he should write a blog (he’s also a fantastic cook too!). He pointed out that most of the restaurants that I had selected were located in the Gas Lamp (touristy) area and suggested I just let him choose the restaurants we go to, as he knows the are much better than I.

I agreed, so here is a short summary of my Eats while visiting San Diego:

Whisk ‘n Ladle

Before leaving Atlanta, we had a fast food breakfast around 6 AM. So, by the time we landed in San Diego, got our rental car and met up with Ori, we were staring. He suggested Whisk N Ladle for a filling lunch. Everything was fabulous and I don’t think it was because we were famished. The duck confit pizza was perfect as a starter for us to share, whetting our appetite. The steak salad with it’s fried egg and fries was tasty and for a salad very filling. Mussels and fries were another delicious snack for nibbling on. We left Whisk ‘N Ladle full, satisfied and ready for a long walk along San Diego’s coast line.

1044 Wall Street
San Diego, CA

Robataya Oton

After a long day of walking around San Diego, we rested up a bit before heading out out to dinner. Ori and his girlfriend, Cathy said we must try Robatay Oton for Japanese. As they had been several times, we just let them order everything. Starting out with a sampling of Sake, we also tried the crispy fish skins, a pot of beef / tofu /vegetables, and more fish among other offerings. My favorite was the beef, which when taken out of the hot pot was excellent dipped in the egg batter each of us was given.

5447 Kearny Villa Rd #D
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 277-3989

Stone Brewing
Not only is Ori an expert with food, but Beer and Wine also. So after he took us to a practice shooting (my first time and my aim sucks) that afternoon, he suggested we head up to Stone Brewery. We forgot it was Father’s Day and popular destination on such a day, so we ended up waiting about an hour for table. My only experience with a Brewery was our Sweet Water Brewery here in the ATL, so I was expecting something like that, but Stone Brewery surpassed any expectations I had! Not only do they have their own brews of which the selection is plenty, they also have a daunting list of specialty beers to choose from.

Stone Brewery is beautiful. Not only is the architecture and decor beautiful on the inside, but the outdoor Gardens are amazing to walk around!

The food was pretty tasty too, albeit a tad pricey. However, we did drink a lot of beer, which added to the tab quite a bit. Sharing everything between four of us, we started with some soft pretzels with mustard, and mushroom puff pastries, and after moved on to mac and cheese as well as a selection of sausages. These sausages were the highlight of the meal to me. Lastly, we shared the duck tacos and a steak. Perfectly cooked, we mopped these up too.

1999 Citracado Pkwy
Escondido, CA 92029
(760) 471-4999

Starlite

The next night, Ori took us to Starlite, a relatively new restaurant / bar that’s a little out of the way, but with tremendous food in a cool atmosphere. There’s no way a tourist would just stumble on this place. The entrance kinda made me feel like I was entering a space ship, and I was half expecting to see Chewbacca inside. We started off with Gin Mules to drink. I loved the large, funky glasses our drinks were served in. Salads, fish and the burger were all highly enjoyable.
3175 India St
at Spruce St
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 358-9766

Aero Club Bar

We headed up the street to the Aero Club Bar after dinner at Starlite since it was just a short walk up the street. It’s a dive bar, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves as it was a Tuesday night, but we had a good time picking oldies on the juke box.

3365 India St
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 297-7211

Hash House a Go Go

In order to properly prepare for a day of walking around Balboa Park, Ori took us to Hash House a Go Go, home of king-kong sized breakfasts. For a weekday, I was really surprised that this place was packed, and there was even a short wait for a table. I don’t think they do anything in small portions here; pancakes are the size of manhole covers. While I enjoyed my crab cake on top of egg on top of mashed potatoes, and felt completely stuffed when leaving, I barley made a dent in it. No wonder I gained 7 pounds on this vacation.

3628 5th Avenue
at Pennsylvania Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

TJ’s Oyster Bar

We took a 2-day jaunt across the border and had an awesome time. Our lunch stop before crossing the border was at TJ’s Oyster Bar which was supposed to have some of the best fish tacos in San Diego. Since they are the only fish tacos I had while in San Diego, I can’t speak to that, but I do know that the Sting Ray tacos and the Octopus tacos were delicious!

4256 Bonita Rd.
Bonita, CA 91902
(619) 267-4577