mmm-yoso!!!

2022 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade floats and a few meals

mmm-yoso!!! is being written by Cathy today.  She's the one who does these Rose Parade posts. Kirk is taking a break.

So, it's 2022!  Happy New Year.  A time to start anew, change habits.  For starters, most of the photos in this post were taken on December 31, unlike when The Mister and I attended the Showcase of Floats-following the Rose Parade in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019  and 2020.  

With Covid-19, not many people were volunteering to decorate the floats and we had been receiving daily emails and noticing all of the float builders asking for volunteers.  We had helped decorate floats in early December, and were wide awake around 1 a.m. on December 31, saw a live video of the float barn and how much help was needed, especially since final judging is around 10 a.m. on the 31st.  We got in the car and drove to Irwindale.  

Here are some photos of floats and details at the Phoenix Decorating Company barn.  

 Trader Joe's, "You're Invited"
 Kiwanis International, "Dream To Achieve"Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, "Seeding Tomorrow"

Lutheran Hour Ministries, "Jesus Teaches"
 Oddfellows and Rebekahs, "Arctic Adventure"
 The Century anniversary of Shriners Hospitals for Children, "Celebrating 100 Years of Believing in Dreams". This float depicts a young girl with scars from Spina Bifida repair, spinning in a looking glass, dreaming of being the spinning ballerina in a jewelry box.  There were three color florographs on this float, celebrating the providing of care to children with complex medical conditions regardless of their ability to pay.

 "Wild Kingdom" by RFD-TV and Mutual of Omaha. 
The Closing float, reminding people of the Rose Bowl Game.
Rotary International, "Changing Lives Through Education"

Lions Clubs International, "Quest For Kindness"


Best wishes to you and yours. Dream, Believe, Achieve.

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It was after 11 a.m. and The Mister and I still had not had breakfast so we left and began driving to a favorite stop, The Peppertree Cafe. Another Covid-19 survivor.

 Since it was a Friday, the regular menu (and specials) were available.  We were so tired and overwhelmed.  The Soup, Salad Half Sandwich ($9) was great- clam chowder, ranch dressing, turkey sandwich. There was a half order hot beef sandwich available ($9) so I tried it.  Just enough food.  A very long day. Peppertree Cafe website

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In November, we finally made it back to Porto's, where we had not been since October, 2019. So happy it survived Covid.

 The menu (bakery and meals) is limited,  dine in capacity is at 50% (tables removed), most cold beverages are bottled but the food items are consistent.
 Torrejas (Cuban French toast) was just perfect-crisp exterior, fluffy interior. 
 Pan con Lechon- slow roasted pork with pickled onion and a green garlic mojo sauce on the fresh Cuban bread was a nice, salty contrast for breakfast. Portos Bakery Website

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Also in November, The Mister was craving a good pastrami sandwich, so we drove up the 15 to The Hat, which also survived Covid-19. 

  Things are about the same, other than you have to ask for condiments.

 The sides are still enough to share-a large serving.  The pastrami is still kind of perfect. The Hat website
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Sunday Sandwiches - Uptown Delight Deli

Here's another one of those mom-and-pop business park sandwich shops that I found by accident. I was between meetings and decided to head off to the Market at HFS for some poke. So, I got on the 805 North and took the Mira Mesa offramp.....only to suddenly realize it was only 930.....yikes....brain fart.....

So, in need of a "plan B" I took a right on Scranton Road and headed to Nancy Ridge Road the back way; fully intent on hitting up Creative Deli when I passed a "Deli" sign along the road. Another business park deli? How many of them are there around here? Of course I stopped to check it out.

This shop occupies the sliver of a space at the end of a building.

There's one, older Asian Woman working here who does everything....and she seems to know her customers, at least the one's I've seen on my visits.

The menu is full on "Boar's Head", though they seem to be out of a couple of items...probably Covid supply chain issues. The prices seem a tad higher than Sunrise/Creative/Kim's etc.....

I decided on trying the Pub Style Roast Beef ($9.25).

They include a Andes thin mint with every sandwich, a nice touch, along with a pickle wedge.

