Brians' American Eatery-Closed

Brians' American Eatery
1451 Washington St
San Diego
619-296-8268

Brian's American Eatery is your classic diner. You're getting comfort food in good sized portions at good prices. I've been to Brian's once, back around the time when Petco Park opened for the San Diego Padres. I went during their Saturday special, all you can eat beef ribs. The ribs are pretty good, they aren't BBQ, the menu even says oven cooked ribs, but they tasted good and for about $14, you can't beat it.

This time around, I came on a Sunday afternoon and it was fully of people. Luckily the weather was cloudy and overcast, so I said first available, and we got a table outside on the patio.

I got the Big Rooster-grilled chicken with bacon and melted swiss cheese on onion bun, with side salad and mac and cheese.

The chicken sandwich was a bit greasy, the bottom portion of the bun was a soggy mess and a bit dry, I guess they figured you would add condiments to the sandwich. But, the chicken was well cooked and the swiss cheese was melted nicely. The bacon was huge, crispy and tasted like it had just been cooked, not sitting under heat lamps. I added some ranch dressing, from my side salad, and it really helped. Maybe, Brian's should call it the Ranch Big Rooster.

My favorite part of the meal was the mac and cheese. WOW!! What a great example of mac and cheese. Everything was well blended together!! The cheese, the perfectly cooked macaroni, everything. They know how to make a roux at Brian's!! They serve this as it's own entree, I think that's what I'll get next time I come to Brian's.

The side salad had fresh veggies and their ranch dressing is great!! It's now some watered down ranch you find at other restaurants, but a well mixed and seasoned ranch.

Service was ok. The server was nice but he wasn't around that often. I understand they were busy, every table in the dining room and patio was filled. But, that's not an excuse for coming by the table only to take our order and to drop off our order. He didn't even come by to give us our check, we were walking to the cashier, when he gave us our bill.

While this visit wasn't great; the Big Rooster wasn't good, and I wouldn't order it again. But, I like my other trip to Brian's and will go back for their ribs, soon!!

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
380 K St
San Diego
619-237-1155

Ok, I'm not the type of guy who likes eating at chain restaurants. Why go to a chain, when there maybe a restaurant just as good? I'll admit, I didn't know certain restaurants were chains when I at there. If I see a new restaurant when I'm out for dinner, I'll just stop in and have a meal there. I don't do research on a restaurant while I'm out and about. But, if I do have time to research a restaurant, I will see if it is a chain and then put that restaurant on the back burner of my "to try" list.

I went to this same exact Flemings about five years ago. I had an enjoyable meal and figured since I was in San Diego I would try them again. Fleming's is running a promotion; if you make reservations online, you get $25 off your meal, if you spend $50 or more and then you get a $25 off card that is good for the first three months in 2012!! A great deal.

Flemings is located in the Gaslamp area of downtown San Diego. It's a fairly big sized restaurant that is dimly lit. It has a nice modern steakhouse decor.

Since I was dining alone, I had to order over $50 of food, so I got an appetizer, Jumbo lump crabcakes, $16.95, with roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce. Jumbo lump are the second highest grade of crabmeat, similar to a choice cut of beef. Jumbo lump are white meat from the two muscles near the swimming legs of the crab. They should be nice and sweet.

I hate crabcakes that are nothing but fillers, breadcrumbs or other junk that doesn't belong in a crabcake. When I cut into this crabcake, nothing but beautiful white meat!! The crabcakes were beautifully browned on the outside, and it wasn't heavy with butter like some place do. It was a nice light sear and a nice texture to the crabcakes. The meat was well seasoned, if they don't use Old Bay seasoning, they use most of the same ingredients like Old Bay. The roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce added a nice cool flavor to the crabcakes. But, I could have eaten the crabcakes alone and been very happy.

If anybody complains about the price of the crabcakes, they are just clueless. Jumbo lump crab meat isn't cheap and as long as the crab cakes have little fillers, this crabcake was about 98% jumbo lump, 2% bread crumps and parsley, it's well worth the price.

