Closed – Page 37

Saying Goodbye to Albie’s

December 18, 2015 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** Sadly Albie's has never returned

I was among the many who were quite shocked at the announcement that Albie's was closing on December 23rd. Though I had my first visit to Albie's a scant three years ago, the unique atmosphere really made an impression on me. While not on my rotation; I managed to revisit about 8-9 times.

I had wanted to visit one last time and when Candice mentioned meeting up for a drink, I was in……

The place was packed….I'd never seen it this full. Word must have gotten around. Lots of love for this place. I heard the word "a San Diego institution" thrown around. We chatted with a couple. The gentleman's wife had been coming here for over 30 years……funny, she never told her husband about Albie's until about a decade ago! They'd moved out of San Diego, but drove down for one last visit.

Over the last couple of visits, I'd found my drink of choice here…..an Old Fashioned.

The piano man was in fine form. Folks were chatting and enjoying the place.

All the semi-nude maidens adorning the walls still looked down upon everyone, a snapshot in time…..kind of what Albie's is. We've all gotten older, but Albie's was Albie's.

So here's to you Albie's. I'm hoping you find a new home.

You can still drop by as Albie's will be open until December 23rd.

Albie’s Beef Inn
1201 Hotel Cir S
San Diego, CA 92108

You can read about my memorable first visit here.

You can also read Soo's post here.

Sunday Sandwiches: Baguette Bros

December 13, 2015 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Chicken Wings, Sandwiches

**** Baguette Bros has closed

Baguette Bros soft opened to a bit of hype a couple of weeks ago. Since it was fairly close to work, I managed to visit a couple of times.

Located in the same strip mall as China Max, Xi'an Kitchen, et al, the menu features twists on Banh Mi, chickens wings, versions VN coffee and drinks, and some Craft Beer (too IPA heavy – not my favorite match for Banh Mi). For some reason this seems to be a Food Truck menu in a brick and mortar shop……after all the NRA (no, not that NRA – the National Restaurant Association) says that the latest trend is from Food Truck to Brick and Mortar.

I like the nice, wide open set-up, very much the norm in places that want to attract the demographic that would want "Fusion Vietnamese Sandwiches"

I decided to go straight for the coronary artery and went with the Belly Flop ($8). The sandwich took a while, which didn't bother me. First this is the soft opening period and systems are still being put in place. Second, it means that my sandwich is being prepped fresh.

As the name indicates, this is a pork belly based Banh Mi. First off, the bread is standard issue. Probably from Le Chef. Because of how "stuffed" the sandwich is, it didn't hold up too on the short 10 minute trip back to the office, the bread had gotten gummy and for some reason, even though it was toasted, wasn't crusty enough.

The amount of pork belly was quite generous and along with the "sweet chili sauce", which seemed like a hoisin based sauce seemed the biggest deviation on what you'd consider something other than a super-stuffed banh mi. The classic cucumber, pickled veggies, and cilantro were nicely done. I loved the jalapenos which helped to cut the sweetness of the sauce.

One complaint would be the belly skin, which, if not fried properly is like eating plastic…..a rather unpleasant surprise.

Things come bundled with Shrimp Chips.

I thought my sandwich was pretty good so a couple of days later I returned with Calvin. I just can't put away food like I used to so having Calvin along would mean we could try a variety of items. Plus, MrC, who is originally from the SGV, his wife from Little Saigon, has had his share of Banh Mi.

My favorite sandwich of the three I had was the "Broguette" ($6). Loved the pate in this, wish they had put jalapenos on it and gone a bit easier on the Maggi, or whatever sauce they used as it was on the salty side. The head cheese was really mild but added texture, as did the Cha Lua, and the bread did well minus the travel time to my desk. As a whole, this was pretty much all about the pate.

We also ordered the "Grasshogger" ($6) – basically a Lemongrass Pork Banh Mi.

Calvin and I had the same reaction upon taking a bite of this; "whoa….too much salt…too much lemongrass". It needed something to balance out the flavors. The pork was actually fairly moist.

There was one other item I wanted to try. The Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.

Calvin liked the rather large sized wings, whereas I'm more about skin to meat ratio. We both agreed that the wings were fried perfectly, but that there was too much fish sauce in this…again, making it a bit too salty. The garlic was good, not too bitter, but this had me missing Que Huong.