I enjoyed the fact that horseradish was used; it gave the sandwich some nice "oomph". The white cheddar was nicely melted, I saw the woman place the roast beef and cheese on the flat top for a minute to heat things thru, a nice touch. I just wish the bread was toasted as the sandwich had a lot of carbs going on.... just too much bread and some textural contrast would have been welcome. 

Of course now that I had been here; I needed to do a couple more visits; so I returned the very next day. I decided not to go with a "sandwich" and decided on the BLT Supreme Wrap ($8.75).

I chose the Sun Dried Tomato wrap which worked out well. This was nicely heated on the flat top along with the slices of bacon. While a bit on the flimsy side; this was the best of the three items I had at Uptown. The creamy and ripe avocado and the fact the bacon was crisp made this a decent lunch.

Not the biggest fan of American Cheese in this; but it worked out fine.

And so, with temperatures rising this past week; I headed back to Uptown Deli and quickly ordered the "Italian Supreme" ($8.75), without realizing it came on that jumbo French roll....

   A bit too much bread and they used the juice from the Peperoncini along with a really sour dressing....they said Balsamic; but since when is Balsamic yellow? There was so much of it that it did the "shart thing" when I bit into it.

Still, no complaints with regards to the price and portion.

Like I've said many times before......places like this keep the masses fed. And as we return to our offices post Covid; I'm thinking they will play a key part in our return.

Uptown Delight Deli
6310 Nancy Ridge Dr.
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 3pm
Closed Sat - Sun

And I keep wondering; how many of these places are out there?

Sunday Sandwiches - Sandwich Island

Sometimes little "happy accidents" occur. For instance, I had some meetings over the normal lunch time and decided to head to Creative Deli. Thinking about all my meetings I kind of spaced out and before I knew it, I had passed Carroll Road. Sheesh..... I decided to turn around on Trade Street. I took a right turn and headed down Trade Street for a bit. For some reason, I decide to turn around in a parking lot where I saw this signage.

Sandwich Island? Sandwich Island! Wow....well this hit home....I'm from the Sandwich Islands. So, of course I had to stop here since the open sign was lit.

The shop is quite a bit larger than it appears from the outside. A dining area, then a rather long counter area with some additional seating.

The menu was pretty darn large, with everything from Reubens to Club Sandwiches, to Quesadillas and Wraps, to Breakfast options.

Looking at the names of various items on the menu cracked me up....anyone for a "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" (breaded fish sandwich)......can you even say it? That's always been fun way to test if you're really "local" back home....along with "Kalanianaʻole" and if you can correctly pronounce "Likelike".

Anyway, as I placed my order, I asked the woman if they were from Hawaii and was told that the former owner was; bummas.....

I ordered the Island Club ($8.95) and it felt quite hefty....and when I opened it up.....

 Holy smokes....look at all that white bread. This was fine; wish the bread was toasted, but perhaps that was asking for a bit much. Also, wish it had more bacon, but again how could I complain since this was.....in these times, a good value. So, processed ham and turkey, just like "small kid" time.....when we always called this a "Clubhouse". And I couldn't finish this......and had leftovers with dinner.

During my visit, I noticed daily "specials".

Just eight bucks, so I decided to try some of these out.

First was the Haoli, which was spelled Hoali on the lunch special menu, versus Haoli on the menu....I'm assuming this means Hau'oli (happy) versus "Haole".....which means....well, you know. I got this with the Cabbage Almond Salad.

 So, the Italian Roll was actually slightly toasted and fairly crusty and even though it was a bit "too much bread" it wasn't bad. The "salad" was basic almond coleslaw, with very little "dressing on it. Basically coleslaw mix with a bit of dressing.

The sandwich had ham, cheese, and turkey, all standard issue; though the tomatoes were quite ripe and added a nice fruity-acidity to the sandwich.

A bit too much mayo for my taste, but again, you could do a lot worse for eight bucks....like perhaps some interesting "mystery meat"?

So, as things cooled off a bit, I visited on a recent Friday and decided to get the "Special A" for the day....the "Philly" Cheesesteak with fries ($8). And, in all honesty, you couldn't fault the potion size.

