Pubs and Pub Grub – Page 11

Super Bowl Sunday at Carnitas’ Snack Shack

February 3, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Hot Dogs, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** This location of Carnitas' Snack Shake has closed

I'm not big on Super Bowl parties, to many people, crowds, etc, etc….. I guess nowadays I'm just not too big on the Superbowl period. Though I haven't quite gone the route of "FOY" Reid who Tweeted asking when kick-off was so he could hit Costco! You gotta love that one!

Still, the Missus was working and my good buddy Candice asked me if I'd like to meet her at Carnitas' Snack Shack. What a great idea! I hadn't been back here since they first opened and while I thought the place a bit over-hyped, I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and thought the food had promise.

Over the last couple of years, they've added a back bar and grill ("The Pig Pen") area. The place looks very relaxed and inviting. There was a large screen with the game on…….

The main reason I met Candice….other than the wonderful company of course, was for this:

I've had my share of lousy TJ Style Hot Dogs, but this is not one of them. Yes, Carnitas' thrives on serving fairly over-the-top eats, but I gotta say, I really loved this. The dog was large, but still had some snap, it was well flavored. The bacon could have been more crisp, but I loved the flavor….the mustard was delish, the bun didn't hold up, but was nice and fluffy. What really caught my attention was how the guacamole on this dog just sang in perfect harmony with the "meat-stick". I like hot dogs, but I'm usually fine after just one, but much like my favorites, I left wanting another…..

Personally, I'm not a big fan of grilled wings, but these were also pretty good.

Mainly because the flavors worked real well together. The nice sweetness balanced out by a sneaky, spicy, finish. Courtesy of habanero I'm told. Much like grilled wings, this was a bit chewy, but not bad at all. In fact, I had two left that I brought home, which the Missus really enjoyed.

It seems that Carnitas' has really found their niche. Perhaps the dishes area bit over-the-top, but I really can't say anything I've had here was bland. Now that they serve beer and have really expanded their dining area, maybe it's time I brought the Missus.

Carnitas' Snack Shack
2632 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92104

Nate’s Garden Grill

January 22, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Pubs and Pub Grub

I'd heard about Nate's Garden Grill a while back and really wanted to check them out. I took my sweet old time and the place changed management, which turned out to be for the better. Part of the intrigue is the location, on the edge of City Heights, in the same lot as this place…..

It makes for interesting bedfellows….compost and craft beer……

And yet, the quirky location and atmosphere, down to "horse bike stand", all seem to belong here in some strange way.

The floors seem well worn, like some dusty old saloon from a vintage western……

Enter through the doors to place your order at the counter. The interior is on the dark side; like someone's living room. There's a small kitchen area with a nice (21) selection of craft beer on tap.

I prefer sitting in the bright and on this day, sunny patio area, which looked like a nice, well worn deck somewhere out in the wild west……of City Heights…..

The atmosphere, location, menu, and craft beer makes Nate's a fertile feeding ground for hipsters. On this morning, there was but one of the tribe of "hats and tats", and what was that Sir Hipster was holding in his hand, but that remnant of another age….a book! Though sadly, this hipster was too busy texting to open up the book. Perhaps he was channeling his "inner Petunia"?

I wasn't super hungry, so I went with I thought would be a smaller sized breakfast, the Biscuit Sandwich with Sausage Gravy ($7.50).

Like I said, I thought it was going to be a pretty light breakfast, sausage gravy and all, but this was pretty hefty. The eggs were decently scrambled, the biscuit dense but nothing like the hockey pucks you get at Hash House. Loved the gravy, which had a nice balance of the salt and the nicely spiced breakfast sausage.

I really enjoyed sitting and watching folks going to the nursery and loading up their vehicles with sod, compost, potting soil……

Plus, the folks here were very nice.

I figured that the Missus would enjoy Nate's so I brought Her here a couple of days later. The woman working the counter was so friendly and let the Missus taste almost everything on tap. She settled for a Duchesse de Bourgogne to go with Her Flat Iron Steak Cobb Salad ($16.50).

Considering that they have a pretty small space for a kitchen, they do a pretty good job with what they have. The beef here is grass fed and finished and was cooked perfectly. The portion size was generous, a nice variety of greens, organic, crisp and fresh. Pork belly took the place of the bacon here and the Missus sure didn't complain about that. I wasn't a fan of the sriracha ranch dressing, which came off as rather flat with a tinge of heat.

