food in SD (San Diego, Del Mar, Nice: incomes, living, restaurant)

[Luvs2Trvl]

Just moved to SD 6 months ago and I'd kind of echo what others are saying about not being a foodie town (at least not as much as I thought it would be). We are gradually finding some hits and definitely stumbling through some misses with restaurants here. What I like so far (as a non-native ):

Lucha Libre Taco Shop
Yes it was featured on the food network at least a couple times, the wait can be long, inconvenient parking (welcome to SD), not a huge place and the staff can be downright bit**y but the surf and turf burrito is pretty good and like many people I am in LOVE with their salsa bar. Excellent flan for dessert if they have any left!

Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill
We just tried this today actually and I was pretty happy with the reviews on yelp. This is just down the street from Lucha Libre (apparently India Street has several good eats on it). I wanted a seafood hit without paying crazy prices and it delivered. The chowder was good, beer battered fish taco was good and a salad with plentiful crab and shrimp was delicious and fresh. The crab and avocado dip itself was good but I didn't love the bread. This was also featured on food network. This place and Lucha Libre are not fancy and tend to get busy, only complaint would be that the tables need to be wiped down more often. Also heard El Indio for Mexican (next door) is supposed to be good but haven't tried it yet.

Island Prime
This is probably my favorite restaurant to date in SD. It's on the pricier side (al la cart), you probably want to try to make a reservation in advance though they have squeezed us in a couple times, it has an amazing waterfront view of the city. We love the popover rolls with the jalapeno butter, lobster bisque is really good, fantastically seasoned prime rib and can't leave without having the peanut butter ice cream brownie sundae! (I prefer Island Prime to C-Level which is a different menu but attached to same restaurant)

Hash House A Go-Go
This is a good place for breakfast/brunch. Parking is on the street/meter, portions are beyond huge (abnormally large plates). Some of the dinner items were hit or miss but breakfast is good. Wait time can be a bit!

Karl Strauss Brewery
This is really our "neighborhood" hangout and not so much a must see but we really like their menu, the food is consistently good. They have several locations, they serve locally brewed beer, they give you tasters all throughout the meal that would pair with what you've ordered. Love some of their gouda burger, pastrami sandwich and the "Beeramisu" sounds gross but is a really good take on the Italian dessert using beer instead!

We tried Phil's BBQ and weren't impressed enough to want to return. The line at the place wraps around the building. The food was okay enough but after eating in Kansas City at several BBQ staples, it was hard for us to see the hype with this place.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I agree with the other posters here on both ends. Its not that the food sucks here per se, its generally ok and makes for a nice couple of hours out. Its DEFINITELY not a make reservations and get stuffy dining scene. \

In terms of range, there is a lot to choose from in just about every neighborhood or city in the County. Especially in the mid to low tier price range but really the mid tier ($20+ish per entree is the sweet spot) and its unlikely you would run into a place you didnt like vs did.

Definitely get hole in the wall, taco shop stuff (too many to mention) or look for places that focus on locally sourced produce like Tender Greens.

The only two fine dining places are Addison and AR Valentien...both of which are in hotels and will set you back a few hundos for a dinner for two.

[bloom]

Luchre Libre is hit and miss.
Blue Water is good - great waffle fries.
Phils bbq is unimpressionable. Go with Coops in Lemon Grove and now Chula Vista for real deal.
Karl Strauss is good for what it is. Stone to open in Liberty Station soon.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by kretsch

hey everyone, will be visiting san diego for a couple of days, any recommendations for must eat places to try? just looking for all around decent food. also, what is the best asian food?

thanks!!

You need to be a little more specific. San Diego has a wide range, from amazing hole-in-the wall ethnic to great local farm-to-table to some pretty damn decent upscale dining. What kind of Asian are you looking for? there's a bunch of different styles of Japanese, lots of Pho and Vietnamese, a couple decent Korean BBQ places, hotpot, and one or two chinese places worth mentioning, just off the top of my head.

People who say you can't get good food in this town (on either end of the scale) either have no idea what good food is or are just too lazy to look for it. It's here.

[Clevelandgal]

Jen Kay post your faves of all of the above! I have to admit I still need to explore more since I have had some duds. Ive found the best places to be the hole in the wall ethnic vs anything much above that. When we first moved to San Diego,I was not working so I was doing a lot of cooking which is fine since im a pretty good I am told. Places like Super Cocina, Mexicali tacos ,The Mariasco German truck, titas kitchenette and Aqui es Texaco are hard to beat but a little divey. I've had some nice starters at Alchemy and Counter Point...but need some good Asian ....Sab e lee Thai is pretty good. but Chinese? Help me! have not tried Korean BBQ in San Diego, but its great to know there is something great out there.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by Clevelandgal

Jen Kay post your faves of all of the above! I have to admit I still need to explore more since I have had some duds. Ive found the best places to be the hole in the wall ethnic vs anything much above that. When we first moved to San Diego,I was not working so I was doing a lot of cooking which is fine since im a pretty good I am told. Places like Super Cocina, Mexicali tacos ,The Mariasco German truck, titas kitchenette and Aqui es Texaco are hard to beat but a little divey. I've had some nice starters at Alchemy and Counter Point...but need some good Asian ....Sab e lee Thai is pretty good. but Chinese? Help me! have not tried Korean BBQ in San Diego, but its great to know there is something great out there.

