Incredible Food Spots in San Diego

Recently I took a trip to Old Town San Diego in Southern California, a great old-fashioned western/Mexican tourist spot. I had some good times touring around the area and much of San Diego, but the best meals I had were right in Old Town. I have compiled a list of my favorite eating spots.

O'Hungry's - My cousin and I ate breakfast here 3 days in a row. Each time we ordered the exact same thing. He had the corn beef and hash with eggs and I had the bacon & cheese omelet. My meal was perfect, an omelet bathed in cheese with more cheese inside, chopped bacon stuffed in the middle, and potatoes on the side. It was great. It was like a potato skin. The melted cheddar cheese tasted phenomenal with the bacon grease on it. Although, it only came like that on the first day. The next two days I have to assume that there was a different cook because there wasn't much cheese inside and the bacon was in whole strips, which made it harder to cut up and eat. Nonetheless, it was delicious. My cousin was practically addicted to his meal as well so we kept on going there. It's a decent place too, with an all-wooden rustic set up, perfect for fitting in with the rest of the town.

The Alamo - On our last day in Old Town we were in a hurry so we agreed that this was a decent fast food Mexican place to stop at. Well, it wasn't exactly fast food because it took quite some time to get our order. But when it finally arrived, I was very satisfied. I ordered two shredded beef tacos. They came on soft corn tortillas and were stuffed with diced tomatoes, cilantro, onions, and cheese. The mixture made it juicy and very tasty. It was a pretty decent restaurant after all and I would definitely go there again. But next time I think I'll bring a newspaper while I'm waiting for my meal.

Marion's Fish - During our trip we went to Seaport Village. We spent some time evaluating the different food selections and finally settled on having fish. My aunt and I ordered fish and chips and my cousin ordered a crab cake sandwich. I half expected the fish to be small and battered in some cheap junk. But it turned out that they gave plenty of food and it was terrific. My cousin seemed to be astounded at how good the crab cakes were and he actually got full, something I've never seen from my cousin before. I finished my fish (4 pieces) and I nearly finished the fries, which were also great, and my aunt ate what she could, but my cousin had to box the other half of his sandwich. Unfortunately when he left the hotel to return home later that night he forgot the leftovers. I tried to run after him as fast as I could but he was already gone. So guess who popped the leftovers in the microwave and had a midnight snack?

Café Coyote - This restaurant is pretty large, breaking into two buildings, one side mostly being a bar. Even the candy store right next to it sells Café Coyote shirts and other souvenirs. I ordered two beef tacos and to drink I had a Pina Colada ice drink. There were chips and salsa for appetizers, which were pretty good, but surprisingly spicy. When the food came I was a little surprised. My tacos were sprinkled in what I thought to be parmesan cheese, which disappointed me as there was no other cheese on it. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was crumbled Mexican cheese, which in my opinion is the best cheese in the world. I kept praising the cheese throughout my meal as if it were diamonds sprinkled on my tacos. The taco shells were a little too hard for me but the meat was very tender and juicy and over all it was delicious.

Pizza Bella - I visited this nice little restaurant in Old Town with my older cousin, grandmother, great aunt, and my aunt. When we were seated and given our menus, I noticed how self hyped the place seemed to be, with the front cover of the menu displaying award listings and quotes from the press about how good their food was. I thought it probably had some truth, but was more fluff than anything. Our server was very nice, almost too nice in fact. He was very mild mannered and polite. My cousin and I shared a medium pepperoni and mushroom pizza. It was fantastic. It was indeed one of the top 3 pizzas I have ever had the pleasure of eating. I had asked for a side of anchovies, because for some reason I started liking them, and when the server came back I thought he was going to commit suicide when he told me they had run out of anchovies. It was kind of funny how apologetic he was about it. But the food was great, so great that I made my aunt and cousin return a couple of nights later. Although, it didn't take much convincing since they also loved it. This time I ordered an individual pizza with the same toppings as before. My aunt ordered some type of cheese stuffed ravioli and my cousin ordered an Italian quesadilla. Growing up part Mexican I found the concept of an Italian quesadilla to be as laughable as a Mexican pizza, and I was sort of right. The quesadilla came and it was not much of what a Mexican quesadilla is supposed to be, but I took one bite and I was in heaven. It was basically a cheese pizza with no tomato sauce but Mexican cheese (my favorite cheese ever!) was sprinkled in as well as various herbs and spices. It was so good that I just ate that and mostly ignored my own pizza. I only ate one of the four slices from the pizza that I ordered. Pizza Bella is absolutely phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some good Italian food.

I had such a great dining experience in San Diego, especially Old Town, that I have given sincere thought to moving to San Diego just for the great food. I live in Los Angeles, and while there is certainly great food to be found, it doesn't quite compare to what I found in San Diego's Old Town and the surrounding areas.