 These days, here in San Diego, what can you get for eight bucks? Really.... The roll was again decently toasted, the beef surprisingly tender......not enough mushrooms and peppers and the cheese used was really bland and while quite gooey didn't add anything else to the sandwich.

The generous portion of fries didn't hold up well on the 15 minute drive back to the office and was really salty....though some may like that.

 I don't want to give you the wrong impression; this is one of those places that is a good value and keeps folks fed. I will say that I prefer Sunrise Deli, Creative Deli, and Kim's Deli to Sandwich Island. Though it again is one of those Mom-and-Pop Delis that keep folks fed for a reasonable price. And I saw some rice bowls and bentos on the menu....so maybe I'll give those a try.

After all, I'm from the "Sandwich Islands".......

Sandwich Island
7350 Trade St.
San Diego, CA 92121

Sunday Sandwiches - Revisits to Tadian Cafe, Kim's Deli, and Rubicon Deli

Now that I'm mostly back in the office, I've started to make the rounds....it's been super hot lately, so sandwiches are what I've been having for lunch. Great thing about all of these places is that they open a bit earlier than the normal lunch hour. Tadian and Rubicon do online ordering and Kim's is just a phone call away. No muss.....no fuss....

Tadian Deli:

I was actually craving the Chinese Sausage Sandwich, but it's no longer on the menu, so I got the Peppered Roast Beef again. This time requesting a toasted French roll.

This was more "hefty" than what I'd had here previously....but it did well....I requested easy on the sauce, but it was still too much for me.

The avocado wasn't ripe enough and lacked flavor and perhaps a bit too much bread; but definitely better than what I had last time.

Tadian Cafe
5955 Mira Mesa Blvd. Suite K
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 453-5740
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 9am - 3pm

Kim's Deli:

For some reason, I was craving a Teri Beef Sandwich; so I made a call to Kim's Deli and went to pick up my sandwich. It's hard to complain about a $7 sandwich.

The beef was more tender this time, but also much sweeter.

I even enjoyed the cheese in this. 

A good value in my opinion.

Kim's Deli
8515 Arjons Drive
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 566-0370
Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 2pm
Closed on Saturdays and Sundays

Rubicon Deli:

Yes, I'm a pretty boring guy......once I find something I enjoy, I tend to stick with it. In this case it's the the "Super Mario" on Garlic Cheese Bread.

I enjoy the different flavors, from the cheesy-mildly garlicky bread to the slightly sweet tones of red pepper tapenade, the peppery arugula. The balsamic glaze fits right in with a balanced sour-sweet profile.

And my order has always been ready for pick-u when I arrive.

Rubicon Deli (UTC Location)
4130 La Jolla Village Drive - Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92037
(858) 877-9911
Current Hours
Open Daily - 10am - 730pm

So, I'm just wondering.....how many of you have returned to "the office"....or are you still working from home? And how are things going?

Take care and have a great week!

Main Chick Hot Chicken (Clairemont)

Main Chick, a chain from LA opened two locations in San Diego during the winter of 2020, yet another entry feeding the Nashville Chicken fad. I thought of doing takeout, but hesitated thinking that the chicken sandwich might not hold up well, even with the short 12 minute drive home from Clairemont Town Square. But, after I had the Chicken Sandwich from Bay Hill Tavern (all the way back in April of this year), which held up pretty well as takeout, on one of the days I was working from home, I decided to do takeout.

 I arrived just as the place was opening at 11am. The young lady manning the counter was quite friendly and I placed an order for Combo #1 ($14), which consisted of 1 chicken sandwich, which I decided to get naked as a first try, thinking that sauce would probably contribute negatively to the integrity of whatever bread product was used, 1 chicken tender, fries, pickles, and MC sauce.......ahem...yet another "secret sauce-ish" concoction.

The wait was fairly short and I got my order and headed home.

Here's what things looked like when I opened the combo box.

To get a better look at things I placed everything on a plate.

Man, look at all those fries! I liked the "dust" used for seasoning, but the fries were quite dry, though the MS sauce helped things out a bit.

As for how the chicken sandwich handled the short trip home, well.....

I think you can see that it really didn't do well. The bottom bun was mush - can you imagine if I had gotten sauce, the batter for the chicken was no longer crisp, and this being breast meat, it was dry. I also thought the seasoning was way too mild.

