mmm-yoso!!!

Green Acre - a real hidden gem

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk is vacationing, according to solid plans. ed (from Yuma) is relaxing, according to fluid plans. Cathy is blogging, according to general plans of achieving a post for you to enjoy.

Everybody has to eat.  If you are at home and don't want to cook, you go out to a favorite neighborhood place.  If you are at work, there's going to be a place that is close. People don't like to drive very far when they go out, unless maybe for a special occasion. People who work in the "scientist" area of town -near Sorrento Valley and UCSD- where not many lunch options are available, *do* have a great, healthy, tasty option but it isn't easy to find...

This is what you are ultimately looking for.  

Raised bed gardens, in the middle of an Office Park (the Nautilus Life Science Campus area). These fresh vegetables and herbs will be part of your meal, picked that morning.

Straight ahead is the front door to Green Acre.

This is what you see from the parking lot. See the umbrellas to the right?

There are plenty of marked parking spaces, if you'd like to come here for breakfast or lunch and don't work here. It's only open Monday-Friday...like the office park. (I'd be here every weekend if it was open.)

When you walk in, there's a chalkboard listing the daily specials.

There's an area to eat inside, also.

When you are waiting in line to order and pay, the wall advertising other restaurants related to Green Acre- those run by San Diego's Top Chef Season 3 Cheftestant Brian Malarkey, is your only clue that this place is related to those "fabric themed" (Searsucker, Gabardine, Burlap, Gingham and Herringbone) restaurants around town, which are heavily promoted and very popular.

The menu board is hanging above the cash register area, where you order, pay and get a number. Then you take your beverage, find a seat and soon enough, your food is brought to you.  

My first visit here was a meet up with fellow bloggers caninecologne (who posted after that first visit)(two posts, actually)  and Dennis.  Dennis has been here many times, since he works close by (as I said at the beginning...)  

One of the things I really like about Green Acre is that just about everything is recycled and recycle-able.  The paper straws are more than just cute. When you return your tray, the trash area is marked for food mulch, paper and plastic recycling and 'other'.

The food is brought out on jelly roll pans lined with brown butcher/craft paper.  This is Dennis' Grass fed beef burger, topped with leek, slow roasted tomato and Marin County Brie served on a fresh pretzel bun($12) it comes with the fresh-fresh salad, topped with a herb infused dressing...oh, and the pickle is definitely not from a jar. The Russett fries ($3) are served with a 'tomato jam' that tasted more like a marinara than catsup...The fries are quite nice.

caninecologne was not going to let this long drive North go to waste and ordered two full meal items.  She took home more than half of each. This is the "Drunken Mary" panini-a chicken salad made with smoked almonds and  brandied cherries ($7).  I had a taste and it was really good. The side salad, again very fresh-fresh was very good.

This is caninecologne's other main course meal- the 'Corn Cobb' ($9). A very nice, very large, very fresh Cobb salad,  made with  chicken, avocado, bacon, cheese (she asked for a substitute of the standard Bleu cheese) and topped with a corn vinaigrette. This was very good. 

My salad- the 'Nice!'-(a play on Nicoise) ($10) Lightly seared albacore, a perfect soft boiled farm egg, and instead of beans, fresh peas and instead of potato, freshly fried potato skins on top: whatever is fresh and in season... The lettuces, tomato, vinaigrette were memorable as to their freshness. 

I had to bring The Mister here, so one weekday in April, we drove out here (it's easy, take the 5 to Genessee, go West two lights to John Jay Hopkins, turn (you can only turn North) and the first street is General Atomics Drive- the first building on the right -go behind it through the parking lot).  I decided to try one of the items from the "Brick Oven Bar"- a 'Purist' half pizza($6).  Again, it comes with the salad, all on the brown paper lined jelly roll pan. A simple, perfectly baked mozzarella/basil/tomato pizza.  This combination is *so* good, I didn't want to stop eating it and am glad I only ordered a half...just to appear polite. 

