Derek "DerekTac" T.'s Profile

Great burgers. They're gourmet, and it IS Brentwood, so expect to pay high.

Their fries...meh.

A small, quaint place to grab a bite. Good service. For me, the price doesn't match the value, but the food is very good.

My woman and I sat on the outdoor patio overlooking the ocean on a perfectly sunny San Diego day. They have large extendable shades, so if it's too sunny, just ask your server to hook it up.

The oyster bar. was. delicious. I have never had good, fresh oysters like this before. I highly recommend!!

I had the Red Snapper with rice and scalloped potatoes. It was very well prepared. The rice was plain (I knew this already) and the cheesy, scalloped potatoes were very good! She got the Rainbow Trout topped with corn, avocado and black bean salsa and accompanied by veggies and rice. I tried her dish, and it was out of this world, very tasty!

Great meal, great location, good service. I highly recommend!

Been meaning to come dine here for a long time. Finally tried it, was not impressed.

From the outside the place looks tiny, especially the outdoor patio. The inner dining area is quite large, but they squeeze as many tiny-ass 'cafe' tables as possible in there. It's fine, I know they're going to the European vibe (a LOT of European vacationers were in there, surprise surprise) and I think they did it nicely, but the food was not impressive.

The service was good though.

It's a crepe cafe, so naturally you'd assume the crepes are delicious, but to my dismay they are NOT. We got the strawberry, chocolate and cognac crepe. Too many strawberries, not enough chocolate, and it seemed like they skimped on the cognac.

I got a 'baguette sandwich' with ham and brie cheese, it wasn't good. The baguette seemed packaged and supermarket bought, and was non-flavorful (and non crispy..at all).

My girlfriends chicken dish looked good, and her ratatouie was tasty.

I would not suggest this place for food. The coffee smelled good.

::The Prelude::

This is my second time coming to Alondra's Hot Wings - the first being semi-disappointing (read about it here: http://www.yelp.com/us...). This time, we came with a large group of 7, so paying a little of our time waiting outdoors for an open table was expected. Standing outside wasn't so bad; It was a nice breezy Sunday afternoon, the Lakers were going to start playing soon, I was hungry after a recovery day from pounding electro-music on Saturday, and we were in good company. After a while I couldn't help but notice Alondra only had ONE person bussing tables. There were piles of plates and glasses on many tables that could have been cleared to minimize wait times. We were told the wait would be 45 minutes - Now, I totally understand no one can predict the future and that many come to Alondra's to drink and eat wings for hours, so waiting comes with the decision to come here - but we waited for about an hour and 10 minutes. Watching the swamped busser caused me to become compassionate for the guy, but at the same time a bit annoyed.

::The Service::

Waiting besides, my/our meal was a very pleasing experience. Our service was top-notch, to which our server, Erik, seemed to be the Road Runner on steroids ("Meep meep"). We needed extra sauce (and consequently more napkins), it was there in a flash; we needed refills on our drinks, it was filled before we asked; our food was hot, wings were fresh, nothing more I could ask for from the service.

::The Food::

For starters we ordered the Cheese Balls, they were alright. Not great, but not bad I must say. The ranch blasted fries were a tasty and heavily loaded plate of fries smothered in a dense spicy ranch sauce. The plate didn't last long and it seemed as though just as our server had dropped it off, it was being collected for dish washing.

I ordered The Big Apple Burger medium-rare...oh mah gawd... It was VERY good. A tad over-cooked to be medium-rare in my opinion, but at this point it didn't matter. The flavors melted together like chocolate on a hot car dashboard during summer.

I must say, this time the wings were better in texture and better in meatiness than the last. Our group ordered the 75 piece wings in the Thai Chili and Spicy Honey BBQ variety. I liked the Spicy Honey BBQ more, boy were they spicy! The Thai Chili reminded me too much of the orange and tangy "Buffalo Wings" sauce that we are all familiar with.