I was rather pleased with what BB offered (i.e. the menu), though the execution and flavors were not quite there. I am looking forward to visiting again after the Grand Opening period. Nice folks, service a bit slow, but that's to be expected as they get their systems down.

So perhaps it's worth a visit from you…..though I think they'll be pretty busy now that Eater has declared them one of the 5 new restaurants to visit.

Baguette Bros
4698 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Please check out Kirbie's post as well!

Twiggs Bakery & Coffee House (University Heights)

December 4, 2015 Cathy Bakery, Caffeine Fix, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!! on this beautiful day. Kirk (and his Missus) still have a bit of jet lag and Ed (from Yuma) just wrote a really nice post, so it's Cathy's turn.

A San Diego institution, Twiggs has a long, zig-zagged history here, beginning in 1992. There are two locations and this one (on the North East corner of Adams at Idaho) is where The Mister and I have stopped for a few meals as well as baked goods.There is a food menu in the front window (as well as paper menus inside). It seems to be most crowded here for the Friday-Saturday-Sunday breakfast Specials menu.The beverage menus above the cash registers where you order and pay. Usually we stare at the menu and end up ordering a cup of coffee, because it is from Caffe Calabria, a local roaster we really like. Condiments are to the side of the ordering counter, as is more seating. Because the wifi is free, there are a lot of tables with only one person seated at certain times of the day. They all seem to be ordering something to drink and/or eat also, so that's cool. Asking what the quiche of the day choices were (A slice is $4.25; $7.50 with a salad), both mushroom and ham and cheese were available. This time I chose ham and cheese, an excellent choice. Because this location of Twiggs is also a bakery..well, the crust…it was heavenly. Flaky light, flavorful and a good crisp. The bottom stayed firm (sometimes quiche crusts are almost like raw dough) and the cheesy custard filling (a mix of cheeses) complimented the thick sliced chunks of a very flavorful, smoky ham. The mixed lettuce salad, with tomato, raw mushroom and green pepper comes with a side of raspberry vinaigrette, which I use sparingly…the salad veggies are flavorful on their own.The Mister has been curious about the tarragon chicken salad ($6.95) and this time it was his order. A large scoop (despite this photographic illusion) is served on top of the mixed salad (again, with raspberry vinaigrette on the side). Chopped almonds and tarragon complimented the chicken and mayonnaise; simplicity is all the flavoring needed. The lightly toasted (on a panini press) bread was just a perfect compliment for all the flavors. Never knowing if we will want a dessert, we waited until we were finished eating and walked over to the other side of the ordering counter, perusing the baked goods. (There is another refrigerated area with cakes and pies and their respective slices that I didn't photograph).Again, deciding simple would be best, we asked for one pecan sandy ($1) cookie to go and when we got home, were happy to see that there were two in the bag. There are bits of pecan in every bite of these lightly flaky buttery cookies.

Always a nice, neighborhood place to stop. You can pre-order some wonderful cakes, pies and cookies as well some very traditional Christmas items for the rest of the holidays coming up.

Twiggs Bakery & Coffee House 2804 Adams Avenue San Diego 92116 (619)296-4077 Website

Continental Delicatessen (Escondido)

December 1, 2015 Cathy German Restaurants and Food, Pizza, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this blog. Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy write about food. Right now, Kirk and Ed are relaxing and Cathy is writing.

The Mister and I have the habit of eating a meal before grocery shopping. We've been in Escondido quite a bit and had noticed that the kitchen used by Vinz Wine Bar shared the courtyard and kitchen within this small business. Continental Deli is just across the alley from Escogelato and has been there since about 2010.Walking inside, you are greeted with some glassed refrigerators holding pizza already sliced and waiting to be re-warmed. Walk by it, pass the meat and cheese refrigerator (Thumanns Natural brand meats as well as some German cold cuts), peruse the menu board, order and pay and your food will be brought to your table. which is always covered with a colorful tablecloth.Each day, a home made soup is available until sold out. This day it was mushroom soup ($3). The thickener was potato and it was wonderful.Two slices of pizza and a self serve soda ($6) make a nice meal. There were other pizzas with more interesting toppings available, but The Mister and I are simple folk when the pie is thin crusted.The #9 sandwich, Liverwurst and Butterkäse (butter cheese), on rye (and with onions, which aren't photographed because this is not my half) ($.6.95) is one of my favorite sandwiches in the world. I enjoy this version because of the quality and freshness-of the bread as well as the soft cheese and fresh, thick slices of liverwurst.