The Mister ordered the Nice! salad, based on my incessant obsession with my previous experience (this version had a few small potatoes in it, so no potato skin toppers;potatoes were able to be harvested) and also ordered  a Daily Soup ($4), which this day was a wonderful vegetarian spring root vegetable chowder.  This hit the spot with the slightly chilly overcast outdoor seating spot we chose. It was a nice blend of root veggies and kale, not too spicy and not a thick broth, but a very flavorful one.

We've tried other menu items here.  The breakfasts are pretty basic (omelettes, wraps and paninis as well as yogurt and fruit cups) and extremely fresh. The menu is small and changes based on what is available.   Green Acre serves very fresh, very high quality food without any hype.  I really like it here.

Green Acre 3535 General Atomics Court San Diego 92121 (858)587-6601 M-F 8am-6pm  Website

 


  

Trifecta Tavern-another restaurant inside a grocery store

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog you are reading. It's about food.  Cathy is blogging today: Kirk is busy and so is ed(from Yuma).

After reading about Kirk's post about Whole Foods Market in Hawaii, The Mister and I were curious about 'our' location and when we drove to the La Jolla location, saw it was being remodeled; the parking lot was a mess and signs about a grand reopening in a few weeks were everywhere. We jumped back onto the 5 and headed North, knowing a new Whole Foods had opened at the Via de la Valle exit -the same exit that you take when going to the Del Mar Racetrack.  Signage there indicated '400 additional parking places behind Whole Foods', so we drove into Flower Hill Promenade and found the new parking structure. It was practically empty.

An excellent map of the current and soon to be shops of the mall was just inside the walkway to the 'front' of the parking lot. We walked into the store and straight ahead were a series of hot food trays, and to the right of those were a bakery, grab and go area, a sandwich shop, pizza and deli area and  to the direct right - right from the front door was the Trifecta Tavern. Because every grocery store seems to have an eat in area.

But- this one, inside Whole Foods, also serves a choice of 24 beers on tap, has a nice wine selection, daily specials and a very easy one page menu. It was lunchtime so we didn't choose an adult beverage, but we may share a beer next time.

You seat yourself, but the waitresses are constantly checking the seating and ready to take your order.  Here's a view of the above mentioned area of the store from my seat. 

The Mister ordered the grass fed burger, which comes with fries ($8).  This was *wonderful*.  The bun was light, fluffy, toasted.  The burger was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had such flavor. The fries were perfectly crisp, not greasy and lightly salted. Even the ketchup, which was just the Whole Foods 365 organic store brand, had a more pronounced, tomato flavor than I have noticed from other brands of ketchup.

I chose to try a bit of everything- the Nosh Plate ($9). Really really good.  Two meats, three cheeses, grilled bread slices, fruit, pickled vegetables and seasoned nuts all served with a house made blackberry mostard.  So nice, filling and refreshing. Being able to try the sliced proscuitto and salame was enough for me to purchase some before leaving the store, along with stopping at the coffee and juice bar and purchasing a small cup of gelato before the drive home.

Whole Foods Market-Del Mar 2600 Via de la Valle, Suite 100 Del Mar, CA 92014 (858)436-9800 open 7 am-10pm, seven days a week

Rocky's Crown Pub six and a half years later

Yes, it's been almost seven years since my post on Rocky's burger, which along with Hodad's are probably the two iconic, old-school burgers, in San Diego. I'd still take Rocky's, because, well, Hodad's just ain't the same without the bacon.

It had been a while since I'd visited; but my good buddy Candice suggested grabbing a burger at Rocky's for lunch and I couldn't resist.

The lunch special ($10.50), 1/3 pound cheeseburger, a ton of "natural fries", and a drink is simple burger bliss. In fact, I think it was more juicy and much more satisfying than I recalled. Maybe I''ve become a bit cynical over the years. Grass-fed, knowing the name of the cow who laid its life down for the "burger with a mission" is nice and all that; but I find much of it is just hope and hype, many times "stuff" is piled on for marketing sake, and in the end, the burger ends up being not even close to what Rocky's serves. Give those places seven or eight years. Chances are, they won't age as well as Rocky's.

