Samurai Japanese Restaurant Review (Solana Beach Restaurants)

Pricing:  
This place is really three restaurants in one.  There are cooking tables in the back room.  Up front, there's a sushi bar and sit down restaurant area.  So the price varies depending on what dining experience you go for.  The cooking tables around going to be around $22-32 per person.  Each roll at the sushi bar is about $7-10 apiece.  The sit down restaurant costs about $10-15 per entree.  The sushi is cheaper if you go during happy hour.


Distance:
A Solana Beach restaurant.  Right off of the Lomas Santa Fe exit.  From Encinitas, it will take 5-15 minutes to get there depending on which part of Encinitas you're driving from.


Thoughts:
This is one of my favorite special event restaurants (birthdays, anniversaries, etc...).  As far as the cooking tables go, they're not as "showy" as Benihana or Miyabi but the food more than makes up for it in quality and taste.  Their steak and scallops are phenomenal.

 Their sushi is good.  Better than most places, I would say.  It's freshly prepared and not too expensive especially if you go at happy hour.  Still, if I'm in the mood for sushi, I would rather go to Love Boat Sushi in San Marcos.  What I'll frequently do at Samurai is order a single roll as an appetizer.  Because it is quite tasty.

Their dine in restaurant is also a nice experience.  It's a good option if you don't want to spend the big bucks on the cooking table.  The only complaint is the lack of choices.  This probably arises from having two other "events" going on in the same restaurant.  But there are enough standard choices (beef, shrimp, chicken) that it's not hard to find something to eat.  It just doesn't have the same pizzazz as the cooking tables.

The Tractor Room Review (San Diego Restaurants)

Pricing:

The food is on the pricey side.  Most of the entrees are in the $15-18 range.  A major part of their menu is selecting a few of their side dishes (big enough to share) to accompany your entrees.  The side dishes are an extra $5-8 apiece.

Distance:

A downtown San Diego restaurant.  You take the 163 and then get off on Robinson Ave.  The Tractor Room is on 5th Ave which intersects with Robinson.  Bring change for parking, it can get a little crowded at night.  Takes about 20 minutes to drive there and then what sometimes feels like an hour to park.

Thoughts:

It's cozy, it's cooky, it has cocktails... The Tractor Room is the perfect date night getaway.  The menu selections are not your standard burger/pizza/pasta choices.  So you're going to have to be a little adventurous and maybe order duck kabobs or a lamb burger instead.  Don't worry, the food is all excellent and you can tell your friends that you tried something exotic.

The food is a little too expensive to for me to put The Tractor Room on the regular rotation (plus, it's a little far).  It's also wise to make a reservation with this place.  However, all these things combined make it a fantastic date night.  You can hear the person you're eating with talk.  I also think having to share the side dishes makes things fun.  It gives you something to argue about.

The Tractor Room is kind of has an artsy vibe to it.  It's definitely not mainstream.  Which I think works to it's advantage.  If you're on a first date you can impress your date at your knowledge of the town.  If you've been with your significant other for awhile, you feel like you got out of the house and didn't just go to the local pizza joint for dinner.

Mama Kat's Restaurant & Pie Shop Review (San Marcos Restaurants)

Pricing:

Pretty cheap for a non-chain breakfast/lunch restaurant.  The main courses are $7-12.  And then you'll have to get pie which is about $3 a slice.  Two people can go here and each get coffee, breakfast and a slice of pie and the total bill will be about $35.

Distance:

A San Marcos restaurant.  It's technically on restaurant row though a little out of the way of the mainstream places there.  The street you turn on is called Park.  Just past the movie theater and Fry's.  Takes about 15 minutes to drive there.

Thoughts:

This place markets itself as being good ol' home-style cookin'.  I've never totally understood that phrase.  If you want home-style cooking, why are you going out to eat?  Whatever.  Basically, their entire menu specializes in comfort foods.

For the most part, all the food they use grease to cook is fantastic.  Their potatoes and eggs are oozing with flavor.  Where Mama Kat's falls short is in the fresh produce category.  As an example, one of their featured dishes is the Eggs Benedict.  The English muffin, egg and hollandaise sauce are all delicious.  Order these eggs with a slice of tomato or avocado... even the good flavor of the other ingredients doesn't cancel out the fact that the tomato and avocado are clearly not ripe.  Like, hard as a rock not ripe.

I feel that since they are a San Diego restaurant, serving really bad avocados is a pretty serious offense.  But not bad enough to totally turn me off from this place.  The staff is really friendly and the overall experience is a good one.  Just read through their menu with a wary eye.

Pappalecco Review (San Diego Restaurants)

Pricing:
More bistro than restaurant, Pappalecco has a little of everything.  Your panini and pizza is going to be $8-10.  And, of course, you have to get the gelato which is about $3-6 (depending on the size you get).


Distance:
A downtown San Diego restaurant.  It's on State Street.  You take the Front Street exit off the freeway from the 5.  Not technically on the Little Italy restaurant row but very close.  Takes about 25 minutes to get there.


Thoughts:
I have been to Italy several times.  Every time I've gone I get heavily involved with gelato (Italian ice cream for those that don't know).  Every time I come back to the States I go on a mad, frantic quest to find good gelato in order to feed my addiction.  For years, this was a futile quest.  But that was until I discovered Papalecco.

