American/New American Restaurants – Page 3

Mary-Etta’s (El Cajon) (again)

June 16, 2025 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Burgers

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus are vacationing.

I haven't posted about Mary Etta's since 2016, when The Mister and I enjoyed a breakfast at the counter.

Recently, I took my brother here before his drive home because he said he wanted 'something like lunch', while I was wanting breakfast.

This long time (since 1935) cafe, mostly patronized by locals (it's on Olde Highway 80, parallel to and South of the 8, in the Flinn Springs area-close to Lakeside) is known for making their own breakfast sausage. They serve both sides of the menu all day.

Lately, I've been craving pancakes, and it's always been too busy to make them at home. The two egg, bacon and pancake plate ($12.75) was my order. The perfectly prepared over-easy eggs were runny and dip-able with pancake pieces. The flapjacks were lightly crisp on the exterior and wonderfully fluffy and had just the right amount of sweetness to satisfy me. The bacon was not too thick nor thin; it did have flavor. So many times I have been disappointed with bacon to the point that it is rarely ordered.

My brother decided on a sausage burger ($13.50); it's the breakfast sausage with cheese (add $1) (he chose pepperjack) and got the breakfast country fries on the side-the thinly sliced, fried crisp potatoes are also pretty unique here. The breakfast sausage patty was hefty, coarse ground and filled with fresh herbs and spices. It was served on a toasted sesame seeded bun, which was very nice. Lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions were on the side. My brother approved.

Fresh coffee, refilled in mismatched cups, friendly service and great food.

Mary Etta's Cafe 14809 Olde Highway 80 El Cajon, CA 92021 Open Daily 7:00-1:30

Brunch with JJ – Luce Bar & Kitchen

June 13, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Dog Friendly

I keep telling myself that I need to try to enjoy our neighborhood a bit more. But, to be perfectly honest, choices are limited, and what is on the menu is not food I crave or am really interested in. I do wish that Bay Park was a bit more "walkable". That's the attraction of places like North Park, Kensington, and Little Italy to me. And now with JJ, it's even more attractive to have places that are pooch friendly as well. Luce is one of those places that I see and pass on pretty much a daily basis. And while the meals we've had there have been ok, we've never really been motivated to return. As matter of fact, the last time I've been there was to do Covid takeout in May of 2020! Whoa, it's been five years already!

Luce with JJ 01

And since that time; Luce has created a covered outdoor bar space. And now they are in the process of taking over what used to be the dance studio next door as well. While taking JJ on a post morning coffee stroll from Bay Park Coffee, I noticed something on the weekend "brunch" menu that caught my attention.

Luce with JJ 02b

So, on a recent Sunday morning, JJ and I dropped by Luce right when they opened at ten. Crazy, but there were several folks already in line waiting. All of them were waiting be seated either at the bar (those old timers started hitting the drinks pretty early) or in the dining room, so JJ and I initially had the back bar area all to ourselves.

Do you see what caught my attention on the menu?

Luce with JJ 03

Yep, it's the Kimchi Fried Rice ($18). Don't ask my why this caught my attention….or why I decided to order it. Call me a glutton for punishment if you will.

Luce with JJ 04 Luce with JJ 05 This came with two poached eggs….I would have preferred sunny side up with nice crisp edges; but the eggs were fine, with the yolks still runny.

My least favorite item were the doughy "corn fritters". Not enough corn as well, which made it lacking in flavor.

The rest of the dish was not bad. Perhaps in need of more kimchi fermented-spiciness, but not bad at all. The rice was perfectly cooked, the hoisin based pork belly had that mildly salty SPAM® affect, and wasn't overly sweet like I expected. The carrots were shredded and bit too thickly and were a bit unwieldy as well.

Luce with JJ 06

The service was nice and friendly….like it's always been at Luce. And JJ was such a "good boi" and waited patiently for daddy to finish his food. I made sure to take some of this home for the Missus to try and though she thought it was not worth eighteen bucks, She declared it not bad. Perhaps not "real" kimchi fried rice good, but better than overly "gringo-fied" stuff.

