Cathy – Page 72

The Pancake Cart in front of the cash registers at 99Ranch Market (snack time)

May 26, 2013 Cathy Desserts, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading a food blog called mmm-yoso!!! Kirk, who usually writes about His food adventures, is somewhere in the world having those adventures. Ed(from Yuma) is planning His adventures. Cathy is writing about an adventure around here.

If you've shopped at 99 Ranch Market, you've seen it. The cart in front of the cash registers. During the week, it's not open. On the weekend, though, it is.

The lady at the pancake cart…making Chinese pancakes before your eyes.We pay for the pancakes at the cash register, then can walk up with the receipt and order.

On the center section are already baked red bean paste pancakes. The fresh batter is being baked in the unique pan and when finished baking (the top is baked/not sticky but not browned…with the rounded top-like what happens when you make cupcakes) and then is placed on top of another baked half, which has filling in it (in this case, the custard cream) the two halves manage to stay together, because they are both hot and ready when placed on top of each other.

One of each flavor; our usual order. You can see the bottoms are baked and the complete 65¢ pancake is secure.

Here's a cross section view. You can see the dense yet bubbly batter is all baked, with nice outer crusts. The custard is not runny and the red bean paste has a nice texture. These were still warm when we got home…so good.

I hope you are all having a nice weekend!

99Ranch Market 7330 CLairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 974-8899

Zion Market-new location (finally!)-first look

May 24, 2013 Cathy Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk is vacationing-following plans, ed(from Yuma) is planning for a vacation and Cathy is writing today about something unplanned.

Yesterday I was talking with a friend I hadn't seen in a year. We were (of course) talking about food and somehow the conversation went to the new Zion Market, which she told me was going to open today. Finally!!! (Kirk wrote about Zion Market in 2005 and again when announcing it would be moving (look at the date when he knew it would be moving). (Zion is a Korean Market, in case you didn't know)(I've posted about the 'food court' area inside the old Zion).

I hadn't planned on the market ever opening, and had a major assignment Friday morning, but managed to make it here in the afternoon. Located inside the old Kmart/Sears building on Clairmont Mesa at Convoy, the parking lot is able to handle the crowds.

I don't exactly remember the footprint of the old Kmart, but when I walked in, this place seemed a LOT larger than I recall! To the right will be the many individual run shops and franchises. None are open yet.

To the left when you walk in – the grocery aisles.

Wide aisles that run far to the back of the store.

A refrigerated wall runs along the front…

Items for sale are the usual suspects. Quite a few sale items are located interspersed in the store (not necessarily on the end caps).

The seafood and meat counters dominate the back wall…

as well as a really large refrigerator of panchan…

Sort of near the center back of the store is an 'island' area that looks like it will have ovens going all the time.

for now, the surrounding counters are holding the pre-cooked grab and go items.

The produce area is at least three times larger than at the 'old' Zion.

There is so much extra space and a greater selection. This Zion has 12 cash registers. The overhead lighting is all LED, not florescent (probably what took a bit of time in getting this space ready).

This is the view from the cash registers to the 'other side' – the storefront area of the building…see all the storefronts to the left? I cound eight.

If you look to the right from the checkout registers, you can see the soon to open Paris Baguette store.

Today was the first day and so things are a bit of a frenzy, as I would think will be happening all this long three day Memorial Day weekend.

Zion Market 7655 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard San Diego 92111 (858) 268-3300 Website

La Casa Blanca-La Mesa

May 23, 2013 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. You somehow found your way here, either from a Bookmark or a Google or a Bing. In any case, stay a while and read a post from Cathy, who is writing today.

In the middle part of very large San Diego County, in the City of La Mesa, which some people consider "East" is a nice sit down Mexican restaurant serving homemade/grandma's recipes of simple Mexican foods. La Casa Blanca has been here, parallel to the I-8, next to the Charcoal House, just East of Grossmont Center since 2007. { Yes-charcoal and blanca-The Mister and I sometimes say 'do you want to eat at black or white?' once we park the car.}

There is plenty of parking behind the restaurant, not too much right in front.

There are three tables in front and about eight in the front room. The Cantina is to the back of the building. Not too large, always neat and clean, with friendly waiters. We feel at home here.

Fresh house made salsa and fresh, warm corn chips are brought to your table while you peruse the menu.