And I quickly noticed something about the chicken tender.

What the heck are all those black spots? They had just opened.....did they need to reheat this on the flat top? Was this leftover from the previous day? Of course those black bits were quite bitter and the chicken super dry.

This was quite terrible overall. I made up my mind to just call it quits and forget about Main Chick.....so since only one visit; there'd be no post.

Then back in July I did a post on Boss Bird, which was 17 months in the making. FOY "ChrisR" was quick to send me an email telling me:

"(Boss Bird) has been a huge to medium disappointment in the three times I went.
Main Chick in Clairemont Mesa has a Nashville dark meat chicken sandwich that has been really good to great on four different visits."

I quickly sent Chris an email with photos......still thinking that I was done with Main Chick.......but then; thinking about a dark meat version. Well, I decided to give Main Chick a couple more tries (this was before the last crazy Covid-19 surge). So three days after Chris sent me that email, working from home, I got to Main Chick just as they opened and ordered a Dark Meat Chicken Sandwich $6)....and in a moment of insanity ordered it "Supreme". A quick gander at the menu reveals five flaming chickens next to "supreme".

 And while I don't think this was as all around spicy as the XHot from Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, it was pretty darn hot. My tolerance for spiciness has gone down as I get older; so this got a nice amount of sweat going. This was much better than what I'd had previously; it had a decent crunch, was more moist, though all that spice pretty much blocked out any other flavors, even with the Thousand Island Dressing...ummm MC Sauce - "Because, you know, You can't touch this....." This was fine, albeit somewhat one-dimensional in terms of flavor, which I can easily say was my fault for ordering "five flaming chicken" hotness.

And so, since I was scheduled to work from home the very next day.....guess where I ended up. This time; I just went with the Dark Meat Chicken Sandwich - Medium.

 Before I go on, a quick note....notice the size of the sandwich alongside my ancient iPhone 7....I just wanted to put that into perspective so you know. In this day, while I ate my sandwich, the guy right after me ordered a 3 chicken tender combo...which comes with that huge order of fries along with 2  chicken sandwiches...which I assumed he was taking out. But I was wrong, he sat a few tables down and proceeded to attack everything. Now, according to my calculations; this is like $27 of food for lunch!

I do say that this was nice and moist; though whatever rub they use sure seemed pretty weak as this was really "one note cayenne" being played over and over.

I will say that Chris does have one thing right; the dark meat is the way to go here in terms of some flavor and moisture. Thanks for the recommendation Chris!

It seems that having had Hot Chicken in Nashville and "down South", even all those years ago has left me somewhat jaded. Perhaps my memories are playing tricks on my palate and mind?

After having had three versions of Hot Chicken here in San Diego.......I've been less than impressed. I guess I'll need to try Dave's; though I think I'll wait until they open in Mira Mesa.

Main Chick Hot Chicken (In Clairemont Town Square)
4705 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 10pm

Check out Soo's post on Main Chick here.

More Than Sandwiches - Exploring Other Options at SuperNatural Sandwiches

 Man, it seems we're in this never ending cycle of Covid during the pandemic....time just kind of slides by. I thought I had "just" posted on SuperNatural Sandwiches, but that post was back in May of last year!

At that time the ordering and pick-up was still being done at the outside counter. But, just as I'm transitioning back to the office, SuperNatural has also been transitioning and now has the old counter work in effect, with indoor dining and such. While I'm not quite ready for this with the latest variant; I'm still doing online takeout orders which work with the same efficiency as before.

And while it's quite easy to order the same 'ol, same 'ol......."FOYs" like Loren and Junichi have really given some nice recommendations to add some variety into my fairly boring life. Loren had both recommended the fries and the salad variation, which has been added to my ordering routine.

The recent super hot weather has gotten me to order the Salad version of the Kirin a couple of times.

   Which has kinda been in the rotation recently. The Kirin - with plump shrimp and Chinese sausage just does so well in a salad. And the portion size is quite generous. I don't need to order any fries with this as I'm stuffed......the dressing also does quite nicely as well.