This past summer, we purchased one of each sausage (knackwurst (pork), bratwurst (pork) and bockwurst (veal)) for a total of $4.Cooking each on the grill brought out the multitude of flavors from each of the various herbs and spices used in the sausages.

Continental Deli is a great place for the people living in the Northern part of the county. We're glad we found it.

Continental Delicatessen 120 S. Kalmia Street 92025 (760) 745-8007 Open Mon-Thurs 9-8, Fri 9-9, Sat 10-8 Closed Sunday Deli menu is on the Vinz website

Harvest International Market- Eat in the store (Clairmont)

November 23, 2015 Cathy Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and Cathy write most of the posts here. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are both busy this week before Thanksgiving and Cathy is not busy.

The building on the North East corner of Balboa at Clairmont Drive had finally opened in early 2013, as another location of North Park Produce. Then it closed. Harvest International Market opened in its place. There is another location of Harvest closer to home, in El Cajon, but it's smaller (used to be a 99 Cents Only store) and there is no eat in area, but a nice 'grab and go' selection. Harvest has some tables and chairs inside the store and out in front.When you walk in the door, to your right is the bakery, deli and kitchen. There is also a cash register there, so you can order and pay. The hot tea is always brewing next to the baklava area (to the left when you walk in).The by the pound area has a vast selection of premade salads, olives and cheeses, all sold by the pound. There's also a good variety of flatbreads and small loaves to choose from. That white stuff? It's a saltier version of Kirk's garlic sauce and quite heavenly. The other items are baba ganoge (eggplant dip) and shirazi salad (cucumber, tomato, onion, parsley and mint mixed with olive oil and lemon juice) all very fresh and very good with the flatbread seen beneath ($1).

I purchase the yogurt based beverages from the vast selection in the back corner store refrigerators.

There is also a good selection of daily soups; I've tried most by pointing at the selection behind the glass counter. Some are tomato based, others are cream based. The above one had spinach and garbanzo beans, was in a creamy chicken based broth and was topped with crispy onion. The bowl was $3.The beef shawarma plate ($7.99) comes with a salad and basmati rice. There is a lot of everything and any of the plates can be shared. On this visit, the shawarma tasted dry on its own and the tzatziki sauce was needed; I usually don't have to add any. It was very flavorfully seasoned and the next day, I heated the meat up and mixed it into scrambled eggs for breakfast and no additional seasoning was needed. There was a sign that beef or chicken kabobs were five for $10 and we asked and ordered just one of each at the $2 each price. Both kabobs were flavorful and very large. It was nice they gave us two roasted tomatoes on the plate…so much nicer than a sprig of parsley. Next to the shawarma spinning upright rotisseries is a third rotisserie with gyros meat. This platter was also $7.99 and when we asked if it came with pita bread, the lady told us to grab one out of the bread box near the front. It's a really good bread topped with sesame seeds. We also were given a choice of specialty rice, and asked for 'the green one', as there were eight different rices in view.

After some research, I found the rice choices are basmati with other primary ingredients: Zereshk Polo (barberry), Baghali Polo (Persian dill with lima beans), Shirin Polo (orange and carrots), Albaloo Polo (sour cherry), Adas Polo (lentils), Lubia Polo (green beans), Biryani (spices and meat mixed in) and Aloo Polo (dried plums).

All in all, we've enjoyed exploring the deli counter and trying various offerings before we go shopping in the store. It's a pretty standard Mediterranean Market with halal meats and some seafood and interesting cookies, sauces, teas and coffees as well as ice cream and snack offerings.

Harvest International Market 4220 Balboa Avenue San Diego 92111 (858) 810-8228 open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily Website

Turo Turo Tuesday: Manila Resto

October 27, 2015 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Filipino Restaurants

**** Manila Resto has closed

I was in National City recently looking for a specific ingredient…had no luck at Seafood City, but I noticed this new "turo-turo" (point-point) place had opened up.

So I decided to stop and grab some breakfast. Man, this restaurant is huge……

The woman working the counter was very friendly and the food looked decent….so I went with the Longanisa and Chicken Tocino….I had to stop her from piling on the garlic rice and still ended up with a load of carbs.