This is a lunch special- the Mi Amigo plate ($6.95). Three mini tacos (tortillas made here)one topped with carne asada, one with pollo asada and the third carnitas. This comes with a choice of rice or beans…and the beans here are very good (lard). The meats are all very good, moist and properly seasoned.

The lunch soup and salad ($5.95). Chicken tortilla soup. Excellent, magical chicken tortilla soup. This always hits the spot for me. It's another one of those deceptive bowls; quite deep.

An a la carte chile relleno ($3.95). Made here. Light, crunchy eggy crust on a fresh Pasilla chile stuffed with a fresh Mexican cheese topped with a house made sauce. We always order something with cheese.

…The Queso Fundido appetizer ($6.95) Melted cheese, topped with either chorizo (this version) or rajas (roasted sliced Poblano chiles; my Friday/meatless choice). Served with the house made tortillas. Cheesy gooey spicy goodness.

A simple Caesar salad ($7.95). Sometimes this large serving of crisp lettuce topped with garlicy goodness is shared along with some other item.

The shrimp coctele ($10.95).

I particularly like the seafood here. The shrimp for the coctele are large, butterflied and plentiful in the very fresh lime-tomato-cucumber avocado topped broth.

La Casa Blanca is very nice, family run restaurant that serves good fresh food. If you happen to be in the area, it is worth the stop.

La Casa Blanca 9570 Murray Drive La Mesa, CA 92042 (619) 466-2912 Website

Reds-Point Loma

May 22, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, What Cathy Eats!

Reds is Closed

Hello (again). You're (back) looking at the food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk and His Missus are enjoying their vacation in Portugal (and other places). ed(from Yuma) and His Tina are venturing around Yuma and making plans for their next vacation. Today is another post from Cathy and The Mister and their staycation.

The other day, we drove West on the 8, then South, somehow ending up near the Marina. We had passed several restaurants and decided to take a walk. Neighborhood clientele as well as yacht owners hang out near the South end of Rosecrans.

The jacaranda trees are in bloom and just beautiful.

We decided to stop here. It's right across the street from The Living Room, which I posted about last year. Let me just say I wish we had stopped here sooner.
Grabbing a menu, we sat down and…I smelled fresh-fresh coffee…

Slightly confused, because I saw all these pump pots, I ordered a cup of coffee and was told they roast all the beans right here(!)-that's why I smelled fresh coffee. Organic, free trade and bird free, roasted in small batches coffee. We ordered and I took a small (1/2 pump) taste of each of the three coffees that interested me (decaf and a vanilla something flavored coffee are not anything I'd choose, ever). Ultimately, I preferred the middle selection-"Mad Red".

After ordering from the lunch menu, which had an admonition of "We guarantee 'same day' service. Thank you for your patience in preparing your handcrafted meal. Delicious not pretentious slow food." I walked around the small, ten table large interior, finally comprehending the theme.
There was also a very nice outdoor seating area in the back.

Beads on the ceiling, Mardi Gras masks, skeletons and skulls, voodoo.
Combined with some of the French named and Cajun spiced items on the menu…the synapses connected-New Orleans.

Of course, the eclectic condiment selection on every table was also a clue.

It did not take too long for our food to be brought out. I must say that every person working here was helping on all the tables and each one was very friendly.

When we ordered, I only slightly mentioned that The Mister and I would be sharing the sandwich and salad we had ordered, and the sandwich was brought out in two baskets. Nice. This was under the 'grilled cheese' part of the menu- a "Cochon" ($9) Provolone and Swiss cheeses…with pulled pork, ham and artisan pepper bacon, on sliced brioche. It's served with a house made jalapeño strawberry jam. No, not a Monte Cristo, not a Cuban, just a great, wonderful, fresh, pork-ham-bacon-cheese wonderful tasty sandwich. The menu has pork belly on it and I suspect the bacon comes from the same place; it was not crispy bacon, but thick sliced, lightly peppered and excellent. Toasted seasoned bagel slices as a side was a very nice, different touch.

The Paleo salad (large, $10). Mixed super greens (kale and spinach and other lettuces) avocado, tomato, a boiled organic free range egg, walnuts and sunflower seeds and the artisan peppered bacon that was on the Cochon sandwich. This photo does not do it justice, but the salad bowl was HUGE and more than enough for us to share.

When we went to pay, I noticed some very nice looking pastries next to the cash register, probably wonderful also. We are already planning a return visit.