A good "pub burger" is harmonic simplicity to me, burger, cheese (depending on how I feel that day), lettuce, tomato, onion, with your choice of condiments; usually as simple as red (ketchup) or yellow (mustard) provided on the side.

Maybe it's my blue collar background, I'm the only person from my group of grade school/high school friends to not work in the trades, but I love "food of the people".

And Rocky's does it well......good friends, good conversation, a good simple burger, and the potential of wiping burger juices running down your arm. It doesn't get much better than that.

 

Rocky's Crown Pub
3786 Ingraham St
San Diego, CA 92109

(858) 273-9140

COMC Calorie Bomb Edition: Carmen's Mexican Food, Harry D'z BBQ, a Caliente Burger, and one repeat

I know that my timing tends to suck......I have a tendency to do these posts right after the New Year. It's really not on purpose...really. What happens is that I try to close out the previous year and always seem to have some of these "one-off" type photos, so I basically have stuff for a "COMC" (Clearing Out the Memory Card) type of post. So anyway, here's some "stuffs" from the last quarter, of last year.

Carmen's Mexican Food:

A couple of folks have mentioned Carmen's to me and I tell them that I had eaten at Carmen's back when they were located in Linda Vista, across from what is now K Sandwich. I really wasn't impressed with the food, which seemed more Am-Mex, then Mexican. Eventually that whole area was razed and Carmen's was gone. I did feel a twinge of sadness, because even if I didn't care for the place, a lot of folks did. Then a couple of years ago, Babylon Cafe closed down, and Carmen's reopened in that location.

I was still not really motivated to eat there, but more than one person mentioned how good their Carne Asada Fries were. After my post on Yesenia's, I actually received two recommendations for Carmen's. So after a short CAF recovery period, I decided to drop by for lunch.

The crew here was friendly and all the customers seemed to be regulars, talking about kids, vacations to Disney, Disney cruises, relatives, not seeing "so and so" for a while....you know, that kind of stuff. I actually kind of felt like an outsider, but this gave me an understanding of how the place has cultivated a customer base over the years.

Everything was cooked to order so it took a couple of minutes before my Carne Asada Fries were ready.

This really wasn't my cup of tea. First, thought I love my dinner fries, I'm not fond of them in my CAF. Since there's always some guac-crema-salsa action going on, I prefer a higher ration of crispness. Second the guacamole was kind of pasty with no flavor. Third, the carne asada was a lot more tender then it appeared, but was rather tasteless. I'm sure they make their own salsa here, but for some reason it reminded me of Pace Picante. Nothing against Pace, but several decades ago I had a coworker whose second favorite hobby was....how shall I say it...partaking of the "cash crop". We'd go over for beers and would instantly know when he was enjoying himself....he'd be having this concoction of melted Philadelphia Cream Cheese mixed with Pace Picante and chips. Ick......

The rather substantial pool of oil at the bottom of the plate could either be an added treat or not...depending on your point of view.

Still, like I've said many times...there's a big difference between "favorite" and "best" and I understand that. There are many reasons why folks hold a place close to their hearts and the food may not be the main reason(hey, I'm just as guilty). Based on the rapport between the two guys working on this day and the regulars, I'm thinking this is one of those places.

Carmen's Mexican Food
4937 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Harry D'z BBQ:

During one of the early days of the Morena's Farmer's Market.....having not been back in a while, I'm wondering if it still running? I passed a couple of weeks ago and na-da?? Anyway, it was getting close to evening and I hadn't had lunch and this little stand looked interesting.

Actually, there should be some kind of law against sticking pork in front of a starving man's face.....

So I decided on the pulled pork sandwich, which was a reasonable $6.50.

The pork was quite moist, but I had a hard time believing it was really smoked based on the mild flavor. The sauce was too sticky sweet and what seemed molasses heavy for me......

