San Diego ~ Special Travel Edition!

We recently had the privilege of visiting the beautiful city of San Diego for Comic-Con! The event was pretty amazing, but I was also looking forward to all of that great California food!

Las Cuatro Milpas

 

 Since San Diego is so close to Mexico, we originally planned on taking a trip down to Tijuana for some authentic Mexican food. We weren't able to make that happen on this trip, but that doesn't mean we didn't find some awesome authentic Mexican food anyway! I found Las Cuatro Milpas while searching Yelp and Urbanspoon. The reviews looked great, so we decided to give it a shot...and we are so glad we did! Everything is ordered a la cart, which is good for me since I wanted to try a bunch of things!

The line!! It moves fast so don't get discouraged.

 Order at the counter and they make it right in front of you.

 Pork Burrito

 Pork Tacos

 Rice and Beans. These are literally the best I have had in my life!! There were bits of egg in there and the whole thing had this amazing flavor!

 Rolled Tacos - Pork

 Homemade Tortillas. Absolutely delicious!

 House Hot Sauce. I loved this stuff. It's not too hot and had a wonderful flavor. I put it on everything I ate!

  Verdict: Loved it!!! 

It was 100% authentic and the food was some of the best Mexican I have had. If you are in the area, you have to try them out. I know that every time I visit San Diego, I will stop in more than once!!

Bruxie Gourmet Waffles

 

After a long day at Comic-Con with just a couple of snacks to munch on, we were dying for some comfort food. I found Bruxie and knew we had to go there!

Bacon, Egg & Cheddar - Tillamook Cheddar, Mayo and Applewood Smoked Bacon

 This was as delicious as it sounds (and looks!) The perfect bit of comfort food. I loved how the bacon was sliced into smaller pieces since you got a little bacon with every bite.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffle - Chili Honey & Cider Slaw

The chicken was so juicy that it dripped onto the plate when you took a bite! This was exactly what I needed. So savory and flavorful. The honey gave it a little kick and was a welcome addition.

Irish Nachos - Crispy Waffle Fries With Homemade Cheese Sauce, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Sour Cream & Chives

 These fries were sooooo good! A waffle place would naturally have some waffle fries, and I was happy because I love those! The fries were smothered with cheesy goodness and almost every fry was cheesy. I could eat these as a meal...every day of my life.

Verdict: Loved it!!

This was exactly what we were craving and hit the spot. My only regret is that I didn't get a dessert waffle. Those looked so good, but we were already planning on going somewhere else for dessert so we didn't get one. Still sad about that, but there is always next time! 

The Baked Bear

  


  This is the dessert place we went to after the waffles! We were in the mood for ice cream, and this place looked perfect. Chocolate chip cookies are my #1 dessert choice, so an ice cream sandwich place? Yes please!

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cookie Dough Ice Cream. I'm not lying at all when I say that these are the yummiest chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten! They were so soft and chewy!

 Ivan got a Red Velvet cookie on the top, Macadamia White Chocolate cookie on the bottom, with Oreo ice cream.

Verdict: Loved it!
I mean really, what's not to love?! The cookies and ice cream were outstanding, so the combination of the two were out of this world!


Zia Gourmet Pizza

 

We couldn't visit California without trying some pizza. Zia Gourmet Pizza has some odd topping combinations, so we decided to give them a try. My husband and I never want the same thing, so we decided on a half and half pizza. We got half The New Yorker (turkey pastrami combined with
scallions, pepperoncinis, light cream cheese, fresh basil and topped with mozzarella), half Potato(rosemary potatoes combined with fresh garlic, scallions, feta, lean cream cheese and

topped with mozzarella). I mainly got potato because it's something that I would have never thought to add on a pizza.

 Potato

 The New Yorker

Verdict: Liked It.

Everything was very tasty and the ingredients seemed fresh, but we weren't blown away by the pizzas. I do like that they take pride in their pizza and value their reputation. They told me that they do not serve chicken anymore because it tends to dry out in the pizza oven. Attention to detail like that earns points in my book.

Stacked

 

 Stacked is one of those hip new places that you would expect to see in  California. The concept is very interesting, you pay for what you get. If you add ingredients you pay more. If you remove ingredients, you pay less. I really like that! We were seated then our waitress came over to tell us a little about the place and how to order. It was super cool that you can order on an iPad! We placed our order and it came out rather quickly. We were a little disappointed to learn that the burger is just a burger, no side items come with it. You have to order everything separate. At $10+ a burger, it really should come with something else. That was a little off-putting to tell you the truth.

I got Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese. The taste was great, but the ingredients were very sparse. I had the equivalent of one small chicken tender, and a tiny amount of buffalo sauce, bread crumbs, and ranch. I wasn't even able to taste the ranch, I just saw a tiny bit on there. When you are paying for each ingredient, that is very frustrating.

 Ivan got the Stack N Bleu, which had a pretzel bun, roasted shallot mayo, bleu cheese, applewood smoked bacon, crispy onion strings with a drizzle of balsamic glaze. He said it was a very good burger, but he really wished he had some fries.

Verdict: It was ok, but we won't be going back.

The food was good, but the value and service was not. Once we placed our order, we never saw the waitress again until we were about to leave. Someone different brought out the food and we were never given silverware or napkins. We had to hit the call button on the iPad to get someone to come over and give us napkins, and she seemed very bothered by us asking. Another issue, I wasn't sure how to tip. Who am I tipping? I did most of the work myself but I would feel like a cheap skate if I tipped less than 15%. And to top it all off, we were still hungry when we left. That is unacceptable, especially when you paid $30+ for the meal. We were thinking about ordering a dessert, but 1. We didn't want to give them any more money, and 2. I was trying to hurry and catch the sunset.

My other passion is photography. It's a good thing we left when we did, or I would not have been able to get this sunset shot down at the pier!