Reds 1017 Rosecrans Street San Diego 92016 (619) 523-5540 Website open 6 am-11pm

Green Acre – a real hidden gem

May 19, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Pizza, Salads, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk is vacationing, according to solid plans. ed (from Yuma) is relaxing, according to fluid plans. Cathy is blogging, according to general plans of achieving a post for you to enjoy.

Everybody has to eat. If you are at home and don't want to cook, you go out to a favorite neighborhood place. If you are at work, there's going to be a place that is close. People don't like to drive very far when they go out, unless maybe for a special occasion. People who work in the "scientist" area of town -near Sorrento Valley and UCSD- where not many lunch options are available, *do* have a great, healthy, tasty option but it isn't easy to find…

This is what you are ultimately looking for.

Raised bed gardens, in the middle of an Office Park (the Nautilus Life Science Campus area). These fresh vegetables and herbs will be part of your meal, picked that morning.

Straight ahead is the front door to Green Acre.

This is what you see from the parking lot. See the umbrellas to the right?

There are plenty of marked parking spaces, if you'd like to come here for breakfast or lunch and don't work here. It's only open Monday-Friday…like the office park. (I'd be here every weekend if it was open.)

When you walk in, there's a chalkboard listing the daily specials.

There's an area to eat inside, also.

When you are waiting in line to order and pay, the wall advertising other restaurants related to Green Acre- those run by San Diego's Top Chef Season 3 Cheftestant Brian Malarkey, is your only clue that this place is related to those "fabric themed" (Searsucker, Gabardine, Burlap, Gingham and Herringbone) restaurants around town, which are heavily promoted and very popular.

The menu board is hanging above the cash register area, where you order, pay and get a number. Then you take your beverage, find a seat and soon enough, your food is brought to you.

My first visit here was a meet up with fellow bloggers caninecologne (who posted after that first visit)(two posts, actually) and Dennis. Dennis has been here many times, since he works close by (as I said at the beginning…)

One of the things I really like about Green Acre is that just about everything is recycled and recycle-able. The paper straws are more than just cute. When you return your tray, the trash area is marked for food mulch, paper and plastic recycling and 'other'.

The food is brought out on jelly roll pans lined with brown butcher/craft paper. This is Dennis' Grass fed beef burger, topped with leek, slow roasted tomato and Marin County Brie served on a fresh pretzel bun($12) it comes with the fresh-fresh salad, topped with a herb infused dressing…oh, and the pickle is definitely not from a jar. The Russett fries ($3) are served with a 'tomato jam' that tasted more like a marinara than catsup…The fries are quite nice.

caninecologne was not going to let this long drive North go to waste and ordered two full meal items. She took home more than half of each. This is the "Drunken Mary" panini-a chicken salad made with smoked almonds and brandied cherries ($7). I had a taste and it was really good. The side salad, again very fresh-fresh was very good.

This is caninecologne's other main course meal- the 'Corn Cobb' ($9). A very nice, very large, very fresh Cobb salad, made with chicken, avocado, bacon, cheese (she asked for a substitute of the standard Bleu cheese) and topped with a corn vinaigrette. This was very good.

My salad- the 'Nice!'-(a play on Nicoise) ($10) Lightly seared albacore, a perfect soft boiled farm egg, and instead of beans, fresh peas and instead of potato, freshly fried potato skins on top: whatever is fresh and in season… The lettuces, tomato, vinaigrette were memorable as to their freshness.

I had to bring The Mister here, so one weekday in April, we drove out here (it's easy, take the 5 to Genessee, go West two lights to John Jay Hopkins, turn (you can only turn North) and the first street is General Atomics Drive- the first building on the right -go behind it through the parking lot). I decided to try one of the items from the "Brick Oven Bar"- a 'Purist' half pizza($6). Again, it comes with the salad, all on the brown paper lined jelly roll pan. A simple, perfectly baked mozzarella/basil/tomato pizza. This combination is *so* good, I didn't want to stop eating it and am glad I only ordered a half…just to appear polite.

The Mister ordered the Nice! salad, based on my incessant obsession with my previous experience (this version had a few small potatoes in it, so no potato skin toppers;potatoes were able to be harvested) and also ordered a Daily Soup ($4), which this day was a wonderful vegetarian spring root vegetable chowder. This hit the spot with the slightly chilly overcast outdoor seating spot we chose. It was a nice blend of root veggies and kale, not too spicy and not a thick broth, but a very flavorful one.

