OT: Seeking San Diego suggestions

Wolfie51sb

Our family will be making its first trip to San Diego for a few days. Not expecting to find any great BBQ, but my daughter is in the midst of an extended taco phase, and given the number of choices in that area, I'd love to hear suggestions on what spots to hit. Any other dining tips (or suggestions on whatever) would be appreciated, too.

xfire_ATX

The Microbrewery scene is second to none.  Every corner has great options.

I just went here- http://www.stonebrewing.com/visit/bistros/escondido Beer was great food was so so.

Dont knock the Mashed Potato Pizza to be found here http://www.barbasic.com

Carolina Q

@Judy Mayberry

Dyal_SC

Actually Phil's BBQ is excellent. Well worth the trip. 

kl8ton

xfire_ATX said:

The Microbrewery scene is second to none.

Uhhhhhh yeah it is.   Second to Grand Rapids MI!


Just messing around....

Wolfpack

Blue water grill for fish tacos- guys that started the business are fishermen and it's also a fish market. 

Hodads is a local burger spot that's solid. Go to the original beach location. 

bunch of good spots in the gas lamp. 

Great town- you will have a blast. 

Legume

Where are you staying?

scooter759

There are soooo many good taco shops in San Diego. Got absolutely spoiled with Mexican food there. Don't overlook the mom and pop taqueria's. Ask around. Carne asada burrito's were my favorite, but you can go with carne asada tacos, chips, fries. Trying to remember a few, Adalberto's, Roberto's, Las Colimas, these are all small informal places with great food. I overlooked fish taco's for the longest time and that was a big mistake. They are delicious. Rubio's Fish Tacos are everywhere out there.  Also if you've never had an In-N-Out burger, that is a must!  Double Double with everything! 

Legume

Robertos carne asada burrito at the one in Del Mar, sit on the deck.

Roberto's Mexican Food

2206 Carmel Valley Rd, Del Mar, CA 92014

(858) 436-7189

https://goo.gl/maps/n3hviUtGE542

Battleborn

San Diego has become a family favorite vacation spot. So many great places. Fish Tacos are everywhere and mostly all pretty good. Hodads is supposed to be really good, but I refuse to wait in lines longer than 5 minutes. Coronado Brewing Company (on Coronado Island) was really good the last time we went. 

Wolfie51sb

Legume said:

Where are you staying?

Catamaran Resort, Mission Bay.

Thanks very much for all the tips so far.

lousubcap

Been awhile since San Diego (best weather of any mainland USA city, BTW) but while a bit touristy, the Old Town Mexican Cafe (located in Old Town...duh) served great margaritas, home-made on site tortillas and the carnitas were the best dish on the menu.

Legume

It's touristy, but rocking Baja lobster serves a huge bucket of flash fried slipper tail lobster that's pretty amazing with a bucket of beers.  They're in gaslamp and old town.

If you like a fish market atmosphere and love smoked fish, then lookup Point Loma seafood.  Again, kinda touristy but it's a working fish market right on the harbor and they must have at least 10 types of smoked fish and tons of fresh.  Meals are really good.

YEMTrey

Pretty jealous.  Just yesterday I was checking flights for the wife, daughter and I.  Flights are very reasonable, but finding a place to stay for a week is $$$$.  As soon as I get back there, I'm heading straight to Pizza Port Solana Beach and drinking the day away.  Enjoy!

Legume

YEMTrey said:

Pretty jealous.  Just yesterday I was checking flights for the wife, daughter and I.  Flights are very reasonable, but finding a place to stay for a week is $$$$.  As soon as I get back there, I'm heading straight to Pizza Port Solana Beach and drinking the day away.  Enjoy!

Yesssss.

YEMTrey

kl8ton said:

xfire_ATX said:

The Microbrewery scene is second to none.

Uhhhhhh yeah it is.   Second to Grand Rapids MI!


Just messing around....

@kl8ton   You going to any of the KBS tappings this week around Grand Rapids?  Would love to be in the area this week.

xfire_ATX

YEMTrey said:

Pretty jealous.  Just yesterday I was checking flights for the wife, daughter and I.  Flights are very reasonable, but finding a place to stay for a week is $$$$.  As soon as I get back there, I'm heading straight to Pizza Port Solana Beach and drinking the day away.  Enjoy!

I was just at Solana and Cardiff.  Really pretty area and would love to camp there.

Battleborn

After reading this, I booked a camp site right on the beach for April. Thanks for the push!

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Good friend who we competed with for several years has a nice BBQ house in downtown SD.  Link here- http://www.brazenbbq.com/

the_crease

There are a lot of great suggestions on this thread.  I've lived in San Diego all my life.  Here are a couple of favorites:

We have some of the best Mexican food here; you can't go wrong with any Albertos/Sergios/Aibertos/Adalbertos/Robertos/or any variation therein.  But if you can make it to Colima's, Lolita's, Lucha Libre, or El Indio, you will be very happy.  Try a carne asada burrito, surf n turf burrito, California burrito, rolled tacos w/guac, or carne asada fries at any of these places.  Authentic street tacos at Tacos el Gordo or Las Cuatro Milpas. 

For more trendy dining there are tons of places in North Park or Little Italy that have great food and good craft beer.  Carnitas Snack Shack, Crack Shack, Blind Lady Alehouse, etc.

Breweries are second to none.  Stone, Green Flash, Alesmith, Ballast Point, etc

Burgers: Hodads, In n Out, but Rocky's is the best

Sushi: Harney sushi in Old Town or Sushi Ota in Pacific Beach is the best.

Lots of great authentic Asian restaurants and ramen and dim sum on Convoy street in Kearny Mesa. 