Japanese: Izakaya Masa and Izakaya Sakura. Yakitori Yakudori for (duh) yakitori and some really good Shio ramen. For ramen: Santouka (inside the Mitsuwa supermarket), Hinotez, and Yamadaya. People talk about Tajima a lot, and I think their food is pretty OK but their traditional ramen is just meh.

Chinese: We don't have a lot of good Chinese here, but I like Dumpling Inn and Spicy City. Liang's Kitchen was really good but I've only been once and heard it can be inconsistent, but it's worth a shot.

I looove Sab E Lee!!

[earlyretirement]

Jenkay knows his food! We've been to several of the places he mentioned and they had really tasty food. For Korean we like
these below. I prefer Buga as it's bigger and there is always a seat and the food is good. Obviously in both places it's all Koreans that own/operate it. The food is tasty.

Buga Korean Barbecue Restaurant

5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117


Dae Jang Keum Korean BBQ Menu

7905 Engineer Rd., San Diego, CA 92111

I agree about the Chinese places. Most in San Diego don't even know what Chinese food is. An example of that is looking at some of San Diego Magazines reader polls of "Best Chinese Restaurants" and it's pathetic to see P.F. Changs on the top 3 list almost every year! LOL. There are a ton of places over in Kearny Mesa. I haven't found anything too terrific but very decent food.

[Jehjeh]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I agree about the Chinese places. Most in San Diego don't even know what Chinese food is. An example of that is looking at some of San Diego Magazines reader polls of "Best Chinese Restaurants" and it's pathetic to see P.F. Changs on the top 3 list almost every year! LOL. There are a ton of places over in Kearny Mesa. I haven't found anything too terrific but very decent food.

I've never, ever understood why people love P.F. Changs. It's edible enough if you just want something to eat (or at least it was 10 years ago, when I was last there), but with all of the restaurants around Kearny Mesa and City Heights, why oh why choose P.F. Changs?

There used to be a good Taiwanese restaurant inside 99 Ranch called 168 Restaurant -- my friend from Hong Kong *loved* going there -- but it looks like they've closed or changed owners and changed names. Has anyone gotten food there since that change?

This one isn't Asian food, but the deli food at People's Co-op is usually delicious.

[earlyretirement]

I totally agree Jehjeh! When we want Chinese food we just head over to Kearny Mesa and look for a place where we only see Asians eating. We figure if it's only Asians eating there it can't be too bad. The last time we had Chinese we went to Imperial Mandarin. I didn't see one Caucasian in there while we were eating so I figured it couldn't be too bad...

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Jenkay knows his food! We've been to several of the places he mentioned and they had really tasty food. For Korean we like
these below. I prefer Buga as it's bigger and there is always a seat and the food is good. Obviously in both places it's all Koreans that own/operate it. The food is tasty.

Buga Korean Barbecue Restaurant

5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117


Dae Jang Keum Korean BBQ Menu

7905 Engineer Rd., San Diego, CA 92111

I agree about the Chinese places. Most in San Diego don't even know what Chinese food is. An example of that is looking at some of San Diego Magazines reader polls of "Best Chinese Restaurants" and it's pathetic to see P.F. Changs on the top 3 list almost every year! LOL. There are a ton of places over in Kearny Mesa. I haven't found anything too terrific but very decent food.

This is kind of the heart of it all. Our local media version of top 10 vs reality (which we see great options on this thread.)
There are probably a large majority of people in SD that are totally ok and agree with this kind of top 10 list. Queue the fine dining options at The Olive Garden. Nothing wrong with it, but just worth noting what is put out there on the shelves vs say a heated debate on something as simple as legit dim sum in a forum like Chowhound for other 'foodie' cities.
The forums only go so deep here vs a place like SF or LA where its VERY easy to get varying opinions on where to get great ethnic food, even region specific. Here its not like this so much, maybe Mexican? This for obvious reasons such as population and demographics and of course what sells.

I have seen some great restaurants open up here that ideally have started with trying something different, like northern Indian. Ultimately to stay open, they have to settle for the generic Tandoori, Korma etc to stay in business because of customers demand of what their expectations are for "Indian". Kind of a double edged sword.