After having this salad, I wondered how the two other preparations would do. Junichi mentioned having the fried rice option (+ $1), so on my next visit I decided to order the Kirin as fried rice....and of course I added a Fried Egg (+ $2).

 Well, this was a bit puzzling for me as I wasn't a great fan of the lettuce in my fried rice. While the rice was nicely coated in a soy sauce mixture, it was on the dry and hard side.

I addition, that egg was overcooked as well.

There also didn't seem to be as much Chinese sausage as I had in the salad on my previous visit. 

Overall, it seemed a bit odd and one-dimensional. If I have the fried rice option again; it might be with some other sandwich "option". Maybe Junichi can reveal what his "go-to" for the fried rice might be.

Finally, I decided to get the Kirin as Garlic Noodles (+$4). To be perfectly honest, I didn't quite know what to expect.

   And while the container didn't seem particularly large, it was quite heavy. And upon opening the cover....whew...this was garlic noodles alright. Good thing the office was basically empty and after eating lunch all the meetings were via Zoom. I also had to discard the mask I wore on this day.

The standard issue noodles were nicely coated with a soy based sauce, the noodles were nicely prepared and still al dente. I did finish all of the shrimp and sausage and had a ton of noodles left, which I had with dinner. Talk about a major carb bomb, but this wasn't bad at all. The sauce for the shrimp went well with things and I didn't mind having cucumber with my noodles. 

The one thing I would really like next time is to have the scallions on top of things. The noodles were obviously just dumped into the container, the green onions in a clump at the bottom. The only way I found it was after eating all the shrimp and the sausage; I gave things a good mix, which, based on how stuffed the whole container was, would not have worked out well with a full container. Still, I'd have this again......when I need to carb load....

You know, these times have me grasping for that which is familiar and comforting. I've been a customer of SuperNatural since they were at the San Diego Public Market and was quite happy when they finally opened a brick and mortar shop (where Gourmet Artisan is now located), before settling into their current location (of course they are still open in Little Italy).

The folks working have always been friendly and my online order is always ready at the designated time. Which keeps me coming back......

SuperNatural Sandwiches
7094 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 3pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 4pm
Closed on Sundays

Takeout From Bay Hill Tavern

During my time working from home, I had my regular stops, Zgara, Bay Park Coffee, Clairemont Coffee, Sandwich Emporium, and so forth..... Still I needed some variety for lunch when I wasn't in the mood for making lunch or eating leftovers. During the beginning of the pandemic I had bought some beer from Bay Hill Tavern. And during the months after they reopened I went and did some takeout from BHT. The online ordering was a snap; the place is so close to the house, and my orders were always ready on time.

The place can get pretty busy; especially starting in the late afternoon. I made it a point to avoid all of that....parking is limited and such, and always placed an order right after they opened at 11am.

The one item that had been recommended to me since BHT opened was the Fried Chicken Sandwich ($13). Even though BHT was fairly close by I had my doubts that the sandwich would hold up well as takeout; but it did.

The fries however did not as it as soggy and under seasoned.

   Now to be perfectly honest, the chicken breast had been fried nicely, and was good n' crunchy, but was on the dry side and really could have used a more aggressive seasoning. It was actually, the herb mayo, napa cabbage slaw, and the "zippy" Fresno chilies, along with the mild sweetness of the brioche bun that made this sandwich. It's almost as if the chicken was just there for texture.

The Reuben Sandwich ($14) was another "almost there" dish. This time I tried the truffle fries (+ $1.50).

 Which, if it was possible, was even more soggy and limp then the regular fries I'd had before. The fries could have used more truffle oil and I'm not sure what to make of the partially melted shavings of cheese on the fries. Perhaps it was meant to be fully melted and nice and gooey/stringy? I dunno.

The sandwich though, was almost there...the rye bread nicely toasted, the Swiss cheese melted, the pastrami thinly sliced and warm, the "secret sauce" you know, a modified Thousand Island had some zip to it. I could have used more sauerkraut which might have resolved my biggest issue with this sandwich.....it was so darn salty.

On my last visit I went with the special, called the "Cali Cheesesteak" and this time ordered it with the Curly Fries.

As you can see, in terms of fries, the third time's a charm.....I guess this is the way to go with regards to takeout spuds. The fries were crisp and nicely seasoned.

