El Zarape
3201 Adams Avenue
San Diego, Ca.
We read about this place in "City Beat" recently and decided to check it out this morning, while I put a few miles on Number One Son's Ford Ranger, testing out the new tires and front end alignment.
El Zarape is conveniently located a couple of blocks off of 805, it's on the corner, very visible, has off street parking in the lot behind the place and is handsomely appointed inside. The place is a riot of color, acres of nice tile work, a lot of wrought iron and folk art wherever the eye lands. If I wanted to open a Mexican restaurant, I'd want to hire this designer...
It was mentioned in City Beat as a favorite for cheap eats and we started off with the free chips, salsa and guacamole sauce. The guacamole sauce had a nice, spicy note to it but the salsa was a bit too tomatoey. The chips were cold and hard so I only had a couple as I had burned the roof of my mouth pretty severely a couple of nights ago (homemade bean & cheese burritos) and haven't been able to eat a lot of things lately due to their textures.
I asked for iced tea and The Darla had her usual, ice water (she almost never drinks with her meals).
The ice tea had passion fruit in it so I asked for a Coke instead, which had the strong taste of line cleaner in it (I had The Darla taste it too)...
I wanted a beef taco & enchilada combo but evidently they don't believe in having it my way so I chose the 2 carne asada tacos (the traditional shredded beef isn't an option so it was either the carne asada, chicken or fish). The Darla decided to try the Poblano Mole, which comes with side orders of beans and rice and a basket of steamed tortillas. She's only had Mole once before and doesn't have a lot to compare it to but this was extremely sweet (I tasted it too). She played with it by adding some of the salsa, guacamole sauce and rice in a tortilla but ultimately only had a couple of bites at most.
My tacos had a large amount of meat, a bit of pico de gallo and chunks of semi-mashed avocado. The tortillas arrived almost wet, sitting flat on the plate so I put some of the excess carne asada into one of the extra tortillas that came with The Darla's meal and made myself a drier taco and The Darla did the same.
Our total was slightly over $18 and with tip, it was exactly $23.
Will we come back again?
No, there are way too many places to eat pretty fair Mexican food around here to frequent a place where you didn't find anything you liked on the menu (although it is a damn attractive building)...
Web site: http://elzarape.biz/
No. 202
Hilltop Deli
El Cajon, Ca.
This place is in a business park overlooking Gillespie Field on the border of El Cajon and Santee.
We've driven right by there at least 100 times and never realized it was there until we read about it on several web sites (Yelp, etc) and made it over there this morning. It's a small place (18 seats) and I'd classify it more as a sandwich shop than deli. It's neat and clean and the employees get generally good reviews from the customers, but...
I ordered the Italian Sub with a bag of chips and can of Coke and The Darla had the hot pastrami on toasted sourdough with a side order of potato salad. I didn't taste the pastrami or the potato salad but The Darla says the potato salad had a sweet taste, like they'd used Miracle Whip and she cut the inside of her mouth on the toast. As for the pastrami, she say's "It's no Antonelli's (deli)", one of her favorites here in East County.
My sandwich came on an oversized torpedo roll (way too much bread) and the cheap cold cuts (mortadella and Genoa salami) were mediocre at best. Standard toppings also include green leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, slivered peppers, sliced black olives, vinegar, oil, mustard and mayo.
I spent slightly over $14 and tossed the change and a couple more bucks into the tip jar.
Would we come back?
Not very likely.
No web site
El Cajon, Ca.
This place is in a business park overlooking Gillespie Field on the border of El Cajon and Santee.
We've driven right by there at least 100 times and never realized it was there until we read about it on several web sites (Yelp, etc) and made it over there this morning. It's a small place (18 seats) and I'd classify it more as a sandwich shop than deli. It's neat and clean and the employees get generally good reviews from the customers, but...
I ordered the Italian Sub with a bag of chips and can of Coke and The Darla had the hot pastrami on toasted sourdough with a side order of potato salad. I didn't taste the pastrami or the potato salad but The Darla says the potato salad had a sweet taste, like they'd used Miracle Whip and she cut the inside of her mouth on the toast. As for the pastrami, she say's "It's no Antonelli's (deli)", one of her favorites here in East County.