Well, a steakhouse, no matter how good their appetizers maybe, has to serve good quality steaks that are cooked perfectly. I got the main filet, $41.95, cooked medium. After telling the server I wanted my steak cooked medium, he said hot pink inside. I told him yes! I like how the server make sure how your steak is going to be cooked. Some people have different definitions of how a medium cooked steak should be.

Anyways a few minutes later, I got a perfectly cooked filet!! This steak was very well seasoned. Some may say it was a little heavy on the pepper, but I like a good amount of pepper on my steak. And Fleming's uses prime steaks, the top cut of beef. So the steak was tender, melt in your mouth, good!! A very good quality steak, well worth the price.

Service was great!! The server and busboy came by my table often, and I wasn't lacking for anything.

I would gladly go back to this Fleming's in San Diego anytime. A great meal with two perfectly cooked items and great service!! What more can you ask for?

Pizzeria Mozza

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles
323-297-0101

Pizzeria Mozza is owned by celebrity chef, Mario Batali and has been a hit for LA diners since it opened in 2007. My understanding is that Nancy Silverton is in charge of the menu and it's her recipes. Whatever the situation is, I've wanted to try Mozza and finally got a chance. I made reservations about a month in advance, and I'm glad I did. When I arrived Mozza was packed, I mean just packed full of snotty, full of themselves, asshole pretentious people!! I thought I was on the Westside!!

While waiting for my friends to arrive, a couple walked out of Mozza, and said "I can't believe the earliest time for a table is 10:15pm." It was about 5pm, when this happened!! So make a reservation!!

Pizzeria Mozza is a fairly small restaurant that is divided into two areas, a larger, much louder room and the smaller, much quieter "wine cellar" It's not really a cellar, it's just room where some wine is stored. But, it's much quieter and a great setting for a good dinner with friends.

I got the "meat lovers" pizza, bacon, salame, fennel sausage, guanciale, tomato, and mozzarella, $19. The pizzas are 10in, personal sized pizza. I didn't know what guanciale was, so I asked the server and he told us, it is an Italian bacon made from the cheeks of the pig. Later, googled guanciale and it's an unsmoked bacon.

Anyways, the first thing I noticed was the size of the sausage, huge, full of bold fennel flavor. They use quality ingredients for this sausage. There was a couple slices of the regular bacon, which was fine, but nothing memorable or outstanding. The guanciale was pretty good, but I prefer smoked bacon. The salame was shaped like pepperoni and had a nice kick to it. The mozzarella was nicely melted and flavorful. The tomato sauce also had a nice kick to it.

But, what ruined the pizza for me was the crust. This may have been among the worst crust I've ever had! A cracker thin crust, that didn't hold up the toppings well towards the center and crunched on the outer edges. That's not my kind of crust.

Overall, the pizza was worth the high price tag, because of the great quality of the meats, not because of the crust.

Service was good, when we saw the server. The hostess was nice and welcoming. She greeted me and every other customer I saw, with a smile and hello. The server was nice and friendly, he patiently answered our questions, but he wasn't really around that much. He came take our order, give us our bill, and then take our money. That's it. I realize the "wine cellar" was packed but there were only about 8-10 tables. It was so busy that we saw the bus boy more than our server.

Afterwards, I went to Mozza To Go, where you can order, pizzas and salads to go, to pick up a menu. The interesting thing I found, is that the meat lovers pizza from Pizzeria Mozza is different than the meat lovers from Mozza To Go, instead of guanciale, they have pancetta. Why they wouldn't use the same toppings for both places, I don't know.

Frankly, I didn't have that high of expectations for Pizzeria Mozza. I don't get the hype about celebrity chefs. So what the owner maybe on TV, doesn't mean his cooking is worth a damn. I could care less that Mario Batali owned Pizzeria Mozza. But, many people buy into the hype. Though I was very impressed with the quality toppings, the crust was horrible. I wouldn't go back to Pizzeria Mozza, unless other friends wanted to go.

Updates

December 9, 2011

I went back to Broaster Kitchen.