The Caliente Burger at Tommy's:

I'm not sure what it is about San Diego's Tommy's, but it just doesn't seem to be the same as the Tommy's back in LA...even the one in our old neighborhood. But there I was, standing in line at Sprouts and the two customers in front of me were going on and on about this "new" burger at Tommy's that was "oh so good, but so spicy". Now what kind of bonehead would actually go visit Tommy's after overhearing two women talking about something "oh so good"??? Hello, I'm bonehead, nice to meet you......

The young lady at the counter was really friendly and told me that they top the chili burger with pickled cascabel chilies and chipotle cheddar. She was very nice and even gave me a little tray with some extra chilies in them. Funny, these reminded me of the bottled Del Monte Chilies I used to eat when I was a kid.

The burger was actually better then I had during my last visit, maybe five or so years ago now. The chilies weren't really that hot. I've kind of noticed that the chili at this location is heading into two divergent directions....as it becomes more and more like refried bean glue in texture, the flavor becomes more watered down. Right now it just seems like heartburn fuel.....though I've only had heartburn once in my life(a funny story) and it wasn't from Tommy's

Serves me right to eavesdropping on folks in the grocery line......

Original Tommy's
7415 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

So there you go....man, that's more then enough calories and saturated fat...sheesh.

I think I'll go and quietly have my plate lunch in the corner now.

 

Big Island: Village Burger - Kamuela (Waimea)

I'm kinda taking thing out of sequence for this one.......after a night's rest in Kona, we headed out to Hilo. We did stop at the Keauhou Saturday's Farmer's Market, but I'll include that in a future post (you'll see why), where I managed to grab some breakfast. We rolled into one of my favorite little towns on the Big Island, Waimea....which my friends and I always call Kamuela. It a farming community with a lot of heart. I almost took a job there in the mid-nineties....I wonder how things would be if I did? Anyway, my good friend's family had a plot in the town...aka an empty lot that needed upkeep from time to time. So we'd escape to Kamuela....have beers at the Parker Ranch Broiler, which is now in a new location.....

I'd been looking forward to checking out the town and we arrived at a shade after 10am. It seemed like a busy Saturday, malls on each side of the street had major Craft Fairs going on. The Missus really enjoyed the farming village vibe....... Parker Ranch, founded in 1847, years before most of the cattle ranches were established in the Southwest, and once upon a time, the largest family owned ranch in the United States (it's now run by a trust), calls the area home. So it's major cattle country. You can literally walk into Foodland and see grass fed beef sold cheaper then the usual corn fed stuff!

Like I said, the Missus was taken by the town.......

I'm thinking the Missus will want to spend at least a night here next time we're around.....

As for lunch....well I had one place in mind. Ever since I read this post on James Rubio's Big Island Grinds, I've been wanting to check out Village Burger.

Located in the Parker Ranch Center, Village Burger features pasture raised beef and locallysourced ingredients.....they actually even told us where they got the very delicious and ripe tomatoes we had on our burgers. I was a bit surprised when I heard the owner is Edwin Goto; not a household name, but if you ever watched the old series Great Chefs of Hawaii, you might recognize the name.... So now it's burgers eh?

The little shop is attached to the food court in the shopping center, perhaps a bit odd, but kind of neat in a way. The process was very much standard fast-foodish.

I just wanted ot taste the local beef, so I went with the straight-forward "Hawaii Rancher's Beef" Burger ($7.50). No mayo........

 First off....the burger was done just as ordered....no "shibai" about "we only serve our burgers yada...yada..." only to get a over cooked hockey puck. It was super moist and tender, though I expected a bit more beefiness. I ended up getting some whole grain mustard from the condiment counter which really brought the flavor up. The brioche was up to the task, with just a hint of sweetness....loved the flavor of the ripe tomato. This was just a nice burger......

The Missus went with the Hamakua Mushroom Burger; not cheap at nine bucks. It came on a yeasty roll.

