I've always like Nessy Burger though their menu is rather short. I've also heard good things about the Rainbow Oaks restaurant though I've never been there largely because it's such a long drive from my house to Fallbrook.

Mariscos German for fish tacos and TJ Oyster Bar for good cheap oysters.

In ~1989 my nerdy D&D playing 14 year old friends and I used to hang out at Shakey's Pizza all day long because they had their $4.99 all you can eat buffet all day long on Saturdays. We'd push some tables together in the back, play our nerdy little role playing games, and for some reason the staff put up with us letting us eat their not so great cheap food while we slayed dragons for 8 hours straight. Great memories if not of the food. ;)

Chad White, who owns both the Sea Rocket Bistro and now Plancha Baja Med used to do the odd cooking class at Sea Rocket so maybe he is offering classes on Baja Med cuisine now at Plancha.

Bruno's is great and probably the best Neapolitan pizza in town. You can get your pizza with the real deal Italian made water buffalo mozzarella cheese and even the brick oven was made in Italy while the owner went through the course in Naples which makes someone a certified Neapolitan pizza chef according to the Italian government.

BTW I'm willing to be that virtually all the non-chain pizza places around here still do hand rolled pizza crust though most of them likely use a machine to mix the doe. I have no idea who hand kneads the doe.

Damn, I liked Lisko's. :(

Yeah, there are actually a number of Korean restaurants on Convoy in Clairmont Mesa.

I have fond memories of the place. It really was one of the first businesses to move into the Gas Lamp District and so it really did help to revitalize the place and while it's menu might not have evolved over the years to stay fresh the place did have a good live music scene so music fans could have a few drinks and an appetizer while they listened the live music from band which traveled to San Diego simply because Ingrid invited them and no other reason. It was her way of remembering her late husband who was rather famous in San Diego's music scene in the 1970's and who even had a few national hits. Look up Jim Croce for a blast from the past.

My other reason to have fond memories of Croce's is because when I was 18, way back in 1994, a friend of mine worked there as a waiter and he used to sneak us alcoholic drinks which seemed so cool at the time to an 18 year old and his friends. ;)

There is an annual Indonesian food faire in Duarte, CA near L.A. though that doesn't really help you much in San Diego. There used to be an Indonesian restaurant in La Jolla owned by a Dutch guy (he was born in Indonesia) and his Indonesian wife but sadly the place closed probably because the couple were so old. Now you either eat at Bali-Thai, make your own, or go to Garden Grove.

Even worse than the downsizing has been redefining what exactly "chunk white tuna" is. It used to be it was actual chunks of tuna, as the name implies, but now most canned tuna seems to be pureed mush made up mostly of oil or water and very little actual tuna fish in it much less a chunk of tuna. The only brands I've seen which still honestly give people whole bits of tuna (instead of just a collection of mush) is All American Tuna, which is the last canned tuna made in the USA, and Fortuna brand tuna from the Philippines.

All American Tuna is by far the best stuff I've found on the market (I bought it at Costco) but it is ~ three times the price of the mushy tunas largely because they're paying American wages instead of slave wages but the quality is great. If you absolutely have to buy the cheap tuna than go with Fortuna as they still have actual chunks of tuna in there instead of mush like the mass market brands.

I'll have to give Supernatural Sandwiches a try next time I'm down in Barrio Logan. I also want to try Crabcakes 911 which is a new local food truck specializing in crab cakes and all things crustacean & shell fish. It's all sold out of an old fire truck which has been converted to a mobile food truck.

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/san-diego/crabcakes-911

I also want to try the Mastiff Sausage Company which is another new food truck but this one makes their own sausages and cured meats selling them in sandwiches to people in north county.

http://www.thrillist.com/eat/san-dieg...

I'd go to that just to try the food at various local food trucks. I also like the Mira Mesa Mondays food truck get together across the street from Mira Mesa High School next to the Epicenter and the Senior Citizens Center/Rec Center. It's a great way for a local neighborhood to get people out to not only enjoy local community amenities (parks and what not) but also to support local small businesses.

