Jamacha Bar & Grille (formerly Jamacha Junction)
Even though we've been here well over 4 years now, this is the first time I ate at this steakhouse (which is right across the street from our local Outback).
Their specialty is USDA steaks (aged 30 days), prime rib and chops.
After spending some time standing out front reading the menu, I went in and was seated in what I'd call "The Brown Room" as the walls were beige, the chairs, podium and woodwork were stained a deep, dark brown, the acoustic ceiling tiles were almost beige, the carpet was brown with little beige accents and the banquettes were all upholstered in dark brown vinyl.
The table cloths were white, however.
This room seats 72 as there are 12 four person banquettes, 4 four-top tables and 4 two person booths in this room, there's a baquet room next door and in the third room, on the other side of the dining room, is the U-shaped bar.
There were half a dozen French poster prints on the walls, a couple of tropical fish tanks and several magnums of wine sitting on top of the room dividers. I should probably also mention the 8 matching wall sconces...
I ordered a well done ribeye steak (12 ounces, a lot of meat for this old man), fries, salad with bleu cheese dressing and iced tea, even though I'd had 3 glasses of it earlier, while waiting for the wife's job interview in Santee.
The server returned with a 12 ounce pilsner glass of tea with a lot of ice and a slice of lemon, as well as a carafe (also iced nicely) so I could refill it myself, a nice touch for a serious ice tea drinker.
When the salad came, it had crumbled bleu cheese on top of a bed of mixed lettuce with segments of Mandarin orange, sliced strawberries and pecans; not exactly my favorite choice of greens but still a good change of pace.
Unfortunately, someone in the kitchen doesn't know what well done means so I had to send the steak back for more time on the grill...
Normally, this results in disaster (way too done) but whoever finished it off had a sensitive hand and it was perfect. They also gave me fresh, hot fries and I ate most of it, bringing home enough for the Rattweiler to have the leftovers for his dinner (I can still hear him licking himself, something he does after a meal he particularly likes).
It was supposed to be served with a red wine demi-glaze but I asked for it on the side as I prefer to taste my meat, especially at that price. The sauce was way too thick and I suspect it's only intended to be served over a slab of hot sizzling meat and then slowly melt into it.
The total was $33 and change (although I can't figure out how they came up with that figure as the meal was supposed to be $24.95 and I doubt the iced tea was 5 bucks but I tossed two $20's on the table and left.
I will ding the server for not checking back sooner after serving the meal (you should scan EVERY table in your section at least once a minute) but it was a pretty good steak and now it's time for my after dinner nap.
No web site or online reviews (new owner and new name).
Jamacha Bar & Grill
777 Jamacha Road
El Cajon, Ca. 92019
619-588-5467
Number 141:
Hodad's @ Ocean Beach: Putting the fun back into funky...
Hodad's has been an OB fixture since 1969 but I was just a poor young sailor way back then. And we've heard about Hodad's ever since we got back here, just over 4 years ago now. Finally, I got a chance to check it out, even if it was during the lunch rush on a nice, summery Saturday afternoon.
Hodad's has been an OB fixture since 1969 but I was just a poor young sailor way back then. And we've heard about Hodad's ever since we got back here, just over 4 years ago now. Finally, I got a chance to check it out, even if it was during the lunch rush on a nice, summery Saturday afternoon.
The menu is extremely simple: mini burgers, single burgers and double burgers, there's a chicken sandwich and veggie burger (who cares?), with the only real choices being bacon and cheese (there's no hot dog, either)...
For side dishes, it's also real simple: Fries, O-rings or Frings (fries & rings) and there are draft sodas and a number of beers.
I ordered the cheeseburger, onion rings and a Pepsi.I have to admit that it's a great burger (done perfectly, with 3 slices of tomato, generous, thick slices of onion, lettuce, pickle, mustard, catsup and mayo), the onion rings were to die for (it was a huge order and I only ate about a quarter of them) and all of the employees seemed to be very friendly.
The total was $10.50 plus I threw the server another $2.50 tip.
It's also a place well worth taking your out of town guests and we'll be back...
O-Rings to die for...
There's a sign saying the place seats 92 (you couldn't prove it by me) and the walls are chock-a-block with personalized license plates, literally hundreds of them. And apparently, fluent VW is spoken here: besides the Hodad Mobile, a custom shortened VW Bus (below), the nose of a VW Bus sits in the dining room and several VW (Bug) bumpers hang on the walls.
It's also noisy, smoky, the guy standing in front of the back door was peeling onions and the wind blew it into the front of the restaurant, making my eyes water but my only real regret is taking so long to make it over there...