 They didn't mess with this too much, as the earthy flavors of the mushroom came through. It was well seasoned as well. There really wasn't much obvious binder in this, as it really looked like the previously cooked mushrooms, and there was quite a bit of it, was loosely bound, then placed in a burger ring and dusted with flour, corn/potato starch to create a crust...adding to things by providing a textural counter-point.

I thought the basic burger was well priced, perhaps the mushroom burger was on the pricey side, but to the Missus it was well worth it.

Maybe Edwin Goto isn't doing James Beard Foundation dinners anymore. But he sure has a winner in this place and he seems to be enjoying it. More power to him.

Village Burger
67-1185 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kamuela, HI 96743

Hours:
Mon-Sat 1030am - 8pm
Sun  1030am - 6pm

Crazee Burger

Well, I've often often written about the Missus's various short term obsessions. We've gone through quite a few over the years. The latest for the Missus is wild game.....I guess She really enjoyed that ostrich thinga-majiggy. The Lion's Share and Tractor Room quickly come to mind....but the Missus really wasn't into brunch or cocktails........ so I casually mentioned Crazee Burger. To be honest, I've always thought the place a bit more hype, with the game meats more of a gimmick. But heck, the Missus was game (no pun intended) so why not? We did luck out and arrived at 11am to find the place empty. it can get pretty crowded here.

We each ordered our burgers......of course we were told, as it seems to be fashionable these days, the "we recommend our burger cooked pink." Which is just perfect for me. We got our sauces on the side....after all, we wanted to taste the meat right?

And heck I'd always wanted a hopper to try kangaroo, which is what I got ($12.95):

The was pretty dry and gritty....it was also well done, so much for the "we serve our burgers medium" shtick, which is kind of a pet peeve. This was very mild with an off tasting, slight metallic after taste. The creamed horseradish sauce....was neither creamy, nor did it really taste of horseradish. Rather, it was like runny mayonnaise. This was also not seasoned, which it could have used.....some good salt and pepper, not what tasted like iodized stuff in the shaker on the table.

Now I'm determined to buy some kangaroo next time to see how it compares.

The Missus got an ostrich burger ($13.49), which did remind me of my previous experience with ostrich....that is, a bit on the dry side.

The flavor was clean, but again, this could have used some seasoning. The sauce provided, a lemon-chive-cream sauce was a bit better than the horseradish sauce, but still too bland and runny for me. This was also served "well done".

I explained to the Missus that based on my previous experience with ostrich, I expected dry, so when I made my burger, I added some minced red onion, a couple of tablespoons of panko, fresh ground black pepper, and roasted garlic olive oil. I tried to keep the mild clean taste of ostrich, but worked at keeping moisture as well. These patties looked like 100% meat.....the thought is nice, but man it can be dry.

In terms of prices, even though the burgers were no-frills, wild game is more expensive than beef. A regular 100% angus beef plain burger will just set you back five bucks here. The portion sizes are nice. There are about 8 draft beers on tap and several bottled....the interior is rather small and it was starting to get pretty crowded when we left. Two young ladies were nice....you order at the counter and they'll bring your order to your table. Overall, not terrible, but not all that great....the game meats seem more like a gimmick.......

Crazee Burger
4201 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

A revisit to Slaters 50/50

I forgot I had this little post in the pipeline for a while, but had forgotten about it until "CC" reminded me of the place. Anyway, the Missus loves the Veggie Burger here as well as most of the fried items.....health nut that She now is.

I received a couple of suggestions for "building" my burger after my post on Slaters and I really took them to heart....so much so that I'll probably need a new one, heart that is, after eating this monstrosity:

Egad.......anyway, I was told to get my burger with "Vampire Dip" basically the super rich garlic artichoke dip and I decided to top things off with anchovies. That's what the burger looked like and it was only a 1/3 pound burger....which was so over-the-top and rich it finished me, before I could finish it. The flavor of the garlic sauce and anchovies just killed everything else....I could have eaten one of my old shoes and would never have known...heck it might even make the burgers here palatable. This just felt sinful and wrong....I guess I prefer my burgers without an extra helping of guilt.