And the egg of course, which had been sitting in a steam tray. The garlic in the rice was burnt, thus making the whole deal quite bitter. The longanisa was as expected, a meaty-juicy pouch of loveliness. The chicken tocino was really tough, it had been cooked down too long. It was also more salty than sweet.

It was quite obvious, this was one of those quantity over quality places.

No big deal……I made a note to revisit one day…no rush.

Funny thing happened the following week. I saw an old coworker of mine. She dropped off lunch from this "new place" to try…..it was from Manila Resto.

She got me the Bicol Express and the Beef Kaldereta, two dishes I love. She even told me they went easy on the rice….it was still way to much for me.

Bicol Express combines wonderful savory (from the fermented shrimp paste- bagoong alamang), with spicy (from chili peppers). This one kind of weak.

This was really tough, lacked spice….I mean it was really whimpy, and though it was salty, it could have used more bagoong.

The Kaldereta was slightly better; though it was still on the bland side. I enjoy mine a bit tangy from the tomato with a beefy edge. The pieces of beef were huge and had to be cut into pieces before eating. It was also a bit too greasy for my taste.

You won't go hungry after this…..but it's obviously more about quantity than quality here.

Manila Resto
1420 E Plaza Blvd Suite D2
National City, CA 91950

Going Loco – A Revisit to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue – College Area a Decade Later

October 26, 2015 mmm-yoso Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

**** This location of L&L has closed

When I started putting together The Big List, there were quite a few instances where I wondered what was going on with places that were still around all these years later. I first posted on L&L in the College area back in May of 2005 and a second with the "Are You Loco" comparison that September. So I thought, ten years is a good long time….and even though L&L is not my first choice for Plate Lunch (let's not go into that Hawaiian BBQ versus Plate Lunch stuff….plate lunch came first….Hawaiian Barbecue is a branding/marketing strategy), I thought it was about time. Also for this one, I broke out the "Rubio Scale", created by James Rubio of Big Island Grinds, who measures each item on the loco moco and assigns an aggregate based on this….so no, this won't be like one of those ramen things on that "Four lettered site" that says, "the noodles were fantastic, but the soup was just okay so I give it one star…." Which will always lead to the question; "does that mean if the broth was fantastic and the noodles fantastic, the best this place could do is two stars on a four star scale?"

So, it's been over a decade. Can you imagine how many starving students this location of L&L has served? On the downside; can you imagine how many folks think that this is the best that Hawaii has to offer on a plate?

If my recent visit is any indication, they'll be serving many more classes of SDSU students.

The tables are a bit more sticky than I recalled and as to be expected, the folks here….both in the front and the kitchen can't really pronounce the dishes correctly….stuff like musubi and katsu sounds kind of odd…and to be honest, a bit painful.

But lets get down to the Loco Moco – which is now $8.99, over 9 bucks with tax. Yikes, that's over 40% more than what it used to be. It has now reached the level of, "this better be good".

And let's get it on with the Rubio scale shall we?

#1 – Burger:

Good lord, preformed and cooked to death. Lacking in seasoning. Like eating gritty bits of shoe leather….still, it was barely edible. Thank god for the gravy…well, maybe not.

1.0

Not a good sign.

#2 Eggs:

This actually saved the loco as it was easy-over. I know, everyone is afraid of eating eggs out nowadays. But this one was right. There could have been crisp edges and some browning, but this was ok.

2.5

#3 Rice:

Seems like it was undercooked and sitting for a while. Average.

2.5

#4 Gravy:

Good lord, we sent Old Betsy to the glue factory. The texture was not to my liking…too gooey/gluey, no beefy flavor, glue like texture. It was nothing without Tabasco…..

1.0

#5 Stuffs:

Of course we have to attend to the Mac Salad. This one was put together fine….all the minimum requirements and it was nice and cold. Lack of salt was an issue, but it was ok.

3.0

So we have a 10 out of 25….perhaps this is the state of Hawaiian Barbecue loco mocos these days. After all, I think they "jumped the shark" years ago.

Still, it had been quite a few years and I had to find out for myself.

A small part of me wonders how the location in Puente Hills Mall fares. It was the first location on the mainland and was just a couple of miles from where we lived way back when. It was pretty good…they brought in a bunch of cooks from HNL to get them started and the folks there were really nice…….maybe it's better that I not know…..