As for the sandwich, well, the roll was nicely toasted. There were three different cheeses used for this a beer cheese, mozzarella, and provolone which provided alot of gooeyness but not a lot of flavor to add to the beef which while more tender than it looked needed a more aggressive seasoning.

I really think that the sandwich could have used more onions and bell peppers for texture. The avocado just made everything more mushy.

 I will say that I enjoyed the somewhat elevated pub grub from BHT more than other options nearby. BHT is owned by the same group that runs Working Class in North Park. The folks are professional and quite nice. My orders have always been ready for pick-up at the designated time. And the items I tried were quite close to being good. Like I mentioned earlier, BHT can get pretty darn crowded, so I plan my pick up times carefully.

So, even though I'm no longer working from home much, perhaps in the future, when we're thru the pandemic and I'll go ahead and have a cold one or a cocktail at BHT and a bite to eat as well. 

Bay Hill Tavern
3010 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Friday 11am - 10pm
Saturday 9am - 10pm
Sunday 9am - 9pm

Sunday Sandwiches - Sunrise Deli (Miramar)

Here's another one of those Mom-and-Pop sandwich shops in a business mall. I found this one while looking up the address of Creative Deli. Located on Silverton Avenue off of Dowdy Drive is Sunrise Deli.

The place really seems to be a favorite of those "working stiffs" and there always seems to be a line. All my visits were between 930 and 1030....and in each case there was a queue lined up. Nothing fancy here; no online ordering, open Monday to Friday from 7am to 3pm.

The prices are quite reasonable; especially in these days of Covid......the service is friendly; the woman behind the counter so very nice, and in all my three visits, I got my sandwich in ten minutes! 

The menu is rather large with all types of burgers, breakfast type dishes, burritos, quesadillas, and of course a good variety of sandwiches.

On my first visit, I got the Club Deluxe ($7.99).

Which was served on nicely toasted sourdough. For me; it as the combination of bacon, avocado, and the fact that the sandwich wasn't over-dressed in mayo, which made the sandwich for me. Perhaps this is nothing revolutionary....but I just wanted a decent sandwich and the price point was good as was the sandwich. All ingredients in balanced quantity.

I'm fairly certain they use standard Boar's Head product; but I really liked the way they sliced the roast beef.

So, on my next visit I got the "Jimmy Special" ($7.99).

And like my previous experience; the sourdough bread was nicely toasted so the sandwich held up quite well during the 10-15 minute drive back to the office.

I had thought that the roast beef had been cut a bit too thick; but it did well in combination with the mild milky-saltiness of the two slices of Swiss Cheese. Again, in terms of proportion; it was just enough mustard and mayo. And the avocado really brought a wonderful buttery texture, along with a mild grassy-nuttiness to the sandwich.

I had enjoyed the roast beef here that on my last visit I was just going to order the Roast Beef sandwich; but when I got to the window; I had changed things up and went with the Miramar Special ($8.75), which seemed like sort of a "Cheesesteakish" kinda thing.

For me; the bread to filling ratio was a bit off for this one....though like before, it was toasted nicely and held up well.

The bacon was a bit lost in all of this; but like before, the avocado really helped the sandwich along as I wish there was more Peperoncino Swiss both of which kept the dryness of all that bread at bay. The griddled roast beef was a bit too hard and dry for my taste....and in this case; the sandwich could have probably used a bit more mayo!

Still, the service was wonderful, and even though the woman was apologizing to all the guys in front of me....she seemed to know them all by name for the recent price increases, I found myself to be perfectly fine with the pricing.

I'm happy to have found another option for those days where I need to grab an early lunch.......and I do find that it helps my mental state to escape from the office; if only for a few minutes. The prices are reasonable, the woman working the counter is so nice....she even remembered my name after my second visit! And I love supporting these type of local businesses.

Sunrise Deli
7920 Silverton Ave.
San Diego, CA 92126
Phone number
(858) 433-7139
Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 3pm

Please have a safe week!

