Luna Grill - The Ultimate Kabobery
As the wife is lactose intolerant, she couldn't share in my pizza (see No. 216) so we checked out the Luna Grill, right across the street from Project Pie.
I can't remember us ever doing two tastings in one day...
Luna Grill is a chain with 8 locations, most of them here in this county but one in Orange County as well.
The menu is largely Mediterranean fare and the wife had the Gyro plate (80% beef, 20% lamb) with a salad, rice and pita bread and the total was just over $10 plus another buck tip.
The place is stylishly appointed, with 46 seats inside, more on the sidewalk on both sides (it's a corner lot).
I should point out that each and every one of the booths was too small for me and that's after losing over 60 lbs...
And the metal chairs at the handful of tables were no better and my back is a mess today.
Would she go back again?
Yes, but only if she's already in the neighborhood (for an appointment at UCSD, a mile away, for instance) as it's almost 20 miles from here.
Their web site: http://www.lunagrill.com/
No. 216
Project Pie
Everyday Artisan Pizza Custom Built By You
I heard about this place several months ago but never seemed to make it over to Hillcrest to check it out. Yesterday, the wife couldn't decide where she wanted to eat so we headed out that way, looking...
Fans of "Seinfeld" will remember Cosmo Kramer's "dream", a make your own pizza place and this is about as close to reality that the concept will ever get.
To start with, it's one-size-only (12 inches) and you tell each person behind the counter what you want on your pie. The first guy does the dough and adds sauce, then the fetching cheese wench is next in line and she hits your pie with the cheese; next comes an assortment of toppings (in my case, it was pepperoni only) then you pay while they stuff your pie into a very hot pizza oven.
Mine was a very reasonable $8.10 plus we threw a buck into the tip jar.
The pizza is out of the oven very quickly (I barely had enough time to grab a few napkins and a plastic fork) - Note: the plastic knives and forks really don't cut it...
And I have a problem with the fact that the only thing to drink comes out of the soda machine.
Some of us never bothered to acquire a taste for line cleaner, which seems to be in every soda machine in the world now and some of us can't have sugary drinks either (guys, add some bottled water or iced tea, and not the pre-sweetened garbage or that passion fruit flavored junk).
I realize that's not a big complaint but they could have "upsold" me a buck or two if they had anything I could actually drink.
As it was, I sent the wife next door to Subway but all they had was a soda machine as well...
Decor can best be described as industrial warehouse chic (early Chevys) with roll up garage doors on the University Avenue side and parking is extremely tight.
I'd go back in a second (it's the best pizza I've had here, with a perfect crust, good sauce and first rate toppings) but it's too far to do frequently.\
The Web site: http://www.projectpie.com/
Everyday Artisan Pizza Custom Built By You
I heard about this place several months ago but never seemed to make it over to Hillcrest to check it out. Yesterday, the wife couldn't decide where she wanted to eat so we headed out that way, looking...
Fans of "Seinfeld" will remember Cosmo Kramer's "dream", a make your own pizza place and this is about as close to reality that the concept will ever get.
To start with, it's one-size-only (12 inches) and you tell each person behind the counter what you want on your pie. The first guy does the dough and adds sauce, then the fetching cheese wench is next in line and she hits your pie with the cheese; next comes an assortment of toppings (in my case, it was pepperoni only) then you pay while they stuff your pie into a very hot pizza oven.
Mine was a very reasonable $8.10 plus we threw a buck into the tip jar.
The pizza is out of the oven very quickly (I barely had enough time to grab a few napkins and a plastic fork) - Note: the plastic knives and forks really don't cut it...
And I have a problem with the fact that the only thing to drink comes out of the soda machine.
Some of us never bothered to acquire a taste for line cleaner, which seems to be in every soda machine in the world now and some of us can't have sugary drinks either (guys, add some bottled water or iced tea, and not the pre-sweetened garbage or that passion fruit flavored junk).