Fish taco.

Oh, and you like Craft & Commerce try Polite Provisions in North Park as it is owned by the same people but has a distinctly different flair to it. You can even get several different types of Vodka (including the locally made one by Ballast Point's distillery) which is something which is deliberately not sold at C&C.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/f...

I honestly don't know any local Ginger Ale producers but I have been to Rosie Lee's British Foods in University Heights where I had a really great ginger beer. That's ginger ale for grown ups. ;)

Make sure you bring your passport with you and take a day trip down to Tijuana because believe it or not that Mexican border city has a very happening and surprisingly sophisticated food scene. It's well worth your time to read some blogs, check out some newspaper reviews, or even watch some shows from the Food Network about TJ.

I like that we are getting more local wineries and hope that, in time, we could develop some respectable local wine producers. That said, please keep some of the avocado trees because they were a big part of my childhood hiking in the back country and see avocado trees on the hillsides.

When I was in Rotterdam they had very fresh locally made ginger ale both non-alcoholic (like in the US) as well as real ginger beer. It was a nice change of pace and several of the restaurants used both kinds in several mixed drinks which were quite good.

Mona Lisa down in Little Italy sells it.

MY go to place is Zumbar. Ambiance it does not have but very good roasts and barristas who know how to properly work a French press it does have.

Just so everyone knows what other garbage Esquire was declaring the best late night eats...

There is "The Buffito at Mighty Taco" in Buffalo, NY which looks like something on Taco Bells menu (complete with flour tortilla and yellow cheese): http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/late-night-0912/best-late-night-food#slide-5

A rather crappy looking hamburger on white toast in Connecticut: http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/late-night-0912/best-late-night-food#slide-9

And...

Completely generic pancakes from some diner in St. Louis: http://www.esquire.com/features/food-...

Yeah, I think we now all know exactly how much weight to put to Esquire's food recommendations.

Maybe we should ask hillbilly bob in Alabama about which restaurant in Sweden serves the most authentic home style Swedish food because, you know, there is just no one more qualified to make such a determination.

It's the same with Esquire and California Burritos. I'm willing to bet their "studies" of the topic amounted to nothing more than reading some Yelp reviews before spending 20 minutes eating at one restaurant.

They went over the top today. We've been following it over at the UT's forum and at City-Data's San Diego subforum.

I'm looking for a place in San Diego which has a hangtown fry on their menu for a Sunday breakfast. Does anyone have any suggestions?

"El Comal, Mariscos Isaac, Talavera Azul, Ranas, El Patron, Coop's, Siam Nara, Rendezvous, La Playita, El Sol, Kiko's Place, Fish Boutique, K Sandwiches, Chupa Cabra, Marcy's Tacos, Rudy's Tacos, and Tacos El Paisa. We also got a bunch of stuff at the Mira Mesa food truck gathering. Not bad for one week."

Now that is what I call a tour de force.

You can probably drive down there and buy a large bottle for $10-$12. Make a weekend of it and visit the wineries and maybe do some deep sea fishing.

They do have a number of food truck conventions/get togethers which I know of. I believe the largest is "Mira Mesa Mondays" which is every Monday evening in the parking lot of the World Beat Center parking lot (next to the Senior Citizen's Center & the Mira Mesa Rec Center). Usually they have 8-12 trucks.

Most of their business seems to be the lunch trade in places like University City & Sorento Valley and dinner time meals served in allies behind popular bars since the city won't let them park on main roads.

I know most people here aren't fans of Malarkey but I really did enjoy Gingham. Sure, nothing amazing or truly best in the city but an enjoyable meal and it got us to go to a part of town we don't visit all that much. If someone happens to be in La Mesa it's worth a stop.

In years past I used to see Costco sell skirt steak which been topped with feta cheese & fresh basil then rolled up like a cinnamon bun and then cut into circular pieces. It was simple but tasty not to mention inexpensive.

On that list I'd try Izakaya Masa, City Deli, Underbelly, URBN Basic, and Bolillo Torta. Unless I was in a pizza mood Izakaya Masa would be my choice.