L&L's Hawaiian BBQ
Campus Plaza 6083 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite 5B-1
San Diego, CA 92115

Jinya Ramen Bar – Pacific Beach

October 20, 2015 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** This location of Jinya Ramen Bar has closed

About the same time Nishiki Ramen opened with a great deal of hype, the first location of Jinya Ramen Bar opened in PB, to what seemed to be a lot less fanfare. Maybe it's me, but I think many were paying attention to the upcoming Hillcrest location. Jinya has several locations in LA and one in Vegas. And while Jinya has Jonathan Gold's seal of approval, the locations in LA seem kind of interesting; Studio City, Santa Monica, and now here in Pacific Beach.

My memory might be foggy, but I think a couple of businesses ago this was the location of Ed from Yuma's favorite Thai Restaurants, Karinya.

Man, this was one nice restaurant….looking very modern gastro-pubbish…….

Nice bar area….and very friendly folks…even though one of them did call it "Tonkatsu style Ramen"….

This young lady eating at the bar was really funny. After trying with chopsticks for a few minutes, she waved the white flag and asked for a fork.

I thought the menu, besides the ramen quite interesting…there were the "classics", rice bowls, chicken karaage….and other items I would never have ever thought of seeing in a ramen joint. Quinoa Salad, anyone? Well, the Missus does like Her quinoa, which She really started enjoying in Peru back in 2007.

Of course I got some ramen. I decided on the Jinya Tonkotsu Black ($10.80).

The bowls were very nice; though I did notice that the actual portion size of the ramen might be a tad smaller than it actually looks. First off, the egg was nicely flavored, but over-cooked, the yolk dry. Speaking of over-cooked, the Hakata style noodles were also not to my liking, being too soft and mushy. The chashu was nice, but could have used more flavor. The broth wasn't hot enough, which led to this really rich pork tonkotsu developing a "skin" rather quickly and also attaining a greasy texture. Too much bitter garlic messed up the flavor as well…don't get me wrong, I love garlic, but this was a bit too much for me.

I could tell the ramen had potential and all the hiccups could be remedied. After all, they had just opened.

Seeing Pig Ear Chicharron ($8.50), I just had to order it.

I really enjoyed this dish. The pig ears were fried crisp and rather light. The harissa added a nice flavor and the fried, crisp kale was nice as well. The onsen tamago threw me at first as it was ice cold. But it was beautifully runny and added a nice creamy-richness to the whole mess…..it was a lovely mess.

I was pleased enough with what I had, that I was actually able to talk the Missus (who was quite dubious of going to PB for ramen) into having an early dinner here.

The main selling point being the Tempura Brussel Sprouts ($5.80). The Missus loves Her Brussel Sprouts. At one point last year, I was making bacon fat sautéed Brussel Sprouts in a balsamic reduction 3-4 times a week!

The Missus likes Her tempura either light and feathery, or full on thick and crunchy. This was the latter. The Missus also loves truffle oil…guess what was drizzled on these? This was quite good, though I couldn't help but think how good a tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce) would go with these as well. No complaints from the Missus.

Her Pork Chashu Bowl ($8.00) was quite large.

That egg was quite good, cooked nicely. The sauce was also decent and the rice cooked well. The pork was on the dry side, but passable. I don't think we'll have this again though.

We won't be having the Caramelized Cauliflower ($5.80) either.

I think of cauliflower as being a wonderful palette for different flavors, but this seemed uninspired….not roasted nearly enough, with too much citrus that just overwhelmed the whole dish.

This time, I got the Tonkotsu Assari ($8.80). When I think of Assari Ramen I think of a light broth. This was still a bit thicker than what I expected, but I'm not complaining.

The broth was nice and porky while perhaps on the higher end of the sodium scale, but not terribly so. The broth coated my tongue nicely and I'd say it was better than what I've had recently at Yamadaya. The thicker (it's all relative) noodles were prepared well, nice and al dente, a touch of chew to them. You can tell that the egg this time around was better as well. The chashu was the same as before. Overall, this was a much better bowl of ramen……

Of course I got the Pig Ears, but the Missus, who loved the egg, kale, and harissa, didn't care for the pig ears, which weren't quite as good as on my previous visit.

Strange. What She really wants is something crisp on the exterior, but still having that crunchy-chewiness in the exterior. She believes that doing this to pig ears defeats the purpose of using it as an ingredient. Of course conversation went to the fantastic pig ears we had in Hiroshima, but that was a totally different prep. Oh well, I'll still be ordering this.

