Places to eat in San Diego

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When Harbor Island was created, many years ago, a barge with a great nineteenth century style replica of a paddle-wheeler, much like you'd expect to see on the Mississippi River, was moored on the northwestern tip of the Island and it is still there. The Ruben E. Lee Riverboat, became a favorite place for San Diegians to celebrate special events. Of course, it was meant as a tourist attraction, but we all loved it.

Unfortunately, time and the natural corrosion caused by ocean air has taken it's toll and it is no longer sound. The Ruben E. Lee is still moored at the tip of Harbor Island, but it has closed it's doors to us.

Next to this unofficial landmark of the San Diego Bay, using the same address is the new and newly built restaruant, Island Prime with it's C Level Lounge.

Island Prime is a "fine" dining restaruant, the prices reflect that and for those feeling a bit more casual, their C Level Lounge is just perfect. Patio, covered and uncovered, dining is really the best, year round, choice of all.

The entrance is understated, basically Polynesian tropical and at this point there ares lots of free parking spaces. Don't know how long that will last as the City is planning a revitalization of this part of Harbor Island.

The greeting we received upon entering--and this was impressive as we were too casually dressed for this place--was so friendly and enthusiastic that I really felt welcomed. Service was friendly, efficient and accommodating and the flavor of the food was interesting and good. Island Prime has been opened five months now and I'm sure it will be a success.

Update

I have eaten here serveral times since their opening and the quality of food, service and experience has remained.

Favorite Dish: I ordered Fish & Chips, my Aunt ordered the C Level Burger, the least expensive items on the C Level menu not counting appetizers and salads. Also, the dessert we shared was very nice. They offer a variety of Martinis, but we stuck with our favored, Beefeater Martini which was perfect. In fact we ordered a second one to split and the waitress brought it in two glasses for us.

The Island Prime advertises itself as a Metro Steaks & Seafood restaurant. The dinner prices range from $7.00 for a salad to $75.00 for the large C-Level Seafood Tower with crab, lobster and shellfish. ($45.00 for the smaller order of same.)

They do have a Happy Hour, but the choice of items is limited and the savings are not so impressive. Even if the prices here are too high for your budget, I urge you to at least stop in for a drink on the patio and enjoy the sights on the SD Bay.

When Hotel Circle was created as a central location for tourists to stay, Benihana moved in. It was a new concept for us and soon became a place to choose for our special celebrations. Hotel Circle has lost some of it's draw, but Benihana is still as wonderful a place as it was back then.

Anyone staying in Hotel Circle should know about Benihana and have at least one meal there. Each "table" which seats up to eight people, has it's own grill. All the the chopping and dicing of meats and vegetables for the meal and the cooking of most food is done, right in front of you, at your table by clever, talented and sometimes very funny cooks. Clapping and tipping are accepted when you especially enjoy the show he puts on.

Of course, if you don't travel with a large party and are anti-social you may not like the set-up, because all seats at a table are filled--within a reasonable amount of time--before the cooking begins. That's right, you may be sharing a table with complete strangers! Though it might sound weird, the truth is that you'll most likely have fun. I have had great fun every time I've been there.

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish depends on my mood. However, I always order hot Sake to drink and a spicy Tijuana Roll appetizer. Usually I have Teriyaki chicken or one of the shrimp dishes.

Photo Courtesy of a kind and generous Yubert!

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My least favorite of all the breweries that we tried in our San Diego Trip. Too bad, since it was the last place we went. Maybe after testing so many amazing brewschis, you get a little bit picky… but they were the more “watery” of all the breweries. Good anyway, don’t get me wrong! And the location makes them perfect to visit the same day that you go to the Coronado Island! That is why I called them “the best brewery in Coronado” because they are the only one!

Good service, good ambience and good food.

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What an amazing experience! We were walking around Ocean Beach. We had this brewery in mind but since the weather was not that nice, we decided to spend less time on the beach and more time on the brewery… So we get there pretty early, then we realized that the place was closed and they were shooting a commercial. BUT to our surprise, they let us in any way! They were like “come on in! We’re sorry for the inconvenience” We were like “what inconvenience? WE are sorry we are here so EARLY!”
The staff was getting ready to open and they were SO cool about it (I mean us being there before they opened!). It turns out that the woman who let us is was the owner, the “bartender” was the brewer (soon to be brewer in another amazing brewery!) so it was just perfect!
We had the most amazing combination of beers that you can think of (he asked us what kind of beers we like, he prepared 2 different samplings so we could try more types of beers). We also have some pizza, WOW!! YUUUUUUUUU-MYYYYYY!! Crunchy, home-made, delish!! Fresh, good ingredients, you can tell the difference from that pizza made with love and the commercial-plastic-ones 
They say on their website “our goal is to make you happy” and they just did that for us! Thank you!