My sandwich came on an oversized torpedo roll (way too much bread) and the cheap cold cuts (mortadella and Genoa salami) were mediocre at best. Standard toppings also include green leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, slivered peppers, sliced black olives, vinegar, oil, mustard and mayo.
I spent slightly over $14 and tossed the change and a couple more bucks into the tip jar.
Would we come back?
Not very likely.
No web site
No. 201
Mama Rosa's Italian Restaurant
1773 E. Main Street
El Cajon, CA 92021
619-442-0231
I've driven by this place dozens of times and never knew it was there, despite the sign on the backside of the building, which can be seen from our freeway off-ramp. It's literally within a stone's throw of this house (OK, maybe I could hit it with an arrow) but had to see it on Yelp (there were a number of good reviews) before I made my way over there late this afternoon.
Incidentally, Marechiaro's (our go-to pizza place since Tommy's folded several months ago) is closed on Mondays, which is why I Googled "pizza" and "El+Cajon"...
There actually was a Mama Rosa, according to the woman who served our meals, and she was the mother on one of the two owners, long deceased.
I had the small cheese pizza, very reasonably priced at $6.95 plus an additional 75 cents for pepperoni. The wife ordered their cup of soup (minestrone) and small side salad. For drinks, I had an iced tea and the wife had a glass of ice water. My pizza was pretty good, with a nicely done thin crust and a fair amount of cheese. The wife really liked her soup, telling me it was thick with good vegetables and the salad was nicely manicured with a home made dressing. Our total was a little over $18 and with tip, we were out the door $22 lighter.
The place is small and clean, service was swift and precise and the place is located in a nondescript strip mall on El Cajon's East Main Street, across from the 99 Cent store and the local CHP offices.
Would we go back?
An unqualified "yes" as it's so close to the house (closer than Marechiaro's), open on Mondays (unlike Marechiaro's) and better priced than Marechiaro's as well. They aren't open on Sundays (unlike Marechiaro's) and the one thing I didn't care for was the beaker of what I suppose is ground red pepper flakes, that, and maybe they should consider adding calzone to the menu...
Their web site: http://www.mammarosaelcajon.com/
1773 E. Main Street
El Cajon, CA 92021
619-442-0231
I've driven by this place dozens of times and never knew it was there, despite the sign on the backside of the building, which can be seen from our freeway off-ramp. It's literally within a stone's throw of this house (OK, maybe I could hit it with an arrow) but had to see it on Yelp (there were a number of good reviews) before I made my way over there late this afternoon.
Incidentally, Marechiaro's (our go-to pizza place since Tommy's folded several months ago) is closed on Mondays, which is why I Googled "pizza" and "El+Cajon"...
There actually was a Mama Rosa, according to the woman who served our meals, and she was the mother on one of the two owners, long deceased.
I had the small cheese pizza, very reasonably priced at $6.95 plus an additional 75 cents for pepperoni. The wife ordered their cup of soup (minestrone) and small side salad. For drinks, I had an iced tea and the wife had a glass of ice water. My pizza was pretty good, with a nicely done thin crust and a fair amount of cheese. The wife really liked her soup, telling me it was thick with good vegetables and the salad was nicely manicured with a home made dressing. Our total was a little over $18 and with tip, we were out the door $22 lighter.
The place is small and clean, service was swift and precise and the place is located in a nondescript strip mall on El Cajon's East Main Street, across from the 99 Cent store and the local CHP offices.
Would we go back?
An unqualified "yes" as it's so close to the house (closer than Marechiaro's), open on Mondays (unlike Marechiaro's) and better priced than Marechiaro's as well. They aren't open on Sundays (unlike Marechiaro's) and the one thing I didn't care for was the beaker of what I suppose is ground red pepper flakes, that, and maybe they should consider adding calzone to the menu...
Their web site: http://www.mammarosaelcajon.com/
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