Luce is quite popular and the place was filling up by the time JJ and I left. There were three other well behaved pooches in the bar area as well.

Luce with JJ 07

Now if I can find a couple more dishes to interest me at Luce.

Luce with JJ 08

Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours
Mon – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Friday 11am – 930pm
Sat 10am – 930pm
Sun 10am – 9pm

Road Trip – Shugrue’s Restaurant & Bar (Lake Havasu City)

May 24, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

We needed a place to stop for an evening on the way back from Winslow. Heading back to the Phoenix area or even heading back to Flagstaff or even Sedona might have worked. But having JJ along made a 7+ hour drive seem a bit too long. We had never been to Lake Havasu City and there was one thing I did want to see after watching a BBC documentary a few years back.

So, we made the drive to Lake Havasu City. We were staying on an area called "the Island" and since we'd be only spending the evening thought it would be nice to have a view of what I had wanted to see here; the London Bridge. So, I booked a dog friendly room at the Heat Hotel, which had a patio and a view of the Bridge.

And yes, this is really the "London Bridge". It was built in the 1830's and had become unable to handle the traffic in the city by the early 1960's. Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu City (which was founded in 1964). I enjoyed this historic documentary on it.

And having recently been to London made it even more significant to us.

We got to the hotel a bit early and our room wasn't ready; so we took JJ for a short walk along the London Bridge Beach area.

It was a bit warm, but JJ did fine.

I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City; so it was interesting to see all the "snowbirds"….like I felt like a really young!

We checked into our room and then decided to find a place to get some dinner. As I mentioned earlier; unlike what I'd usually do, I hadn't done much research on Lake Havasu City…….we were just going to chill and not worry about things.

When it came for dinner; I looked for a pooch friendly place and we decided not to stray too far. We basically went across the street.

It seems that all the restaurants are owned by the same company. But here we were…and I (at least) was tired, so I walked into Shugrue's and the very nice young lady greeted me. I asked if we could have the outdoor table, which was right at the entrance of the restaurant. The folks here were quite welcoming and they did love JJ. And the view from our table was not bad at all!

We started with some nice brews…..

And, as we will often do these days, we just went with appetizers.

For some reason, I just decided to order the Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts ($16), which had a "sweet maple glaze". It just didn't seem like something we'd like, but this was our favorite dish of the night.

I'm usually not a fan of sweet stuffs as a main or appetizer; but we enjoyed the smoky-sweet-nutty flavors along with the salty-crunchiness, with the pineapple which actually did a nice job as a palate "cleanser".

I don't know why, but I enjoy fried pickles. But this version ($12) was not a favorite of ours.

There's a ratio of breading to pickle that I think is optimal, which balances out the sour to texture. This was just huge spears which were not evenly breaded.

The Flatbread ($15) was also not a favorite.

A bit too soggy-doughy and too sweet for our taste. We could have used more Portobello Mushroom and less Balsamic Glaze.

Still, the folks Serving were so nice….especially to JJ.

Shugrue's Restaurant & Bar
1425 N McCulloch Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

And after dinner we took a walk across the bridge.

Where we got a nice view of our hotel.

Our walk on the other side of the bridge was interesting as it seemed to be party central……well, over 60 party central……think Gaslamp for seniors….

After getting back to our room and settling in….well, it was time for JJ's nightly "walk".

And there just happened to be an outdoor bar along the way! How convenient! I got a gin and tonic nightcap overlooking the bridge….

And had a chance to chat with the bartender. I really hadn't done a whole lot of research before choosing Lake Havasu City. I found out it's a haven for snowbirds and seniors and then party central for college students during weekends and spring break which was coming up. I guess we lucked out visiting during the middle of the week in March before Spring Break.

Lake Havasu City was a interesting stop on the way back home. Not sure we'll return; but we got to see the London Bridge!

Road Trip – A Return to La Posada and the Turquoise Room (Winslow) and the Painted Desert Rim Trail (Petrified Forest National Park)

May 16, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Flagstaff/ Sedona/Winslow/Northern AZ, Road Trip, Travel

After Scottsdale, our next stop was at a very familiar place. Yep, we were back in Winslow, Arizona, staying at the La Posada Hotel yet again.