If you do a web search for Hodad's (besides not finding their web site), you'll see that San Francisco Chronicle food writer Michael Bauer calls it the best burger in the US, Roadfood.com speaks very highly of it and AOL City Guide and Yelp also sing their praises of this OB landmark as well.
The Hodad Mobile
Hodad's
5010 Newport Ave
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
Phone: 619-224-4623
UPDATE I: 19 October 2007
I finally got around to taking the Boy to Hodad's for his first visit (he's out of school now and has a whole extra day plus in his week).
Of course he liked it but the fun thing was the order of Frings (fries & rings) as not only could I not eat all of the onion rings (Boy has his own personal fatwa on most things onion), but he couldn't come close to polishing off the generous serving of wedge cut fries, done perfectly, even though I tried to help. They kept their temperature well and I only had 2 or 3, sprinkling a little salt and catsup on each bite. That's the way to go, especially if there are 2 or 3 of you as the burgers are nicely satisfying (I could only eat slightly over half of my wonderful, chargrilled cheeseburger, well done of course)...
UPDATE II: 11 January 2008
We finally tried the bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry milk shake and both were absolutely wonderful, as you'd expect. As an ex soda jerk, I have to admit that it was very likley the best milkshake I've ever had.
And it was our 4th visit (the wife and I had dropped by recently), one of many, many more to come.
And we got to spend a little time with Mike Hardin, the second generation owner, a real fun guy. Since Mike does not compute, we took our photos with us to show him a little about what we do...
Number 140:
Grossmont College Food Court (in the student center)
The wife recently started the Hotel & Restaurant Management (BS) program as she's hit the glass ceiling here, career wise, bashing her brains out against the local good old boy's club, so we've spent a lot of time out at the college recently (and this is just the first week of classes).
While she was at a meeting with her counselor, I decided to check the place out and ordered the cheeseburger, fries and a Pepsi (No Coke!).
The total was $6.11
There are signs all over the place declaring it to be a Trans Fat Free Zone (which generally translates into very little flavor), there's a steam table with several items and the burgers, fries, etc are all pre-cooked in the back room and spend some time under the heat lamps before being served.
There are only 2 long lines to pay for it so the stuff is luke warm at best when you finally sit down to eat it, at least during the lunch hour rush (there was almost no one in line when we went through the student center later).
And the only choices offered are condiment packets with mustard, catsup, mayo, salt and papper.
They also sell pizza by the slice, wraps, steam table stir fry, sandwiches made to order, etc and there are numerous choices available for bottled water, various juices, chips, candy, snacks, etc.
Finding a seat after you get your food is fairly difficult as many are large tables seating 6 or more and most of the 20-somethings aren't exactly into having lunch with an almost 60-something near geezer so I ended up on the patio outside, in the only empty table, sitting in the hot August afternoon sun as this was also the only table without an umbrella or shade of any kind.
I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by the generic burger as it wasn't too dried out from sitting around in the back room and it came with the standard toppings (green leaf lettuce, tomato, a slice of bermuda onion and a single pickle chip (the pickle chip dispenser guy must have had a bad day). A squeeze pack of mayo and another of mustard finished it off almost nicely...
Fries were generic, frozen fare and they were almost hot when they served them (I stuck my finger in there to check them) but by the time I got through the cashier's line and found a seat, they were lukewarm at best.
I asked the guy behind the counter why they don't have a hot dog on the menu but he had no idea and agreed that it was a good idea (there's a corn dog but I'd be willing to bet it's a chicken frank)...
Number 139:
Noodles & Company:
We stopped by this place in the new mall in Chula Vista (aka Chulajuana - the fastest growing city in the US at the moment) after I picked up the wife from her catering gig over that way.
We asked the girl behind the counter what she would order (the Penne Rosa) but we ordered the (small) Potstickers, a small bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, the Indonesian Peanut Sauté with spicy peanut butter sauce and rice noodles with shrimp, cabbage, sprouts, cilantro, lime and crushed peanuts; next time, please hold the broccoli and carrots!
And I had an iced tea (the machine was almost out of some sort of "organic" whatever it was).
Our total was $15 plus change...
And then there's the mandatory food nazi, vegetarian, fiber filled, well balanced, anti-allergen, calorie-counting, magic trans-fat, feel good hoodoo / rant / sermon in their eye glazing, propaganda laden brochure...
Their web site: www.noodles.com
Noodles & Company
2315 Otay Lakes Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91915
We stopped by this place in the new mall in Chula Vista (aka Chulajuana - the fastest growing city in the US at the moment) after I picked up the wife from her catering gig over that way.
