After I successfully conferenced myself out for the foreseeable future (Kidding! I love conferences!), I headed from Las Vegas to San Diego to meet up with my boyfriend, who had been partaking in the conference scene that week himself.
One exciting thing about going to San Diego is that it was my first time in California. Traveling to California means I’m one step closer to reaching my goal of visiting all 50 states, per my flux list. California and Arizona are the first new states that I’ve visited since starting Living in Flux, so I still have quite a way to go. My rough estimate is that I’m about half way there. Want to know what states I’ve been to? Well, there will be a post for that in the coming weeks!
However, I digress.
We spent about 4 days in the San Diego area, and I must say it: I’m in love with San Diego! The weather was gorgeous, the food was to die for, and I was definitely digging the Spanish-influenced architecture.
Today, I’ll talk about the eats in San Diego. Stay tuned for a follow-up post about what we did during the hours that we weren’t eating (spoiler alert: most of our exploring simply got us from one food venue to the next, so there weren’t all that many non-eating hours).
We used the trusty Yelp.com to help us find things nearby and some suggestions from one of my co-workers who went to San Diego earlier in the fall. We also used the “walk around until something looks good” method. We weren’t disappointed, that’s for sure.
Red Light District
Unfortunately, I just discovered that the first restaurant we went to, Red Light District, has recently closed. After we left La Jolla, we stayed in the Courtyard Marriott in the Gaslamp Quarter. The first night we were there, we just kind of walked around until we found something. It wasn’t very busy when we were there, so I guess it’s not a complete surprise that they are closed for the time being. It’s a shame though, because the food was to die for.
They even brought us small samples of food we didn’t order between courses. I love when restaurants do that! The ambiance was dark and sultry, which was fitting with their name.
The Verdict
Stars
Price Range
Hash House a Go-Go
One of my co-workers suggested Hash House a Go Go, which serves “twisted farm food.” When she wrote “big portions” on her list of places to go, I kind of just passed it off. I figured that every restaurant has big portions these days.
The classy chic decor doesn’t hint at the sinister serving portions at Hash House a Go Go.
Oh, how very wrong I was.
My boyfriend and I clearly didn’t know what we were getting in to when we ordered, even though we knew we should split an entrée. We ended up getting an appetizer of calamari and tiger shrimp and then one of their corn cakes garnished with duck to share as an entrée. That was all on top of the softball-sized biscuits.
Tried as we might, the two of us could barely eat a third of our 18″ corn cake.
Pardon the shot of the half eaten dinner, but I just have to share the fact that our entrée would have literally satisfied almost five people. Think that doesn’t look that big? Notice the cup? Yeah, that plate was nearly 18″ in diameter. The food was delicious, but all of the entrées were so over-sized that I couldn’t help but feel it was wasteful (especially since our hotel room didn’t have a mini-fridge and we couldn’t bring the leftovers home with us).
The Verdict
Stars
Price Range
Extraordinary Desserts
We were really feeling like gluttons for punishment the night that we went to Hash House a Go Go. Even though we nearly had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant, we were hell-bent on getting dessert from Extraordinary Desserts, as classy place for eating desserts. Apparently, a lot of other people thought it was a classy place to go as well, as there was quite a line when we arrived.
Hungry dessert-eaters waiting patiently in line at Extraordinary Desserts.
It was hard choosing what to get, because everything was so beautifully presented. See this case of desserts? They’re so pretty it’s almost like they aren’t real!
We got our strawberry shortcake to go and ended up eating it later that night. Despite my lack of appetite from being so full at the time, I loved it!
The Verdict
Stars
Price Range
Escape Fish Bar
After seeing an exhibit about the tuna trade in the San Diego area at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, we were jonesing for some seafood. After some Yelp searching, we decided to try out Escape Fish Bar, which was both close to our hotel and very delicious.
Exterior of Escape Fish Bar. Note the Halloween costumes on the right.
I don’t believe all of their fish was local, but they did have quite a few options that were. I went with the Albacore Tuna (local) and my boyfriend went with the Sea Bass (I believe also local that night) in tacones form. Basically, they were cone shaped fish tacos. And very delicious.
Escape Fish Bar was located in the Gaslamp Quarter, so the street was pretty busy. It was even busier because we were there on the weekend before Halloween. Apparently, San Diego is one of those cities that gets really into Halloween. It was quite fun to watch everyone and it definitely added to the bustling street atmosphere that I’m sure they usually have.
LIF Ratings
Stars
Price Range
So there you have it, most of the stops we made on our way eating through San Diego. Tune back in next week for what we did in the hours in which we weren’t eating!
Have you been to San Diego? Where did you go to eat?
__________
My super fantastic 5 star rating system
- 1 star: Didn’t even finish dinner! Blech.
- 2 stars: I actively didn’t like it, but was able to get through the meal.
- 3 stars: It was okay, but I wouldn’t go again
- 4 stars: I liked it! I’d go again!
- 5 stars: I loved it! I’d go again and again and again!
My super fantastic $$$ rating (per person)
- $: under $10
- $$: $11-$30
- $$$: $31-$60
- $$$$: above $61
