Destinations

 
Showing posts with label Phil's BBQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil's BBQ. Show all posts

Thursday, February 16, 2017

San Diego 2017 Restaurant Recommendations

We really had a slew of fantastic pics this time around for restaurants, although we ate breakfast and most lunches at the place we were staying, as it had a full kitchen. We ate at the Zoo and Sea World those two days, though, for lunch.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor
We stopped here to meet up with some friends at their recommendation after we got into LAX the first night, before we drove down to San Diego that night. It was a GREAT option for the kids! I wasn't super impressed with the pizza, although it was good, but it was nice to actually get to visit with our company, as they have a little arcade for the kids. The mojos were good, though! I'd recommend this as a great place for people with kids for sure!

The only pictures I got from here were of groups of people, so you'll have to check out their website for pictures of the place.

Website

Corvette Diner
Another really great option for kids! I found it while looking for recommendations for places that are kid-friendly, and it sure was! The only downfall I found was that it was almost TOO exciting for the kids, as they wanted to do anything but actually eat when their food came, and our 3 year old was pretty squirmy. They had a lot of special, fun touches for the kids, though, including their milk having sprinkles on the lid, throwing straws into the air, high-energy servers, and a balloon artist. Not to mention that for older kids (ours were a little young to go by themselves) there is an attached arcade as well, so while we didn't opt to check it out while we were waiting for our food, it'd be a great option for kids who are a little older to go off by themselves and let the adults visit at the table. I'd highly recommend this as well! I don't recall being completely wowed by the food, but I also don't recall NOT being wowed. It has just been a couple months since we were there.

Website

Phil's BBQ
This was one place we had on our "must eat at" list from our previous trip to San Diego back in 2010. It may have been the fact that in 2010 we had no kids and this time we had 3 with us, tending to make dining experiences in general a little hairy, and my taste buds may have been a little skewed due to being 16 weeks pregnant at the time, but while this was "good" bbq, it wasn't "OMG I'M GOING TO DIE IF I DON'T EAT IT" bbq like I remembered it being. Don't get me wrong: It was good. It was excellent, even. It just wasn't jaw-dropping, tell-the-world-about-it bbq.

We went a little off prime hours and were pleased that the wait was only to the back door at that time, as it tends to be a bit of a line around the lunch rush. The food came quickly, and the place easily accommodates larger groups. We had no trouble at all finding seating for our group of 10. You see a lot of business people here during the week. It's usually fairly packed most of the time.

Website

Paesano
Paesano's was one of those hole-in-the-wall places that don't get nearly as much notoriety as other spots in cities like this. We stumbled across it after failed attempts to eat (too late in the evening with kids, and we didn't want to wait) at Waypoint Public and some mexican restaurant nearby as well, and the place was pretty dead, but we decided to give it a try. It was a home-run! The food was delivered quickly, the wait staff was very friendly to our wiggly little family of over-tired kiddos, and the food was DELICIOUS! We ordered spaghetti and meatballs for our boys to share, my hubby got the baked meat lasagna and I went with the baked meat canneloni. Everything was good, but after taking just a few small bites of my kids' spaghetti, I about melted. Italian restaurants are typically the LAST place you want to order simple spaghetti, so I tend to stay away from it, but this stuff was so good I ended up eating the leftovers the next morning for breakfast. It was out of this world! If we are ever back in the area, we will be adding this place to our "must return" list. A+++++, Paesano's!

Website

Noodles & Company
I'm not going to go into great detail, but we had a great experience here with our little kids. We don't have one close by, although there is one in Mankato that is just on the opposite side of town we usually visit. The kids loved the curly noodles, and even Ryan ate it right up.
Website


For the rest of our meals, we either had fast food or ate at the condo, so there isn't much to write home about as far as that is concerned. We did In and Out burger one meal and it was just kind of okay, but nothing to write home about. We also ordered Papa John's after our Zoo day.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

San Diego Recap (Wednesday)

Wednesday
Seaport Village, Hot Tub, Jack in the Box, Point Loma, Rosecrans National Cemetery, Neighborhood Lights, Sarah's for supper.

On Wednesday, the rain finally let up a bit, and although there were still scattered showers, the sun came out in all its glory whenever the showers weren't.

Mark and I wandered on down to Seaport Village, just outside our hotel to find some breakfast. We stopped in at the Village Cafe and had some breakfast sandwiches before wandering a bit more to check out the adorable little village.








After breakfast, we wandered around the Embarcadero for a bit, taking in a beautiful view of the Coronado Bridge.

View on the Embarcadero



Coronado Bridge






We saw this place while walking around, and decided to try to have supper here one day. We ended up eating there on Thursday night, and it was delicious!





After spending some time at the Embarcadero and Seaport Village in the morning, we headed back to our hotel room to meet up with Daniel, Iryna and Sofie for a dip in the hot tub out on the Mezzanine level, since although it was still a bit cool, the rain had let up.





After getting our fill of the hot tub and getting showered up, we all piled in Dave's truck again and headed over to try out some West-Coast fast-food at Jack in the Box - a first for me, and well - it wasn't that much better than normal midwest fast food. We DID happen to catch a double-rainbow out the window, though!




After lunch, we hopped back in the car and headed to Point Loma to check out Cabrillo National Monument (which was closed, unfortunately) and Rosecrans Cemetery. The views were absolutely breathtaking!!

Point Loma Views





Cabrillo National Monument Views






Rosecrans Cemetery

This part of the drive was pretty sobering. The cemetery was almost as massive as Arlington National Cemetery, but I think the most sobering part about this one was visiting it right before Christmas, and realizing all the families that would be celebrating Christmas without their loved ones buried in this cemetery. Loved ones who are still being memorialized, and whose graves were adorned with Christmas wreaths against the backdrop of the sunset. I've heard more this Christmas than any other about the importance of giving thanks to our men and women in the military who are sacrificing so that we can be safe, and it really hit home on this day. So THANK YOU!!!




As the sun was setting, we decided to start heading over to El Cajon to Sarah's place, as her and her fiance, Jay had invited us over for supper. As you may have noticed, we didn't get to spent too terribly much time with Sarah and Jay on the trip. This is because they didn't really have any time off work while we were there, so we spent most days doing the touristy things we wanted to do, and the evenings spending time with Jay and Sarah.

On the way to El Cajon, however, we came across the FUNNEST street - all decked out with Christmas decor! So we pulled over and took a stroll. I'm not sure who was more stoked about it - Sofie or myself! lol











Christmas at Sarah's
After we finished checking out the lights, we made our way over to Sarah's place in El Cajon for supper and other Christmasy fun (ELF anyone?!) :)


The Spread



Bride Sighting!
We even got a sneak peek of Sarah in her wedding dress, since Daniel wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding.
This is the only pic you will see (credits to Sofie the photographer), however - if you want to see more, you'll have to come to the wedding!

****insert numerous top secret photos of Sarah in her beautiful dress****
Opening Gifts


Jay's friend, Wayne joined us for the evening as well. Wayne will be Jay's Best Man in the wedding!









Merry Christmas!!