October 25, 2011:

After a lot of thought, I have decided to add a new label to reviews; Moved. This means a restaurant has closed down at the listed address in a review, and has moved to another location. I will keep this list updated as possible. I will add a link, if I do a review for the new location. But, keep this in mind; The restaurant will still be labeled closed, since that restaurant is no longer at the address listed. And, honestly if I gave that restaurant a bad review, I'm not going to waste time to update that they moved.

The biggest reason I added Moved, was because I hated seeing how Yelp handles a restaurant that has moved. They will just change the address to the new location, BUT, they keep the reviews AND pictures of the old location. It can be confusing, seeing pictures of two different locations, and really a stupid thing for a review site to do.

September 11, 2011:

I went back to the Pioneer Chicken in Bell Gardens.

Feb. 26, 2011:

Went back to Original Graziano's Pizza and tried their pizza.

Janurary 27, 2011:

This is a, The New Diner, first. If a restaurant that I reviewed has closed, I will label it closed and the year I reviewed the restaurant. Even if the restaurant has moved to a different location, I will label that restaurant as closed, because that location is closed.

Most of the closed restaurants, have either stayed vacated or turned into a different restaurants. But Straw Hat Pizza in Orange, is the first to close and then reopen under new ownership!!

I just found out they have been opened, under new ownership, for seven months. I wasn't really impressed with the pizza, under the old ownership, but I'm glad to see Straw Hat has survived. It was a childhood favorite. Who knows maybe a new owner or another location, will still have the same great Straw Hat taste.

Like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and the other steroids users, there should be an asterisk with this update about Swinging Door BBQ. Which also closed down, then reopened in the same location, but under new ownership and they changed the name to Swingin Door BBQ. Notice the new owners dropped the G. Yes, it's a small detail, but they are different names.

January 19, 2011:

I went back to My Brothers BBQ for their broasted chicken.

2010 Updates:

Bludso's BBQ

I posted pictures of the Arby's in Huntington Beach, with the chuckwagon building and the ten gallon hat, on my review of the Arby's in Pomona.

Pizza Mania, and finally had their pizza.

Pioneer Chicken on Soto.

Jerry's Dogs.

38 Degrees Ale House.

I tried to go back to Porky's BBQ for some fried chicken. I will never go back to Porky's again because of their TERRIBLE service.

Oinkster

Amber Waves.

You can search restaurants by city and cuisine.

2009 Updates:

Alondra Hot Wings in Long Beach.

McConnell Bistro at Pitzer College.

I have just found out that four restaurants I have reviewed on The New Diner, have closed; Memphis BBQ, Dante's Italian Deli, Hof's Hut and Ruth's Place. I don't know exactly when these restaurants closed.

This bring the total to 51 restaurant that I have reviewed but are now closed. If any restaurants that I reviewed are now closed, please let me know. I won't write an update about closures unless it reaches a milestone number.

I have decided to create a new category for closed restaurants; Closed-Reviewed and the year I reviewed the restaurant, for example, Closed-Reviewed 2006.


Bob's Big Boy in Diamond Bar for their 30th anniversary party.

The Smoking Joint.

Langers.

The Habit

Dr. Hogly Wogly

I added a picture of the new signage for Phillips BBQ in Chino.

You can now search reviews by cuisines. I have added labels to my reviews and will add labels to all reviews soon.

Some tips on searching.

I have labeled most restaurants by their broader cuisines and the item I ordered. Example: Mexican, tacos.

If you click BBQ, you will only find places REAL BBQ places that smoke their meats, or at least attempts to smoke their meats. For other places, they are under Oven BBQ.

If you are looking for ribs, they are labeled spare ribs, beef ribs, or baby backs ribs.

Closed means the restaurant that I went to, at the address listed, is not the same restaurant or has closed down.

Profile Name Change.

In case anybody is wondering, I decided that The New Diner should be my profile/user name for The New Diner blog. So all comments will be by The New Diner. This is my food blog. Unitas We Stand is my tribute to Johnny Unitas and the expression of my love for my BALTIMORE COLTS.