I got the Pulled Pork on a Pretzel Bun ($10.50) and a Craftsman Acorn Saison to quench my thirst.

I really didn't expect much, but this ended up being very good. The pork had a nice smoked flavor with a mild chew. I've eaten my share of mushy pulled pork. The pork flavor was also good; I was told that the pork here is from Duroc pigs. I thought the kale slaw was going to be a bit intrusive, but it went really well with the pork. To top things off, I really enjoyed the pretzel bun; the crust was….well, crusty, and while the bread was dense, it wasn't too chewy.

I enjoyed the pulled pork, so I decided to return for breakfast again and this time went, ahem, whole hog, and ordered the Pulled Pork Hash ($10.50).

The hash, more a like a stir fry, was topped by two lovely poached eggs. The grilled sourdough toast was meh. Despite having some reservations about this mass of sauteed vegetables, I was pleased with the flavor. It wasn't overly seasoned so you could get the sweetness of the carrots tempered by the bitterness of the arugula, all brought together by the smoked flavor of the pork. This was way too much for me and I ended up taking half the hash (which is actually served in a small cast iron frying pan)home. The Missus, who enjoys this type of dish went through the leftovers in a blink of an eye.

We've enjoyed our meals at Nate's and will probably return soon. It's very relaxed, the woman who works here is so nice and friendly, the food is good, 21 craft beers on tap, what's not to like?

Nate's Garden Grill
3120 Euclid Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

And then of course….if you have breakfast or lunch at Nate's you can walk over to City Farmers Nursery right next door.

It's a wonderful urban oasis of plants and even more surprising for me; chickens, goats, quail, and a pony or two. I met a very friendly Rottweiler who kept nudging my hand, wanting to be pet and a cat that wouldn't stop rubbing against me. The woman working here said that I really had a way with animals. I told her that it was probably the pulled pork…….

I'll try and take better photos of the place next time.

A couple more visits like this and Nate's will hold a nice spot on our rotation. I guess your produce better be pretty good if you share a lot with a nursery, right?

Not super fancy, but fresh food, decent quality product, nicely prepared, what's not to like?

COMC: Blind Lady Ale House and Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen (Little Italy)

January 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Gastropub, Pubs and Pub Grub

Just a real quick C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) post on this very warm Friday…….couldn't you use a cold one to start off the weekend? Isn't it Happy Hour time yet?

As with all my COMC posts…keeping the verbiage to a minimum. Have a great weekend!

Blind Lady Ale House:

To make it short and sweet, we enjoy the food at Tiger! Tiger!, We prefer the beer selection at BLAH.

The folks at both places have always been great.

Our favorite item on the menu is the Charcuterie Plate……we're fond of the Country Style Pate's

Once one of the kitchen staff came out to talk about making sauerkraut with the Missus. They chatted for like 15 minutes about it! You gotta love that.

The Missus is now hooked on Craft Beer and it basically started here with a glass of Three Philosophers. Crazy…..

The Missus loves the vibe here so much, that She decided we should stop in on New Year's Eve. That says a lot, doesn't it?

The folks here know their beer, know how to pour it, and they seem to take really good care of it. Drop by and you'll see.

Blind Lady Ale House
3416 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen:

Met my good buddy Candice here.

I was shocked at how busy the place was..on a weekday!

There's a good sized tasting area…where, well, you can taste of course!

Specialty Brewer Colby Chandler is here, so you'll always find something interesting.

When I visited, it was Brewpub area that was really busy.

The pretty straight-forward pub grub was pretty good.

As we were finishing up, Colby, who I know from our Beer Week dinners at Ba Ren and Sab E Lee Santee, came over and said someone wanted to meet us. This is where I get really uncomfortable….I like to keep a very, very, low profile. Anyway, that handsome dude manning the kitchen here is Travis Clifford, whom you might know from his blog Travis Like Food. No wonder we haven't had a post in forever! Like most of the food bloggers I've met, Travis is a very nice, down to earth guy, even though he likes those JIB stoner tacos! (JJK) So if you drop by, make sure you say hello. I gotta get back here again soon.

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen
2215 India St
San Diego, CA 92101

Tiger! Tiger!