We've tried other menu items here. The breakfasts are pretty basic (omelettes, wraps and paninis as well as yogurt and fruit cups) and extremely fresh. The menu is small and changes based on what is available. Green Acre serves very fresh, very high quality food without any hype. I really like it here.

Green Acre 3535 General Atomics Court San Diego 92121 (858)587-6601 M-F 8am-6pm Website

Cafe Marché – Bird Rock/La Jolla

May 18, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, French Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Cafe Marché has closed.

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by a few friends: Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy do the majority of posts here, but a few others have helped out as well. Today, it's Cathy's turn to write while the guys are 'researching' in various parts of the USA and world.

It's that time of year when The Mister and I just get in the car, drive and stop when one of us is hungry. The other day, we found ourselves in South La Jolla on the fairly new La Jolla Boulevard that has added circles in the middle of the road, so you have to drive slowly, zig zagging at 15 miles per hour, instead of stopping at every corner.

It's the area commonly known as Birdrock.

As I drove slowly, we saw this- Café Marché. It used to be a different restaurant where we had never stopped. This time, I found a parking space (the parking lot has green lines painted in it, but is labeled 'Customer Parking Only' and not '15 minute parking' as are green lined spots on the street).

I didn't get a photo of the counter when we walked in, but a good variety of freshly prepared deli items and flavored popcorns are available to grab and go.

We sat near the front, and had a nice view of the painted Bird Rock on the wall. The breakfast and lunch menus were brought to us.

The Mister ordered coffee ($2) and a thermal pot was brought to him. It was a very good, fresh brewed French roast coffee.

The Mister's order came with a 'small salad', which was quite large and served with a very nice herbed balsamic dressing.

Short story: The Mister and I had just been reminiscing about late night stops at Denny's after the UGLi (undergraduate library) closed, and how we always ordered a "Super Bird", a sort of Monte Cristo sandwich…

So, when the Monte Cristo Crépe ($8.50) was on the menu at Cafe Marché, He had to order it. I must say, this was *wonderful* and had a good amount of ham and turkey and cheese inside the *very* perfect, thin and flavorful crépe.

When I looked at the menu, I could not decide, asked what the soup of the day was and was told that in addition to French onion, the 'soup' was actually a chili. ($5). I had to try it and was very, very happy I did. Our (very nice and attentive) Waiter said it was his Mother's recipe…and I want that recipe! Ground beef, black, kidney and garbanzo beans, corn and a perfect blend of spices, topped with cheese and a dollop of sour cream and…a perfect meal. It was accompanied by grilled Focaccia, which was so very fresh and apparently what is used for sandwiches here…sandwiches which I'll order next time.

What a great place. So glad we stopped here.

Marché Café 5550 La Jolla Blvd La Jolla CA 92037 (623)332-3505

The Baked Bear – and a good memory

May 12, 2013 Cathy Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are reading the blog mmm-yoso!!! It's where Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy (as well as a few others) share posts with an underlying subject of food. Today, Cathy is sharing.

One afternoon last week, The Mister and I drove West and found a place to park near The Crystal Pier, a public pier (where you can fish) as well as a hotel at the end of Garnet Avenue, in the Pacific Ocean.

It's quite a walk down and back the 872 foot long wooden pier, quiet and beautiful.

We left the pier, walked straight ahead, past a few restaurants, took a left on Mission Boulevard and saw this building and sign next to the Fatburger.

Well, I had never heard of this place…and we had just had a nice walk, justifying an ice cream sandwich. Had to…

{It turns out The Baked Bear opened just last week, Kirbie has already posted on it}

Spacious, clean and not crowded. A nice young lady at the counter asked us if we had been there before. She then told us a common ordering method-pick a cookie flavor or two different ones, then pick an ice cream flavor…and I started to read the flavor choices on the menu board-

The first and second main sandwich choices: Cookies, brownies OR waffles!!!

When I was growing up in Detroit, one special treat my brother and I would sometimes get was a waffle ice cream sandwich at the counter at Kresge's, a Five and Dime store. (Here's a photo). Oh, I knew what I wanted.

The cookies were freshly baked, and the waffles (under the cover to the right of the cones) were already made…but…well, you'll see. Cones and cups were also available…for people who are here for the ice cream and not a sandwich.

