Category: Pubs and Pub Grub

About 2 years ago, the "High Dive" opened in our neck of the woods. And from the beginning this "not so divey" bar has drawn some pretty good crowds.

And though I drove by nearly everyday, this was about as close as I got to the High Dive:

There always seemed to be a postal truck parked outside….and you know what they say about Postmen. Like Cops, they know where the decent cheap eats are in the neighborhood. And still, I never made it to the High Dive. Maybe the close proximity to home lulled me into a state of "it'll always be there." Burger week, and overhearing several comments about the "meat in a bun" served at High Dive, finally roused me from my state of neighborhood catatonia, and I decided to grab lunch at High Dive.

I arrived to see two neighborhood dogs playing outside the bar, and three Postmen having an early lunch inside.

The interior is on the dark side. There are several beers on tap, mostly the usual suspects, except for the Boddington's. Several large screen plasma televisions gave this place a sports bar feel.

Since it was a beautiful sunny San Diego day, I decided to have seat outside in the patio area. I gather that this is also the smoking area, based on the sign posted. Since the patio was empty except for one other table….I decided to park my "butt" here.

The menu is mainly burgers, pizzas, and the usual San Diego pub grub suspects (i.e. Nachos, Chicken strips, etc…) Not feeling particularly famished, I went with the "High Dive", a quarter pound burger, topped with grilled onions. It comes with fries. With a bargain basement price (for a pub style burger) of $6, I decided to add some gorgonzola for 75 cents more. Mustard, ketchup, and other sauces soon arrived in the now ubiquitous recycled six-pack holder.

Soon enough, my burger arrived:

The burger looked on the smallish side, but there was a ton of fries. The bun was a standard issue hamburger bun, the same as you'd purchase at the supermarket. Lettuce, tomato, and pickles, were served in the usual bar-burger way, on the side. The grilled onions, were more like caramelized onions, and had no flavor. In fact, it only served to make the burger seem more greasy. I missed the nice crunch and bite of sliced onion.

The gorgonzola made the burger seem much richer, and really didn't bring much to the table. American cheese would have done just fine. All of this made the bun disintegrate into mush about half-way through. What made this burger decent was the moisture level which was excellent. It was also very soft and tender, and not mealy in the least. And because I wasn't asked how I wanted my burger done, I'd expected something cooked to death. How wrong I was. The burger was cooked barely well done, about as perfect as a well done burger could be cooked.

The fries are coated in what seems to be flour and cornstarch, and are served skin on. They are crisp, and seem light, though I couldn't finish them off. Go figure!

In fact, I felt more stuffed here than I did after eating at Hodad's

I found the service efficient and friendly, just as you'd expect from a neighborhood bar. My diet soda was refilled, as was my water. I was in and out in 45 minutes. All for under $10, which was pretty good. The crowd seemed a bit yuppie-ish.

 All of these types of pubs offer daily specials, and High Dive is no exception. As for the burger; it's no Rocky's, but the burger was fine. Because of the location, I'll probably be back.

High Dive Bar and Grill
1801 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Mon-Thu. 1000 am – 1200 am
Fri-Sat. 800 am – 1:00 am
Sun. 800 am – 1200 am

It seems that this strip of Morena Boulevard is undergoing a slow but steady gentrification of sorts. It pretty much started with the addition of Bay Park Fish Company a few years back. Soon enough, the seedy Rosarina’s Pizza, was replaced by High Dive Bar and Grill(a post is upcoming).  To complete the tri-fecta, the fire engine red location of Bollweevil, which has since taken it’s blood red colors further up Morena Boulevard to the Bay Ho Shopping Center. As this is being written, KFC is either being renovated or replaced…..

Yes, Off Shore is located right next to Morena Welding……

One day, I decided to grab a bite at Off Shore. I found the interior to have quite a "corporate" feel, which kind of makes sense since Off Shore is owned by MJE Incorporated, who run the Sandbar, and other Bar and Grills in San Diego, and elsewhere.

The bar has a sports bar feel, with plasma televisions mounted everywhere. The patio area is brighter and breezier….with plasma televisions mounted everywhere….

So how’s the view? Well, this is the "offshore view", from the patio at Off Shore:

You can watch the waves….of traffic swimming upstream on Morena Boulevard and the I-5. In spite of the whooshing traffic noise, the vibe is very laid back, as is the staff.

The menu is corporate pub grub, a collection of burgers, wraps, fried items, and items like ceviche and salads marked as "healthy". The prices seemed quite reasonable, and I decided to order the Offshore Burger($6.95). Being, a basic-burger kind of guy, I eschewed the bacon($1), and cheese($1). I was mainly interested in how the burger tasted. I was asked the usual "how would you like the burger cooked". I had doubts that my burger would actually be made, the "medium" that I ordered…still, I gave it a shot. The very nice young lady who took my order, seemed somewhat disturbed that I didn’t want cheese, mayo, mustard, bacon……. But soon enough, my burger arrived, and it looked pretty good:

The burger was nice and moist, but of course, even though the menu says "grilled your way", which would have been a nice slightly charred burger with a rare streak……it was cooked well done. Not grilled to a dry crisp, but still well done. The burger was bland and tasteless, not that I expected anything more for a 7 dollar pub burger. What I did enjoy was the tater tots…now who doesn’t love tater tots? And an added plus…these were Garlic Tater Tots. Now I’d really love some tater tots with enough garlic punch to kill Nosferatu, but I understand that not everyone….or perhaps no one would enjoy that. These were mildly garlicky, with just the right amount of salt, and cooked perfectly.

So, not bad for $6.95, and I enjoyed the Tater Tots. Which was enough ammunition for me to drag the Missus to Off Shore. We took a table on the patio, and soon enough the menus arrived, and we ordered shortly thereafter. The Missus decided on the Grilled Shrimp Wrap with Fries($8.95):

Dry and tasteless, this was not very good at all. The fries are nothing special, nor particularly good.

I ordered that latest darling of the corporate pub-grub menu, "Sliders"(mini-burgers). The Bay Park Sliders with Garlic Tater Tots($7.95):

Boy, talk about a 180 degree turn, the burgers were way too dry, as were the rolls. The garlic tater tots were just as good, or maybe even better than before.

Alas, the Missus is not interested in another visit. Though I may drop by during Happy Hour for some of those Tater Tots(at half price):

We had good service at Off Shore, perhaps a little on the slow side, but our waters, and Iced Tea($2) were constantly refilled. The prices are pretty reasonable, and the place is much less the eye-sore that Bollweevil was. It’ll be interesting to see what else will be happening to Morena Boulevard in the future.

Offshore Tavern & Grill
2253 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

Open Daily 11am