Recently I was thinking about areas that I hadn't been to in a while and University Heights came to mind. I couldn't recall the last time I was in the area…..at least not since Covid. So, on a recent weekend morning I decided to drop by and take a nice stroll.
I parked across from Trolley Barn Park and crossed the street.
In case you're wondering why this is called Trolley Barn Park.
This was the actual site of the Trolley Car Barn from 1913 – 1949.
While crossing the street, I realized that over the years I've driven by the park many times; but had never walked through the park. Well, this morning was as good a time as ever to do so!
I actually entered the park from Panorama Drive.
It was mid-morning and all the "activities" were just getting started……yoga…
Soccer for little "kiddies"….
The sidewalk has markings of the streets along the old trolley route.
There's an interesting marker that details the route of the trolley.
And there's also a very nice view of Mission Valley at the south end of the park.
I'm sure you've noticed all the signage and artwork with ostriches in the University Heights area.
Do you know why?
Well, the area at the southern end of Park Boulevard was W. H. “Harvey” Bentley's Ostrich Farm; yes, for real! According to the University Heights Historical Society:
"In 1904, John D. Spreckels invited Harvey Bentley to relocate his ostrich farm from Coronado."
There's this gate which was the entrance to the ostrich farm.
And there's this sign, which I didn't recall seeing before. According to this post, the sign just went up in May of this year.
I also noticed the mention of "William Hilton's Silk Mill". It turns out that the structure that now houses Meraki Café was once the location of a silk mill!
Around this time, I decided to grab a bite. Over the last couple of months, I'd been wondering how some of the "old time" (to me) places that I hadn't visited in years were doing. So I decided to head on over to El Zarape. Now I knew that I hadn't been to El Zarape in a while; but man, it had been a decade since I last visited. And before that visit was a seven year gap! I knew that El Zarape currently opens at 10 in the morning on weekends, so I was fairly certain that I wouldn't have a problem placing a takeout order.
The layout and design looks basically the same as it did a decade ago……
As did the menu….with the hipster additions of "Beyond Meat"…and the other stuffs that I would never try like the "Aloha/Wasabi/Soy" burritos.
For old time's sake I ordered two of my "standards" from the old days; a Fish Taco and a Shrimp Taco. The gentleman working was very friendly and it was a short wait….I sat outside for my order. I then made the short walk back to Trolley Park to eat.
Opening things up….well, the tacos didn't look too promising.
Though I will say that the avocado sauce and salsa rojo taste exactly the same. Though I'm guessing that due to Covid precautions the old salsa bar is gone and now the sauces are served in containers.
The shrimp taco ($4.25) was less than pleasing.
The shrimp was rubbery, the tortilla didn't hold up and fell to pieces after my second bite, even with a protective layer of cheese. This was just so very bland, I didn't expect the sweet-richness of wild caught shrimp, but this just had so little "shrimpiness"….take a look at what the shrimp taco looked like before.
It doesn't even look like it's from the same restaurant….though I guess a lot can change in a decade.
It used to be that the Fish Taco at EZ was sort of a loss leader….it was still 99 cents in 2012! Now it's $2.50 which I think is a good price in this day and age. But the main question that came to mind when I looked at my taco was where's the fish????
It was just covered with a ton of cabbage, which was much more thickly sliced than before. As you can tell by the color, the fish had been fried too long; the batter had really darkened and the fish 
was dry…..though the crema and the avocado sauce helped things out a bit; the sliver of fish made this more a cabbage taco with a garnish of fish.
I really didn't expect too much from EZ, but it seems that time hasn't been too kind to the tacos at El Zarape. It's kind of sad really, since there was a time when I thought the fish tacos here were delici-yoso, of course that was a very long time ago.
Still, I was quite sad…..
El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 10pm
Fri – Sun 10am – 11pm
On the bright side of things, I did learn a bit about the history of University Heights.
A wonderful green space, which is fairly peaceful in the morning, but gets more lively as the days passes and is really buzzing at night.
Which was quite striking in its own right.
This came with some really tasty black beans. Surprisingly, at least for us, we really enjoyed the parsley rub more! It had nice garlic tones; some cumin, and you could really taste the mild, almost sweet flavor of the snapper, which was grilled perfectly! Don't get me wrong; that adobo rub had some nice smokiness and spice; but you really couldn't enjoy the great quality of the fish as much.
Panadería Almuerzos
While some of the pieces of zucchini were under cooked and too hard for my taste, there were a couple that were nice and creamy. These were nicely seasoned and not overly salty.
As we strolled on over to our car, the Missus and I remarked about how much we enjoyed the vibe of Los Olivos. We just wished there were better accommodations (like under $400/night) and perhaps a nice destination restaurant.
Each of the buildings has an underground "Guest parking" area before their respective security gates. 
There is usually a soup of the day, always Mom's Chicken Soup and always Mom's Beef & Bean Chili. Here's the chili ($5.75). An excellent, from scratch chili -not too spicy and very flavorful- the coarse ground beef and fresh cooked kidney beans make the texture of the chili very pleasant. 
At the bottom corner of the menu board are Monday-Friday daily specials. 
We also were here on Meatball Monday ($10.75) Mom's from scratch meatballs (five) covered in a from scratch marinara, melted Provolone and served on a toasted French roll. Excellent. The large meatballs were light, meaty and flavorful with basil, garlic and parsley. 
Bros, not 'Brothers', Bros. Waiting inside to pick up 'to-go' orders, you'll hear the phone answered 'China Bros'. 
There's a menu on the wall. If you are eating in, there are wipeable, one page menus handed out. I do appreciate attention to cleanliness.
As usual, I ordered hot tea ($2.25) which was kept refilled. Egg drop soup (with corn) was brought out for both of us. A very eggy version made with a rich flavored (not salty) chicken broth.
The Shrimp Egg Foo Young ($12.95), of course, had to be ordered for our first eat-in meal. What a lovely version! 
Fluffy eggs, light top and bottom crusts, plenty of plump, juicy shrimp. Served with rice and a good brown (again, not salty) gravy, this is an excellent meal with plenty of leftovers which reheated well. 
Lunch Specials (until 4 p.m. daily) are served with steamed rice, fried rice or chow mein or half and half of your choice, as well as the corn egg drop soup. This was L-19, "Fish filet with black bean sauce" ($9.95). The pieces of fish were lightly breaded and fried to a light crisp, which remained crispy even under the slightly thick, garlic-y, salty black bean sauce. The vegetables were very fresh and also remained crisp. The chow mein seems to be requested a lot here and has a slight smoky 'wok hei'. 
Located at the South East corner of Broadway at H Street, next to the new/current location of Aqui Es Texcoco (
Señorita bread is sold hot from the oven; that's why there is a short wait; it's never 'day old'…even if you take it home…
You can buy it by the bag or the box. You really should at least buy the minimum of five pieces as long as you are in the neighborhood. Buy more to give to friends. Buy some to eat in the car while driving home. Seriously, 60¢ for one piece. A piece of happiness. Joy. Deliciousness.
You might have noticed there are other bakery items in the glass case and on the counter. Many (sweet) baked goods are here (donuts, cupcakes, small poundcake). This is a guava jelly filled 
Take a look at the color of the ginger-scallion sauce to the right and compare it to 
