mmm-yoso!!!

Circling Back to Chicago Fire Grill

As I start circling back to all those "usual" places close to office before our last trip; I decided to start with Chicago Fire Grill. It had been a few months, so I decided to drop by.

Unfortunately, George wasn't there on this morning, so no pearls of wisdom on this day.

The Chicago Dog is priced at $8.......which these days is a bargain here in San Diego.

The portion of fries is about two-thirds the amount of before; but these days it's fried to a decent crispness.

The dog; is well, a Chicago Dog, a Vienna Beef dog with a decent "snap", there were three Sport Peppers this time....two were sneakily hidden, and of course the necessary fluorescent green relish....the slices of tomato, pickle wedge.....well, it had been appropriately "dragged thru the garden".

And these days I'm happy with that. Though I did miss George....so maybe next time.

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Revisits - Chicago Fire Grill and Gyrogrill

A couple of quick revisits.....

Chicago Fire Grill:

It had been a while since I last visited Chicago Fire Grill and I was wondering how the owner, George was doing. So, I decided to head on over.

Things weren't quite ready for "prime time" when I arrived and George was by himself.

I'm guessing those pandemic staffing issues have hit home here as well. On this day, I had time to wait........George had to get everything  started; but eventually I got my order....George wanted to give it to me...but heck no.......the Chicago Dog is a bargain these days at 8 bucks. Plus, I want to make sure he stays in business.

 Things weren't much different from my previous visits. Except that the fries were nice and crisp, which I really enjoyed.

While the price for this has gone up $2 over the last year....in terms of these days....well, what can you still get for $8 nowadays? I hope George hangs in there.

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 11am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 12pm - 9pm

GyroGrill:

I had meetings scheduled thru the normal lunch hour; I was hungry and decided to head on over to GyroGrill which opens at 10am.

When I arrived a quick glance at the sign gave me pause:

The Gyro meal is now $12.99; back when they opened in October of 2020, it was $7.99, which honestly was a bargain. On my last visit, in October of 2021, it was $10.99, which I thought was reasonable. But now, three months later it was $12.99....wow, guess it's just a sign of the times.

I had though about heading back to the car and going somewhere else....but I needed to get back to the office, so I stuck it out. The fellow working was....and has always been very nice.

 If anything, like I've mentioned before, I do like the hand cut potatoes which are fried to order and are so crisp and crunchy.

As for the pork gyros....while I don't expect this to be on the level of Zgara, on this morning it was very disappointing. Even after being heated on the flat top, it was barely lukewarm, lacking moisture, bland, gummy in texture. I seemed to have been sitting in the hotel pan too long....but the place had just opened a few minutes before I arrived.

I do love those potatoes; so perhaps I need to change things up a bit here....though I'm not sure what prices will be like when I return.

Gyrogrill
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 10am - 630pm
Sat 10am - 530pm
Closed Sunday

Daddy's Hot Dogs Revisited

I needed to drop by Penzy's on a recent weekend and wanted something quick and simple for lunch. Of course, all I needed to do was look across the street to a familiar sight. 

 I hadn't realized that it has been nearly two years since I last visited.....well, that kinda makes sense since I haven't been in this area much since the pandemic started.

The two tables were bring rolled out as I headed across the street.

A quick glance at the menu surprised me. Unlike almost everywhere else during these times it seems that prices have not gone up.

I had thought about just getting a Chicago Dog; but I had really enjoyed the "O" on my previous visit, that I just decided to order that.

 And I enjoyed it. While I really couldn't make out the bacon much, the acidity of the tomatoes, along with just the right amount of Russian dressing, and a bit of spice from the jalapeno relish really delivered.

And, I'm not sure if it was my imagination; but that hot dog seemed so tender.....almost delicate, enrobed in a warm and soft bun.

 Perhaps the atmosphere elevated the meal.......I ate standing at one of the two outdoor tables, no one around me, elbows on the table, sun shining brightly down on me......there wasn't much traffic on University on this day. It all seemed so normal, something which hasn't been "the norm" since March of last year. And for a moment, all seemed right in the world.

Daddy's Hot Dogs
1281 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Tuesdays 11am - 230pm, 330pm - 7pm
Wed - Sat 11am - 10pm
Closed on Sunday and Monday

Saturday Stuffs - BBQ Chicken Returning to San Diego, Dogs & Aguas Coming to Linda Vista, and Other "Stuffs"

Just a couple of things for another warm Saturday.

BBQ Chicken Returning to San Diego - In the Former Ichiro Spot:

I saw a sign over the former location of Ichiro's which closed at the end of January after over 35 years. I drove on in and was somewhat surprised.......

Looks like BBQ Chicken is returning to San Diego. I'm sure some folks will be happy.....I hope they've improved the recipe a bit as I was not a big fan of the chicken; at least when they were open in San Diego.

