Pizzeria Luigi

Pizzeria Luigi
2121 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
619-294-9417 

I heard about Pizzeria Luigi on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Since I was in the San Diego area, I decided to try it.  Pizzeria Luigi has three locations, Golden Hill location being the original. The only other pizza I've tried in San Diego was Bronx Pizza.

It's a huge place, with some outdoor seating, a bar area; complete with games like fusball and shuffleboard, and the dining area on the right side of the building. 

18in pizza with spinach and mushrooms, $17 plus $1.50 per vegetable topping.The crust was amazing- very firm and great texture.  You could load the pizza up with a ton of toppings and the crust was still hold up.  The sauce was well balance, and full of flavor.  The toppings were fresh and plentiful.  I thought this pizza was great!! 

Service is good. 

If I was in San Diego, I would go back to Pizzeria Luigi any time!!

King of Thai Cuisine

King of Thai Cuisine
6171 Mission Gorge Rd Ste 115
San Diego, CA 92120
619-640-9688

In the same strip mall as Kawaii Sushi, is King of Thai Cuisine.  It's a small restaurant with about 10 tables.  It was pretty empty when I went on a Saturday, about 5pm.  

Tofu fried rice, $8.95 onions, carrots peas, and cucumbers.  The tofu was well cooked outside and soft on the inside.  The rice and veggies were all well cooked.  But, this lack seasoning and flavor.  It was pretty bland.

Service was ok. 

I wouldn't go back to King of Thai Cuisine.  I'm sure there are much better Thai places in San Diego!

Mr. Spicy

Mr. Spicy
6618 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120
619-546-6686

I was in San Diego over the weekend and found Mr. Spicy.  It's a small restaurant in a small strip mall.  There was no customers in the restaurant on a Saturday during the peak lunch time!  That's usually a good sign the food isn't that good.  I decided to give them a try and see if that theory holds.

Shrimp chow mein, $7.99.  There weren't that many shrimp in the chow mein, maybe 6 small sized shrimp.  You can only see one small piece of shrimp in the picture.  The noodles were cook perfectly.  The veggies, broccoli and carrots were well cooked.  I really liked the fact the broccoli was cut into small bite sized pieces.  But, this wasn't seasoned very well.  Simply more salt or soy sauce would have made this dish very good.  It was just ok.  A good amount of food for the price too.

Service is good.  Interesting at the host stand there is a sign-This restaurant has only one waitress.  Her English is not very good. Thanks for your understanding.  Apparently that waitress was off because the lady who took my order was nice and while her English was fine.

If I'm back in San Diego, I would give Mr. Spicy another try and I would order something spicy.  Hopefully that dish is well seasoned!

Kawaii Sushi

Kawaii Sushi
6171 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120
619-584-8888

Kawaii Sushi is located in a small strip mall that has a pizza place, vegetarian restaurant, Thai restaurant and a Souplantation!  So parking is tough to find.  Kawaii Sushi is a good sized restaurant with a sushi bar and about 10 tables.

Shrimp tempura roll-$7.95.  This was huge!  Very good example of shrimp tempura roll! 

Tuna sushi-$3.75, seared tuna sushi $3.75 and spicy tuna roll-$4.50 for happy hour, $5.45 regular price.

All the sushi was pretty fresh with good quality fish used.

Service was good.  I got my order to go, and my order came out quickly.  The people were friendly and helpful.

I would go back to Kawaii Sushi anytime I'm in San Diego. 

The Kebab Shop

The Kebab Shop
1570 Camino De La Reina Ste C
San Diego, CA 92108
619-491-0279

I discovered  The Kebab Shop two years ago but didn't do a review.  But, they serve good quality meals including falafel that rank among the best I've ever had!!  Located in a very busy shopping center that is right next to a trolley stop, The Kebab Shop, is very busy!  The line went out the door when I arrived and basically stayed that way for the entire time I was there!

Doner Box with grilled salmon, salad mix, and saffron rice, $8.49 plus $2 extra for salmon.  The rice was perfectly cooked and very flavorful.  The grilled salmon was perfect cook, moist and tasty.  The salad was fresh.  The only thing I didn't like about the Doner Box was that the hot rice and salmon was below the cool salad!  They need to be separated. 