Honestly, it's a nice burger without all the "stuff"... I really needed a shower after this, maybe even a cigarette.... I'll stay with "just a burger" next time.

As much as I like the burgers here, this was just too much.

Slaters 50/50
2750 Dewey Road
San Diego, CA 92106

You can read my previous post on Slaters here.

Oahu: Teddy's Bigger Burger (Kailua) and doing the East Oahu - Windward drive

The main reason I was home was because the D's were visiting and in all honesty, I really enjoyed my time with them, they are a heck of a lot of fun and their daughter "Maggie" sure has gotten a lot taller since I last saw her over two years ago. On my first day "on the job", my MIL decided that we should do the "East side - Windward tour".....which ended up being much more fun than I recalled. We hit places that I hadn't been to in maybe 20+ years. I mean, really, when you live here, you're often too busy to really appreciate and enjoy "paradise".

Anyway, I hit H-1, then got off using the King street exit, thru Kapahulu, and past the zoo......when we hit Queen's, I noticed that everyone perked up. So I stopped....... I'm pretty sure there's nothing like this in Beijing.

I really got a kick watching MrsD kick off her shoes and head straight to the water.......nothing much like this in Beijing! She was so fast that she got splashed by a wave....which she joyfully laughed off. Her enthusiasm renewed my appreciation of the sun shining on my face and the feeling of sand between your toes. Of course it was a typical "island day".

As MrsD and Maggie headed off down the beach, it was MrD's job to record the visit in detail as he was busy with his camera.

We basically did the around Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Makapuu, Waimanalo, Kailua thing......

Funny thing, I don't speak hardly any Mandarin.....though I made the D's crack up with what I did know....."kuài diǎn, kuài diǎn....." and "bi zui" (闭嘴). Funny thing, humor goes beyond pure vocabulary and MrD is quite funny. The Missus has told me numerous times, "If you only understood Mandarin, you'd know how witty he really is...."

MrD Senior surprised me with his pronunciations.....looking at the sign he said "Ha-na-uma" perfectly! Whoa........we would pass various signs and he'd pronounce them perfectly...maybe better than me!

We stopped at one of the look-out before blow-hole and I climbed over the wall to take a photo. This is when I found out how gutsy MrsD was....she just scampered down the rocks.....whoa.

That's her and Maggie to the right. I reached them and told them to be careful and not turn their back on the ocean, pointing out how waves come in sets.........to step back a bit and watch the water....

By the time we got past Waimanalo, stomachs were growling. My MIL had told me "there's so much good food in Beijing, what they want to have is American food." So I decided to stop at Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Kailua. Man, this place is doing massive business.....I do mean some major business. The lines are long; they have to give you one of those vibrating coaster looking things......

At least I could tell the D's to go exploring while I waited for our "han bao bao" (hamburgers).....I later found Maggie wearing a cute pink Kailua t-shirt, so I guess they contributed to the local economy.....

Grabbing lunch we headed to Kailua Beach.....after all, this is a pretty nice setting for lunch, right?

I know I'd usually just order a plain burger to see what the beef was all about. But in this case I ordered a "Bigger Combo" with American Cheese and grilled onions all around. Hey, what's more "American" than a cheeseburger....with American cheese, right?

Taken in context this was quite good...the burger, though on the "lean" side the burger was done just north of well. I mean, really, compared to màidàngláo in China....is there even a comparison?

I actually enjoyed the fries, which are "natural" (skin on) and very crisp.

I found that the D's really like ketchup.......and really couldn't find a Chinese word for "Mayonnaise" ....

After lunch, well it's fade time, you need something to grab your attention.......we headed off down the Pali and the one place I was really looking forward to checking out....

Man, I haven't been here in like decades, before you had to pay for parking, when we had five pounds of raw pork butt and got TWO flat tires going over the Pali on one foggy night....ummm, well, nevah mind.....

I knew this was going to be fun, you park your car and nothing seems amiss, until you walk to the look-out.

On really windy days, it'll buffet you....just try to fall over! The D's were amazed at not only the power of the wind, but the wonderful view of the windward side as well. I could point out where we'd been.

