jeph San Diego, CA

Saltbox, a restaurant in the Palomar hotel which sits on the event horizon of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter has quickly become one of my favorite downtown spots. Usually, I eat and drink at the bar, but on this night I met a group of friends to eat upstairs in their dining room.

To start we got some appetizers. Flash fried peppers, lobster corn dogs, and a basket of fries to be precise. I think the peppers were the best of the bunch; they consist of a plate of mild peppers but sport a random "super hot" pepper or two. The fries and lobster corn dogs were good, but unremarkable compared to some of the cuisine we enjoyed.

Next up for me was the pumpkin and marshmallow soup. The texture was perfectly creamy and captured the earthy flavors of pumpkin and sage with expert precision. Add in a spice kick on the finish and you've got yourself a masterpiece. This is, bar none, the best soup I've ever had.

Next up was the hamburger. Sounds boring, I know, but I had tried it before and it's a work of art. The beef is impeccable quality and ground extra fine for a near-perfect texture. The bread-to-meat ratio was ideal and condiments perfectly complimented the meat.

Service was also exemplary. We had questions about wine selection and our waiter sent over the creator of the menu, Nick. He asked us some questions to get a feel for our collective pallet and let us try a few samples before selecting our bottle. Wow!

Saltbox is also known for their signature cocktails. Having been through most of the menu, I've decided on their beet cocktail (the name escapes me) with extra hibiscus salt ;).

Saltbox serves up high quality food and drink with remarkable consistency. It's definitely one of the best new restaurants in San Diego and you should go there now!!!

Anthony's Fish Grotto is a downtown San Diego staple. I walk by it just about every day, and for some reason, have never eaten. A buddy and I were going to grab a bite and had his dogs in tow, so outside dining was a must. What better time to try Anthony's?

Now, here's an interesting tid-bit. There are actually two different dining experiences, indoors (sit down) and outdoors counter, making your entrance like the first chapter of a choose-your-own-adventure book. We opted for outside, of course.

The menu is a pretty basic selection of mainly fried seafood dishes. It actually brought me back to living in New England, and the small beach-side eateries that abound. For me there was only one option. A fried seafood sampler which had battered nibblets of fish, shrimp, clams, and scallops. For the side option, I went with fries. I have to admit I was pretty impressed. All of the ocean critters tasted extremely fresh and were perfectly fried (not too greasy or over done). I scoffed that thing down like a...I dunno, a hungry ocean thing that voraciously eats a lot of other ocean things.

Service is standard counter service where English is not the first language, which adds to the charm. Plus, you're basically sitting on the harbor, to it's tough to argue with the view.

Anthony's is a cool spot with fresh food, great value for the $$$, and tons of charm. I can see why they've been around so long.

The folks who gave us Craft & Commerce, El Dorado, Noble Experiment, et al are also behind the hipster Japanese-fusion joint called Underbelly. The buzz on the street is their high-end ramen, so that's what was on my mind going in.

Strangely, they only have beer and wine. I say strange because many of their other places have taken cocktails to the next level. Oh well, I've been known to drink a beer from time to time. I ordered a nut brown, but got something else entirely (still not sure which). Not a problem, I'll choke it down.

For a meal, I ordered "The Belly of the Beast". A bowl of ramen heaping with short rib, brisket, and oxtail ravioli. Also, they plop a soft-boiled egg in there for good measure. Now my only prior ramen experience is the package you get for 25 cents in the grocery store, so I don't really have a high-end basis for comparison, but my food was really good. It got even better when I slathered some of their secret hot sauce on it.

The place was slightly tricky to find due to lack of apparent signage. Service was tepid, aloof, and a tad inaccurate (see above), but this isn't unusual for this line of establishments. All in all, the food is the draw. Give it a shot.

As a Boston transplant, I find great pizza in San Diego hard to come by. I mean, don't get me wrong...pizza is the most perfect food and you can't really screw it up too much. That said, east coast pizza is just a little better than what I've found out here. Ask around and you'll find Bronx Pizza is thought to be the best in town. Tonight, I got a chance to test that statement.

BP is normally a by-the-slice spot, but we had some eating to so, so we ordered a whole pie...meatball and pepperoni to be precise. The style is thin crust, and they do a pretty good job. I was easily able to scarf down my half of the pie - my only recommendation would be to double down on the toppings. The sauce and crust were both great, though, an appropriate homage to east coast pie.

If you choose to eat there, you need to deal with walls smothered in NY memorabilia. A small price to pay for the quality of the pizza (and maybe a bonus of you're from NY). I'll be back for sure.

I'm always looking for great breakfast spots in walking distance of my house (within 3 miles...I walk a lot). Apparently, this small Colorado chain is branching out into the San Diego area, and based on my first visit, the results are great.