December 15, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Gastropub, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** Tiger!Tiger! has closed

Over the years, I'd been to a couple of Gastropubs but had always been disappointed in my visits one way (decent food, but way over-priced) or another (mediocre food, still way over-priced). A couple of months ago FOY Candice decided to prove that I was wrong and took a merry band of us to her two favorite gastropubs. Our first stop was a place I'd always wanted to check out, but never found the time, nor was I able to convince the Missus (if you think I'm a hard sell….) to take a chance and check them out.

It was late on a weekend afternoon when we visited. There were 6 of us, which meant we could taste a nice variety of food.

I'm not a beer-o-phile; though I enjoy more than my fair share of Craft Brews. Here at Tiger Tiger, things seemed slanted more on the food end; whereas our second destination Blind Lady seemed to have a stronger focus on beer. Other than being owned by the same group, both locations are equipped with a wood fired oven, which is put to good use here.

We started off with the Sausage Poutine Fries.

Call me a purist; but I'd really like my poutine to have cheese curds and brown gravy. The sausage gravy made it taste too much like breakfast and the sausage seasonings kind of detracted from the dish.

I didn't care much for the Wood Fired Oysters as well…..just too much.

It was almost as if this dish was created to make one think they weren't eating oysters.

My opinion took a 180 when the Puerco entered the scene.

Sorry, not the best photographic representation of this lovely sandwich. The wood-fired pork had a mild smokiness to it; I like the pickles, they cut through any richness. The bread was nicely toasted…..good flavors, good combination…..by far my favorite item.

My friends understand that I view the "slap-anything-on-a-baguette-and-call-it-a-Banh Mi" syndrome with a cynical and somewhat jaundiced eye. By my definition, this really ain't a Banh Mi. It is however, a nicely put together sandwich. MrQ loved what the combination of cilantro and pickled onions brought to the party. The aioli had a nice kick that brought everything into focus for me.

Candice told me that there are always a couple of seasonal vegan offerings on the menu. Wood fired veggies sounded good. We started with the Spaghetti Squash, not my favorite thing in the world, but here it was really well done.

The pesto like sauce really gave the usually bland squash a nice boost in flavor.

The Wax Beans were really delicious.

The beans still had a bit of snap, good salt-acid in the flavor, along with olive oil to give it a bit of richness.

All in all, I enjoyed the food…..and the company of course! In fact, I ended up bringing the Missus here a couple of weeks later. But that's another post. On this day, we were off to our next stop; Blind Lady Ale House……..

Tiger! Tiger!
3025 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104

Loco moco (and other stuffs) for brunch at Fathom Bistro

July 30, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Loco Mocos, Pubs and Pub Grub

About a week-and-a-half ago, I read that Fathom Bistro would start serving brunch, which usually wouldn't mean more than a glance. Except that I quickly noticed "loco moco" in that post for Eater San Diego. You know me; I'm always looking to add to my loco moco collection. I quickly sent Candice a message asking if having a loco moco here would be worth my while?

Which is how I ended up down on Shelter Island Drive on an overcast Sunday morning.

I think the location is really great, original, and quirky, as it's located on a pier, which on this morning was packed to the gills (no pun intended) with folks fishing.

Man, you really can't beat the view; which was really great even on an overcast morning.

There's an actual bait and tackle shop on one side of the building…..and it's a bit of a stretch to call this a building. The kitchen look as large as the dining area, which look like it somehow holds about 20. There are a couple of tables out front as well. I loved the collection of vintage National Geographics which took me back to elementary school.

Fathom has a nice variety of beers; but that's to be assumed with Dennis Borlek, formerly of Hamilton's and Monkey Paw in charge. The brunch menu is tight, basically five items, but it instantly earned my affection. In addition to a loco moco, they feature Eggs, Spam, and rice.

We started things with the Beignets.

It's fried dough, with powdered sugar, and chocolate sauce…….'nuff said.

We also got the Italian Sausage Biscuits and Gravy.

Truly, the best Country Gravy I've had in a while. The abundant chunks of house made Italian sausage added a nice mild spice and tons of flavor to the wonderful tongue (and belly) coating gravy. The only problem with this dish were the bisquits which were very hard hockey pucks. But hey, it's only the second day they've been open for brunch. Hopefully, they'll straighten this out. I instantly knew why I heard the word "hangover" bandied about in the dining room.