Service is great.  The line moved quickly and the people working were great!  Very friendly and really caring about their job!  They took orders, cleaned the tables, swept the floors, made sure everything was clean!  Very impressive. 

I would go back to The Kebab Shop any time I'm in San Diego!

Wei Wei Asian Express

Wei Wei Asian Express
6465 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115
619-287-8888

So I'm in San Diego and I want something quick and good for dinner.  I'm near San Diego St. and find Wei Wei Asian Express.  Plenty of good reviews and pretty close to where I'm staying.  So I head over there.

Located in a shopping center with a Planet Fitness and next door to a barber shop, in a very diverse area, Wei Wei has about 10 tables, but it seems as though most of their business is take out.

Dinner portion of  shrimp and broccoli in garlic sauce, $9.55.  This was a very good dish.  Well worth the price.  They didn't cheat you out of the shrimp- about 12 to 14 pieces and plenty of fresh broccoli.  The garlic was very flavorful but not overwhelming.  I was very impressed.

Service is good.  The orders come out quickly and the guy taking my order was very nice. 

I was very impressed with Wei Wei Asian Express and would go back if I'm in San Diego.

The Trails Eatery

The Trails Eatery
7389 Jackson Dr
San Diego
619-667-2233

Ever watch that show Restaurant Impossible?  It's where Robert Irvine-the man who lied about his resume but he still hosts a show on Food Network- has two days to turn over a struggling restaurant.  I guess the story is that The Trails Eatery opened as Megan's and did so well they had to expand into the building next door.  Well the expansion didn't go well and Megan's started to lose business.  They called Restaurant Impossible and along came The Liar, I mean Robert Irvine.  He changed the interior, the menu, and the name to The Trails Eatery.

Whatever he did it worked because the place was busy the morning we went.   The Trails Eatery is located in a standard suburban shopping center.  Plenty of parking and and other stores nearby.  They are opened for breakfast and lunch seven days a week, but only open for dinner a few nights a week.  I'm not sure the exact days, so call if you want to go to dinner.

Meat Lovers Omelette Ham, bacon & sausage with cheese; 9.29.  I usually don't get omelettes but today the meat lovers omelette looked too good to pass up.  The first bite I took the omelette was luke warm.  I want an omelette that is hot.  You can see the unmelted string of cheese in the picture, that should tell you that the omelette wasn't hot.  None of the meats inside the omelette were't hot either!  Of course the meats were all precooked but at least warm them up on the grill or make the eggs hot.

Service was good.  Our server was very nice and attentive.

I wasn't  impressed at all with the food at The Trails Eatery.  I mean Denny's makes a better omelette!!  Happy Trails,  The Trails Eatery because I'm not coming back!

Lil B's Urban Eatery-Closed

Lil B's Urban Eatery
2611 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
619-296-8268

Lil B's Urban Eatery is owned by the former owner of Brian's American Eatery. The word is the two business partners had a falling out and closed Brian's. I don't get into any feuds and was happy to hear that Brian's will continue in some form.  The main differences I noticed was that Lil B's had a smaller menu, more update interior, higher prices and better parking.

Half chicken caesar salad, $8.99.  This was a pretty good salad of a chicken caesar salad.  The romaine lettuce was fresh and crunchy.  The chicken was served warm and had a few too many char marks.  It was basically flavorless and was missing salt.  The dressing wasn't as thick as other caesar but tasted just fine.  I liked the fact they didn't drown the salad with dressing.
 

Side of mac and cheese, $2.49.  This was a blend of three cheeses and very well cooked macaroni.  I hate it when the macaroni is mushy.  It was good, but quite frankly, a rip off at $2.49 for such a small portion.  Two to three spoonfuls and this was done.

Service was friendly but lacking.  We were seated and it took forever for our server to even come by.  At first I thought she was the only server, but there were at least two other servers working.  Not sure what was going on, but I was hungry and wanted to get my order in!  She also wasn't refilling drinks quickly.  The ice had already melted and still no refills.

I had high hopes for Lil B's Urban Eatery and I came away disappointed.  Going to Brian's was always something I looked forward to when visiting San Diego.  Now with Lil B's Urban Eatery opened it maybe a long while before I return.