Snooze is very open with their menu - that is to say - you can mix and match and change and tinder all you want with no resistance or salty responses. I was encouraged to mix and match my Bennies (eggs Benedict for the uninitiated), which I enthusiastically did. I went with the Ham benny and paired it with the Bella, Bella benny, an Italian themed delight featuring Prosciutto, arugula, and a cream cheese Hollandaise. The ham was nice, but the Bella, Bella was delicious. On the side comes a hash brown cake (similar to Mary Jane's, but not as well seasoned) and I added a sausage patty for good measure. The patty alone was worth the price of admission as it was rustically formed and perfectly seasoned and had a spicy kick.

Snooze is off to a great start. Let's hope they can maintain the level of quality that I enjoyed.

We tried to meet up at Pizza Port in Solana Beach, but it was just too busy to watch the football game. Plan B was to chill over at Tidewater Tavern. It definitely has a "tavern" feel. There are several pool tables, a bunch of TVs, and low-end tables strewn about the dining space (not a complaint...just a description).

The menu was actually pretty decent and heavily focused on sandwiches and apps. I went with their Tidal Wave burger. A decent sized patty topped with bacon, cheese, grilled onions, and a scoop of guacamole. They didn't take a temperature, but it came out about medium well. The burger was tasty, a bit messy, and nothing to write home about. That said...there was nothing to complain about, either. I was just decent pub food at a slightly-higher-than-average price.

Draft beer selection was a bit week, but they did have one Stone offering that went down well, and at happy hour prices ($3/pint), they went down nicely.

All in all, a good little spot. I could see meeting up there to watch a game and play some pool. Almost glad the Pizza Port was too busy (and full of little kids).

The Gaslamp district welcomes its latest mediocre bar/pub in the form of McFadden's. I went in for the second time last night to watch this year's first installment of Thursday Night Football. It started out pretty slow but by the end of the game (around 8:30 or so) it was pretty hopping.

A couple of things of note. The draft beer selection is sub-par for the area. I think we're a bit spoiled in San Diego, but it was tough to find a beer to drink off of these tap handles.

Second, the food menu is also not rife with selection. They've got a few dishes, but really, it feels like they're just offering food because they feel like they have to. Since it was happy hour, many of their dishes were $5 bucks.

I decided to check out their potato/bacon soup and sliders. The soup base was a bit bland, but if you got some of the bacon bits and cheese into a bite, it tasted pretty good. The sliders were a bit better and came with some pretty delicious fries. They were pretty standard (beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and Thousand Island dressing) but hit the spot if you're expectation are in line with put food.

All in all, it's a pretty cool spot, but don't go for the food or craft beer. Go for the TVs and atmosphere and you'll probably have a good time.

I got to check out Slater's 50/50 just a week after its open. Now in my experience, restaurants need about 3 months to get into a groove after opening, but what the hell, I still wanted to check it out.

The place is basically offering up burgers and beer. The on-tap selection was impressive to say the least, boasting, I don't know, about 70 or handles of different selections. The usual suspects were all represented (Green Flash, Stone, Alesmith) as well as a few I'd never seen before. I ended up having a Hop Head Red, and some coconut porter (interesting, but I doubt I'd do it again).

The burger (The Old Timer) was impressive to look at, but logistically difficult to eat. It was very tall...I'd guess about 6 or 7 inches high. Everything that made up the meal was huge; even after cutting it in half, it was a challenge to control. Also, the flavors didn't really mesh (I think because of the size of the different layers). On the side came some fries with homemade ketchup. The fries were great, and the ketchup was very fresh and refreshing. It had a basic tomato and onion flavor with a hint of smoke.

The dining room is split between their patio and inside, where there are tons of TVs. Yes, they do show all the NFL games on Sundays.

Service was friendly; both of the bartenders were from Vegas and regaled me with stories of economy and debauchery. All in all a good experience although be prepared for a wrestling match with your food.

As mid-tier chain restaurants go...Friday's does a pretty good job. On the last day of my east coast excursion, why not go with what you know works.

Any time I go to Friday's, I have to get deep fried green beans. If you haven't tried them...they're just heavenly. I actually noticed today that they're sold in the grocery store now, but not sure they'd be the same.

Anyway, for my main meal, I went with the half California club and a cup of broccoli-cheddar soup. Sandwich was pretty good, but the soup was lackluster at best. Oh well...you can't win em all.

The Loft has been a staple of the North Andover restaurant scene since as long as I can remember. It's got a cool lounge downstairs with more formal dining one floor up. We were in for a quick lunch / family catchup event, so the lounge seemed like the perfect place for our hungry group.

As soon as I saw the recently updated menu...one dish just jumped off the plate. A burger topped with baby back rib meat and cole slaw was calling me. Throw in a couple of frosty drafts and you've got the makings for a great lunch. All in all, I could have used a bit more seasoning on the sandwich, but the rib meat was perfectly tender (they always get the ribs just right) and the burger was perfectly cooked. The fries (thick cut) were also very well done. I didn't get to try any of the other dishes that were ordered, but everybody seemed really impressed with the quality of the food.

Service was friendly and efficient...appropriate to the venue. In my experience, The Loft rarely disappoints.