We asked the girl behind the counter what she would order (the Penne Rosa) but we ordered the (small) Potstickers, a small bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, the Indonesian Peanut Sauté with spicy peanut butter sauce and rice noodles with shrimp, cabbage, sprouts, cilantro, lime and crushed peanuts; next time, please hold the broccoli and carrots!
And I had an iced tea (the machine was almost out of some sort of "organic" whatever it was).
Our total was $15 plus change...
And then there's the mandatory food nazi, vegetarian, fiber filled, well balanced, anti-allergen, calorie-counting, magic trans-fat, feel good hoodoo / rant / sermon in their eye glazing, propaganda laden brochure...
Their web site: www.noodles.com
Noodles & Company
2315 Otay Lakes Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91915
Number 138:
Boomerang's Gourmet Burger Joint - You'll Always Come Back For More:
I was wandering around lost after dropping the wife off at work when I saw their sign, and just had to pull over and check it out. The place has good signage so it's easy to find, even if it's upstairs and in the back (formerly, it was a Chinese restaurant and a Jewish deli in another incarnation).
Their specialty is 1/3 and 1/2 pound stuffed burgers
I had the mushroom cheeseburger, steak fries and a Coke ($12.10 with tax)
And there's a lot of nice art from the customers hanging on the wall.
The owwners are Bruce and Jose and Bruce says he's been in the restaurant racket most of his life, from the East Coast to the Left Coast
Their web site: www.boomerangburgers.com
Boomerang's Gourmet Burgers
4577 Clairmemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Ph: 858-483-9500
When we first saw the ad for Boomerang's, we mistook it for another burger joint nearby, which we later realized was the EZ Take Out Burgers, on the corner of Genessee and Balboa (www.eztakeout.com).
We tried to check the place out later but parking is next to impossible, the drive thru lane was backed out onto the street and it was too hot out to sit at one of their 2 outside tables (no inside seating).
EZ Take Out Burgers has been slinging beef since 1969 but many of them seem to be in the $1 price range so we'll have to try again later...
I was wandering around lost after dropping the wife off at work when I saw their sign, and just had to pull over and check it out. The place has good signage so it's easy to find, even if it's upstairs and in the back (formerly, it was a Chinese restaurant and a Jewish deli in another incarnation).
Their specialty is 1/3 and 1/2 pound stuffed burgers
I had the mushroom cheeseburger, steak fries and a Coke ($12.10 with tax)
And there's a lot of nice art from the customers hanging on the wall.
The owwners are Bruce and Jose and Bruce says he's been in the restaurant racket most of his life, from the East Coast to the Left Coast
Their web site: www.boomerangburgers.com
Boomerang's Gourmet Burgers
4577 Clairmemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Ph: 858-483-9500
When we first saw the ad for Boomerang's, we mistook it for another burger joint nearby, which we later realized was the EZ Take Out Burgers, on the corner of Genessee and Balboa (www.eztakeout.com).
We tried to check the place out later but parking is next to impossible, the drive thru lane was backed out onto the street and it was too hot out to sit at one of their 2 outside tables (no inside seating).
EZ Take Out Burgers has been slinging beef since 1969 but many of them seem to be in the $1 price range so we'll have to try again later...
Number 137:
Chow Noodle House
This place is in the same building that was formerly Celadon (they moved down the street). It's owned by the same people and the wife had eaten there once before, on her last day at her office job but neither the Boy or I had.
For starters, we had the shrimp tempura and they were excellent. I had had a pizza the night before and had thoroughly vulcanized the roof of my mouth but the shrimp did it to my upper lip. They're served with a light, refreshing tempura dipping sauce and even my brother Jim would love them, they're that good (he's extremely finicky about his fried shrimp). They were large, lightly breaded and possibly the best I've ever had.
Following that, we tried the chicken and beef satay skewers with a peanut butter based dipping sauce. I'm not much for chicken so I didn't have any of them but the beef was fairly good and the wife and Boy both liked the sauce.
Our main dish was seafood chow mein and I thought it was a little greasy but the wife disagrees. I have to say that I liked the large shrimp in it but the scallop was a little too squishy for my taste and I didn't have any of the calamari...
Finally, the Boy chose the Thai beef fried rice. It was glutinous rice with beef, period. I can't say I cared for it at all and Mr. Fried Rice himself (the Boy) wasn't too happy with it as it was rather plain and he doesn't care for sticky rice either.
The wife had her usual glass of water and the Boy and I had several Cokes (warm, in the can, poured over ice in a glass) each (they only have flavored iced teas and I don't "go there")...
The total was just over $36 so it came out to $43 even with tip.