4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Dogs & Aguas Coming to Linda Vista:

I saw this sign as I was driving past Linda Liquor the other day.

 Looks like something called "Dogs & Aguas" is coming soon. I'm assuming in the Linda Liquor shop?

I know our "FOY" Junichi lives in the area.....so perhaps he might know more?

6950 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111

And to my surprise:

Early in the week I made one of my regular visits to Nijiya. Walking toward the market, I stopped dead in my tracks. You see; this is what the storefront looked like.

Anything look out of place to you? I'm not sure why; but not having the "line-up" area, the distancing spots, the attendant, and all the other "Covid set-up" kind of threw me for a loop. Shows how much I'd gotten used to all the precautions. It felt kind of surreal in a way as I'd gotten used to that set-up....was this actually happening, or was it perhaps a mistake???

This is how it was.......

I will say, that most folks are still wearing masks when shopping and there still social distancing when going to the cashiers.

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

It's been pretty warm out there and frankly, I'm kinda tired of cooking, so we've been keeping things pretty simple around here......

We hope everyone is doing well and having a wonderful weekend!

Takeout Revisit to Chicago Fire Grill

I can tell that the pandemic is raging on, just by the fact that I've already done Covid-19 takeout posts on Chicago Fire Grill and SuperNatural Sandwiches......and now I'm circling back! Anyway, here goes.

Chicago Fire Grill:

I had ben wondering how George was doing; so I decided to get some takeout from Chicago Fire Grill. I tried calling in my order, but no one picked up. After trying a few times, I naturally thought the worst, so I headed on over.

Well, I shouldn't have worried.....the place was busier than before the pandemic. The two tables outside were full, there were three people waiting for takeout....and to tell you the truth; I'm really not used seeing this many people in one place these days and felt kind of weird. Everyone was well spaced and those not eating were wearing masks.

As for George, he was obviously too busy for any words of wisdom on this day. So, I just got my Chicago Dog and headed out. I think this is kind of bargain at 6 bucks.

Over the last couple of visits, I was glad that they were back using poppy seed rolls....a good Chicago Dog should always be enrobed in one. Didn't care for the unwieldy wedge of tomato; it should have been thinner sliced and longer to cover more of the dog. No other complaints about the dog, which had a decent snap, the radioactive green relish, a good amount of onions. Though when it comes to it; I could have used more celery salt this time around.

A pretty good deal for six bucks these days....I mean, you can barely get an order of siu mai for that price nowadays, right?

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone number
(858) 622-0224
Open Daily 11am - 9pm

Eating (and drinking) in the Time of Covid-19 - Chicago Fire Grill, Bay Park Fish, and Beer From Harland

How is everyone doing? Here are a couple of stuff-to-go and a couple of cold ones. I'm not going to go into the food much here....it's just not the time for that.

Chicago Fire Grill:

I went to grab a quick lunch for the few souls who are still in the office....plus I wanted to see what "words of wisdom", George, the owner had. Anyway, upon getting there, I ordered from the doorway....George asked me if I could hear him......I told him, "I could hear you from Orange County....."

We all had a zillion calls during the day and with all the self-quarantine, it actually felt good to get out for 20 minutes to grab lunch and scurry back to the office and yet another call.

George says that he'll hang in there; though he wasn't totally sure about the hours....he's trying to keep it going at least for lunch.

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Bay Park Fish Company:

During my short shopping stop at Seisel's, I saw this sign in front of Bay Park Fish.

And while BPF has kinda fallen from favor for us over the years; it along with Siesel's were the subject of one of my first posts back in 2005. So I went in and placed an order before I went to Siesel's. When I got out of Siesel's and walked over, my food was ready...….I decided not to take the 30% off and also tip a bit...….it's almost like my responsibility.

Got the shrimp torta and smoked fish stack.

Currently open from noon to 5pm for take-out.

Bay Park Fish Co.
4121 Ashton St.
San Diego, CA 92110

We've been trading food with Frankie's favorite auntie "Alle", who lives close by. One day, she had gone on a "beer run" to Harland and graciously gave some brews.

Here's the Harland Japanese Lager.

And something really special; the Harland MoMo Mochi IPA.

Nice, slightly fruity, mildly sweet, in the session IPA hoppiness scale....very nice Hazy IPA made with...well "Momo" (peaches) of course.

Thanks Alle!

Be safe everyone!

Revisits - (No sandwiches at) SuperNatural Sandwiches and Daddy's Hot Dogs

I guess this one might be a R(ecommendations) & R(equests) & R(evisits) post. Here are two recommendations that were made quite recently on various posts.