The owners are from Italy and many of the servers barely speak English.  They make their gelato from scratch here every day and good lord is it good.  Since Pappalecco is more bistro style rather than restaurant, it's a great place to just pop in and pick up some gelato to eat as you wander around Little Italy.

Oh, and they have food there too, by the way.  Pappalecco opens up in the afternoon and stays open late.  Their pizza is very Italian.  Quite frankly, I think Americans win in the pizza department.  But the other dishes they serve are fantastic.  Though this is an Italian establishment, their menu consists more of salads and sandwiches rather than pasta. All of their panini have fresh ingredients and are drizzled with liberal amounts of olive oil and vinaigrette.

The seating is very limited but if you can find a table it's a great place to just lounge around on a warm afternoon/evening to talk and drink coffee or wine.

Wine Steals Review (Cardiff By Sea Restaurants)

Pricing:

Another one of those "artisan" food places (I have theories about that word related to cost).  The food menu consists mostly of pizza, wraps and cheese/meat plates.  You're going to be spending about $25 per  food item (per pizza or per cheese plate).  But the food is kind of an afterthought.  Most people go here to drink.  The wine here ranges from $10-50 with the average bottle being about $17.

Distance:

A Cardiff By Sea restaurant.  Right off San Elijo Ave. and very close to Birmingham as an intersection.  Right next to the Jack in the Box if you're familiar with the area.  5-10 minute drive for most Encinitas people.

Thoughts:  

This place is overpriced.  The pizza is almost forgivable but $25 for a cheese board containing a few sparse chunks of cheese is just ridiculous.  The wine they sell is average.  If you know a little about wine you can find a decent bottle for a good price but most of the options there are little more than table wine.

But, I won't deny that it's a fun environment.  After 5pm most evenings it gets pretty crowded.  On Friday and Saturday nights it's packed and very much a single's bar type of scene.  So you go for the experience.  It's by the beach, it has a great view at sunset... not a bad way to get a buzz and have relaxed conversation with friends.  

If you're not into the overly crowded bar scene, the best time to go to Wine Steals in the afternoon around 3:30 or 4.  No one is there and you can have your pick of table or couch and just hang out drinking wine.  Then it doesn't really matter how crowded it gets later because you've already claimed your spot.

The Cottage Review (La Jolla Restaurants)

Pricing:  

A cute but pricey little breakfast/lunch/dinner place.  Breakfast ranges $10-12.  Lunch is going to be more $12-15.  Dinner starts heading to the $18-22.  The portions are satisfying and tasty but not enormous.  Expect salads and panini for your $12 at lunch.

Distance:

A La Jolla restaurant.  It's right off Prospect St. (as most things are in La Jolla).  From Encinitas, it only takes about 15 minutes to drive to the La Jolla Blvd. exit on the freeway.  Depending on the time of day you go, getting into La Jolla can take a whole lot longer.

Thoughts:

I like this place though it would never be somewhere I go on a regular basis due to the whole price/portions issue.  But the food is very good and is definitely the kind of place I would go to with my mom or friends to have a meal and chat.  

Though it's not a kid-friendly breakfast place, it has a somewhat relaxed environment in the afternoon.  I like that it's slightly away from the main La Jolla streets so you can sit outside and still hear the person you're with speak.

At night, The Cottage goes from a girl gossip haunt to more date-night.  It cleans up nicely and the wine selection is good.  A perfect place to spend an evening getting to know someone.

Casa de Bandini Review (Carlsbad Restaurants)

Pricing:

The full size entrees cost $10-15 apiece.  The enormous fish bowl sized margaritas are about $5-8 apiece.

Distance:

A Carlsbad restaurant.  Though I count this portion of Carlsbad as part of Encinitas.  It's in The Forum shopping center.  Right off Encinitas Blvd., you can use either Lucadia or Calle Barcelona to enter this mall.

Thoughts:

Formerly a fixture in Old Town, Casa de Bandini moved to Carlsbad and got a face lift.  The atmosphere changed ever so slightly from Old Town charming to suburbia dining.  But it's still a fun place to go.  The waitresses walk around wearing flamenco outfits and expect to be serenaded during your meal by the resident mariachi band.

The food is good but could best be described as generic Mexican.  It's really not all that different from El Torito or Garcia's flavor-wise.  One nice thing about this place is that they do have whole parts of their menu devoted to various diet needs such as vegetarian or gluten-free. 

I only have one major gripe about Casa de Bandini: they barely put any alcohol in their margaritas.  Yes, they serve fish bowl sized drinks.  But it's basically just a really expensive slurpee.  And it's not just me.  I have been to this place with people who barely drink at all and were actually worried about ordering a margarita so large.  Every single person ends up saying "is there any booze at all in this?"  I feel kind of ripped off on this point.  I mean, this place is making money hand over fist.  Skimping on the booze is just tacky.

Other than the questionable margaritas, I enjoy going to this restaurant.  It has a fun atmosphere that makes it a perfect outing on a warm evening (good patio seating).  Do keep in mind that there is almost always a wait there of at least twenty minutes.  So plan accordingly.