Well, since Candice knows everybody, Dennis came over to chat. Dennis is quite a character, very friendly, witty, funny, with a ton of stories to boot.

Which brings us to the loco moco. I originally ordered it with straight up and traditional beef brown gravy, but Dennis talked us into getting it "half-and-half" with half beef gravy, the other half Japanese Curry. At first I was kind of doubtful, but hey after having the Kaloko Moco who am I to criticize?

First off, the rice was perfect. The Japanese curry tasted like it should, though a bit runny. The beef gravy was totally by the book, solid in flavor and seasoning. The hamburger patty had a nice char , nicely seasoned, and was still moist. There was one problem with this for me. You can tell, can't you? The only way you'll get eggs here are scrambled…..and it's kind of painful calling this a loco moco without an easy over egg. Dennis told me that the eggs are pre-prepped to minimize stress on the kitchen. I'm hoping everything gets squared away and they start doing eggs to order.

Dennis mentioned adding Spam musubis to the menu. I mentioned Portuguese Sausage and he said it would be a logical progression since this was Point Loma and all. He also said it would be made inhouse. Now if that happens, I'll be sure to get there early! Because as time passed, more of those "hats and 'tats" folks started drifting in for their Sunday hangover remedy.

Next time you're fishing on the pier and get the munchies and perhaps a bit thirsty, Fathom is the perfect spot. Heck, the evening view of downtown San Diego must be pretty good as well.

Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle
1776 Shelter Island Dr. (On the pier)
San Diego, CA 92106

Brunch served from 10am Saturday and Sunday only.

You know, it's kind of sad that I really never come down here and tend to associate the area with Humphries and tourists. There's quite a bit to see, like the Tunaman Memorial.

And other public art……

Now with Fathom, there's a better reason to explore the area.

A Happy Hour Revisit to The Lion’s Share

April 17, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

The Lion's Share is another one of those places where the starters and apps had always seem to outshine the entrees. Though I've only posted on the place once, I'd eaten there a couple of times since. The Missus had never been to the Lion's Share, so I thought it would be a nice place for an early happy hour. The place can be fairly pricey, but with $2 off draft beer and 20% off appetizers, I thought we could have an interesting meal. A wild cad in the whole situation was that this "gastro-lounge" had changed chefs a while back and I hadn't visited since.

Since there was no one else in the place, we sat in the well lit front area. The bar can be rather dark. There had been an art show during the previous weekend and the work of that artist, somewhat bizarre and dark was still up on the walls. I'm pretty sure it made for some interesting conversation……

We started with the Deviled Eggs ($8 – I'm listing all regular prices, I'm sure you can do 20% off, right?).

These seemed a bit dried out and the first one, with the piment d'Espelette was on the bitter side, like not so great smoked paprika. But it got better as we went down the line. The second is black tobiko caviar, briney, but not too salty, the truffle and prosciutto, the third deviled egg was ok. It was the Quail Confit devlied egg, the fourth one, that was the best.

I was glad that the Antelope Sliders ($14) were still on the menu.

Cooked to a perfect past medium, these are still my favorite here, though on this visit it was a bit on the salty side.

We both enjoyed the mild gamey flavors, which melded well with the sweet caramelized red onions. Having cooked with antelope has given me a better appreciation for how they manage to keep this moist and fairly tender.

The Duck Meatballs ($14) were our least favorite dish of the evening.

First, the brown on brown, on brown color really didn't look appetizing. Second, though the meatballs were very tender and moist, it was very finely ground, which made it kind of mushy. Third, and the main reason we didn't enjoy this was the over-powering sweetness of the dish. We couldn't get past that.

Much like the deviled eggs, the Exotic Sausage board ($16), got better as you went down the line.

We both enjoyed the charred bread and the rather mellow whole grain mustard. The pheasant sausage (left) was our least favorite. It was very cumin heavy; this coming from someone who loves cumin! It smelled like armpit and sort of tasted like what I think armpit would taste like. The duck sausage (middle) was nice, mild sweetness, and I enjoyed the spices they used in it. The elk sausage was our favorite, slightly gamey, with an enjoyable savory-sweetness. I was told that a port wine reduction is used in making the sausage. Two out of three ain't bad.