No web site yet and half of what is written about the place is positive and the other half equally negative; try it yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave.
Hillcrest
619-269-9209
This place is in the same building that was formerly Celadon (they moved down the street). It's owned by the same people and the wife had eaten there once before, on her last day at her office job but neither the Boy or I had.
For starters, we had the shrimp tempura and they were excellent. I had had a pizza the night before and had thoroughly vulcanized the roof of my mouth but the shrimp did it to my upper lip. They're served with a light, refreshing tempura dipping sauce and even my brother Jim would love them, they're that good (he's extremely finicky about his fried shrimp). They were large, lightly breaded and possibly the best I've ever had.
Following that, we tried the chicken and beef satay skewers with a peanut butter based dipping sauce. I'm not much for chicken so I didn't have any of them but the beef was fairly good and the wife and Boy both liked the sauce.
Our main dish was seafood chow mein and I thought it was a little greasy but the wife disagrees. I have to say that I liked the large shrimp in it but the scallop was a little too squishy for my taste and I didn't have any of the calamari...
Finally, the Boy chose the Thai beef fried rice. It was glutinous rice with beef, period. I can't say I cared for it at all and Mr. Fried Rice himself (the Boy) wasn't too happy with it as it was rather plain and he doesn't care for sticky rice either.
The wife had her usual glass of water and the Boy and I had several Cokes (warm, in the can, poured over ice in a glass) each (they only have flavored iced teas and I don't "go there")...
The total was just over $36 so it came out to $43 even with tip.
No web site yet and half of what is written about the place is positive and the other half equally negative; try it yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Chow Noodle House
540 University Ave.
Hillcrest
619-269-9209
Number 136:
Huffman's BBQ:
For the past several years, I've heard about this place but it was a big let down in a bad neighborhood...
It's been there 40 years now and is decorated with blow up photos of the founder (Brooke Huffman) with Jessie Jackson, Muhammed Ali, etc.
I ordered the hickory smoked ribs (you could smell it outside) with no sauce (on the side), slaw, beans and rice and a canned Coke. They also throw in a couple of slices of white bread wrapped in wax paper. The total was $15.73.
The ribs were tough, the slaw didn't look good so I passed, the beans & rice were flavorless so I tossed it all and grabbed a Big Mac on my way home...
No web site
Huffman's BBQ
5039 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92113
Phone: (619) 264-3115
For the past several years, I've heard about this place but it was a big let down in a bad neighborhood...
It's been there 40 years now and is decorated with blow up photos of the founder (Brooke Huffman) with Jessie Jackson, Muhammed Ali, etc.
I ordered the hickory smoked ribs (you could smell it outside) with no sauce (on the side), slaw, beans and rice and a canned Coke. They also throw in a couple of slices of white bread wrapped in wax paper. The total was $15.73.
The ribs were tough, the slaw didn't look good so I passed, the beans & rice were flavorless so I tossed it all and grabbed a Big Mac on my way home...
No web site
Huffman's BBQ
5039 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92113
Phone: (619) 264-3115
Number 134:
Fat Boyz Pizza:
Fat Boyz is a local chain (other locations are in Mission Beach and OB).
This outlet is in the mall in El Cajon and I had to check it out when the Boy told me that he and his co-workers had ordered a pizza to go for lunch and when they said the total would be $32 (just for the pizza!), they passed...
I ordered their calzone and an iced tea.
Unfortunately, like many other places nowadays, they assumed I want flavored iced tea so without asking (or telling) me, they served up this horrid concoction with way too much passion fruit flavoring and I sent it back. In my humble opinion, restaurants should take their customer's orders at face value and at least warn them if all they have is the artifically flavored iced tea.
The calzone was burned on top and not quite done internally, it was way too large, with way too much bread (why it wasn't done inside), it had no real flavor and there was too much acidity in the marinara sauce on the side...
I spent $16.45 total
Fat Boyz is a local chain (other locations are in Mission Beach and OB).
This outlet is in the mall in El Cajon and I had to check it out when the Boy told me that he and his co-workers had ordered a pizza to go for lunch and when they said the total would be $32 (just for the pizza!), they passed...
I ordered their calzone and an iced tea.
Unfortunately, like many other places nowadays, they assumed I want flavored iced tea so without asking (or telling) me, they served up this horrid concoction with way too much passion fruit flavoring and I sent it back. In my humble opinion, restaurants should take their customer's orders at face value and at least warn them if all they have is the artifically flavored iced tea.
The calzone was burned on top and not quite done internally, it was way too large, with way too much bread (why it wasn't done inside), it had no real flavor and there was too much acidity in the marinara sauce on the side...
I spent $16.45 total
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