Strangely, Jinya wasn't very crowded on either visit, but it could because they've recently opened and we usually eat fairly early. As with my previous visit, people watching is half the fun. I'm wondering if they had some kind of doll making class nearby…otherwise this photo of the young lady having ramen while her doll "watches" seems kind of weird.

It seems like Jinya is trying to please a variety of different folks…quinoa salad, craft beer, and French fries on one hand….the classic trio of ramen, gyoza, and rice bowls on the other. Who knows, they might just pull this off. I know I'll have to return….especially since I totally forgot to try the karaage!

Jinya Ramen Bar
825 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

What’s My Craving? Myung In Dumplings

October 19, 2015 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

**** Myung In Dumplings has closed

** Note: Myung In Dumplings has moved to the Zion Market Food Court

Well, maybe the Missus is right. Fall might be the best time of the year….at least it is when you get milder, non-triple digit temps in October. Now that things have cooled off a bit, I could start up on my soups and stuffs again. And I think a six month lag for a revisit is a good amount of time.

Strangely, my favorite dish over the course of my previous series of visits was the Mandu Guk; dumpling soup. It seemed like the wrappers of the dumplings really took to being in a liquid and the broth was just tasty enough.

I was wanting that soup for a while.

So it's what I had…….though it's now $12, which I think is kind of high for a clear soup, with some egg, naengmyun, and ten jiaozi dumplings. The panchan, like before is nothing special…just filler….

The broth was not quite as tasty as on my previous visit; though there's a bit of sneaky garlic in the broth; it is neither as rich or flavorful, though still barely passable.

The fillings of the dumplings were better than I recalled; decent pork flavor, reasonably seasoned. The wrappers though, were not; much more brittle, without the nice pull, perhaps the dough had been "worked" too hard.

The one woman who mostly works in the back is very nice; so too was the guy who asked me what nationality I was and when I told him Japanese, he started talking to me in Japanese! Apparently, he lived in Gardena and all his neighbors were Japanese so he learned some of the language. When I told him my wife is Chinese, he started speaking Mandarin….I am truly not worthy. I'm not sure if I enjoyed myself enough to return anytime soon. Good people though…….

Myung In Dumplings
4344 Convoy St,
San Diego, CA 92111

Urbn St Brewing Co (El Cajon)

October 13, 2015 Cathy Beer, Pizza, Pubs and Pub Grub, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to see what mmm-yoso!!! is writing about today. Kirk is under the weather and Ed (from Yuma) is otherwise occupied (in Yuma) so Cathy is writing this short post.

There are five different locations of URBN and the one closest to home is this one, URBN St Brewing Co, in El Cajon.This is the building from the parking lot. The front door is on Magnolia at Main (the North West corner, next to the Starbucks).The 'windows' are the roll up garage door kind, so everything is exposed. You can see the bar area has plenty of taps. The side televisions are beer menus.Once inside, the industrial hipster brewery look is obvious.The Mister was here to try some of the house beers ($7 for an URBN flight) (of four): Saison (bright and light in flavor), Unite (a red Belgian rye, brewed in collaboration with Twisted Manzanita Brewery (located in Santee)), Brown (graham cracker with chocolate undertones) and Triple Brown (strong coffee notes). Each beer was unique and fresh in taste. We enjoyed all of our choices.

The menu at dinner is straightforward, with pizza and salad being the primary choices along with four appetizers and desserts.The URBN salad (small, $7). A nice mix of greens topped with gorgonzola, pears, a walnut brittle and a light vinaigrette. This could be a meal for one (the bowl is deep), but we shared. It was very fresh and flavorful.None of the preselected ingredient pies appealed to us, so we chose to 'Craft Your Own'. We chose a Small, White with parmesan/garlic/evoo ($10) then added Ricotta ($2) and artichokes ($2).

That small pizza is on a regular size cookie sheet (half sheet cake size)! More than enough.

The flavor combination was just right, with the garlic and olive oil complimenting -and not overpowering- the Ricotta or artichoke hearts. The crust was more cracker-like than the edges, which I don't normally like, especially when cold..but this pizza never got to the point of being leftover…

URBN St. Brewing Co. 110 N. Magnolia (at Main) El Cajon 92020 (619) 328-6922 Website Open Sun-Thurs 11:30-10, Fri-Sat 11:30-midnight