The selection of 12 ice cream flavors. Premium ice creams, from different companies; a very nice detail. We chose butter pecan.

The soft, fresh waffle had one side already crispy toasted. That side had the ice cream placed on it and then the waffle was folded over the ice cream, then it was placed on the flat toaster (above; like a panini maker without the ridges), to get the exterior of the waffle warm and a bit crispy…and perfect.

I know people are buying the cookie sandwiches -the cookie selection was tempting- but the waffle is absolutely my idea of an ice cream sandwich.

The waffle was just enough crispy to not turn soggy and the ice cream was a very good quality of butter pecan- salty and not too sweet with crispy pecans. The waffle stayed intact and we were able to share the sandwich without a sticky meltdown. It really was perfect.

Fond memory #2: I sent my brother the above photo attached to a text message…with no words… and he immediately texted back "Kresge's!!!" Yes, he also remembered our special snack outings.

The Baked Bear 4516 Mission Blvd San Diego 92109 (858) 886-7433 website

The rest of the story (3rd memory)-

I call Mom daily. When I told her about The Baked Bear ice cream waffle, she immediately relayed a story about the horse drawn waffle cart that used to show up on Fridays in the Detroit neighborhood where she, my dad and my brother and I grew up. She told me the man would yell from the cart "Rzecz naleśnik", which is "pancakes" in Polish. She said the cart also had ice cream.

After some research, I found This Blog Post with a photo of a New York horse drawn waffle cart. It was a memory she hadn't ever shared before. I realized Food carts are not a new invention, nor are waffle ice cream sandwiches.

Happy Mother's Day.

Up2Yoü Cafe-time for a snack

May 7, 2013 Cathy Caffeine Fix, Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food, is the website you have selected to read. Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy share food experiences here. Cathy is writing today because the guys are busy with appointments galore.

The other day, I was craving something sweet and The Mister figured how to use the maps app on my iPhone. While I was driving, he did a search for 'desserts', saw the pin drops and told me to take a right from Convoy onto Vickers Street. Lo and behold, I found a place to park along this street of mostly Commercial/Wholesale/Maintenance businesses.

Up2Yoü Cafe is closer to Convoy on the North side of the street; you may pass it at first, but since Vickers is a Court, you'll see it when driving back…

When you walk in, you'll notice random, eclectic decor throughout (yes, those are black and white photos of Beatles)…

We happened to walk in when a large group was leaving and had a choice of seats in this 29 person capacity space (which oddly has about 36 seating spaces). That's the cash register, with card and board games on the counter. Pay attention to that pink and blue signage on the back wall; I'll get to it at the end…

The menu is simple and easily changeable, each section hanging by "S" hooks.

Quite a few beverage combinations are available. I selected the sweet orange tea($2.75)- it was freshly, perfectly brewed. (It's not sweetened, just the flavor is 'sweet orange', and it was very pleasant.)

Served in a *huge* cup, along with our order of a crepe ($3.50), filled with Nutella®($50¢), banana ($1) and topped with vanilla ice cream ($1),

Here's a blurry photo of a cross section. You can see that whipped cream was also inside the crépe.

The crépe was very good on its own, quite overfilled and the whipped cream was *fresh*. The vessels for conveying the various toppings are honey toast (which The Mister and I estimated to be 4x4x2 inches in size) and waffles. There are also banana splits and something called a fried banana cheesecake: nothing savory here. It was very good and we will be returning to try other items in various combinations.

(After I wrote this, I saw that Kirbie's Cravings had done a post in October last year; she has a great photo of the honey toast and a link to Erin's post on Serious Eats. It looks like snow ice is either gone or just one of the easy changes from the menu board. )

Up2Yoü Cafe 7770 Vickers Street San Diego 92111 (619)663-6388 Closed Mondays. T-Th 12:30-11, Fri-Sat 12:30-midnight Sun 12:30-10

Oh. The pink and blue signage on the back wall?

Restrooms.

Coffee, Bagels &Crépes – Alpine

May 5, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog about eating experiences. Today, Kirk is busy, ed (from Yuma) is busy and so Cathy is writing.

In early April, I had to be in Alpine a couple of times and noticed this small, new place had opened, right next to Alpine Liquor on Alpine Boulevard. I stopped once, enjoyed a fresh bagel snack with coffee and made a note that The Mister needed to be with me the next time I was driving out there.