More significantly, in the history of Hawaii, this is where it is noted that Kamehameha I sealed his conquest of Oahu, defeating the forces of Kalanikūpule, driving off the cliffs of the Pali.

Beyond all of that, the view, if you can hold your camera still is wonderful.

My apologies for not having more food "stuffs" for you, but I hope you enjoyed this post....for me, it really renewed an appreciation for the place I was born and raised.

Da Boyz and Brewers in Yuma

 Ed (from Yuma), not Kirk and not Cathy, is posting at mmm-yoso!!! today. About 2 restaurants (in Yuma).

Da Boyz

More than 10 years ago, a pizzeria opened in Yuma Foothills called Da Boyz. At first, we all assumed that this was some new national chain since the decor and logos were very professional. In fact, there are two other locations, one in La Mesa and one in Rancho San Diego. I have no idea about either of them. Similarly, I haven't eaten in the Foothills branch of Da Boyz in five years or more. Why? Because Da Boyz took over and renovated a beautiful large location in old town Yuma on Main Street:

It has extremely high ceilings and a lot of space:

Separate rooms decorated with pictures of Marilyn Monroe or the rat pack or Elvis are available for groups and special occasions. Here are some pictures from the Elvis room:

I like Da Boyz. The service is professional and this location is extremely well-managed. While the beer selection is largely conventional, there are usually at least one or two seasonal brews available:

To my taste, this is the best eat-in pizza restaurant in town – not just because of the nice atmosphere – but because the pizzas are good:

The crusts are real bread crusts:

A wide variety of toppings are available:

And the cheese is flavorful and real:

In addition, the salads are huge:

A small salad can be a filling meal or provide side salads (as shown here) for 2 to 4 eaters:

 

Leaving just an empty bowl:

Even though the lettuces are nothing special, a garden salad will have pepperoncini, sliced olives, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and cucumber. The Italian dressing is surprisingly tasty.

 Of course, there is more than just pizza and salad. While I find the pasta to be pretty ordinary with unremarkable sauce and overcooked noodles, some of their sandwiches make a nice lunch. Here's the meatball (or perhaps sausage?):

When I'm looking for something slightly healthier, the turkey and provolone is good (this is half a sandwich - I share sometimes):

Da Boyz is one of those restaurants that I should have posted about years ago because it is part of my standard rotation and is a local favorite, having been voted the best pizza in town in the most recent newspaper poll. OK, so I finally got around to it.

Brewers

A more recent addition to the Yuma dining scene is another large restaurant called Brewers:

The story of this restaurant – as I've been told by several different people – is that it is owned and operated by the individual who was once the husband of the owner of Da Boyz. While Brewers is another favorite of mine, it offers some very interesting contrasts to Da Boyz.

 The large interior space is more modern in ambience and has a definite sports bar feel to it:

Here is a different view of the interior:

Instead of pizzas, Brewers has a nice selection of flat breads – cheese and toppings on lavash bread. (Rumor has it that Brewers cannot serve pizza because of the divorce settlement – but since I have not read this on the Internet, I do not know it as a fact). In any case, this is the blue bacon flatbread:

This is halfandhalf flatbread - part Mediterranean (spinach, feta, pepperoncini, olive, and garlic) and part Margherita (fresh tomato, basil, and garlic):

Brewers also has sandwiches (each of which comes with a choice of french fries, onion rings, seasoned chips, sweet potato fries, or tater tots). Some of the sandwiches are pretty mediocre. Here is a gyro with onion rings:

The sandwich meat and pita bread were pretty meh, and the onion rings were equally mediocre. Similarly, I should have known better than try a pulled pork sandwich:

However, those tater tots are really excellent. Extremely crunchy outside, moist and flavorful within.

 The Santa Fe turkey sandwich was tasty although the roasted green chile did not have real New Mexico flavor. The sweet potato fries, even with this latticework design, lacked much crunch though they were flavorful:

The burgers are generally the best sandwich choices. Here is a basic burger, and you can see the well seasoned, handmade patty as well as the tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickle complements:

And to repeat myself, the tater tots are really good.