The BBQ scene is mostly nonexistent here.  Phils puts out decent tasting bbq, but they cook their proteins in an oven and finish them over a grill with some smoke.  And they don't serve spare ribs, only baby backs.  So not sure if this place qualifies as real bbq.

If you're looking for something specific let me know and I will gladly help out.

Foghorn

If you're there on a Sunday morning, brunch at Hotel Del Coronado is pretty great.  

And it may or may not be your cup of tea, but we had a great day renting bikes from Hotel Del and riding about 15 miles south down the strand to the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge and then to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research and natural area.  We hit one of the beach piers on the way back for some fish and beer.  

Also, be aware that the Wild Animal Park has a thing where you can go to a private area and watch one of their cheetahs run.  It was pretty cool.

Wolfie51sb

Sincere thanks for all of the suggestions. Though my teenage daughter loves tacos, neither she or my wife are seafood fans, so convincing them to dive into the fish-taco pool will be a challenge. But it will be great sampling all of the other options.

Wolfie51sb

My family and I are back from San Diego, and it was a great one thanks in part to some of the tips in this thread. I got to thinking that I kind of "owe" it to report our experiences on the chance that it might be helpful to someone else in the future. So, in no specific order:

-- Best "real" meal of the trip was at Asti Restorante in the Gaslight Quarter downtown. Really good Italian food. I had the seafood pasta, which had a whole lobster tail perched on top. Great service. Bill for the three of us was $130 before tip, which included two cocktails.

-- Made one trip to Hotel Del Coronado, for a casual dinner at ENO Pizzeria. Nothing spectacular. Three pizzas, a cheese plate, one cocktail, one iced tea and one soda ran us $120, not including tip. Was thankful we went there only once.

-- Ate once at Oceana Coastal Kitchen, which was at the resort where we stayed. Nice view, average food, below-average service. Highlight of the night was when I asked a server for refills on our water. He left, returned shortly and told us he instructed one of the other servers to refill our glasses. I guess grabbing the pitcher himself and bringing it on the return trip wasn't possible.

-- Hitting the small Mexican joints for tacos and such was a highlight. We visited San Diego State University one day for my daughter, who's in high school, and at the end of the day ate at Trujillo's Taco Shop near campus. Daughter said the chicken tacos were among the best she's ever had. All the food was awesome.

-- Near Mission Beach, our go-to spot was Cotija's Taco Shop, the only place on the entire trip we went to twice. The carne asada was second to none. Little dive located in a strip mall.

-- La Playa Taco Shop was recommended to us, and it was good but not great.

-- One morning we went to Lucky Donuts near Mission Beach. Nothing much to report, EXCEPT, it's worth a trip just to get one of their "burritos" that are stuffed with apple pie filling and topped with a cinnamon-and-butter mixture. Two people can easily split one.

-- Only other breakfast experience was Kono's at the beach. It's a landmark to the locals, and the portions are huge, but otherwise just OK. We went early (7:45 a.m.) and had no wait. Late-morning lines stretch far out the door. That wait wouldn't be worth it to me.

-- Baked Bear is a place where you can get custom-made ice cream sandwiches. Simple idea, I know, but WOW! Always a line, no matter what time of day. Reasonably priced guilty pleasures.

-- We did quite a few touristy things, including a trip to the San Diego Zoo, where I was stunned to walk right in without having my backpack checked. What's up with that? I know California is laid back, but really?

-- Also touristy but a lot of fun was the Segway tour we took of downtown. Lasted a bit less than 2 hours. They provide instruction so you're comfortable taking the Segways onto the streets, and you see quite a few places you might otherwise miss. I think it cost us $90 a person, and that was with a $20 coupon for each of us.

Add all of the above to some surfing, indoor skydiving and a last-minute trip up the road to Disneyland and it was a packed week of fun.

Dyal_SC

Sounds like a fun week!  Glad y'all had a good time. 

da87

Lives there for 5 years - +1 on Roberto's (California butrito sounds odd, but give it a try, fresh and on the patio at the Del Mar location - yum!) and Hodads. Downtown Hodads has shorter lines than OB, but not the same ambiance. 

Judy Mayberry

You have enough tips to put on 20 lbs!. I can only say that you have to visit Old Town, the original San Diego Historic State Park, and right inside the Plaza del Pasado is a great Mexican restaurant, Casa de Reyes. That's where we go for special dinners, and it's in a courtyard surrounded by many lovely tourist shops. Sometimes there's Mexican musical entertainment on a little stage. 

And now on my soapbox about Phil's BBQ, an BBQ abomination if there ever was one. I went to the original hole in the wall when they first opened and it was fun having a BBQ place. Now there are branches in several places with lots of customers who like quantity on their plates. Last time I went purposely to see if it had improved and got ribs, pulled pork, and brisket . The sauce came thickly piled on and it was too strong for me, the meat drier and way below what we get on the BGE. I ended up dumping it all in the garbage can before I left. I'm too spoiled for anything but the best and that makes me a BBQ snob!

Brazen BBQ mentioned earlier is not in downtown San Diego, it's in Hillcrest, quite a bit north of downtown. I've had fantastic food there and really sad food there. That's where the KC BBQ Society held their judge's training and the food they prepared was to die for. I went there again and it was really an off night, I guess. Lots of restaurants in that neighborhood, too. 

Wolfie51sb

We actually went to Phil's BBQ for lunch. I didn't list it because, unlike Judy, I didn't have strong feelings one way or the other. Make no mistake, it thought the food was average. If I lived in San Diego, would I go there? Probably never, but that's mainly because I think I can do better at home. But for a place to have lunch on vacation, when in the mood to try a BBQ place for the first time, I didn't have a problem with the experience. I got a combo of beef ribs and chicken. Both were fine if not memorable. The kitchen did mess up two of our three orders, but then again, if you go 1 for 3 every day in the major leagues, you're an All-Star.