Early one morning, we drove out here again and I had the time to pay attention to details.

The 'front desk' is an old coffee cart. I say old, because it has inspection stickers on it dating back to 2005.

There is a menu you can see from the front of the cart when ordering, it has prices. This is the side of the building with a handicap access ramp and the priceless menu. Turns out that Coffee, Bagels & Crépes opened on April 1.

There is a selection of coffees in pump pots and this morning I asked for the boldest one. The coffee here is good. The Mister ordered a breakfast crépe ($5.50) and before even taking our money, the friendly owner turned around and began measuring and mixing crépe batter for us. What service.

What freshness! See those orange egg yolks? There was crispy, nicely flavored bacon and cheese inside this light, slightly sweet fresh crépe batter. The topping was a ribbon of basil sauce. This was quite large and so very fresh.

When we saw that the owner was making a batch of crépe batter, it seemed natural to order a second crépe.

Yes. Why not a Nutella® and banana crépe? It was breakfast after all…

The cross section- the banans inside the crépe were warm and the ones on the outside were still cold; a nice contrast. A nice breakfast outside in Alpine. We will be returning for lunch. Soon.

Coffee, Bagels & Crépes 2250 Alpine Blvd (next to Alpine Liquor, at Marshall Road) Alpine, CA 92101

Trails Eatery-Breakfast in San Carlos.

April 23, 2013 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, What Cathy Eats!

Hey there! You've found mmm-yoso!!!, the blog with more than seven years of writings of what Kirk and a few friends eat, drink and do. Today, Cathy is writing about a recent meal.

As you may know, San Diego County is more than 4200 square miles of land. More than 70 miles of Pacific shoreline from Mexico to the Northernmost edges of the county and inland another almost 200 miles from the shore to the Easternmost edge of the county. What we call "East County" is really still the Westernmost one third of the entire County.

This -in the background- is Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the City of San Diego, just South of Mission Trails Regional Park (the largest municipally owned park in the State of California), in a neighborhood known as San Carlos. The park has over forty miles of hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails, a rock climbing area, a campground adjacent to a small lake. Many, many people drive to Cowles Mountain daily and hike it, day and night.

Less than a mile from both the Park(which has an entrance from Mission Gorge Road near Jackson) and the Mountain(which is on Navajo at Golfcrest), on the SE corner Jackson Drive at Navajo Road, is The Trails, an eatery serving breakfast, lunch and occasionally, dinner. (See the top of Cowles Mountain to the left all the way back?)

When you walk into the recently refurbished space (the restaurant was featured on an Episode of Restaurant:Impossible), to your left is a
small area selling souveniers. Yes, this restaurant does have many gluten-free choices on rather large separate menu as well as being close in proximity to the actual Trails and Mountain.

Bright, clean, spacious and inviting. The Trails has greatly improved.

The condiment choices are pretty much the usual.

On this day, The Mister chose one of the before 9 a.m. weekday chalkboard specials- a multigrain waffle with bacon($4.99). The waffle was light and fluffy, not heavy or chewy…though you could tell it was a bit 'healthier' and had more fiber than a traditional Belgian waffle. The bacon was quite flavorful; something I have not expected with thin cut bacon.

This particular morning was not about a sensible portion nor about low calorie. I came here for this- the French toast croissant combination, with two poached eggs and one sausage (I could have had two meats and no egg as an option)($7.99). I continue to try and replicate this method of making French toast using a croissant as the delivery mechanism. The egg is only on the top, the bottom is just toasty, flaky croissant goodness. The sausage is quite good (despite the dark color in this photo). It's juicy and has many spices in it, making it the perfect counter to the slight sweetness of the croissant. The eggs, as always, were perfectly poached, with runny, orange yolks.

Coffee is $2.29 and constantly refilled. In addition to an entire gluten free menu (including GF beer), cinnamon roll pancakes and Elvis Cakes (chocolate chip banana pancakes topped with peanut butter) seem to be a common breakfast order here.

It's a neighborhood place as well as a destination: just like Mission Trails Park and Cowles Mountain.

The Trails Eatery 7389 Jackson Drive (next to Keils Market) San Diego, Ca 92119 Open 7 days 7 am-3 pm and 5 pm-9pm Wed-Sat. (Lunch starts at 10:30) website