Even at happy hour prices, a night of starts and apps at the Lion's Share ain't cheap. The food is on the rich side and on this occasion hit and miss. I'd still return for those antelope sliders and perhaps some kangaroo tartar, or maybe Lamb Tacos de Lengua. Our Server was mellow, friendly, though not overly so, and efficient, though we were the only people in the place.

The Lion's Share
629 Kettner Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101

Hours:
Open daily 4 pm – 2 am

Is that Don or Dan…Diego that is: Next let’s try Dan Diego’s

March 19, 2013 mmm-yoso European Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

Well, so much for Don Diego. Coincidentally, just a few months after "the Don" opened up, Dan joined the party. I was curious, especially after seeing the shamrock logo and then the sign that said "Euro Cafe & Pub"……

The first time I visited was on a rainy Friday. I was greeted with a friendly smile and hello. I saw they were full, so I told them I'd be back some other time….but the really nice young lady manning the front and the very friendly gentleman, who I was to later find out was Larry, the owner would have none of that. They had the staff set-up a little two top in the corner, which they did with a smile. Man, this was a very nice first impression.

To me, the menu really defines what Dan Diegos is, a neighborhood pub with grub. All appetizers ring in at five bucks or less and all entrees at $10. The beer list is rings in at over two pages and there are about ten beers on tap. I do wish they'd have more local stuff on tap. On my visits the only local representation on tap has been stuff from Societe. I mean, Ballast Point and Coronado are just down the street.

Back to the menu….it's basically Irish Based and on this evening I started with the Irish Beef Stew ($5).

Not my favorite version of Irish Stew, it tasted a bit too "raw" with regard to the Guinness which made the broth bitter. In my opinion, it was also a bit too loose and watery and could have used a few more layers of flavor, perhaps a bit more salt. Of course I was missing the lamb in this thing…..

I was also curious about the Open Faced Reuben ($10), which made kind of crack up when it arrived as the pickle was actually larger than the "Reuben".

It's basically some house made corned beef….kind of bland and waxy served on a ciabatta like slice of the house soda bread, which wasn't bad. The best thing was the horseradish "Russian" dressing. The fries were fried to perfection and the portion size of SYSCO spuds was quite large.

Usually, I'd kind of cut my losses here……but my Server, Shauna was so very nice, as was just about everyone else in the place. It also seemed like fried items were the way to go here. So I returned….ended up with the same table and Shauna to boot.

This time I went with the Fish and Chips ($10):

This wasn't bad. The fish was moist, it was nicely fried, though the tartar sauce was a bit too mayo heavy. The fries were to the SYSCO standard. For ten bucks I'll take it.

As before, the service was very warm and friendly.

About a week later, Candice, MrQ, and I met up to plan one of our "events". We started at the new Coronado tasting room and decided on checking out Dan Diego's. Along with the Fish and Chips we got the Irish Cheese Fries with Corned Beef ($7.50):

They lost their frying mojo on this one as the fries hit the table on the soggy side. Combine that with waxy-greasy corned beef and cheese sauce, this suddenly becomes stoner food.

Speaking of stoner food….let's hear it for a place willing to put something like "Crunchies" on the menu. Did you ever want to just eat fried batter? Well, here's your chance.

Dan Diego's seems like an okay neighborhood pub; Larry told me he lives in the neighborhood, which is nice to hear. It looks like a quieter place for folks who don't want the crowds or the scene at the High Dive, don't like the corporate feel of Offshore, or the crowd and over-priced food of Luce's. Larry told me the place is named in memory of his late son, so you got to want them to succeed. Hopefully, the food will improve and Dan Diego's can steer a steady course. Right now it's really not worth going out of your way for.

Dan Diegos
2415 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Meals with Friends: Mariscos Godoy, Luce, and Roseville Cozinha

December 27, 2012 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chicken Wings, Mexican Restaurants, Pizza, Pubs and Pub Grub, Seafood

As you can tell; I’m trying to get all these round-up type posts done before the end of the year. Of course, this is the time of year when folks get together and celebrate….here are a couple of “meals with friends” we’ve had recently.

Mariscos Godoy:

**** Mariscos Godoy has closed

What better place for a festive time with a group right? Mariscos Godoy is a great place to just get together and grub with friends….unless of course, there’s a major soccer game on…or when one of the bands are playing, which makes conversation impossible. On this night, we got both…..and the band even had a tuba player! yikes…..

Still, as you can see, we didn’t leave hungry……..