I still have my Unitas We Stand blog. I still love the BALTIMORE COLTS. If I get married, I still will have my fiance take and pass a test about the BALTIMORE COLTS. And yes, if she flunks, I will not marry her. Though I may give her a make up test.

The Gastronome

The Gastronome
Cal St. Fullerton

Classes first started at Cal St. Fullerton in 1957. In 1988 they finally got dorms for about 800 students, at the time enrollment was about 20,000. In the early 2000's Fullerton added a second phrase of dorms. Both phrases of dorms did not have a traditional dining hall. Students would have to cook their own meals or buy a meal plan at Hope International University, which is across the street from CSF.

Then in August of 2011, with enrollment well over 30,000, CSF opened a third phrase of dorms that finally included a dining hall!! Called The Gastronome, it's a huge complex that is broken up into five sections; deli/grill, salad bar, dessert bar, fried food bar, meal of the day.

The first college dining hall The New Diner reviewed was, McConnell Bistro at Pitzer College, and I was very impressed with how far "dorm food" has come. But, then I was reminded of how bad dorm food can still be when I went to Los Olivos Dining Commons at Cal Poly Pomona.

Since CSF is part of the same college system as Cal Poly Pomona, I figured I would get more of the same. $12.39 for dinner and is all you can eat.

There was a large salad bar, stocked with tons of veggies. Some were fresher than others. I got romaine lettuce, spinach, chopped eggs, kidney and garbanzo beans, and cucumbers, topped with ranch dressing.  Most of the veggies I got were fresh, except for the cucumbers, which had been sitting around too long.  The dressing was diluted with water, making it very runny and hurt the flavor.  Overall, a pretty standard buffet salad bar.  But, I didn't find any carrots!!

I got the regular and buffalo chicken wings are from the fried food section, which also had some bacon wrapped hot dogs. The wings are already fried and they will toss the buffalo wings sauce when you order it. The wing were crispy and juicy. The sauce was a bit mild for me, but a pretty good example of wings.

The chicken curry-with carrots, peas and potatoes, was located in the "entree section." The other entree offering was meatloaf, which I didn't want, it just didn't look appetizing. I like that this station offered two entrees and the entree choices changes daily.

The chicken was white meat and pretty flavorful. The curry had a mild flavor, I'm more used to a bolder flavor when it comes to curry.

The busiest and longest section served freshly grilled chicken sandwiches, burgers, a pizza area, and had sandwich bar, where you wrote what you wanted on your sandwich and it was freshly prepared.  I got a turkey, salami, and capocola with cheddar cheese.  This was a very fresh sandwich with good sliced meats.  I'm not expecting the best sliced meats, but I was satisfied with the quality of meats.

Pepperoni pizza. The pizza are made in a wood fire oven. But the quality of ingredients were lacking. The cheese was very rubbery, the crust was mediocre, and the pepperoni was just ok. I really thought this was a pizza from Little Caesars and that isn't a compliment.

The chicken sandwich is made to order, is a good sized piece of chicken breast that is well seasoned with salt, pepper and onion and garlic power. It was cooked perfectly on the grill. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh, but the bun was just a regular bun, nothing special about it. I really liked the sandwich, which was flavorful, tender and moist.

I didn't care for the burger, which tasted like mystery meat burgers and wasn't good at all. It was just too greasy, it must have been 70-30 meat to fat ratio, which is terrible.

Service overall was very good. The cashier was nice and friendly. All the servers were nice. But, the guy at the grill, who prepared your burgers or sandwiches, was moving in slow motion. I mean there are people in line and he's going so damn slow. The guy cooking your burgers was nice and moved quickly.

The students at Cal St. Fullerton are more down to earth kids, not the spoiled, snotty rich kids who attend Pitzer.

Overall, I enjoyed my first trip to The Gastronome. I'm not sure it's a good value at $12.39, but there was a wide variety of food and the quality, overall, was pretty good.

