John "More Cowbell" B.'s Profile

Last week at work, some people got to talking about Rimel's and Zenbu, which are apparently both owned by Mr. Rimel and how the fish is so good because the guy owns a fishing fleet or something like that. Another person mentioned that Rimel's was her favorite place to get steaks because she could sit right at the counter and tell the cook exactly how she wanted it done. The result of all this talk about their food was that I was craving some Rimel's. Luckily I was able to get my fix while I had family in town this weekend.

It's a tiny restaurant and normally really crowded, but we lucked out because we went a bit late and during crummy weather, so it was relatively empty. The menu has a lot of really interesting stuff, and it took us awhile to make our decisions. I got a mahi sandwich on a kaiser roll w/ the asian slaw and that was really good. My brother got the shrimp burrito, the looks of which made me a bit jealous. My dad got a calamari sandwich on wheat bread, which he said "was good but not as good as the calamari sandwich at Pt. Loma Seafoods."

So overall it seemed like everyone was really happy with their food, but   I have to gripe because even with the restaurant virtually empty, it still took a long time for the food to come out, there was a long wait between the first dish they brought out and the last, and service on something as simple as filling up a glass of water seemed spotty. The guy came by to fill up my brother's glass and I was sitting right next to him with a half empty glass and the guy walked away before I could even say anything.

I'll definitely be back, but I'm thinking that calling in your order ahead of time and getting it to go would be a better option than dining in.

These guys are completely full of it.  I took my car in for repair and they gave me an initial estimate of $620.  Then, they called back to say the repairs would be $697.  Then, they called back to say the car was ready and that I owed them $710.  I asked how this could be, and they claimed they had "noticed additional damage" that wasn't included in the initial estimate (all damage was clearly visible), and that they had a parts price increase.  Right, in the span of 2 days the price of a part magically increased?  Funny how the total bill came out to be just under the amount of the deductible on my insurance.  Do yourself a favor and avoid these scammers.

What hits the spot after a good day on the mountain?  Pizza, of course!  Giovanni's was definitely a pleasant surprise.  I went with a bunch of friends and we started off with the volcano wings, which are supposedly the hottest wings they have.  They were really tasty, nice and crispy, good flavor to the sauce, but not really all that hot.  It's a kind of spiciness that you don't really notice at first I guess, but then creeps up on you after a few wings and induces a mild sweat, but I was hoping for more of a Man vs. Food style kick.

They've got a bunch of different specialty pizzas, so we got 2 large pizzas that were half & half so we got to try 4 types - thai chicken, mexican, combo, and pepperoni.  All were really good, and I didn't think I was going to like the mexican variety but it turned out to be my favorite one.

The last cool thing about this place is that they have Mammoth Brew Co pitchers, and those guys make some tasty beer.

I went here on New Year's eve for dinner with my buddy and his girlfriend.  It's a tiny little place but they do a good job of fitting a lot of tables in there.  The menu is pretty typical for an Italian place but what struck me was the huge selection of different kinds of gnocchi - which I got with sun dried tomatoes and chicken and it was great.  The food came out really fast, the portions are huge, and overall Spumoni is a great bang for your buck.  My only gripe was that they started clearing stuff off our table while I was clearly still eating.  I'm all up for attentive service, but I hate feeling rushed and it wasn't like there were any people standing around waiting for a table or anything.

We had a company holiday party yesterday and Fernandez Catering was in charge of the food. They did a fantastic job. I've been to a lot of events that were catered by Baja Fresh or Rubio's, and the drawback with those guys is the food is always cold. Fernandez Catering heats it up on-spot, and they served some delicious steak and chicken tacos, with fresh guacamole, radishes, lime, onions, cilantro, etc. They also had fire-grilled onions and jalapenos. The salsa they were serving was top notch, with good flavor and a respectable amount of kick. They even started making tasty little corn tortilla quesadillas towards the end. I'd highly recommend these guys to anyone!

Every now and again I still stumble upon places in San Diego that really surprise me, even after having spent the majority of my life living here.  Sometimes after going to the gym at night I'll drive back and pick up a beer at Par Liquor, and always eyed this little dingy looking Mexican place in the other corner of the shopping center called La Playita, except it was always closed.  

Well awhile back, one afternoon I was really craving some tacos and thought to myself, "I should go try out that shady looking hole in the wall place that's always closed!"  Boy am I glad I did.

First of all, it redefines "family run business" as it looked like 3 generations of the same family were running the place when I went in.  It's so authentically mexican that the woman taking my order didn't speak a word of english, so I had to put together some broken spanish to attempt to order, and again to figure out how much I owed her when the food came out.

I ordered the shrimp tacos, and they are among the best shrimp tacos I've ever had.  Nice large & fresh crispy shrimp, good tortillas and sauce, cabbage, lime, etc.  These tacos should be preserved in the Louvre because they are works of art.  Unfortunately that can't happen right now, because I devoured the heck out of those masterpieces.

What a shame, it looks like I'll have to be going back for more!

Like most chain restaurants, Daphne's is nothing really special, but it's good enough that when you're in the mood for some Greek food it gets the job done.  The prices are a bit steep ($10 for a plate) and the quality seems to be a bit inconsistent, but overall it's not so bad.

Some of the better items are the grilled chicken pita, the grilled chicken salad, and the gyros & shrimp combo.  They sell falafel, but I wouldn't really recommend it.

They used to not have a sign up anywhere with their menu on it, which I never understood.  One of their employees would walk up to people in line and hand them laminated menus.  I went in today and they finally have their menu up in a visible location, so that's a big improvement.

Mama's is awesome!  It's a little hole in the wall and last night when driving over to the Linkery for some beers saw it and asked my friend about it, and she goes "oh I dunno I've never been there I think it's middle eastern or something?"

Well today I decided to give it a go and went with their falafel wrap.  That is the best damn falafel wrap I have ever had, hands down.  The falafel balls were perfectly seasoned and crispy, and they fill the wrap with all kinds of good stuff like pickles, lettuce, hummous, and tahini.  Add a little California chili sauce to it, and you've got the wrap made in heaven.

Very filling too, and only $5.50.

Big thumbs up and can't wait to come back here ASAP!

Um it's Alesmith, so of course it's bomb.  Their beer is awesome, their deals are growler fills are great, what else is there to say?  Just get your butt over here and give it a try if you haven't already.

This is without a doubt the best cheesesteak i've had in San Diego, but it's really overpriced.  $9 for a freaking cheesesteak, are you kidding me?  There are lots of things I'd spend $9 on than a gut-busting cheesesteak.

But I do have to give them props for being authentic and delicious.  This is pretty close to the cheesesteaks I remember having when I was living on the east coast.