| So it looks like another weekend of heavy rain in | | | | tough to find, sinceit's hidden in a neighborhood away |
| Boston. | | | | from the ocean, butworth seeking out. |
| This is, what, the 7th or 8th weekend in a row with | | | | Just before you reach San Diego, you hit La Jolla, a |
| rain? Ilove Boston, but this is ridiculous. | | | | tonycommunity that seems to have more investment |
| With the rain, my daydreams of San Diego, CA, seem | | | | placesthan restaurants. I like La Jolla, though, with its |
| tokeep popping up more and more (call it | | | | spectaculardowntown park above the ocean cliffs, |
| Californiadreaming). The other night, I was listening to a | | | | and its narrow,crooked lanes. Just south of the center |
| great rockstation from Encinitas on Internet radio. It got | | | | of La Jolla is a littlerestaurant called Bahia Don Bravo. |
| me to thinkingabout Encinitas, where my cousins used | | | | The owners of thisauthentic Mexican restaurant have |
| to live before theymoved up the coast to La Costa. | | | | a few branches in San |
| One of my favorite restaurants in Encinitas is the 101 | | | | Diego, but this one is special, since you can order the |
| Diner. | | | | foodto go and walk a few blocks down a side street |
| Located about 4 blocks from my favorite beach in the | | | | to one of themost spectacular views of the Pacific |
| world | | | | Ocean that you willever see. And there is even a |
| (Moonlight Beach), the 101 Diner has everything, from | | | | bench where the view is, soyou can eat in relative |
| greatbreakfast and lunch entrees to outdoor seating to | | | | comfort. Bahia Don Bravo has the typeof Mexican |
| a friendly,all-around nice guy of an owner. Almost as | | | | food that you just can't find in Boston. I always gothere |
| good, and justdown the street, is Kim's Restaurant, | | | | when traveling to San Diego, and always miss it when |
| which has terrific | | | | I'm back in Boston. |
| Vietnamese food. Better yet, neither of these | | | | Finally, you reach the wonderful city of San Diego. |
| restaurants iswell-known (if you have looked at the | | | | Where togo for food? Well, there are too many great |
| site I founded, | | | | places tomention here. A couple of standouts are |
| Boston's Hidden Restaurants, you would know I have | | | | Point Loma |
| athing for great restaurants that haven't been | | | | Seafood, with its memorable view of the city across |
| discovered). | | | | theharbor, and the Coyote Cafe in Old Town. But my |
| Heading south toward San Diego, another memorable, | | | | favorite isa little hamburger joint in Ocean Beach called |
| butlittle-known, restaurant can be found in beautiful | | | | Hodad's,which is where I had the best cheeseburger I |
| Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Pipes Cafe is a breakfast spot | | | | have hadanywhere in the country (and I've had a lot |
| that ismainly frequented by surfers and Cardiff | | | | ofcheeseburgers!). Juicy, thick, hearty, and smothered |
| residents lookingto show up late to work (word is, | | | | incheese, the burgers here are impossibly good. |
| Trevor Hoffman, the greatreliever for the San Diego | | | | Hodad's istruly amazing. |
| Padres, is also a regular here). | | | | Well, I guess my daydream of eating my way through |
| Pipes has fantastic breakfast plates, and the | | | | San |
| diningoutdoors on the patio is a must. | | | | Diego is about done. As I look out my window and see |
| As you continue down the coast, you come to artsy | | | | theskyline of Boston, I realize that I do live in a great |
| Solana | | | | city. I justwish it wouldn't rain so much. |
| Beach, home to Fidel's, which is fairly well-known, and | | | | Copyright © 2005, Boston's Hidden Restaurants. |
| forgood reason; Fidel's may be the best Mexican | | | | All Rights |
| restaurantnorth of San Diego (though I have my | | | | Reserved. |
| personal favorite,which I'll mention in a minute). Fidel's is | | | | |