And I even forgot to take a photo of the pulpo…..

Mariscos Godoy
651 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Luce’s (again):

My buddy JohnL has moved back into the neighborhood. We decided to grab some drinks and felt that Luce was close by. Plus, I was really unimpressed with the food on our last visit. Well, at least the charcuterie board was decent…..

The wings on the other hand were totally one note in flavor….sweet, with not much else going for it.

The fries were ok….a bit mushy and dry, but flavored decently.

I like the friendly service and the small, but good beer list (and a mule or two). But is Bay Park so starved for a place like this, that there would be lines waiting outside on a cold evening? Well, I probably just answered my own question.

Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Roseville Cozinha:

**** Roseville Cozinha has closed

One great thing about having a group gathered for a meal is that you get to try a bunch of things. We decided on a porcine party post mortem and Peter thought the newly opened Roseville Cozinha would be just the place.

There’s a a beautiful wood fired oven in the place and I think they are still fine tuning and getting the hang of beast. My favorite items were the “local Salumi Plate” and the Salt Cod Fritters. Roseville tips its hat to the Portuguese and Italian fishing communities which formed the backbone of the Point Loma area. I benefited with some nice bacalao fritters.

Compare this salumi with what Luce’s serves…..the price is pretty close as well. This wins hands down.

The wood oven roasted shrimp must have been good…..I never got a shot at it!

Ervilhas Stew…….good thing the Missus wasn’t here….that egg would have never lasted 5 seconds on the table.

Of course you need some greens……

My favorite pizza was the “Chef’s Special” a fresh clam pizza……

Fennel and sausage…..

Wild Mushroom…..

What a meal…….what a great time with good friends!

Roseville Cozinha
2750 Dewey Rd Suite 104 (Liberty Station)
San Diego, CA 92106

A “New School”, “Old School” Night Part 2: Old School – Baci Ristoranti and a surprise finish

October 11, 2012 mmm-yoso Italian Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

After having drinks and appetizers at Luce, we headed next door to the "all grown up place", Baci. From the loud and boisterous, to the sedate and quite…..from stool around the bar to lounges, in what else, the small lounge. From tattooed staff to Servers in faux Tuxedos….

The friendly maitre'd….ok, when was the last time Ieven used the word maitre'd? The rather darkish lighting, the slightly formal but not stuffy service, the backlit sculpture of the torso of perhaps Venus de Milo in the background….there's some charm to this in our all Twitter…facebook…what's the latest fad/food truck/trend by the minute world we live in.

All of this calm was brought to you by the surroundings…and a Negroni or two….

The menu is full of old school Italian…. Linguine alle Vongole, check, Vitello Parmigiana…check, and of course Osso Bucco is a must, right?

And yet, there are some interesting items on the menu…….like the local sea urchin.

Hey, it's local uni and they didn't mess with it…….

I followed this up with the Braised Lamb Shank over Truffle Risotto ($28.95).

This was pretty much by-the-book, not heavily seasoned, the lamb wasn't over-cooked, nor tough, with that nice flavor of the pasture. The risotto had a decent texture, soft through and through. I do prefer my risotto a bit more "wet" and the "truffle" (really in quotations there) scent or flavor was really hard to make out.

Some of the other dishes I got to try. Candice's uni pasta was really garlic heavy, you really couldn't make out much of the uni taste, nor was it moist enough. Uni pasta is not my favorite thing, so take it for what it's worth. I thought the best item I tasted was JohnL's Pappardelle alla Tartuffo. The lamb ragu was full flavored and you could actually make out the flavor of truffles in this dish. The pasta was cooked perfectly as well.

While I still can't really recommend any place in San Diego for Italian cuisine, Baci was perfect for this evening with friends. It's an interesting look into what we considered fine dining when I was growing up and that doesn't get old as quickly as I am.

Baci Ristorante
1955 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

After dinner, Candice had one last surprise up her sleeve…..we went for drinks and the place we visited was packed. With folks over 60….who were just having a blast. The only seats available were at the piano bar.