Of course, this time we had, "you know who" in tow.

The place was much busier than we recalled; which I'm thinking is a good thing.

There are several dog friendly rooms in the hotel. As I've mentioned before, the room are named after various celebrities who have stayed at the La Posada. On this visit we had the Diane Keaton room.

It was quite large and spacious.

In spite of the place being rather busy; we were able to check in early. And once settled in; you know where the Missus needed to take JJ, right?

Yep…..

It was time for JJ to "Stand on that corner". Along with various other photo ops in Winslow and around the La Posada.

As for dinner. Well, when I made our hotel reservations, I was told that we could dine in the lobby right outside of the Turquoise Room. So, I made reservations and we had a table right in front of the bar area in the lobby. There was another table having drinks and later two more parties, both with pooches dined in the lobby as well.

I've already done several posts on meals at the Turquoise Room, that I'll just post some photos. It was as good as before.

And JJ seemed to enjoy himself as well.

After dinner; the Missus had to go back out again for more photo-ops…..

Before settling in for the night.

In the morning, we got some coffee in the lobby and of course guess where the Missus had to go to before checking out?

Sheesh…I basically did have to tell Her to "Take it Easy"…pun intended…..

After checking out; we headed east on the I-40 to the Petrified Forest National Park. I had read that the Park is one of the most dog friendly. We decided to first heading to the North side and the Painted Desert Inn area and get a bit acquainted with the park by taking the short Painted Desert Rim Trail.

The views were stunning.

And at first JJ was really curious…..

But soon, it seems the sun started getting to him….I'm saying the sunlight, because, well, it wasn't hot at all…..

He started to try to find shade under small little bushes and leaves…..so dramatic.

We kept trying to give him water….but he wasn't thirsty. Was this the same pooch who had just done a 5 mile walk with us in Santa Barbara a month before? We've kind of decided that "J" does not like too much sun….mister photo-phobia…..

So we cut things short and headed back to Winslow to grab an early lunch back at the Turquoise Room.

The Missus really likes that Lamb Pozole. And as you can tell; I like the salads here…..I know…me with a salad? Still, the Turquoise Room is pretty much a must stop for us when we're in the area.

Turquoise Room (in the La Posada Hotel)
303 E 2nd St.
Winslow, AZ 86047

From here we headed west on the I-40, stopping to put in gas in Kingman. Man, check out the price of a gallon of gas here!

Before making it to our next stop……

Midweek Meanderings – MAKE Cafe on the Move and Na Tart Coming to Clairemont.

May 14, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Middle Eastern Restaurants/Cuisine

Just a quick post for a very pleasant Wednesday.

Make Cafe on the Move?

So, I was doing a post on the last of the trio of places where we had Shakshuka with JJ. It was a shop we saw walking back to our car after having breakfast with JJ at Flora named Make Cafe. We walked over and took a look at the menu, which was quite interesting. When I got back home, I did a quick online search and found out that MAKE stands for "Merging Agriculture, Kitchens and Employment" and MAKE Projects " is a hyperlocal farm, cafe, and social enterprise that empowers refugee and immigrant women through food, agriculture, and community." The Cafe provides refugee women with job training and experience. You can read a wonderful article from San Diego Magazine here that also highlight's the programs founder Anchi Mei.

Anyway, we paid a visit to the cafe which was only open 4 days a week for brunch.

Make Cafe 01

Make Cafe 02

Loved the diversity of the menu and the food was quite good. The service was warm and friendly.

Anyway, as I was prepping this post early last week, I noticed that the Google had them listed as Temporarily Closed. So, I did some checking and yes, it seems that MAKE is on the move; from the location at 2920 University to Felton Street according to their website.

Here's what we had.

Make Cafe 03

Make Cafe 04

According to their website; they hope to reopen in late 2025. I'm all for places like this…and yes, I've gone ahead and donated a bit.

Hope they are able to reopen by their projected date.

