San Diego Recs

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
1

Hello:
I will be at the San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina at the end of July for a conference. I am looking for some suggestions for a nice place to eat. My nephew lives in town and has a car, so while I don’t want something too far away, I can travel a bit. Any suggestiosn appreciated.
Thanks!

2

I’d do a quick search, there were three recent threads.

3

Doc, the Sheraton that you mention is very close to the airport, but not to anything else. Anyway with a car you can go downtown to the East Village to Cafe Chloe or to Cowboy Star. Both are decent for what they serve.

http://www.cafechloe.com/

Next to Baloa Park, there’s Cucina Urbana and for cockatails and the best views of San Diego you have Bertrand at Mister A’s.

In Hillcrest you have Pizzeria Bruno Napoletano (fantastic authentic Napoletan pizza) and Farmhouse Cafe, a tiny French bistro.

http://pizzeriabrunosd.com/
http://www.farmhousecafesd.com/#/intro

Addison’s Del Mar is no doubt the best restaurant that we have in San Diego. It would be about 30 minute drive from downtown, but worth it. I would stick with the 4 course prix fixe menu, as it’s always been fantastic, and you get to pick what you want. The 6 and 10 course menus are chef’s whim and I’ve had some let downs. I know Alan W. also loves this place.

One more. If you are here on a Saturday, then Wine Vault and Bistro is the place. They have a 5 course menu for $30 and the food is very good to excellent. You can also get your courses paired with wine for $20. And Chris, the owner, knows his wines, and he has a knack for pairing them very, very well.

Best,
Otto

4

Thanks for the advice. I’ll see what my nephew wants to do. He doesn’t yet know any places in town as he just moved there. He is also a poor grad student so cannot afford much on his own anyway. However, he has an exceptional palate with a fine pedigree- his Dad is a James Beard winning chef, so for a young guy he knows his food well. I am hoping to put toegthor a wine dinner as well (which is also partially the reason for me posting a new thread, Chris) but first I’ll want to see what he wants to do.

5

Bob,
I took my family to SanD a couple of years ago and asked the same advice of the board. Of all the recs they gave us, Tapenade in La Jolla was the best of the three restaurants, that were recommended. Very good meal.

6

We have not been, but several of the local wine folk have posted positive experiences about the two 3rd Corner in Ocean Beach and Encinitas. I believe you can buy wine in the shop and take it to the resto next door for reasonable prices.

I second the Wine Vault and Bistro. Casual, good food, decent wine and can’t beat the price even for a starving student.

7

Bob,

We’ve had a couple of great dinners/wine dinners at Quarter Kitchen downtown. I’d also “third” Wine Vault on the other side of the airport from where you will be staying. Great fixed price dinners on Fri/Sat and fequent winemaker dinners. Take a 20-30 min drive up the coast to Georges at the Cove in La Jolla. You can eat at the fancy restaurant downstairs, but I’d recommend a table at the more casual Ocean Terrace on the roof. Food is great and views can’t be beat. Anytime is great, but you can book a table for an hour before sunset for a nice treat as long as the fog hasn’t rolled in (you can book through opentable.com) .

http://www.winevaultbistro.com/index.htm
http://www.quarterkitchen.com/

Cheers, [cheers.gif]

Steve

8

Jaynes Gastropub in North Park is fun, casual and with good food and a largely natural wine list.

9

We are having dinner Saturday night at the Wine Vault and Bistro. I have not (and probably will not) be able to plan a formal dinner with my local friends sadly, as much of my time is still up in the air for various reasons. I am excited about the wine vault, though. Looks pretty nice.

10

Doc, please post your notes. We go there 2-3 Saturdays per month. But we usually avoid the days when they have the steak as their 4th course. IMO the first 3 courses, the non meat dishes are the most innovative dishes. Weather sure has been good to you! [cheers.gif]

11

No matter what happens, the weather cannot be any worse than it is here right now.

12

We were not able to go to the Wine Vault, as they had overbooked, plus were not baby friendly. However, we went to the Farmhouse, and had an excellent meal, actually. It excedded expectations, even for Elaine who is very hard to please. I’d love to be able to go on a Tuesday when their wine si half price.

13

the neighborhood for very good burgers and amazing selection of beers
Lotus Thai
Cafe Chloe

Cowboy Star is just okay IMO

14

My wife and I were in town for a few nights.

1st night we went to Cafe Chloe and loved it. Great food, good wine, and great service. They had a 3 course prix fixe menu which was a little limited in selection but we both found paths that didn’t allow much overlap.

2nd night we went to Georges California Modern which was a very fine restaurant. Lots of gems on the winelist and some with very little markup. An odd one I saw was a Copain Wentzel for 2x ($120 - $50-60 bottle retail) and then the Copain “Tous Ensembles” pinot for a 6-7x ($140 - $20-25 retail), but we got a Peay syrah for not even a 2x markup and was fantastic and complex. They also had some very cool cocktails. One thing to note, you really don’t need a starter dish here as the portions were huge. I had a tomato salad and a pork chop. The pork chop was very tasty but I’d skip the salad. My wife had the roasted corn soup and braised lamb. Her meal was absolutely delicious. Neither of us could finish our plates from being way too full.

3rd night I ate at Cowboy Star and thought it was a great steak. Ribeye medium rare over roasted asparagus and a chive infused mashed potato. Cooked perfectly and again a huge meal. The brought out an amuse bouche and a hot roll. Another starter would have been overkill. Wine prices and selection appeared pretty good. I just ordered some 2004 La Jota Howell Mountain cabernet by the glass, but their bottle price was right around the retail price.

For lunches I ate mexican mostly, Miguel’s on Coronado - fantastic, fresh, delicious. Old Towne Mexican Cafe - complete crap. Maybe i’m spoiled being from the DC area when great Mexican is around every corner, but being so close to Mexico you would think there would be no way they could screw it up. They did. It tasted like the Chef Boyardee of Mexican cuisine.

One thing to note, every restaurant we went to after Chole’s all said the same thing. Cafe Chole is the hidden gem of San Diego dining. I would fully agree with that. I loved almost everything I ate but I think Chloe was the star of the trip.

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Old Town Mexican Cafe?! WTF!! [wow.gif]

Next time, I would do a little more research; so many better places in town. Old Town should be avoided at all costs.

Disclosure, I grew up in SD.

16

Old Town Mexican Cafe is a local hangout, but the only thing to order is the carnitas. Could have been worse, though. Casa de Bandini could still be open.

17

I think I saw a new Casa de Bandini in south Carlsbad lately in the Forum shopping center. [smileyvault-ban.gif]

18

Ban is right. Canned sauces and lots of iceberg lettuce and cheap cheese.

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wife and I went to Cafe Chloe a few years ago and +1 the reccomendation. was nice to get a bit out of the gaslamp tourist area.