Roadtrip (During Covid-19) - Walking Around San Luis Obispo and Revisiting Firestone Grill 7 Years Later

After yet another nice meal at Madeline's in Cambria (and that beautiful sunset), we slept well. And after a wonderful night's sleep, I got up early, and just as on our previous visit walked on over to Cambria Coffee Roasting Company to get the Missus Her pour over and a Cold Brew for me.

Like Paso Robles; there's something about Cambria that is very comfortable and on this, our second trip here within a year, it all felt familiar.

Cambria Coffee Roasting Company
761 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428

We just relaxed and took our sweet time. We had one more stop before heading home and it was basically a 45 minute drive South. Finally, fully awake we headed off....to San Luis Obispo. We had made a stop in SLO years back, but I had wanted to stay for a night. But man, those hotel prices in the downtown area....over $300 a night! Yikes. So, I booked what was basically a motor inn right off the 101 and a short 15 minute walk into the heart of "SLO". Of course we had gotten in quite early; check-in wasn't until 3pm. So, the motel was nice enough to let us park in the lot and we decided to stretch our legs and grab some lunch.

We basically walked up Higuera Street then took a left on Broad Street. We were playing by ear.

   The Missus had decided that She wanted to see Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, so we headed off in that direction. We meandered along, crossing over San Luis Obispo Creek; stopping to check out some of the public art.

The creek has nice green spaces and a creekside trail. And some of the restaurants and bars have what seems like serene creekside seating.

It was such a bright and beautiful day in May.

We passed the History Center and headed up to Palm and the garden area of the Mission.

It was a nice, peaceful area to take a break. The Mission is well known for the bells and bellringers.

After a short break we headed off to the front of the Mission.

And the bells went off just as we turned the corner.

   The Mission was founded in 1772 by; you guessed it; Junípero Serra. The site itself is fascinating as the area was called Ilano de los Osos (though some say it was La Cañada de los Osos - "Valley of the Bears") "Plain of the Bears" by Juan Crespí, a Franciscan Missionary who documented Gaspar de Portolá's expedition thru what is now California.

There was a nice art display in Mission Plaza and all along SLO called the May Flower Initiative, with some wonderful, colorful displays.

There was something I wanted to check out just a block over. You see; once upon a time, like many cities in California, SLO had a Chinatown (there's a great article here). A block over from the Mission are the remnants of that Chinatown. The most well known being the Ah Louis Store.

Ah Louis is probably the most well known and most successful of those that settled in SLO. The Ah Louis Store still stands; though it's now called "Karson Butler Events at the Ah Louis Store".

    Another business that still exists is Mee Heng Low; you can read a wonderful article on the business here. One can only imagine what challenges these folks had to overcome. The anti-Chinese sentiment, the Chinese Exclusion Act......and there are times...at least these days, where I think we haven't evolved very far from the racism and hate of those days.

By this time, the Missus was getting a bit hungry.....after a short discussion....a very short discussion, we thought it would be kinda cool to revisit Firestone Grill, which we really enjoyed over 7 years ago! My how time flies......

So we walked on over.

They were doing great business; but folks were all wearing masks and distancing and other processes were in place.

We placed our order at one counter; found a table outside. They had closed tables in order to distance diners....a nice job overall.

Soon enough our number was called and I headed off to another area to pick up our food. We had ordered the exact same items as on our previous visit.

The Missus got Her massive Steak Cobb Salad ($11.99), which She plowed thru like there's no tomorrow.

Yes, that tri-tip does well on this; but man, it's the bacon and blue cheese that makes the salad in my opinion. And with all that flavor, who needs dressing.

I got the Trip-tip Sandwich (no BBQ sauce please).

They still gave me BBQ sauce; but at least it was on the side....that sauce is way too sweet and for me doesn't bring anything to the sandwich. Not quite as much tri-tip as I recall; but it is still moist and tender, beefy with mild smokiness....I do like the roll they use; lightly toasted, a bit of garlic butter...yeasty. This was quite good........even 7 years later!

Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

We were happy with lunch and were looking forward to dinner....but first; a nap of course. I got a text telling me our room was ready so we headed back.

There was one additional stop I wanted to make; Bubblegum Alley....but when we got there, the Missus was so grossed out that She told me I'd be napping in the car if I walked in.....