Na Tart Coming to Clairemont:

**** You can find a post on Na Tart here.

Did some quick shopping at the Aldi on Balboa, when I noticed this coming soon sign in the storefront next to Pho Hut & Grill.

So, again I took to Google and it seems that this Egg Tart specialist based in Flushing, NYC is opening this shop in San Diego! I believe they are supposed to open in July!

I'm thinking this parking lot just got a bit tighter!

5252 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Road Trip – Arcadia Farms Cafe (Scottsdale)

May 10, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Travel

Upon waking in Scottsdale, we found that it was much cooler than the day before. So, after JJ had his breakfast and had a short "food coma break", we decided to take a stroll and maybe get us something to eat.

We headed down East Main Street. Though all the shops were closed, we enjoyed wandering and enjoyed the public art.

And of course the Missus could not pass up a photo-op…..

IMG_6814a

As you cross North Scottsdale Road, the Galleries start giving way to a "Old West" look.

IMG_6819a

We walked all the way down to the Civic Center; there's a pedestrian path/mall with shops and green spaces.

And frankly, JJ seemed to be enjoying himself. He even found some new "paw-rents" that he threatened to leave with!

That's actually the Winfield Scott Memorial who along with his wife Helen established a homestead in what is now Scottsdale in 1888. Interesting fact; Winfield Scott eventually moved to San Diego and is currently interred at Mount Hope Cemetery.

From here we decided to head on back and took East 1st Avenue back. In doing my research on dog friendly eateries; I came across Arcadia Farms Cafe. It looked promising, so we decided to stop by.

The cafe also has a market across the street. They are open for breakfast-brunch-lunch daily. I poked my head in and was greeted and then we were seated in the quaint covered patio area.

The gal who Served us was lovely…she even brought a bowl of water for JJ! The items on the menu looked like it was French influenced and we decided to just get one breakfast to share. The Missus got a coffee and I got a fairly stiff Cold Brew.

She also dropped off two Madeleines….a very nice touch. The Missus saved them for later.

We asked the young lady for a recommendation; something not overly sweet and were surprised that she recommended the Gruyere and Parisian Ham Crepes ($20). She told us that the crepes weren't too sweet.

Good lord, this was just drenched in rich Mornay Sauce, which basically overpowered everything. Yes, the crepes didn't seem sweet because you really couldn't taste it and same with the ham. Being saturated with the sauce, the crepes got mushy quickly. This was a bit much for us…..and somewhat typical of many "American-French" places that just go a bit overboard.

Well, at least we absolutely wouldn't need to have anything until dinner!

Arcadia Farms Cafe
7025 East 1st Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

We rolled back to our room, packed, and headed off to our next stop.

Now, if you recall in my previous post I noted that Scottsdale had gotten record heat on the day we arrived. Would you believe as we headed up the 87 past Payson we saw snow alongside the road! We decided to stop and give JJ his first "taste" of the white stuff!

He was quite curious and entertained himself for a few minutes.

From here we headed to our next stop….along "Woof 66"…… to a very familiar place.

Stay tuned for that one!

JJ wishes everyone a great weekend and "Blessings to All"!

Road Trip – Zuzu (Scottsdale)

May 7, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler/Central AZ, Road Trip, Travel

Back at the end of March we took JJ on his forth road trip (!). This time the Missus wanted to take the pup to one of Her favorite towns, mainly for the photo-op. We had been there so many times that I knew the hotel had a good "pup policy". So, we did a bookend, one stop before and one stop after as JJ himself noted in this post. All in all, over 1300 miles in three days! Yikes!

Anyway, I'd heard that Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale was dog friendly and all rooms had a patio or balcony…..we usually request first floor rooms these days. You know, having a pup and all. I thought checking out Old Town Scottsdale might be interesting as I hadn't been there since my consulting days in the late 90's. And this being late March, the weather would still be pretty moderate….boy, was I wrong! Unfortunately, there was some record heat in the Phoenix area, the temp was said to be 93F! Yikes!

