Menu
The One Where We Eat California (Part 1 of 3)
MasterChef Cookbook: Smothered Chicken with Bacon Brussels Sprouts (Sponsored Post: CARD.com)
,

The One Where We Eat California (Part 1 of 3)

I’ve been remiss again, but this time, I have a good reason — Dennis and I took a 9-day trip to California over the last […]

Sarah
11-October-2013
5 min read

I’ve been remiss again, but this time, I have a good reason — Dennis and I took a 9-day trip to California over the last couple of weeks!  He’s from there, but I’d never been, so it was an awesome, awesome trip.

Rather than go into detail about the whole trip, I’m going to just focus on the most important part:  the food.  Obviously.

Since we live in North Carolina, in a region that is sadly lacking in restaurants featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, I decided that my goal for our California trip was going to be to go to as many DDD restaurants as we could manage between San Diego and San Francisco.  The final count was 6.  Not bad.

I’m going to break this up into three parts:  Part 1 will be the first three restaurants, Part 2 will be the second three, and Part 3 will be other non-DDD-related food I came across.  And then, yes.  Yes.  I promise I will finish off my recipes from What Katie Ate and continue down the road of cooking all my books.

On to the restaurants!

Restaurant 1

El Indio
3695 India St.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 299-0333  

I’m not sure if you guys know how I feel about Mexican food.  I love Mexican food.  Love it.  Dennis makes the best Mexican food, having lived in Mexico for a stint, but I also love restaurant Mexican food.
One of the most vast differences I noticed between East and West Coasts was the Mexican.  People out there take their Mexican food very seriously, it seems, and this place was so good.
Dennis, having never had fish tacos before, got those and some nachos.  (I shared some of the nachos.)  He pretty much wolfed the tacos down, and I didn’t try them, but I think it’s a fair assumption to say they were muy bueno.
I had, as is my custom, cheese enchiladas.  (Here’s their menu.)  They were excellent.  Enchilada sauce is always hit or miss, but they hit it with this stuff.  I was full to bursting with food, but I couldn’t stop eating them.  The rice was also killer.
Olives are, of course, the devil, but in this case, I just picked them off, rather than complaining about how olives are, in fact. . .well, you know.  El Indio also had a salsa bar, which was great, because I’m always a fan of variety.
Restaurant 2

(There are 3 locations, but we went to:)
5010 Newport Ave. 
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
(619) 224-4623
This place was so weird.  Also rad.  Hodad’s was probably the best atmosphere of all the restaurants we went to.  It was a tiny place, and we sat in a VW bus.
You heard me.
The menu, which I linked to above, is a basic burger joint menu, but the burgers are excellent.  Also, they’re huge, so I was, yet again, pretty stuffed by the time we left.  Dennis and I both had the single bacon cheeseburger, although I got mine with fries (which were more like potato wedges) and he got the onion rings.
And, to carry on the tradition of pictures taken of me at these places with my mouth open:
Restaurant 3

524 S. Main St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 623-8301
I’m not fully sure why I don’t have a good picture of the exterior of this place.  I got the interior, though!
We stopped in L.A. for lunch and to see my friend, Nick, who moved out there a couple years ago.  This restaurant had a completely different vibe than the other two we’d been to.  I don’t know if that was an L.A. thing or the staff or the diner itself. . .I’m not sure.  But we continued our trend of the food being amazing.
I had the BLTA, which was an arugula, bacon, tomato, and avocado sandwich.  Delicious.  It also had a side salad, which I’m exaggerating in saying was the best side salad I’d ever had, ever.  I’m not sure what was in it, but it was fantastic.
I don’t have a third mouth-agape picture, but I do have an unflattering, awkward one where I’m striking a pose.  Does that count?
Actually, upon second viewing, my mouth does seem to be open.  I’m 3 for 3!
That’s it for Part 1 of our DDD eating tour of California.  Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

Categories:
,
Tags:
, , , , , ,

Subscribe and get freshly baked articles. Join the community!

Sign up for our newsletter and get a head start on the morning’s top stories.

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms.

Sarah

Conversations 3 comments

Let's start a personal, meaningful conversation.

Example: Practical philosopher, therapist and writer.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Anonymoussays:
Copy link to comment

Yummy, yummy, and more yummy! If you need someone in NC to go "check out" potential good places to eat (and drink!) I'm your gal. Sign me up- we can even take pictures together making odd open-mouth faces 🙂

Reply
Anonymoussays:
Copy link to comment

P.S. And I will volunteer to eat your discarded olives anytime.

Reply
Link copied to your clipboard

About me

Hey everyone! As a Dietitian Nutritionist, nutrition is my jam. NS—your source for balanced wellbeing. Here you’ll find simple and delicious recipes, an awesome community, health advice, and all things to keep you feeling your best. Live Whole. Eat Well. Feel Amazing.

Never miss a thing!

Subscribe and get freshly baked articles. Join the community!

Join the newsletter to receive the latest updates in your inbox.

Featured Articles

Pies & Quiches18-September-2012

Cooking with Mickey: Cheese Quiche

My inaugural cookbook choice is one that my family had in the kitchen when I was growing up, and that I loved to look through, […]

Read More

Salads19-September-2012

Cooking with Mickey: Caesar Salad

I started this project a few days ago after the grocery shopping had already been completed, so I had to get a little creative with […]

Read More
C Read More

Baking21-September-2012

Cooking with Mickey: Raspberry Soufflé

Today ends the week of Mickey.  As of right now, I’m not entirely sure how I’ll end up formatting this blog. My original plan was […]

Read More
A Read More

Dips24-September-2012

Around My French Table: Hummus (and Pita Chips!)

New week, new cookbook! I bought this cookbook because I fully intended to get involved in this fabulous online community called French Fridays with Dorie.  […]

Read More
Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.