(No sandwiches at) SuperNatural Sandwiches:

In the comments section of my last post on SuperNatural Sandwiches, Loren mentioned the following:

"The Kirin is my go to Salad as well, honestly I love how those flavors are great for anyone doing the keto thing."
"Oh and if you haven't had their plain fries (not the triton or whatever) they may be the best in SD."

Which kind of got my attention, so when I had a chance I headed back to the Miramar location of Supernatural. And got the Kirin as a salad; which ended up being pretty huge.....

And pretty good to boot! I enjoyed this dressing more than the aioli that is used to top the sandwiches. It was a lot of greens; but mixed with the pickled veggies and cucumber and with bites of tender shrimp and sweet lup cheong in between, this was very good.

And yes Loren, those fries are really good. The potatoes have been lightly dusted, giving it a bit more of a crunch and the interior is nice and fluffy. The seasoning has enough salt and spice to keep things interesting......I only ate a few and spread the rest around the office and folks really enjoyed it.

So thanks Loren for giving me a few more options for lunchtime!

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd. #122
San Diego, CA 92121

Daddy's Hot Dogs:

Meanwhile, in the comments section of my last post on Chicago Fire Grill; DerekR mentioned liking the Chicago Dogs at Daddy's Hot Dogs in Hillcrest. Which got me checking on when I did my post on Daddy's Hot Dogs....geeez, man it was 2011!

Would you believe it's been nearly eight years since that post! Eight years! Where has all that time gone?

After a recent meeting; I made it a point to find some parking and return to Daddy's. He was just rolling out the two "tables" and such when I arrived and chatted me up, just like I'd been there yesterday.

The menu has changed over time, there are still a few interesting options. I ordered two dogs to go and watched "daddy" make them in his very methodical manner; nothing is rushed and things take a bit of time here.

Which all comes out when you take a look at those hot dogs.

So, what did I think? Well, Daddy splits the dogs before griddling; though they still retain a good "snap". The buns are heated, but not steamed.....

The "Chicago Dog" is sorta, kinda, but not really a Chicago Dog; the pickled jalapenos are way hotter and less sweet than sport peppers. though it's a visual thing, I like the look of the fluorescent-radioactive green relish. The tomatoes were decently ripe which added to the pleasure; though the flavor of the dog is definitely different than the typical Vienna Beef dog that's used for a Chicago Dog. I appreciated the nice sprinkling of celery salt.

I also ordered the "O" and really enjoyed it. Russian dressing sounds a bit odd; but it went well with the diced tomatoes and slice of bacon......the flavor of the hot dog really complemented the rich mayo based dressing quite well and the griddled onions added some sweetness and depth of flavor to things.

I actually enjoyed this more than the Chicago Dog.....the folks in the office kept asking each other; "hey....what's that really good smell...."

Well, it was some pretty good hot dogs from Daddy's. I gotta get back more often,

Thanks for the recommendation DerekR!

Daddy's Hot Dogs
1281 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Revisits - Tim Ky and Chicago Fire Grill

It's still pretty darn warm out. I think you ought to be trying to relax and keep cool rather than reading a food blog....especially since there's noodle soup involved in this post. But; if you insist, well, I'll carry on.

Tim Ky:

This was actually my first restaurant meal after returning from our last trip to Budapest - Vienna - Munich -etc, etc, etc.....

Not sure why; but I ordered the duck leg egg noodle soup. At most places of this ilk, the duck is served, but here the whole leg is served in the soup. For some unknown reason....perhaps just wanting to see if it was as bad as what I had before?

In some ways this was even worse. The skin on the duck was rubbery; the meat really dry and tough. It's hard enough trying to eat this leg in a bowl of scalding soup without making a mess; but this made things even harder. The broth tastes like salty-bitter water with a hint of five spice....though it is really hot. The noodles were nicely cooked, it still had a bit of "crunch" to it. There was one slice of shiitake mushroom.

Ok, I'm done with this here, I'll stick with the beef sate noodle "dry".

Tim Ky Noodle
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126 

Chicago Fire Grill:

A few weeks back; before "SJK" changed departments, we were both in meetings together with a short break in between. I knew that she loved hot dogs....but strangely had never had a Chicago Dog. I thought we'd be able to grab a Chicago Dog from Chicago Fire Grill. I called in and it was ready when I got there.

The fries were the same as on previous visits. The Poppy Seed Bun was a bit more soggy than usual and the tomato under-ripe. The Vienna Beef Dog had the requisite snap and of course it had been "dragged through the garden"; though there was a bit less fluorescent green relish than usual.

Still, "SJK" who had never had a Chicago Dog loved this.

The place was packed and quite busy on this day; so I got no "words of wisdom" from the Owner. I'm hoping my next visit will be better.

Chicago Fire Grill
8935 Towne Centre Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122

Anchorage - New Sagaya's City Market, Anchorage Market & Festival, and the International House of Hotdogs

It's been almost a year since we visited Alaska; I'd better get these posts done!