So, after checking in and cooling off, we took JJ out to see how things would go. Well, we found that JJ does not like high temps. Right past our hotel on East Main there was a patch of grass in front of a pizza restaurant. JJ would just lie in the grass and not want to move!

We did make it to the 5th Avenue Shopping District.

Where most of the shops were closed and those that were open were very touristy and bored the Missus. We hurried down North Scottsdale Road back to East Main and the hotel so JJ could cool off.

Luckily, for dinner, I had selected the restaurant in the hotel, something the Missus wasn't thrilled about. She looked over the menu online and was just not impressed. Telling me "are we really eating in the hotel restaurant?"

Zuzu however, did feature patio seating, and by this time things had started to cool off.

We started with some cocktails which were very good. Our Servers were very friendly and when we mentioned the heat told us that it had been in the high 50's just a week previous!

The Missus wasn't inspired by the menu, so I placed our order. The first item to arrive set everything right for the rest of the meal. The Terra Heritage Wagyu Beef Carpaccio was impressive.

Would you believe this was just 21 bucks!!! The beef was cold, refreshing, and quite tasty. There were slices of dried okra for textural contrast. The pumpernickel crumble, provided more texture, the flavor of the anise-toned caraway lifted the dish. Grana Padano added salty-savory milkiness and the Dijon pungency. This was my favorite dish of the trip by far.

I make roasted cauliflower a lot at home, directed toward the Missus' taste. So, when She saw that I ordered the Cauliflower ($14), the Missus was prepared for the worst. But like the carpaccio, this was a very good dish.

But the florets were nicely roasted and seasoned; the Fromage Blanc added a nice palate refreshing tart-creamy-sourness. The Calabrian Peppers mild spice and what seemed like a mild sweetness. There was an interesting mild anise flavor going on….I found out later that those tiny green slices were of Thai Basil.

Of course we had to have a salad, so we went with the Honeycrisp and Kale Salad ($13).

Sweet-Bitter with a nice, crisp, vinaigrette and grated Manchego cheese. Again, it was the little touches that made this dish interesting……here it was the sweet-tart pomegranate seeds.

This was a surprisingly (for the Missus) good meal! And there seemed to be quite a few "regulars" dining. I think She won't be dissing hotel restaurants anymore! It was our favorite meal of the trip! And the whole meal including cocktails was under $75 before tip!

ZuZu (In Hotel Valley Ho)
6850 E Main St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

After dinner, we took JJ for another short walk along East Main. It had cooled off a bit, so he did much better.

We'd spend the next morning taking a walk around Old Town Scottsdale since the temperature was much cooler.

Before heading to our next stop!

Wildland and a Revisit to Sleeping Tiger Coffee (Carlsbad)

April 21, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Dog Friendly

Between all our Road Trips, we’ve taking JJ out to “explore” a bit. On one fine morning, we decided to head up to Carlsbad. We had enjoyed Jeune Et Jolie so much, that when the team behind that restaurant opened a breakfast-brunch-bakery we really wanted to try it out. I had read that dogs were allowed on the patio area, so we decided to head on up.

We easily found parking on State Street and when we passed Wildland, it wasn’t very busy at all. So we took JJ on over for a walk thru the village and along Carlsbad Boulevard.

But first, we decided t get our caffeine fix at a familiar locale, Sleeping Tiger Coffee inside of Witch Creek Winery. The two tables fronting Carlsbad Boulevard were empty, so the Missus sat with J, while I went in and ordered us a Tanzanian Pour Over and a cold brew.

Witch Creek Rev 01

We find it interesting that Starbucks next door is quite busy, while there’s no one getting coffee here.

The Missus enjoys the pour0vers from here and the cold brew is pretty strong and wakes me up.

Witch Creek Rev 03

We sat and relaxed for a bit. We both think the coffee at Sleeping Tiger is much better than the Starbucks next door and wonder why folks aren’t supporting a local business with a superior (in our opinion) product.

Meanwhile; JJ was wondering where “All the witches” were?

