Tag Archives: san diego

San Diego

My wife and I took a short trip to San Diego to celebrate a friend’s retirement from the Navy, so we spent a bunch of time walking around, eating and drinking our way through the city.

Here’s what we tried:

Donut Bar

This spot was pretty good. We liked the lemon pistachio better than the raspberry cheesecake.

Tacos El Gordo

Great spot for tacos, and reasonably priced considering that this place gets a lot of hype and crowds. The al pastor tacos was the winner for us, but we also tried cabeza (face), lengua (tongue) and tripe.

Mike Hess Brewery

The barrel aged Vietnamese coffee stout was our favorite.

San Diego Burger Co.

This wasn’t that good. Skip this joint. I had high hopes, but the patty was a little under seasoned and the bun was dry and crumbled.

Dinner at Greystone Prime Steakhouse is detailed HERE.

Senor Taquero

This spot was probably my favorite place to eat of the entire trip. I wish we had some regular tacos here too. They were so cheap (3 for $7.99)! The rolled chicken tacos and adobado burrito were killer. The churro had a nice vanilla pudding type of filling inside.

Ballast Point Brewery

We had a short pit stop here while we were waiting for Swagyu to open. Speedboat was like a corona with a lime in it. Refreshing.

Swagyu

This was great but pricey at $23. I’d much rather have gone back to Senor Taquero to try the tacos.

The World Famous I-Bar

This is where the retirement party was held. The bar was the inspiration for the scenes in the movie Maverick that take place in the Air Force bar on base. Very cool spot.

Not bad for a weekend trip! We hit a lot of spots.

Greystone Prime Steakhouse

Greystone Prime Steakhouse overall score: 80

My wife and I came here with another couple when we were in San Diego. We tried a bunch of shit, so let me get right into it…

Flavor: 8

We shared a porterhouse for two and a 20oz bone-in rib eye among three people.

The Porterhouse was a 7/10. The strip side had some grey-banding on the edges, and was definitely a bit toothsome in parts. The filet side, however, was magnificent. The only down side was that it lacked the flavor that the strip side had.

The rib eye ate almost like cured ham. It was cooked a bit under, but none of us minded. It was lean in the eye, but there was a ton of flavor in the cap. 8/10.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9

There’s a good selection of cuts here; wet aged, dry aged, large format, single cuts, everything. Everything is also prime grade. The numerous selections available are why I chose this place over others in the area.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

The portions here were good, and measured up nicely with what I expect from a NYC steakhouse, only a bit cheaper on the budget by about five or ten bucks, which was a nice change of pace.

Price: 8

The total bill was $713 with tax and tip included. As I mentioned above, this would be up a bit if it were in NYC.

Bar: 6

The bar here is actually nice, but the bar tender sucked. He was ignoring my wife when she tried to order (three times), and the drinks were sloppily made. Two of our glasses had massive cracks in them too, and the one we had at the bar as just dumped hastily into a new glass, not re-made from scratch. Cocktails were meh too. Could use some work!

 

Specials and Other Meats: 9

I had to jump at this elk chop dish.

It turned out to be my favorite item of the meal. It was a nice lean but flavorful cross between lamb and venison. 9/10.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We should have ordered our sides better, because the elk came with both mashed potatoes and spinach, and we ordered bot mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. They were all pretty good, but the versions on the composed elk chops dish were better.

For dessert, we tried a yuzu cheese cake and a delicious chocolate and peanut butter mousse pie that was perfect.

Seafood Selection: 9

Delicious tower for four, which included massive shrimp, a whole lobster, oysters, and tuna tartare.

Service: 8

Service was great at the table, but less than desirable at the bar. The bread came after our appetizers, which was odd, but we were glad it came. It was tasty with a whipped, soft garlic and herb butter.

Ambiance: 7

Ambiance could use a little kick in the balls, as the place glows neon red and purple at times. It feels sort of like a club. But over all it was a good vibe, and I’m glad we went. Here’s the other couple below – we were celebrating his retirement from the Navy.

GREYSTONE PRIME STEAKHOUSE
658 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101