Turf Supper Club - Stay Classy San Diego

Last Saturday I had dinner with some friends at the Turf Supper Club in Golden Hill. This restaurant has been a mainstay in San Diego for as long as I can remember. Before the idea of grill-your-own steaks became trendy, the Turf Club was there, unassumingly and quietly creating a legacy. I'm pretty sure the decor hasn't changed since then either. From the wallpaper with horses wearing suits to the Pepto-Bismol pink walls in the ladies room, this place screams campy. The red leather booths up the ante when it comes to old-school lounge decor. But that's what makes it cool. A lot of new restaurants spend good money to achieve this aesthetic - the retro-chic look. But this place isn't "decorated" retro, it is retro. If Ron Burgundy were a real person, he would definitely be a regular at the Turf Supper Club.

Vagabond: Food to Satisfy Your Wanderlust

If someone asked me how to describe the cuisine at Vagabond, I would explain it like this: If you were backpacking across Europe and stopped off at a small country inn for a bite to eat in the Alps in Switzerland, and then did the same thing in France, Spain, Italy and Germany, the combination of dishes you would have tasted could be placed on the menu and served at Vagabond.

Cheeburger Cheeburger may be missing an "S", but satisfies nonetheless

During Lunch Week (the week between Christmas and New Year's), my coworkers and I went to a burger joint in Rancho Bernardo called Chee Burger Chee Burger. Apparently it's a chain, but there is only one in California. It's located in a strip mall on Carmel Mountain Road. The place is small and was really crowded so we had to wait a long time to get seated. It's decorated 50's style complete with a giant Betty Boop outside holding a serving tray.

The Kebab Shop takes the "o" out of kabob but puts flavor in your mouth

My coworkers have an annual tradition called "Lunch Week". The week between Christmas and New Years is known as Lunch Week because the office is mostly empty, the managers are all on vacation, and the poor souls who stay behind to work like to take extended lunch breaks in order to visit new and interesting restaurants that might normally be out of range for a one-hour break. Even though lunch week doesn't technically start until next week, this year we started early. The first spot we hit up was The Kebab Shop downtown on the corner of 9th and Market. This is one of our favorite places for lunch and we'll drive a long way to get it.

Jersey Mike's sub sandwiches will blow your socks off

A few months ago a coworker introduced me to Jersey Mikes. He said that they had the best sub sandwiches in town. Not being much of a sandwich person, I was not all that excited about it. However, he dragged us all there even though it was 20 minutes from our office. They had only been open for a few weeks at that location but already there was a line out the door. This is always a good sign, so I went in with an open mind.

Under the Bridge Downtown... is Las Cuatro Milpas

Two words to describe the food at this hole-in-the-wall near the Coronado Bridge - great tacos. There is not a lot else on the menu, so if you don't like tacos or are vegetarian, this probably isn't your kind of joint. They only serve pork or chicken tacos, burritos and tamales. But if you are a Mexican food purist, then it doesn't get any better than this. Even the rustic setting feels like Old Mexico.

Experience Russian-Georgian cuisine at Pomagranate

If you've never had Russian food in San Diego, you're not alone. San Diego has more than it's share of taco shops, Italian trattorias, and even a good variety of Asian restaurants. But when it comes to eastern European cuisine, it's a little harder to find. So when my husband's Ukrainian coworker recommended a Russian-Georgian Restaurant in North Park, we were eager to give it a try. Having never been exposed to Russian food, I didn't know what to expect. I pictured goulash and beef stroganoff even though goulash is actually Hungarian. We had a hard time finding the place because for one thing we had the address wrong, but for another it's small and the sign isn't easy to see from the street. It turns out it's on El Cajon Boulevard right next Dao Son, a favorite Vietnamese restaurant of mine.

The Mission - Best Cinnamon Toast in Town

Today my husband and I had breakfast with some friends at a quaint little place on Mission Blvd in Mission Beach which is aptly named "The Mission." There was a fairly large group of people waiting outside, so we were afraid the wait was going to be too long. However, the hostess told us it would only be 20 minutes so we decided to wait. And boy was it worth the wait.