Witch Creek Rev 99

**** Sleeping Tiger Coffee is no longer

Sleeping Tiger Coffees (In Witch Creek Winery)
2906 Carlsbad Blvd.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Current Hours:
Thurs – Mon 7am – 5pm
Tues – Wed 7am – 3pm

Fortified by caffeine we took JJ on a nice stroll along Carlsbad Boulevard overlooking Carlsbad State Beach, finally turning back near lifeguard tower 35. Walking back thru Carlsbad Village and along State, we arrived back at Wildland, which was still not very busy, so we grabbed a table on the patio.

Wildland 01

I sat with JJ while the Missus went to peruse the menu.

Wildland 02

The Missus decided on the three item Smoked Fish Plate ($18). Meanwhile, my food friend “LL” recommended the Shakshuka ($20), and after a pretty “meh” version at Flora, I was interested in trying this one.

Wildland 04

Ordering is done at the counter; you’re given a number and your food is brought to you.

Wildland 03

The Smoked Fish Plate was quite good. We chose the Smoked Salmon, Olive Oil Poached Yellowtail, and the item that really made this for us; the Hot Smoked Pastrami Kampachi, which was full of smoky-peppery-herbaceous flavors.

Wildland 05

Loved the veggies, so fresh, the tomatoes sweetly-fruity-acidic; man, those cucumbers crisp and palate cleansing. The vegetables were excellent. The weak point of the dish was the bread, too chewy, with a hard crust.

As for the Shakshuka.

Wildland 06

I thought this was going to be herb overload, but the dill actually complemented the acidic tones of the dish and the celery leaves added a mild “grassiness” to the dish. It seems that the versions in San Diego use za’atar and leave out the cumin and harissa. The eggs were nice and runny, with a hint of smoky-savoriness.

Wildland 07

As with the smoked fish plate, the bread was the weak link here, being too chewy and the crust hard. Still, the dish was pretty good overall.

We did enjoy our time at Wildland and will make sure to return for that smoked fish plate and JJ enjoyed visiting Carlsbad.
Wildland 00
Wildland
2598 State St.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 8am – 9pm
Fri – Sat 8am – 10pm

Road Trip – Queen Cup Coffee, The Baker’s Table (Santa Ynez), and a revisit to Industrial Eats (Buellton)

April 13, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Croissants, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

Even though we were staying in Solvang, we decided to head on out during the day and drive around a bit. Santa Ynez is less than ten minutes from Solvang by car. We'd driven thru and made a quick stop in the town on a previous visit, but this time we waned to take JJ for a walk and explore a bit.

I recalled a coffee shop in the little corner off Meadowlark Road where we stopped to do some window shopping last time. So, we decided to stop there.

While the Missus took JJ to stretch his legs, I went in and ordered us some coffee.

The menu cracked me up……and no, I didn't get anything off the "Fancy AF" menu; just a latte for the Missus and an Americano for me.

There's something quite charming about this shop and Santa Ynez as a whole. The young man working was friendly and effcient.

The Missus enjoyed Her latte and my Americano was fairly smooth and woke me up gently.

Queen Cup Coffee
1095 Meadowvale Rd.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460

After our caffeine fix we decided to take a walk thru downtown Santa Ynez, which has an "Old West" flavor to it. It's the second oldest town in the Santa Ynez Valley, established in 1882.

I cracked up when I saw that the Maverick Saloon has a free shuttle! You gotta love it!

There's a tiny library in town, which I later read, claims to be the Oldest Branch Library in California. The little 12 by 14 structure was built in 1912.

It's only open on Saturdays from 1pm to 4pm.

And of course JJ had to get into the act…..

It was a quiet morning in the town, though we saw two guys with some major photography gear walking up and down the street taking photos.

I had read about a bakery in town named The Baker's Table that was supposed to be pretty good. When doing the "Google thing" I aw several bakeries with that name across the country, so I thought it was a chain. Though on later searches, I found that there are several businesses in different cities that share the same name, but are not affiliated.

I thought it would be a nice morning for a croissant, so while the Missus took JJ around for photos, I dropped on in.