Byblos Cafe

Byblos Cafe
129 W Chapman Ave
Orange
714-538-7180

Byblos Cafe is in the Orange Circle. The New Diner has been to a restaurant on the east part of the Orange Circle; Watson Drug & Soda Fountain, one on the north part; Beach Pit BBQ, and one on the south part; Felix Continental Cafe so it made sense to review a restaurant on the east side of the Orange Circle. So Byblos was my choice.

Walking around the Orange Circle I almost feel as though I will see Biff saying "Hello McFly, anybody home?" The city Orange tries to go back to the future, and bring that old time feel into today's hustle and bustle world.

The lentil soup-with celery, swiss chard, and lentils, comes with an order of kebobs. I don't eat much soup, and this may have been my first experience eating lentil soup. I was impressed with the soup, though it had a tangy sour taste, which comes from the Swiss chard. The broth was thin, I always thought lentil soup broth was a bit thicker, and the lentils were cooked perfectly. I would have liked this better if there wasn't the tangy sour taste.

Sirloin beef kebob with hummus, $10.99, with lentil soup. The first thing I noticed was the small portion! I know this was lunch, but the amount of beef was pretty small. The beef was perfectly cooked and very tender. They say it's sirloin and I'm sure it was, but this was more tender and flavorful than other Middle Eastern restaurants that called their kebobs, filet mignon.

The rice pilaf was nothing to write home about. It was there, it wasn't memorable, it added some carbs to the meal.

The hummus was wonderful. Most hummus is too tangy for me. This hummus was much more mild. It was very smooth, no lumps, and had the right consistency. It was made better by the warm pita bread. I hate going to Middle Eastern restaurants that serve cold pita bread.

Service was very good. I believe the owner was serving us. She was nice, friendly and informative. She was the only server and kept the 15 or so diners happy.

Overall I did enjoy my meal at Byblos Cafe, but I didn't think it's a good value. The portions are small and while the quality of the beef is very good, it's not worth making a trip back.

DZ Akin's

DZ Akin's
6930 Alvarado Rd
San Diego
619-265-0218

I enjoy going to the classic deli. I love the atmosphere, the food, the rich cultural significance of a deli. I've been to my share of delis in the LA area. So, on my latest trip to San Diego, I wanted to go back to the only deli that I know of and have been to in San Diego; DZ Akin's. A friend, who lives in San Diego, told me that DZ Akin's became popular because a local news reporter loves the place. In fact they even named a sandwich after him, Ted Leitner-corned beef, pastrami, and American cheese on rye.

DZ Akin's is located off the 8 freeway in a small strip mall. You enter at the bakery and deli counter, then walk through the long dining area. It can get very crowded, I've waited 20 minutes for a table before.

I got the pastrami and corned beef on rye, $12.95. While the sandwich was piled high with meat, the meat quality wasn't that good. There were a lot of fat and gristle on the meat. I know corned beef and pastrami are made from the brisket cut, a very fatty and full of connective tissue, cut of meat. But, most delis trim off a lot of the fat. I can say with almost 100% certainty, that DZ Akin's does not make their own meats. The meats are bought from a source. In other words, I can get a pound of pastrami and corned beef for the deli counter and make my own sandwich, for much less.

The rye bread wasn't anything special, I could have gotten better bread at the local market.

Service was good. I wasn't really lacking for anything, the server was nice, friendly, and helpful. I asked about their plantation soup, and she had the ingredients written on her order book. To me that's impressive. Instead of saying, I don't know or I'll have to ask, all she did was look in her book and gave me the answer. A very well trained and friendly staff.

I won't go back to DZ Akin's again. The food is just ok and like I said, I could get better meats and bread for much cheaper at most deli counters.

Soot Bull Jeep

Soot Bull Jeep
3136 W 8th St
Los Angeles
213-387-3865

Having been a couple "all you can eat" Korean BBQ places, like Manna Korean BBQ and Road to Seoul in Koreatown, I wanted to try a non all you can eat, Korean BBQ restaurant. So I went to Soot Bull Jeep.

I've heard about Soot Bull Jeep, because they are one of the few Korean BBQ restaurants that use charcoal instead of gas grills. So, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to have lunch at Soot Bull Jeep.

