Pacific Beach

[Enorah]

Where to dine?

Read about that Belgian Fries place. Yum.

Where else?

We like everything except for fine dining (not to say we do not like fine dining, it just is not our thing.)

Oh and we do not drink.

[Enorah]

So we made it to Pacific Beach today.

We parked right by the Belgian Fries joint, so that was our first stop. We just shared a single cone of fries, but that was plenty as a snack. We opted for the pay extra for the four sauces dealie. The fries were great, great, great. All crisp on the outside and soft and yummy on the in. The sauces were excellent as well. I have been eating mayo on my fries since I was a teen. These mayos were really good. We had roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, Parmesan peppercorn, and a chipotle ketchup (my honey is not so much a mayo guy).

Then we took a nice walk on the boardwalk. I fell and scraped up my leg, which I know has nothing to do with food.

We opted for the Green Flash for lunch, more for location than anything else. We both had salads which were fine. I had mahi on mine and my honey had the crab and shrimp loui. Food was good, service was spotty (had to ask for things more than once and I ordered my fish grilled and got it with a light breading on it), eating by the water was great. We watched a man walking his cat on a leash.

Then we walked back south a couple of blocks to the Niederfrank's ice cream stand on the boardwalk. The ice cream was good and creamy and flavorful.

good day except for my leg and not having to wait a bit for my salad dressing.

I definitely want to check out Sushi Ota next time we are there.

[cstr]

Recently went to World Famous, hadn't been for a while. Lively crowd, excellent nut crusted brie wedge with crustini toasts, crisp calamari and fish tacos. No deals on the drinks but the half price apps make-uo for that. Plenty of other apps to choose from that looked very interesting. Oh, you'll feel like you won the lottery if you get a parking space.

[Enorah]

We have had a couple of nice lunches at World Famous as well. I totally know what you mean about the parking. We got spots both times.

We ate there a couple of weeks ago and watched the dolphins playing in the surf. Yummy food with an incredible view. Really nice salads and sandwiches

[ThaiGer]

I have to 2nd the Lotsa Pasta recommendation, if only for the Timpano (haven't tried anything else). Also, there's the Turqouise Cafe/Bar Europa which I haven't tried yet but am definitely going to visit.

[Captain Jack]

Olde City Grill on Garnet. Excellent Philidelphia cheesesteaks made with American Kobe beef by people from Philly. This place is new.

[Beach Chick]

Cafe Athena is awesome for Greek
Los Panchos on Garnet across from Pacific Plaza is excellent for Mex..
Rocky's for a great cheeseburger
Crest Liquor for the best deli sandwiches along with the Chalboard Deli on Garnet
Cass Street Bar & Grill for a killer Oriental Chicken salad and other yummy food.
Filippi's on Garnet because its cheap and good and so old school italian
Los Dos Pedros across from Albertson's on Turquoise
Kono's at the pier..the cheapest best damn breakfast anywhere and oceanfront
Pizzeria Uno (rooftop on Mission) ocean view while you have a pizza
Taco Surf
Rubio's
Sushi Ota..best sushi anywhere!
Lahaina's but I forgot you don't drink..love love love this place
World Famous..great happy hour for lobster tacos
The Green Flash..the food is decent but its sits right on the boardwalk

Have fun!

[stevuchan]

TJ's Oyster Bar next to 2nd Vons on Garnet has good mex style seafood cocktails. I like the Cebechie at Latin Chef better, but the cocktails are solid. Cafe Orleans serves up decent cajun, creole. Margos's on Garnet had al pastor on a trompo. Latitude 32 on Cass kitchen is open and serving up some good food, best hot dog at the beach. They are also open for breakfast (have not been yet). Tap Room on garnet has decent pie. If Lalani's is still open on cass you can get good hawaiian food. I strongly second (or third) Mama Mia. Here is also a fairly recent post.

www.chowhound.com/topics/346460

Cheers

[menuinprogress]

Do you know what the current story is on TJ's? We've been wanting to try it since finding out about it here, but it has been closed since early June.