 Another favorite is the honey mustard chicken burger. Along with the standard toppings of pickle, onion, tomato, and lettuce, you get a large chicken breast filet, a couple of slices of smoky bacon, melted Swiss cheese, and a flavorful honey mustard sauce:

The french fries are just okay.

 Some other things here that Tina and I enjoy – recently, she tried the Cobb salad and it was a very good rendition of the standard favorite:

And I could not believe how excellent the fish tacos were:

Yuma is one of those rare places where one can get good Mexican food even at restaurants that are not primarily Mexican restaurants – probably because most of the cooks in Yuma restaurants are Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. Anyway, those fish tacos, while extremely simple, were outstanding. There was just enough white sauce, the cabbage added some vegetable crunch, the salsa was remarkably smoky and spicy, and the fish fillets (yes, each taco contained an entire pollock fillet) were perfectly fried, crunchy on the outside and moist and flavorful inside:

As good as some of the food options are at Brewers, this place has a major advantage over any other place in Yuma: 10-12 taps devoted to various craft brews, mostly from Arizona, California, and Colorado. This is the listing of beers available on May 28 (notice the cross outs and handwritten additions):

Look at the top of the tap list, not the Bud and Millers listed toward the bottom. Here is a very different taplist for June 14:

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Ballast Point Sculpin Ale, Grand Canyon Shaggy Bock, Four Peaks Peach Ale, Arrogant Bastard, San Tan Brewing Negro Nitro, Four Peaks Sunbru Kolsch, Coronado Mermaid Red, Maui Brewing Coconut Porter, TapIt IPA, Stone IPA, and Sam Adams Summer Ale are just some of the specialty brews available on one or both of those two days. Finally, in Yuma, you can sit down with friends and have beers that look like this:

Or like this:

Wow!! Yuma has arrived in the 21st century. And those beers go really well with deep-fried zucchini:

Da Boyz and Brewers both make my life in Yuma better. If you visit them, they will probably improve your life (though perhaps not your waistline) as well.

Da Boyz Italian Cuisine 284 S Main, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 783-8383

Brewers Restaurant and Sports Bar, 2331 S Ave B, Yuma AZ, 85364, (928) 783-0073.

COMC: Stuff we ate before our trip: The Waterfront Bar & Grill, Bay Park Fish Company, and lunch at Chin's Convoy

Man, I'm still kinda feeling it, but didn't want to leave you high and dry. Here's a round-up of stuff we had before our vacation....the Missus, after spending too much time talking to folks on our trip now uses the term "holiday"......sigh. Anyway, just another COMC (Clearing out the memory card) post.

The Waterfront Bar & Grill:

Of course I needed to have a burger before we left, so why not The Waterfront early on a quiet weekday?

Just a burger for me.....no big deal.........it did the trick.

Of course the Missus just had to order the veggie burger..... I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of it.

The Waterfront Bar and Grill
2044 Kettner Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101

Bay Park Fish Company:

We hadn't been here in a while and the prices here seem to have gone up. But it's still not bad for what the Missus enjoys here the most. The smoked fish plate.

I actually went for the crab cakes this time around.

These actually had a good amount of crab in them but had been "worked" a bit too much for me. I prefer chunks of crab rather than something that looked like it had been mixed to death.

Bay Park Fish Company
4121 Ashton St
San Diego, CA 92110

Chin's Convoy:

Seems like I'd been eating here a bit more often recently. Though I really can't tell of anything I especially enjoy. Here's the Wuxi Spareribs which were fairly tender, but possibly too sweet if you're not used to what is often called "Jiangnan" style food.....that would be the cuisine of areas to the immediate south of the Yangtze river.

 Not bad, but the sweetness just got kind of tiring after a while....like a piano hitting the same key over and over again. I should have ordered two dishes and dealt with leftovers for dinner.

Chin's
4433 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111