I had a rather fitful night of sleep in Anchorage. I guess bars close at 4am; which by the way, is when the sun was rising during our visit. Folks got back to the hotel with much banging and noise...no it wasn't the ghosts. So, after a couple more hours of restlessness, we headed downstairs. The breakfast set-up looked rather dismal, so we just grabbed some coffee and headed out. Not sure where. Past schools and houses...I believe on A Street.

We then cut westward and somehow ended up at New Sagaya's City Market, where there is a location of Kaladi Brothers Coffee.

So while the Missus stood in the queue for our caffeine fix.

It was interesting walking those aisles. I was rather surprised to see some of items being sold; like Aloha Shoyu!

We sat and enjoyed our coffee. It was interesting; you could tell who the visitors were; we still felt a bit chilly in the 50 degree weather; while we saw folks in the market walking around in shorts!

After our fix, we headed back out. But not before giving this friendly fella' a nice head scratch.

New Sagaya City Market
900 W 13th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501

We walked back up I Street, through the large Delaney Park; an eleven block strip that used to be the airfield. It's a now a vast looking green belt.

We stopped to take a look at the Anchorage Veterans Memorial.

Soon enough we were back in downtown. We did a bit of window shopping; heading down 4th Avenue. We decided to head on over to the Anchorage Market & Festival, which takes place on weekends from 10am to 6pm from Mid-May to Mid-September.

Right at the turn to the head down to the market, is the start of the Iditarod, and this mural.

right down the stairs and across the parking lot was the Market and Festival.

There was of course entertainment...

Tons of shopping.....

Don't you want some "chimes to irritate your neighbors"?

And of course food.

And while we didn't find anything we especially felt like eating; this was a fun little stop for us.

Anchorage Market & Festival
225 E 3rd Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501
Sat - Sun 10am - 6pm
Mid-May thru Mid September
From May 11th to September 8 for 2019

The Missus had wanted to check out the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. So we headed west on 4th Avenue. I had a stop in mind for lunch. A place called IHOH - the International House of Hotdogs. Basically a trailer set-up right behind the very popular Snow City Café.

They were doing some pretty good business at 11am.

Having enjoyed reindeer in various forms over the last couple of years; I had wanted to try a Reindeer Dog; in this case the McKinley Dog, a Reindeer Polish Sausage. We also got an order of the Cilantro Fries.

For some reason the split sausage had been pretty much griddled to death and was on the tough side, The roll did a nice job and was nice and soft, and the griddled onions did quite well. The chipotle based sauce was a bit much, as reindeer, at least in my experience has a rather delicate flavor.

Loved the seasoning on the fries; but these "crinkle-cuts" were also fried too long, the interior of the fries were dry. 

It was enough food for the Missus and I to share and the service was very friendly.

International House of Hot Dogs
415 L Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Hours:
Tues - Sun 11am - 7pm

Now it was time for me to burn off all those fries......

Midweek Meanderings - Buta Ramen Coming Soon, Spice & Soul Closes, and This Weeks Cheese Plate

Just a quick post this evening.

Ready for more ramen?

Buta Ramen Coming to Linda Vista:

You know we're hitting saturation point when a ramen shop is opening on Linda Vista near Morena. I was exiting the strip mall where Ballast Point is located and I saw this.

A quick search brought up two different Buta Ramen; one in Halifax and the other in Singapore. The Singapore sign looks similar, but the place recently closed. Couldn't find much else.

5201 Linda Vista Rd. Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92110

Spice & Soul is closed:

I was driving up Morena a few weeks back when I noticed that Spice & Soul looked closed. So I took a hard right and drove up Avati.

And yep, there's the eviction notice on the front door. Sad, but not unexpected. I know the place changed hands, I believe twice?

4033 Avati Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

And this week's cheese plate:

From the left to right; Montanera, a goat cheese from Spain, washed rind, fairly funky - barnyard - hay, went real well with the Muscat we had shipped back from Bott Frères in Ribeauvillé, when we visited Alsace earlier in the year. Sadly; it's our last bottle, the Missus is going to be sad to see this go. My favorite was the Amber Kunik from Nettle Meadow Farm in New York. Wonderful complex flavors, semi-soft. The rind is washed with whiskey, so we naturally had it a pour of Kavalon. Aaaahh. The Saltbush Chevre is quite unique; it's a soft goat cheese from Australia rubbed with Saltbush. Saltbush is an appropriate name; it's quite "salty", acidic, and vegetal in taste; but like Cheese.com says; it tastes amazing on bread drizzled with olive oil. The last one is a rather common goat cheese Le Pico by Germain, the Missus loved this on bread; it has a definite "goatiness" something the Missus has learned to love over the years; but also a nice buttery, richness that makes this easy to eat.

Thanks for indulging our cheese fetish!