::The Verdict::

In retrospect, I would oddly suggest you come to Alondra Hot Wings for the burgers, not the wings. Nope, get the burgers, beer, and great service. I just...I just..I can't get into their wings. Now, the service has always been great whenever we manage to wrangle a table, and I'll come here solely for that and the burgers alone.

Just remember: Show up early evening to minimize your wait time and get a burger.

I don't know if I buy into all the "grass fed"/"free range" hype, but knowing Chipotle is making an effort to appeal to the consumer as a higher quality fast food, Subway style meal experience is a little comforting somehow? None-the-less, the meat is decently seasoned and actually tastes good considering it is an upper-echelon fast food joint.

Some things I'm guilty of:
-I love the flour tortillas. A burrito flour tortilla has 290 calories and 670mg of sodium! Yowza!
-I smother my burritos in the Chipotle flavored Tabasco Sauce. It's got a fabulous smokey flavor and I simply cannot get enough.

I love this place! It's like if CostCo got Smart and Final pregnant, Food 4 Less would pop out.

This museum is in a perpetual beta; meaning they are always building or repairing an exhibit. I took many cool tilt-shift photos and they turned out amazing! For those that don't know, tilt-shift is generally used from very high angles on real life subjects (people/buildings) and gives the photo an effect that makes ordinary objects seem "miniature". Using this technique while close to the mini-train yards proved to be an awesome idea!

This place has an amazingly close eye for detail. Anyone who enjoys the small details of life or has OCD (like me) will really enjoy this museum. I highly recommend!

I had an absolute blast. I haven't been to Sea World since I was about 10 years old, I remember being very afraid of the shark exhibit and getting splashed by Shamu. These were the days where you were still allowed to stand against the glass.

My girlfriend and I opted to experience the killer whales in a whole new light this venture. We payed an arm and a half for the all you can eat buffet for "Dining with Shamu," and it was well worth it! I wouldn't hesitate to point anyone in that direction.

Overall, it was a great day at Sea World.

The Travelodge in Hotel Circle South in San Diego is an affordable hotel/motel close to most tourist attractions and near necessity shops and food alike. If you don't need stellar room service, or extremely thick walls, but just need a place to sleep and lounge while you complain about how much walking you did that day, then the Travelodge is the right accommodation for you!

You will appreciate these things while staying here:
* Mini-fridge and microwave
* Windows that open all the way on the second floor
* HD TV with cable + DVD player
* Free Wifi (can get slow at times, but overall reliable)
* Nice shower and shower-head
* Friendly check-in staff
* Two nice restaurants connected (Adam's Steak & Eggs is delicious!)
* Pool and Jacuzzi
* Close to Sea World, Historic Downtown, Balboa Park, Zoo
* Right off the 8 and 163 freeways (and close to the 5)

Things that might irk you in your stay:
* Hard, noisy bed
* Mini bed pillows
* No hot water in the sink, but hot water in the shower
* Small bathroom
* Thin bedding, not very soft
* Lack of electrical outlets - All convenient plugs around the bed and desk were taken by clocks and lamps
* Thin floors and walls - wheels from janitorial carts are highly audible and akin to that of an alarm clock
* Old, rickety furniture (dresser and armoire)
* Dark lighting

Overall:
If you seek something that won't dent your wallet, so you can spend millions at Sea World, then you should definitely consider staying here. It's a nice, simple place to wind down at the end of a long day of sightseeing. Bottom-line: you get what you pay for!

My girlfriend and I went to Adam's Steak & Eggs for breakfast while staying at the Travelodge in the Hotel Circle South. The interior is very homely and inviting.

I had the bacon and eggs (scrambled) with grits with and english muffin. She had the corn beef hash and poached eggs with the potatoes.

Both dishes were stellar, very well executed. The scrambled eggs were done PROPERLY, most places (like Denny's) never do scrambled eggs right. The grits were delicious, bacon nicely cooked. The coffee tasted fabulous, too.

Overall, this is a great place to get breakfast! I saw many waiters address patrons on a first name basis; meaning there are many regulars that frequent there on weekends -- a tell-tale sign that they make quality food.

Tomorrow we will try their carne asada and eggs, yummo!