[stevuchan]

Not sure, they have always kept odd hours. I will stop by this weekend and find out.

Cheers

[Captain Jack]

TJ's scares me. They serve raw seafood, are rarely open, and I asked neighboring businesses and was told they have few customers. Product turnover could be a serious issue. That is if they are even still open.

[Captain Jack]

TJ's is belly up. The windows are covered in butcher paper so you can not even see in.

[stevuchan]

Thanks Jack. I always had good seafood there, but I understand your point about turn over. I was suprised they stayed open for as long as they did, that location seems to be jinxed. Did not understand why Tacos El Gordo did not work in that location, could be a parking issue. Lots a Pasta is the only place that does not rotate every couple of years.

[menuinprogress]

I though having a ceviche place in that location seemed too good to be true. Too bad it closed before I had a chance to try it.

[pbhomey]

A few more to add:

Marino’s on Ingraham St (mom and pop place)
Super Wok on Ingraham St (another mom and pop place)
Thai Village on Mission (my favorite Thai in PB)
Ramiro's Mission Blvd (chicken burrito)
Liar’s Club on Mission (real close to PB, just came from there!)

[Enorah]

I am remembering reading about a restaurant that has delicious roast chicken, I think Mexican? Maybe? Help?

[honkman]

That's Limonz. I haven't eaten there but heard very mixed reviews.

http://www.mexicantaco.com/

[DiningDiva]

I have eaten there and liked it. I thought the chicken was okay, a little dry, but the ribs were terrifically tender and flavorful. (And for all the BBQ purists out there, NO, these are not "authentic" BBQ). The chicken and ribs are both done in a combi oven (i.e. a professional grade oven that cooks with both conventional heat and steam) and then reheated/finished on a gas fired grill. At first I was a little dismayed to see precooked chicken and ribs go on to the grill, but surprised at how well they both came out. The ribs hold up better to this method of preparation than does the chicken.

Some of the available sides were really good as were some of the salsas. I really liked the side of rajas, which are strips of poblano chile peppers. However, I was less please that they felt like they had to hide the nopales in a salsa, I think they could have stood alone.

[DiningDiva]

Cantina Panaderia, although I think they just changed their name to something like Isabel Cantina. But they did not change location. The restaurant is still located on Feldspar a couple doors down from where it crosses Cass. Breakfast is excellent and lunch and dinner aren't half bad either.

Latin Chef on Garnet serves up some pretty darn good Peruvian food
Limonz does good chicken and ribs as well as made to order burritos (plus they stay open late)
Mama Mia has gotten a lot of good comments on the board lately. I haven't eaten at this incarnation, but I did eat at the owners pervious place in the east County and it was excellent.
The Fishery, though a friend went within the last couple of weeks and reported it was "tired, very tired"
Lotsa Pasta in the center at Garnet and Jewel has it's followers plus it's one of the few places in town that does timbale a la the movie The Big Night.
Charile's Breads are also in the same shopping center and are definitely work stopping to pick up to take home.
The Broken Yolk is a breakfast/lunch place that's been in PB for eons. Portions are enormous, prices are fair, and it is almost always crowded
Green Flash and World Famous have their share of fans

[Enorah]

How is The Fishery?

[Jim Strain]

IMO it's one of the three best places for seafood in SD. Casual (not cheap, though there are lower-cost choices on the menu), delicious food, friendly service.
. . . jim strain in san diego.

[jturtle]

Rocky's for burgers (not my faves but are well regarded)
Zanzibar Coffee Shop for Zanzibananas (they are a coffee/banana milk shake that is great)
Bahia Don Bravo (fish tacos)
Taco Surf
Mama Mia
Surfside for good not great sushi.

[honkman]

French Gourmet
Kafe Yen
La Torta
Latin Chef
Costa Brava

[Enorah]

why thank you, sir

[menuinprogress]

Honkman's list is good. I would add:

Taco Surf
Cafe Bella Italia
Cantina Panaderia
Cass Street Bar and Grill
Mama Mia