I dunno; we had been to the Gum Wall in Seattle......but maybe being surrounded by stuff that's been chewed...saliva and all that....in the heat of mid-day?

That's fine......at this point in time, that nap in air conditioned goodness was more important to me!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Rule of Three - Revisits to GyroGrill, LouZiana Food, and Smack’N Guamanian Grill

So, I recently started returning to places fairly close to the office and when setting up this post I noticed something about three of these places. The number three comes into play. All three places are on Miramar Road. This is my third post on these places since the pandemic started.....yes, it's been that long. And all three are, well....take out visits. The one big difference is in my ordering mechanism.

So here goes.

GyroGrill:

Gyrogrill actually opened during the pandemic and my first post was back in October of last year. 

Since service and turnaround is fairly quick at GG....a big plus is that they open at 9am so I can get our lunches at around 10 and the place is empty and the parking lot isn't crazy. I actually order at the restaurant.

As I mentioned in my follow-up post, I....and my coworkers basically get one thing here. The pork gyros combo with handcut potatoes.

 So even though the pork gyros here isn't in the same league as Zgara, it's sometimes a bit on the dry side and could be more aggressively seasoned, it's way better than the ubiquitous Kronos stuff you get almost everywhere else. Decent pork flavor and everyone enjoys the crispy hand cut potatoes. And I've kinda gotten used to the really thick Tzatziki.

Gyrogrill
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 9am - 7pm
Sat 9am - 6pm
Closed Sunday

LouZiana Food:

I think I'm pretty good at taking direction and on my last post on LouZiana Grill back in January of this year, "FOY" Dereck wrote this in the comments:

"Kirk, I don't know how you can get out of there without a roast beef po boy. It isn't like the debris sandwiches from NOLA, but it sure as hell does taste good when I want a fix!"

So, ok I decided to try the roast beef po' boy. My mechanism for ordering here (there's no online ordering) is to call in. LZ can get a bit busy at times and I still am a bit put off by crowds. The folks working are always friendly and my order is always waiting when I arrive.

I mentioned in my previous post during the pandemic, that I'm not a big fan of the bread here. But in this framework it does real well. Because sheesh.....

 Oh geez, look at all that remoulade sauce! But that bread holds up real well and is almost tailormade for all that mayo goodness. In fact, when I bit into one end of the sandwich...it basically "sharted" remoulade out the other end. Luckily, I ate over the wrappers! The sauce was fairly balanced; not too much sour-pickle juice tones, though I like my remoulade to be more garlicky and spicy this was not bad. Standard issue shredded iceberg and tomatoes. The one thing about not having and overly strong sauce is that I could actually taste the roast beef.

A messy, but pretty good sandwich. Thanks for the recommendation Dereck!

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Current Hours:
Daily 11am - 8pm

Smack’N Guamanian Grill:

Much like GyroGrill, I pretty much get the same thing from Smack’N Guamanian Grill during my pandemic takeout visits. The Chebot Plate, the combo of BBQ Chicken and Kelaguen (I sub out an extra scoop of Kelaguen for the cabbage slaw), with Red Rice. Smack’N has online ordering which I use.

And even though on my previous two pandemic visits the chicken was "masked" (i.e covered with foil)....I guess with new CDC guidelines, masking is now optional!

Smack’N has been pretty consistent over the last couple of visits and I know what to expect. The Kelaguen is very moist, though lacking in coconut tones and spice. It's not overly salty, has mild citrus tones, and is quite easy to take. The finedene is also fairly mild as well. I actually take the Kelaguen home and use my homemade finedene.....because, as you can tell, this a generous amount of food.

The BBQ Chicken is nicely grilled, fairly tender, and has really good salt-soy balance. It's much better than what you get from many of those "Hawaiian BBQ" places.

The Red Rice does a fine job of soaking up the chicken drippings and is quite moist.

Smack’N Guamanian Grill
9506 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon - Sat 11am - 7pm
Closed on Sundays

You know, it's hard to believe that I've now done three posts on these places during the pandemic......it just seems to go on and on. My hope is that the next time I do a post on one of these places; I'll be eating in and the worse will be but a tiny speck in our "rearview mirror".

Take care everyone!