Gus's Subs and Pizza- (the #2/La Mesa location; Breakfast)

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! which is a food blog.  Kirk and His Missus are on a vacation, somewhere in the world.  As a result, He is not blogging (that whole internet access in a foreign country thing). ed, (from Yuma) is not blogging because of that employment thing. Cathy, who apparently does not vacation nor have employment, is blogging.

On the SouthWest Corner of Baltimore Drive at Lake Murray, a small building has been home to quite a few restaurants which have come and gone.  Gus's, a family owned place, with its first location in Point Loma, has established itself in La Mesa for almost three years now.

 

Gus's is famous for its sub sandwiches, Italian, Greek, Mexican and Portuguese sandwiches and pizzas. However this location also serves breakfast, opening at 7 a.m. daily.
A small inside eating area of about 20 tables, along with about the same size patio area, Gus's has the menu board for its sandwich and pizza selections just above the cash register.  There is a separate breakfast menu, with Monday-Friday specials on chalkboards inside, at the door and stickers in the windows and on the menu. All different specials.  The portion sizes are larger than you would expect. Gus's serves affordable, filling, satisfying food, just as a good neighborhood place should.
For His breakfast, The Mister chose the Combo, a four egg fritatta.  A fritatta is described on the menu as a "Fancy Italian Omelette"   It comes with a choice of two sides.  The Mister chose the pancakes...
and the hash browns.  You can see a cross section of his fritatta; pretty much all meat filled.  Combo  Fritatta is made with the four eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms which are combined and then baked and topped with the two cheeses.  (The rye toast is one of my sides.) His meal was $7.75.
I had an urge for steak and eggs.  Of course, I wanted poached eggs. I asked for home fries (I was asked if I wanted onions and green peppers cooked with my home fries) along with the rye toast. This was a good sized top sirloin, not the thin cut '6 ounces before-cooking' piece of meat I was expecting.  I asked for it medium rare and it was.  The grill marks on the steak were real.  The meat had been seasoned before cooking and I did not feel the need to add A-1 at the table.  Surprising, both in quantity and quality. 

Oh, and price.  $6.99- the special listed on the outside of one window.
As you can see, coffee was $1.75.  Constantly refilled. 

I mentioned Portuguese...One 'side' item sold here is linguica (Portuguese sausage).  That sausage is rarely seen on menus in East County...the "Neighborhood Omelette" is made with four eggs and has linguica, shrimp, mushrooms, onions, ortega chili, tomatoes and cheese: A fitting tribute to the Portuguese  Community which settled in San Diego five generations ago.  The 101st Portuguese Festa do Divino Espiritu Santo is June 10-11-12 this year. The oldest Festival in our County.

Gus's Subs and Pizza- East County 5620 Baltimore Street La Mesa 91942 (619)462-4877 Open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. daily

Comments

[Carol]

Holy cow that fritatta sounds huge! Yum, love linguica! Thinking about trying my hand at making linguica actually.

[caninecologne]

Hi Cathy - nice to know that they offer linguica here! love that stuff!one of my friends braises linguica with wine.

[caninecologne]

forgot to mention that my friend is portugues. she also makes a great dish that has bacalao/potatoes and cream.

[Cathy]

My photographs somehow have an interesting perspective, Carol. The pancakes are large and the fritatta is the same circumference, but also pretty deep...and the plate with the steak was larger than those two...and the hash browns and toast plate were smaller than all of those. Anyhow, 4 eggs and a bunch of meat made up that fritatta. It was very heavy. Homemade linguica sounds good...and a good idea for a post.
Hi, cc! I have several Portugues friends and acquaintances. The ones who have invited me to sit down to have a coffee have always been so proud of their heritage and foods and have always offered me either a taste or recipe for one of their dishes. Being able to grab a linguica sandwich or breakfast at Gus's makes it a very 'local' spot.

[Blizzardi]

Cathy,

Thank you for the great post. I recently saw the Gus's and since I had lived in PL previously, I wondered if it wasn't the same. (Sure looked to have the same logo for the Gus's name.) I had only tried the pizza from the PL location. Have you tried any of their sandwiches?

Also, thanks for including places in the 'hood. I love all the posts about places in the Lake Murrey, Alied Gardens, Del Cerro. It has really help me branch out.

[Nate]

Nice looking steak and eggs!

[Rosa]

Yay linguica! I buy packages of it at Portugal Imports in Artesia. Soooo good.

This is my Husband's kind of place. Meat, eggs, cheese, pancakes and hashbrowns. Not a green in sight.

[Food detective]

Four eggs omelette? All the omelettes in Palm Desert have 2 eggs. Looks like good food with a great price!

[Cathy]

Hi, Blizzardi. We were at the Point Loma Gus's just yesterday. It is just a great neighborhood place. The sandwiches at Gus's are very large, made with quality meats...and, as the coffee cup notes, they toast your buns.
Excellent steak and perfectly poached eggs, Nate. Welcome to our blog.
All the way in Artesia, Rosa? I would think there is a good local source in Point Loma...and will make an effort to find it. There are a few green salads topped with various meats as well as an antipasti and tuna salad on the menu.
The omelettes and fritattas are made with 4 eggs, FD. Nice and filling for a breakfast...this is a great place.

[Nate]

Hi Cathy, not my first time here. Always stop by for Kirk's posts. He's visited by site too. Where did he go this time?

[Cathy]

Hi Nate. Sorry, my research method froze that day, I see you have commented to Kirk a lot. Nice to meet you. :)
Kirk wanted people to guess and gave a clue just before he left...here are my clues:
There are two main countries where Kirk and The Missus are vacationing:
-The name of one country is a homophone.
-The name of the other country is a homonym (I suppose technically a capitonym).
-I have mentioned a bit of the cuisine of each country in my current posts.

[Nate]

Cathy - In fact my site is listed in the "Hawaii Based Food Blogs" to the right.

[Cathy]

Yes, I have seen your blog, Nate...and I enjoy the DFAC lunch photos best, although your Good Friday meal looked wonderful.