Everybody tells me the major difference between all you can eat and ordering off the menu, is the quality of meat. The meat at the all you can eat places are a lesser grade of meat compared to the order off the menu places, or they are suppose to be.

I was surprised at how limited Soot Bull Jeep's menu is, they had about 13 meats listed, but that included two different types of beef, squid, and pork, a short rib, chicken, honeycomb, beef tartar, and eel. Where is the pork belly?

BBQ Pork, $18.99. This was marinated with some paprika, soy sauce, and salt and pepper, it had a bit of a kick. (I was rudely informed that they use chili flakes, not paprika. But, a closer look at the meat, I think they use chili powder, not chili flakes. I don't see any flakes on the meat, but I certainly tasted the spiciness.) This was pretty good, but it had it's share of gristle and fat. I mean, $18.99 for a good sized portion, but the meats is about the same quality as all you can eat?

Ok, the charcoal added some flavor but not worth this price.

BBQ marinated sliced spencer steak, $19.99. Spencer steak are suppose to be from the rib eye, which means not that much fat or gristle but plenty of marbling. Well, this wasn't a spencer steak, it wasn't from the rib eye, more along the lines of sirloin and it was a cheap grade of beef, select.

This was marinated in a sweet sauce, maybe some honey or sugar, and tasted very much like bulgogi. But, again this wasn't any better than the meat from the all you can eat places.

Service was pretty good. The server was nice and friendly.

Honestly, I wasn't impressed with Soot Bull Jeep at all. Ok, the charcoal is different, but everything else is about as good as the all you can eat places I've been to. I can't believe I paid about $40, for two meats, when I could have paid half the price, and gotten more meats that were the same quality!!

There is no reason for me to comeback to Soot Bull Jeep, overpriced, average quality meat? Why bother!!

Juicy Burger-Closed

Juicy Burger
6340 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles
323-465-8429

When I went to 25 Degrees, back in May, 2011, I walked east on Hollywood Blvd to see if Skooby's was still open, it is!! Anyways, walked past Juicy Burger, which has long been on my list of places to try, and decided I needed to go there soon. It's November, and while that isn't soon, at least least I made it to Juicy Burger.

I heard Juicy Burger was a gourmet burger restaurant. So I wanted to see how they compared to other gourmet burger places like 25 Degrees, Father's Office, Umami Burger in Hollywood, Umami Burger on La Brea, and 38 Degrees.

Located at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Ivar, Juicy Burger, is much like The Counter, where you check off what you want on your burger. After placing my order, I found a seat, and this was among the dirtiest restaurants I've ever been in. The tables were dirty and in serious need of being wiped off. The floors were dirty and needed to be swept. No wonder everybody was eating at the counter and not the tables!!

Anyways, I ordered the 1/3lb beef burger, cooked medium, with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard ketchup, and 1000 island dressing, on a bun, $5.75. The first thing I noticed was the bun, which is very much like the buns at Umami Burger. A chewy soft texture with a golden brown dome. The burger was cooked to medium, was very juicy, maybe on the side of greasy, but good flavor and well seasoned. I asked for the toppings and the 1000 island dressing was very tangy, which I like. I bet they use Miracle Whip to make their 1000 island dressing. The other toppings were fresh and tasty. While the burger was good, there wasn't anything gourmet about them. It's a good diner style burger at a good price, nothing more and nothing less.

Service is good. The young lady is very nice and helpful. But, as I mentioned before, the place is just a mess. The workers should stop texting and clean the tables.

I had pretty high expectations of Juicy Burger and I came away pretty underwhelmed. I'm not saying the burger isn't good or it's not a good value, they are, it's just not gourmet-which I was led to believe, and there isn't anything really outstanding about it.

Elite Restaurant

Elite Restaurant
700 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park
626-282-9998

When it comes to dim sum, I am a very picky eater. I don't eat chicken feet or many other items served during dim sum. But, to my way of thinking, any dim sum restaurant has to have good pork shui-mai and steamed BBQ pork buns. If they don't, I'm not going back.

