Been spending considerable time in san diego recently, and used that to expand my taco quest lol. Oscars, on turquoise in PB is one favorite. City Tacos in OB. Blue Water Seafood in OB has a really nice (small) fresh fish counter, and makes some excellent fish tacos.
Update:
Still in S.D. and will hit Azuki for sushi tonight.
So far:
The Taco Stand (30th Street) in North Park is good. Ate there twice as it was within walking distance.
Good tacos al pastor and the Mer y Tierra burrito was excellent.
Highlight was the churros made to order. I want the churro machine that pushes out the dough. (I’d end up >300 lbs within a week if I had one, however.)
Served with sweetened condensed milk.
Oscars in PB rocked. Fish tacos were excellent. Had a clean, bright and fast-food SoCal burger vibe. Prices were welcomed especially after eating in $outh Park.
Tacos al Gordo in the Gaslamp District was the real deal.
Loved it. Worth the wait in line on a Friday around lunch. So good.
Taka - sushi - on 5th Avenue in Gaslamp was quite good. Omakase was $130. Went for a variety of sashimi and sushi instead. Very simple and straigtforward sushi. Recommend the sushi bar for better service, atmosphere and attention from Taka himself.
Got pizza from Tribute for takeout. Had to go to Trivia night at Falls Brewery. (Our team won!) Very good pizza. Did not fully satisfy my NYC pizza craving but it was still excellent pizza.
Ate dinner at Barbusa in Little Italy. Sicilian influenced Italian food. The restaurant has a slight club/bar vibe with the hightop tables, loud music, and TVs. But good mix of patrons of all ages and all styles of dress. Food was well prepared - gnocchi were light and delicate with a pistacchio pesto, pasta al Norma used ravioli as the pasta, and the fiore di zucca (stuffed zucchini flowers) had a nice honey-hot pepper drizzle.
Corkage was $30. I brought a 2021 Lucia Gary’s Vineyard Pinot that I “won” at the Falltacular silent auction. Very good wine and paired well with our food. The bouquet alone was worth the corkage.
Appreicate all the comments and suggestions. I hooe future visitors find this useful.
Thomas, how long are you staying? I’m driving down Sunday.
Glad you enjoyed Oscars!
Gordo is worth going, maybe fits your NY style better than my California lol.
Glad you tried Tribute, I suspect dining in would be a better overall experience. No pizza survives takeout very well lol. I think my call on the NY comparison was about right 
Taking note of your other experiences, thanks for the report.
Not in little Italy but Italian joint a little north called Baci has been an awesome stop for me.
Extended family did my fil’s 80th bday there, 15 years ago. Yikes, time flies!
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