I need to note that this is the same brewery that shares the space with the “Lost Abbey”. This is not the brewery, this is where you to DRINK the brewery and eat the fresh pizza! Yummy!
I KNOW that you ARE going to Ocean Beach, so this is THE place to stop for lunch or dinner.. and if you are not hungry? Just stop for a beer… or more!

Favorite Dish: Awesome Pizza + Awesome Beer + Awesome Staff = Lots of Smiles :)
You can't go wrong going here!

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We got to this place almost by mistake. It was not part of our itinerary, but when you get lost and find a brewery... you come in and try some beers! I am glad we did, since we had their imperial IPA and I can say it was one of the best IPAs we’ve EVER had. Super rounded, to use a term very common in the wine world: perfect ratio between the alcohol and the hops. It was bitter but not too much, has a lot of alcohol but you can’t taste it, and has a little bit of sweetness to go along with the bitterness. We loved it!

The place is the typical sports bar (not a bad combination!): nice, crowded, good looking girls bartending, a million of plasmas TV with sports all around the place. I wish the NFL would be playing right now! We didn’t try the food, but we were not in San Diego to eat :)

One of the most expensive places in our 3 day tour ($7.5 for a 10oz) But totally worth it! (it was 10.5% after all, so that is still below what we pay in Texas, the thing is that this was the most expensive of all the breweries we’ve been to in San Diego, and I wanted to note it) (BY the way, PRETTY cheap beer prices in San Diego! we usually pay around $8 to $15 in Texas for a good 10oz with high alcohol content!)

Favorite Dish: Get the IPA! one of the best we've ever had!

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The 1st microbrewery in San Diego, opened in 1989. They have 6 places now. We went to the one in La Jolla, which was just renovated last month. The place is beyond beautiful: dark wood and silver, the service was outstanding and the beers: delicious!

You can get 4 flights for 5$, you cannot beat that! Great food (beware that the portions are HUGE! We shared a sandwich and we were good to go!)

The staff was SUPER COOL! We got there at 11:15am and they don’t open until 11:30am but they let us in anyway. They explained they can’t serve alcohol until 11:30 but they gave us menus and talked about the history of the brewery (even if we have read extensively about it, it was great to hear the story from their perspective, and with their passion). We also learned about the founder, Karl Strauss, and all the different types of beers. The name is German, but don’t get confused, this is an European style brewery, lost of hints from Belgium and England: Great combination! Our bartender was taken out of the Ritz Carlton, she was THAT GOOD!

Favorite Dish: We got the Club and it was great!
BUT we went there for the BEERS, and we were not disappointed!

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This is the location where Stone brewery started (before they moved to the new location in 2005)

It’s actually 2 different breweries in the same place: Lost Abbey is one and Port Brewery is the other one. They share the location but their beers are very different. Lost abbey is more like a Belgium brewery and port brewery an American brewery.
We got there on a Wednesday and they don’t do tours on Wednesday, they are actually closed for the public… BUT: they let us in and they let us drink! They do sell/fill growlers (that is what the other customers in my pictures were doing… and yes, they also had a chance to order some beers as well!)

Needless to say: amazing customer service! One of the “bartenders” was one of the brewers, talk about having an inside! The owner was also there, checking out the process.

GREAT beers and great experience :)

Favorite Dish: beers and more beers...
(I don't think they have food... I am not sure, since the place was closed when we were there...)

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This is considered the grandmother of all the San Diego Breweries. Not only because it’s super successful but because they work hard to help other breweries and promote the whole brewery scene in San Diego. They are very loved and respected by everybody else in the area (and of course, outside the area as well!) they have been awarded “best brewery in the world” by beer advocate magazine TWICE, which is unheard of!

You can take the tour (45 minutes) that ends in a bar made especially for the tours, drinking 4 of their beers for FREE. WOW! Nice! My husband decided to stay in the beer garden (I was there before and after). They tour is for 25 people only, so make sure you get there early to get your tickets. They start giving them away 2 hours before each tour. And they fill out FAST.
Check out their website for more info…

Favorite Dish: The fact that they only use local ingredients and the best quality that they can find, the same way they brew amazing beers, the create amazing food...