Paintings of topless maidens from who knows when adorn the walls. There's a bit of a legend going around that these were paintings of actual Pan-Am Stewardesses from way back when….don't know about that, but it's a great story. I'd watch as a woman, probably in her late sixties would slowly walk up to the mic to sing at the piano bar…and my goodness, the voice! You could tell she/they were in their element as it would seem that years would slowly melt away and the clock would be turned back a bit. Friends and couples who knew each other for years, or perhaps minutes, would dance in the small area near the bar. All of this was happening while dinner service for what seemed to be tourists and visitors staying at the attached Travelodge was taking place inches away!

Then there was JohnL, who in spite of where we told him we were eating, decided to wear a v-neck t-shirt and jeans. Anyway, John is hunched over the piano bar, so naturally his shirt is hiked up…he's doing his best imitation of a plumber, if you know what I mean. So a sprightly octogenarian walks by, grabs his you-know-what, and tells him "your a$$ is sticking out!" We almost fell off our seats! Heck, JohnL could have had his hands full with…well, what's older than a Cougar? A sabretooth??? Whatever, we had a great time, it was wonderful seeing folks enjoying themselves. A bit later on in the evening, the hipsters start arriving and it gets a bit strange. Thanks to Candice, I got to see a part of San Diego I hadn't seen before. And it was a bit surprising because I've driven past here thousands of times.

This was the kind of place my Dad loved….and the kind of place where he met his third wife too….but that's a story for another day.

A “New School”, “Old School” Night Part 1: New School – Luce Bar & Kitchen

October 10, 2012 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

There are a handful of truly "old school" places in San Diego, not faux old school, but old enough to recall….say the 70's? It's all relative I guess? For me that's barely old enough, though for myfriends who are in their 30's, this is more than old school, this is before they started school! What started as a "hey, how about this…." conversation started to take shape. And since there are a couple of places in our neighborhood…and I don't mean the Silver Spigot, which is in a class by itself, I had thoughts about going to Old Trieste. I was soon convinced not to go, based on a couple of "scary food" statements from some friends. So we we settled on Baci…..meanwhile, the folks at Baci opened up a gastro-pub next door called Luce. The menu looked promising, I saw lines out to the sidewalk when driving by soon after the soft opening, and heck, Bay Park could really use a place like that. My good friend Candice told me an "new school – old school" night might be fun. We'd start at Luce for some drinks and appetizers and move on to Baci for dinner. So even though I usually don't post on these type of places, we had a fun and interesting night…..so why not break character for a post or two, right?

First, though the setting is fairly loud…..boisterous and fun is how your neighborhood tavern/pub should be, right? The decor is nice, the vibe is casual and neighborly, though the space is fairly small.

The bottled beer list is decent and though not large, there's enough stuff on tap to keep me interested. I started with a Ballast Point Calico Amber, which was a great way to start a weekend. Unfortunately, it was the highlite of my experience at Luce.

The menu is full of fairly intriguing items, sorta-kinda hip, perhaps a bit behind the curve stuff, like Pork Belly tacos. But it still sounds fun……and heck, who am I to talk about what's hip?

We started with the Pork Drumsticks ($6), which are a riff on Monkey Paw's Drunken Monkey Bones, basically pork shank pieces cut to vaguely resemble chicken wings.

First the good; these were braised nicely, soft and tender. Not so good; the pork was smeared with a glaze when reheated that was sweet, but that's about it…very one tone, I was wishing for some simple salt and pepper to help these. It looked so good, but didn't deliver.

The Braised Lamb Tacos were also not very pleasing.

Well, just for a value check, guess the price of these two rather scrawny tacos. Would you guess eight bucks ($8)? The lamb was dry, the tortillas seemed very low quality, and were also dry, they just tore apart when you tried to pick them up. Again, these were very low on the flavor scale.

The last item we tried were the Escargot Mushrooms.

This was another dish that could have used more aggressive seasoning. Also, there seemed to be but the tiniest piece of escargot on each mushroom, which really didn't matter much since it was very hard and rubbery. The sauce could have used more garlic and was very watery….give 'em some umph and get 'em to drink another beer!

We had thoughts about ordering more, but decided to cut our losses and just head next door a bit early to see if they had a table ready. On the good side, though a bit overwhelmed, our Server was very sweet as can be. Perhaps I need to order other items, or return after the grand opening period, once things settle down. But if it's anything like the evening we were here; a line of at least a dozen waiting outside when we left, maybe there's no motivation…. so we'll see.

Luce Bar & Kitchen
1959 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

So, would dinner at "Old School" Baci turn things around? Stay tuned!