I realize that's not a big complaint but they could have "upsold" me a buck or two if they had anything I could actually drink.
As it was, I sent the wife next door to Subway but all they had was a soda machine as well...
Decor can best be described as industrial warehouse chic (early Chevys) with roll up garage doors on the University Avenue side and parking is extremely tight.
I'd go back in a second (it's the best pizza I've had here, with a perfect crust, good sauce and first rate toppings) but it's too far to do frequently.\
The Web site: http://www.projectpie.com/
No. 215
Samichez
This is a small (5 seats) sandwich shop in Grossmont Center, behind the Food Court (kind of hard to find).
Randy Davis discovered it recently and took us to lunch yesterday. The sandwiches are large and reasonably priced and there's more seating on the patio and in the Food Court.
Randy had the No.19 (the Carnegie - On Rye and Stacks of Pastrami) on his first visit so he tried something different yesterday, no. 2, the NCPP (North Carolina Pulled Pork), with a side of fries and a cane sugar root beer. The wife had the No. 20, the Rocky which is essentially a pepper steak and I had half of a No. 18, the Muffuletta (apparently also a recognized spelling), the Halfaletta? with a Coke. The mandatory olive salad topping the muffaletta was so similar to ours that I couldn't tell the difference...
The wife had to pull the cheese off of her sandwich (she's lactose intolerant) despite clearly telling the woman at the counter "no cheese". And the bread was kind of stale on my sandwich but could have been easily overlooked if they had dressed it with a bit more olive oil or prepared the sandwich in advance, then weighted it down for at least a few hours, the way it's supposed to be done.
The sodas were all very reasonably priced at $1 and they are in the process of adding free iced tea and coffee to the menu.
Randy spent a total of $34 and coin for all 3 of our meals
Finally, there are several other sandwiches we plan to try in the near future; the No. 1, their Cuban, the No. 9 - Po'Boy - On French Bread, Beer Battered Fried Shrimp, Lettuce, Tomato, Chipotle Mayo Sauce - and the No.17 - The Chicago - On Italian Loaf, Slow Roasted Top Sirloin, Warm Giardiniera, Sauteed Greeen Bell Peppers...
Their web site: http://therealsamichez.com/
This is a small (5 seats) sandwich shop in Grossmont Center, behind the Food Court (kind of hard to find).
Randy Davis discovered it recently and took us to lunch yesterday. The sandwiches are large and reasonably priced and there's more seating on the patio and in the Food Court.
Randy had the No.19 (the Carnegie - On Rye and Stacks of Pastrami) on his first visit so he tried something different yesterday, no. 2, the NCPP (North Carolina Pulled Pork), with a side of fries and a cane sugar root beer. The wife had the No. 20, the Rocky which is essentially a pepper steak and I had half of a No. 18, the Muffuletta (apparently also a recognized spelling), the Halfaletta? with a Coke. The mandatory olive salad topping the muffaletta was so similar to ours that I couldn't tell the difference...
The wife had to pull the cheese off of her sandwich (she's lactose intolerant) despite clearly telling the woman at the counter "no cheese". And the bread was kind of stale on my sandwich but could have been easily overlooked if they had dressed it with a bit more olive oil or prepared the sandwich in advance, then weighted it down for at least a few hours, the way it's supposed to be done.
The sodas were all very reasonably priced at $1 and they are in the process of adding free iced tea and coffee to the menu.
Randy spent a total of $34 and coin for all 3 of our meals
Finally, there are several other sandwiches we plan to try in the near future; the No. 1, their Cuban, the No. 9 - Po'Boy - On French Bread, Beer Battered Fried Shrimp, Lettuce, Tomato, Chipotle Mayo Sauce - and the No.17 - The Chicago - On Italian Loaf, Slow Roasted Top Sirloin, Warm Giardiniera, Sauteed Greeen Bell Peppers...
Their web site: http://therealsamichez.com/
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