If you ask foodies who has the best dim sum, Elite Restaurant will be mentioned frequently. So, I finally decided to give them a try. I got to Elite around lunch time, which was perfect because the wait was about ten minutes long. It may have had to due with the overcast day and a forecast calling for rain. But, either way I was happy for the short wait, because I was warned the wait times can run close to an hour at Elite.

Elite is different than other dim sum restaurants, they do not have the carts!! You know the drill, the carts are wheeled around and you pick what you want. Instead Elite makes you select how many orders of each item you want. Most of the servers, those taking your order, not the people bringing you the food, speak English well, so it's easy to place your order or if you have questions.

Pork shui-mai-$3.38. These pork shui-mai were huge, maybe the biggest shui-mai I've seen. Well worth the price tag. The pork was very well seasoned and tasty. The shrimp was a medium sized shrimp, that actually worked well with the pork. Though, I don't think I like the trend of pork shui-mai having shrimp in it! This came out hot, with plenty of steam coming out. The wonton is a bit thicker than other shui-mai I've had, but this is a very good example of shui-mai.

Crystal shrimp har gow-$3.38. The first piece of this shrimp har gow was a sticky gooey mess. The outside just attached itself to my chopstick and never let go. The first piece I had, torn apart and I had to eat the shrimp and wrapper separately. The second piece I had was fairly good, the shrimp fresh, well steamed, good sized, and the wrapper was light and with a good texture.

Fried shrimp dumpling-$3.38. Frankly this dish was terrible. The outside did have a nice flakey texture, was fried very well. But, the inside was a doughy mess. There shrimp was ok, but all the veggies-cabbage and green onions just didn't work for me.

Steamed BBQ pork bun-$2.38. This had to be among the worst steamed BBQ pork buns I've ever had. The small amounts of BBQ pork was fatty, too sweat and just not good at all. The bun was too chewy and tough for me.

Service is good. The orders come out quickly and the servers are nice. At least when I was there, they didn't rush you. But, that maybe different when the wait times are over 30 minutes.

For a place that comes so highly recommended, I was very underwhelmed!! The pork shui-mai was good, but I wouldn't order anything else, that I ordered today, again!!

Old Town Mexican Cafe

Old Town Mexican Cafe
2489 San Diego Ave
San Diego
619-297-4330

The third and final stop of my, Veterans Day tour of San Diego. Broken Yolk, and Kansas City Barbeque were the first two restaurants that I revisited. Ok, Old Town Mexican Cafe, is a tourist trap. All of Old Town is a tourist trap. But, a good friend, who has lived in San Diego for over 30 years, took me to Old Town Mexican Cafe about five years ago and I enjoyed it.

Old Town Mexican Cafe is known for their handmade tortillas! I made sure to take a picture of the ladies hard at work in the window making the tortillas.

I got a carnitas taco-$3.95 and fish taco-$4.95.

The carnitas taco was huge. The tortilla is thicker than other tortillas but, you can tell they are freshly made. The tortilla was firm and chewy, which I like and held up to all the meat and veggies. They are also made with lard, which just improves the taste, texture and flavor. Ok, so it isn't healthy. The carnitas were dry and kind of bland. I kept thinking they need to add some seasoning to this. It was a good sized portion, making the fairly high price tag, easier to swallow. But, the lack of flavor, quickly makes this an overpriced taco.

The fish taco is made with pollock. The fish was fried perfectly, a light crispy outside, a good amount of fish and not that thick of batter. The white sauce was very cool and refreshing. The cabbage and tomatoes were fresh. Not the best fish taco I've had, and among the highest I've ever paid for a fish taco, but a fairly decent value, considering the size of the fish and freshness of the toppings.

Service was very good. The server is well trained, he knew exactly what kind of fish is used, was friendly, and came to the table about 20 times, making sure everything was ok.

I know San Diego has to have some better Mexican restaurants, than Old Town Mexican Cafe, but if you're caught in the tourist trap, Old Town, it's not a bad place to try. Since I've already been there twice, I don't need to go back. But, I am looking forward to finding the best fish tacos in San Diego!!