The place was fairly busy. I saw this pup in the courtyard to the side of the bakery. I guess the pooch belongs to one of the employees?

And while the croissant didn't look very impressive; it was pretty good!

While the exterior could have been a bit more flaky and crisp; there was a nice balance of butter and salt flavor. The interior was light, fluffy, and nicely honeycombed. This was a pretty good croissant; and would probably be in the "top 3" here in San Diego.

Needless to say, I was quite happy with this! In Santa Ynez! We'll definitely be back!

The Baker's Table
3570 Sagunto St.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460

We went back to the shop we had visited the last time we were in the area. They welcomed JJ in and gave him "some pets" as well.

We might consider staying in Santa Ynez next time if we can find pet friendly accommodations.

We next drove over to Los Olivos. We love exploring Los Olivos, though it seems more boujie on every visit.

This time around we noticed the little library here as well.

This one is only open on Saturday as well; from 10am to 1pm. I cracked up as I asked the Missus if there's only one librarian in Santa Ynez who worked one day a week shuttling from the Los Olivos library from 10am to 1pm and then going to the Santa Ynez location from 1pm to 4pm?

We then drove back to Solvang and took JJ on the Hans Christian Andersen Park Trail.

A quick mile-and-a-half trail which took a bit over a half hour.

The loud woodpecker got JJ's attention.

And I got JJ to pose for a photo I named A "Shrimp on the barbie".

Poor JJ has to put up with all the dad jokes…..

Even though it seemed like we'd done a lot; it was just getting to close to lunch time. There was a place that we had really enjoyed and had been wanting to return to since our last visit. So, we headed down Highway 246 to Buellton and back to Industrial Eats. We arrived at a quarter to 12 and found parking in one of the few spaces in front of the converted warehouse.

We times things well because by the time Industrial Eats opened a line had formed behind us!

We ordered two item we'd had before and the Missus surprised me by telling me to order another item!

The two "repeats" were the Smoked Duck Salad ($18) and the White Shrimp, Pancetta Garlic Toast ($18).

We enjoyed the Smoked Duck Salad even more this time around; the duck was more tender, had a nice gamey-smokiness. The dressing had a nice acidity and the Missus enjoyed the tart-sweetness of the apples….She usually does not like the addition of fruit to salads, but this changed Her mind. A nice refreshing salad.

The White Shrimp was not as good as we recalled however.

The shrimp tasted fishy and were severely overcooked; the "sauce" was thin and watery. I did enjoy the garlic bread and the chilies though.

I was surprised that the Missus ordered the Miso Cod ($18), something that we usually only make at home. The cod was really delicious.

Man, that cod was so tender. moist, and buttery! The miso glaze was full of sweet-umami. The greens were a nice bitter counterpoint. Though we're not sure about the addition of avocado and the water-salty sauce really didn't add much. Still, the Missus wants to return for this dish!

I always think of our good friend Candice who first recommended Industrial Eats to us! We are so thankful and can't wait to return!

Industrial Eats
181 Industrial Way
Buellton, CA 93427

There's also a market next to Industrial Eats that we had never noticed before named Sunrise Organic Farm. Not sure if it's affiliated with the restaurants.

We picked up some cold pressed juice for breakfast and then headed back to our room.

It had been a fun morning, but now it was time for a serious nap before dinner!

Road Trip – Whiskey n’ Rye, Exploring Solvang, and Bell’s (Los Alamos) Yet Again

April 12, 2025 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, BBQ, Dog Friendly, French Restaurants, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

As soon as we got back from our last road trip with JJ, the Missus had me planning another one. Looks like we're doing one and month? Anyway, JJ had so much fun in Solvang and it was the slow season, so She wanted to stay there. I managed to find a dog friendly motel close to the edge of the "main drag" and we were set!

Of course, the Missus wanted to have lunch at Bell's yet again, so I made reservations for lunch and called to make sure we had a patio table. This time, even though it was on a Monday, I had 1pm reservations, so things were a bit more busy.

Still the service was great as they immediately brought JJ his own bowl of water when we were seated.

