Number 152:

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood:

We were celebrating the Boy's promotion and having a nice meal as well...

I had the jumbo prawn cocktail (they were the size of small lobsters), a very nice Dungeness crab Louie and an iced tea (which unfortunately had mango flavoring), the wife had the halibut with chipotle sauce and baby fingerling potatoes with hot tea and the Boy had a small bowl of lobster bisque (they both said it was great), the swordfish with mashed potatoes and a Sprite.

The prawns were excellent, the crab was wonderful (even the wife liked it), the halibut rates right up there with the best she's ever had but the Boy was slightly disappointed with the swordfish as it was a little dry.

The bread and butter were also excellent, an essential ingredient with crab louie, our total was $115 and change and I tossed in a $20 bill for the tip.

Architecturally, the place was stunning (it's in the Omni Hotel, right behind PetCo Park and across from the Convention Center), service was almost perfect, it only cost us a buck to park, we made good time in both directions and we all agree we'd go back again.

This was on our Restaurants To Do list and there are only 7 more places (3 steak houses, 3 fish houses and an Italian place) before we're done checking out everything of interest to us...

Their web site: www.mccormickandschmicks.com

PS: So the wife says to me "I thought you'd order black tea, brew it in the pot, then ask for a glass of ice and some lemon"...

Doh!

Number 151:

Antonelli's Deli in El Cajon (on the border of Santee):

NOTE: That's only half of a 12 inch sandwich above...

I've been meaning to check this place out for quite some time now as the Boy eats there fairly often (it's close to where he works).

Their T-shirts says they've been around since 1984.

The place isn't much to look at on the outside; no sidewalks, a dirt lot out front, a small paved parking lot and it's in an older building but inside, it's a lot of serious tile work and a good sized staff.

They're open 6 days a week (closed Sunday).

And they close at 4:00 PM every day so it's a breakfast and lunch thing only.

I ordered the large (12 inch) well done roast beef sub with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo and it's huge; approximately the size and weight of the Sunday paper, easily a couple of pounds, all for only $8.95 plus tax.

I brought it home to share with the wife and just a half sandwich covered an entire picnic plate.

I ate my half (and drank a 7-Up) but she cut her half in half again and will have the other part between classes tonight (not bad, 3 meals for $8.95)...

The beef had good flavor, the bread was mediocre, tomatoes are always bad here, I'm not much for shredded lettuce but I'll stop by at least once more to give it a second try (I'll ask the Boy what he normally has there)...

I asked the girl behind the counter if she knew the Boy (she did but couldn't remember what he usually orders).

And apparently they don't have a web site...

Number 150:

Fred's Old Fashioned Burgers in Alpine:

There's no need to check the settings on your monitor and no, the image hasn't been Photo Shopped; that's the real deal.

It's the 2 pound Alpine Monster Burger ($9.95) and the Boy and I finally made it over there yesterday to check it out.

It's a 2 lb patty of ground beef very much like you'd make at home, served on a grilled sesame seed bun and topped with 6 slices of American cheese, a number of slices of tomato, lettuce, onion and thousand island dressing.

Fred (above) tells us he bought this place approximately 3 years ago now and that he used to run Beef & Bun in nearby La Mesa and before that, he was with Arby's for a number of years.

The menu also has regular size burgers, hot dogs, onion rings, etc but we didn't get a chance to sample anything but this beast and didn't even get halfway through it (we split a small fries and had 2 sodas for $15.71 total)...


The Leftovers: Ya gotta be hungry, real hungry!

Fred's Old Fashioned Burgers
2754 Alpine Blvd.
Alpine, Ca. 91909

(619) 445-1264