Kansas City Barbeque

Kansas City Barbeque
600 W Harbor
San Diego
619-231-9680

The movie "Top Gun" just celebrated it's 25th anniversary. One scene in Top Gun, was filmed at Kansas City Barbeque. It seems as though being in Top Gun is Kansas City Barbeque's only claim to fame.

This was my second stop on my Veterans Day tour of San Diego. I first went to Broken Yolk, and a few hours after Kansas City Barbeque, I went to Old Town Mexican Cafe.

When the San Diego Padres opened their new ballpark, Petco Park, in 2004, I went to a game and while exploring the area, I went to Kansas City Barbeque. It wasn't really that good but I decided to see if they had improved. I found out that two years ago, Kansas City Barbeque, had a fire in the back portion of the building. It took awhile to rebuild, but they have reopened.

Kansas City Barbeque is located in a great area, right next to the Seaport Village trolley stop and some nice views.

Spare ribs lunch plate, with mac and cheese and corn on the cob, $11.95.

The ribs were overcooked. They were too mushy and the slightest touch and the meat fell off the bone. Good BBQ, the meat should have some pull. It should be tender, but not fall off the bone tender. There was a decent, not great smoke flavor.

The BBQ sauce was just dressed up ketchup, so that didn't add any taste or flavor to the ribs.

The mac and cheese, was from a mix. How do I know? The cheese sauce had a gritty texture to it. That means they couldn't even follow the directions of the mix.

The corn on the cob was so bland and flavorless. They need to buy better quality corn or put something else on the corn.

Service was terrible. There were three servers working. But, there wasn't anybody at the hostess stand, so I waited about ten minutes until a somebody finally came and lead me to a table. The table was on the patio, but it was dirty, with grim and dirt all over. They need to change the table clothes and give the chairs a good power wash.

Then I waited and waited for the server to come and take my drink order. About ten minutes later, the server comes. She is friendly but that's the only good thing I can say about her. I'll admit I didn't go inside the building, I sat on the patio, but she just wasn't around. I get my food, but she doesn't refill my drink. I had to wait to get the check and then I had to wait another five or more minutes for her to pick up my check and get me my change.

Kansas City Barbeque is living off being in a movie 25 years ago. The food is below average and the service is terrible!! There is no reason to go back.

Broken Yolk Cafe

Broken Yolk Cafe
1851 Garnet Ave
San Diego
858-270-9655

I headed down to San Diego on Veterans Day to see how a military city honors it's veterans. For those who do not know, San Diego has a huge military presence, mostly Navy, but all branches of our armed forces are in San Diego. College basketball hosted a game on the USS Carl Vinson beaten Michigan St. and North Carolina.

I figured I would go back to three places that I have been to before and do a review of each. The first place I go to is Broken Yolk in Pacific Beach. This is a very popular breakfast spot. Wait times can be 30 minutes or more, and people just keep coming. There are other Broken Yolk locations in the San Diego area, like San Marcos and Eastlake. I decided to make my trip to San Diego a food tour!! I would go to Kansas City Barbeque, and Old Town Mexican Cafe, on my San Diego food tour.

Daily special, two eggs-over hard, two strips of bacon, and two pancakes, $5.99. The eggs were fresh, but a bit overcooked. Eggs over hard, doesn't mean brown flakes on the outer edges. But the yolk was solidified, which is perfect. I hate runny eggs.

The bacon had a good smokey flavor, but wasn't hot, more like luke warm. I realize they aren't going to cook bacon to order, most bacon is cooked and stored in warmers. But, the bacon I got was luke warm. I was kind of chewy, not beef jerky chewy, but somethings along those lines.

The pancakes were light, fluffy and cooked perfectly. I'm usually not a pancake person, but they were part of the special and I ate them.

I sat at the counter and service was ok. The server was friendly but rarely there. They are so busy, she was running back and forth from the pick up window to other tables. But, I didn't get refills on my drink, she never asked how my food was, and just left the left without saying thank you.

Broken Yolk is your classic neighborhood diner. There is nothing great about the food. If you've been to Denny's, Broken Yolk is slightly better.