Lunch was as expected. Not going to go into much detail since I've done so many posts on the place before.

Though I will say, that even though the beef cheek in the beef cheek sandwich was delicious; we didn't care for the "rye-ish" bread that really messed up all the flavors.

Perhaps I should have stayed with my favorite here; the beef tartare. Still, this was a nice lunch.

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

After lunch we headed straight over to Solvang to see if our room was ready. And yes, it was! So we were able to check in an hour early.

We stayed at the Viking Inn on Mission Drive.

We liked the outdoor space with a fence right outside our door. The room was comfortable. I had read about street noise, but that wasn't a problem at all. Later that evening, the Missus, JJ, and I sat and relaxed outside for a bit. We had the whole area to ourselves. Being on the first level made taking JJ out at 4 in the morning a lot easier!

It seemed like the place was only half full, so no parking or similar issues. The only time we dealt with folks was when we checked in; the rest is done by code and text messages. While these accommodations were quite different from where we stayed in Solvang before, we enjoyed it.

Not sure how it is when things are busy, but this was really relaxing!

Viking Inn
1506 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463

After unpacking, we took JJ for a walk. On our last visit to Solvang we found a really nice Pet Store, which just happened to be across the street from where we were staying.

And then headed down 246 and did some shopping. While there seemed to be traffic heading out of Solvang……I found out later that all the folks working in the town head on home….the opposite happens in the morning, there we hardly saw anyone walking!

We enjoyed ducking in and out of shops!

IMG_6283a

It was quite entertaining.

Folks working at these shops were very friendly. I'd usually stop at the front of the shop with JJ and let the Missus walk in if there's no "dogs welcome" sign. Most of the time we got waved in.

This soap shop was interesting…..

Mainly because of this sign…..

I asked the young lady working about it and she told me that every once in a while they'd find teeth marks or a chunk bitten out of the soap when they close up!

We ended up at the Mission Santa Ines, which we visited before.

We walked JJ along the grounds where dogs are allowed. JJ seems to be fascinated by statues. I call this one "JJ meets JC"!

I love the view from the Mission.

As we headed back you could see the line of cars heading out of Solvang…….

We got back to the room, took a short break and then headed out to dinner. One things about Solvang, it seems that many places are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so we had rather limited options when it came to dog friendly establishments. We decided to stay close and went to a place named Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse which was down at the end of Atterdag Road.

We were surprised to see that the entire interior of the restaurant and the bar was packed. I guess folks eat pretty early here? But we lucked out as the entire patio area was empty. I guess folks thought it might be too cold? The really nice Server was shocked when we said that he didn't need to fire up the heater.

As the name says; the place has a huge list of Bourbon, Scotch, Rye, and similar spirits; but I just wanted a beer.

The food offerings were BBQ/Meat/Burgers based, you know what I mean right?

The Missus had seen photos of the Brisket Dirty Fries ($22) and was fixed on ordering that.

While I don't think this was worth twenty-two bucks; it was the better of the two dishes. The fries had been "dusted" thus it was able to retain crispness thru the whole meal. The brisket wasn't very smoky and sort of stringy and chewy. I wish the cheese mix had more Gouda in it than Mozzarella, but it was great at making a gooey mess. The pickled onions and jalapenos were good as it added spice, pungency, and acidity. I thought this was decent "beer food".

We also got the Filet Mignon Tips ($34) which was a mixed bag.

We ordered the meat rare. but only the large piece was rare, the rest were medium-well, skewing things to the tough side of the scale. The meat was well seasoned, though the "sauces" really didn't go well with the proteins but was necessary for the really dry "garlic bread" bites in our opinion. The Bloody Mary aioli was interesting, but pretty bland; the BBQ Sauce was too sweet.

We were hoping for something in line with Shalhoob's, but this was more in line with "chain/tourist" food. At least the service, while a bit slow, which I can understand based on the crowd was quite nice. Not too many places open on this day so we had limited choices.

Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse
442 Atterdag Rd.
Solvang, CA 93463

Still, Solvang has it's charm and we were enjoying ourselves.

Thanks for stopping by!