I live near the 8 and Nimitz, more or less. I'm looking for restaurants that will be open on Thanksgiving and serving the more traditional turkey type dinner. We'd prefer to stay within 15 or so miles of this area so we can make it back to my place before the food coma sets in. *grin*

We'd also like to stay around $45 a person or so. I've seen a few places (Prado, Hornblower, etc) that are offering Thanksgiving dinners but they are pretty $$$$ and the food is more of your fancy smancy type meals. We are just looking for some yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggie, gravy, cranberries and of course pie. All the classics we are too lazy to make ourselves this year.

Suggestions? Thanks!

I had a few mai tais last night and craving something to cure me of this hangover. Where are the best hangover cure restaurants in SD? My favs in the past have been mom and pop taco shops, mexican restaurants (Ranchos in OB) and greasy spoon diners (Big Kitchen in South Park and Brian's in Hillcrest) and their slightly fancier cousins (The MIssion in North Park). I am looking for some hidden gem out there and maybe something other than Mexican food and greasy spoons in all their incarnations. I want to try something new! I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian and my boyfriend who is probably not as hungover as I am, is a meat-eater. I live in Mission Hills/Hillcrest but would be willing to travel some distance, let's say a 15-20 minute drive in any direction. I'm going to go back to bed for a little bit and will probably be wanting to go out around 11 or 12. Thanks!

X-posted to san_diego 

I want to take my roommate out to breakfast/lunch tomorrow, but I want a vegan or vegetarian place downtown, maybe Hillcrest. Any ideas?

My friend just opened Marcella June's Coffee Lounge this Saturday morning at 8:00 am. It's located at 5410 El Cajon Blvd near the college area (On the corner of 54th and El Cajon between the check cashing place & the H&R Block). Go check it out as it's cheaper and MUCH better than Starbuck's!

Does anyone know what's up with the Commonwealth? The last three times I've driven past during business hours, they've been closed.

Thanks.


x-posted to san_diego

Is anyone here a current (or former) member of a local CSA? I'm considering joining one, and am trying to narrow down my choices. Any opinions, experiences, etc. are much appreciated.

Heads up SD Foodies...

San Diego Restaurant Week is coming!

JUNE 22-27 2008
3 Courses. Extraordinary Food.
Experience cuisine that delights the palate and defines the art of dining during San Diego Restaurant Week. Choose from over 130 of the city’s best restaurants and enjoy a three-course dinner for either $30 or $40 per person, depending upon the restaurant.

List of participating restaurants

http://sandiegorestaurantweek.com

Is there anywhere is Escondido or in close proximity (maybe San Marcos, but not say, Carlsbad) where I can get decent Japanese food/sushi?  I don't like to go just anywhere for that kind of stuff, so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Weird question, but are there any good sushi train restaurants in San Diego? I'm looking for a place with conveyor-belt type service...they're popular in Portland but I've yet to see one in San Diego. I think they're also called "kaiten" sushi places.

X-posted to san_diego

OK, with Med Grill Cafe's new owners (last year) I don't know of any good Lebanese places.

Any suggestions?

Notes:
Mama's is ok, but not really a belly dancing kind of place is it?
Rannoush has good atmosphere (if you don't mind Hookah) but the food is so-so....
Aladdin's (not really lebanese, but the best I could come up with) isn't bad, but still no belly dancing....

(I hope this isn't off topic, forgive me if it is)

Where do most of you do your weekly grocery shopping? We hit up Costco and Trader Joe's. Albertsons seems a little pricey, and I haven't checked out Vons too much.

I just moved here from San Jose, and I would love some good burrito place recommendations. I went to Santana's on a whim, and it was not good. I live very near downtown, in Sherman Heights. Thanks so much for the help.

If any of you fellow burrito lovers ever make it up to the bay area, I suggest eating at La Victoria or The Burrito Factory for a mind blowing burrito experience!!

Does anyone know where I could buy freshly boiled crawfish for my upcoming Mardi Gras party?

So far, I've found the following options, which I'm not particularly fond of:

• Buy from Mardi Gras Cafe - I know that theirs are frozen and reboiled, but I think they lose a lot of their juiciness and flavor; to me it's just not the same.
• Buy LIVE crawfish and boil them myself.  Uh... yea, no thanks.  :o)

I've heard that the Gator By The Bay festival has crawfish... does anyone know if they boil theirs live or if they buy fresh boiled from someone?

(x-posted to san_diego)

When I eat at a restaurant, I tend to drink a lot.  Whether I'm having water, iced tea, or soda, I tend to consume a lot of it.  Heck, even when I'm drinking wine or beer, I'll want a glass of water on the side, and I'll usually finish both of those before most people get half way down the glass.  So, I appreciate it when the waitperson is attentive enough to notice when my drink is running low and fill me up.  Unfortunately a lot of wait staff just don't know how to fill up a glass.

Because I consume my drink so quickly, often times the ice doesn't have much time to melt, so I usually have a fair amount of ice left in my glass.  A proper refill for my glass would consist of mostly liquid and maybe little bit of ice.  Unfortunately, more often than not what I get from the person refiling my beverage is someone who doesn't think, and attempts to fill the glass as quickly as they can.  This leads to the person filing the glass with more ice than liquid.  Occasionally they will notice the mistake they just made, and go retrieve a fresh glass with the proper proportion of ice and drink.  Usually though they will not notice, and I'll get stuck with a little bit of drink and a lot of ice.  :-(

Now here is the question, how do I communicate the problem to the wait staff?  I could just tell the person as they fill up my drink.  Unfortunately that sounds like I'm telling the person how to do their job.  I could ask for a separate pitcher for myself.  That doesn't often work because most restaurants use the pitchers and don't have enough to just place one with any guest that asks.  I could ask for a drink with no ice.  That would likely send the wrong message, I don't like cold drinks.

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Suggestions?

I've been craving Burmese food and momos (Tibetan/Nepalese dumplings). Does anyone know of Burmese, Tibetan and/or Nepalese restaurants in San Diego?

Thanks!