Swami's Cafe Review (Encinitas Restaurants)

Pricing:

Expect to pay about $10-18 per entree whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Distance:

There are several locations.  There's one on the coast highway and the new one that just opened up is close to the El Camino Real/Encinitas Blvd. intersection.  Both places take 5-10 minutes to drive to.

Thoughts:

While there are crossover dishes, the vibe of the Swami's close to the El Camino/Encinitas Blvd. area is very different from the Highway 101 establishment.  This review will primarily focus on the former location rather than the latter. 

While the coast highway location is frequently packed and has a distinct earthy quality, this location definitely took a few cues from Beachgrass (the restaurant that used to occupy that building before Swami's).  In fact, the dinner menu is almost identical to what Beachgrass used to offer.   Expect flat-ironed steak, stuffed chicken and ahi as your food options.

The "Swami's" menu can be seen more during breakfast and lunch.  Along with more traditional omelets and club sandwiches, you can also find a few tofu type of dishes.  Plus, there's the selection of famous Swami's smoothies.

While the view is somewhat lacking, I actually like this new Swami's better than the coast highway edition.   It's closer to where I live and there's never a wait to get inside.  The food is quite good.  So regardless of what time of day you go, it's going to be a fast sit-down dining experience.

My only complaint is the erratic nature in the quality of their service.  This entire restaurant seems entirely dependent on the manager.  If she's there, everything goes well.  If she's not, it's anyone's game.  Special food adjustments won't be made, you'll order sides and get the wrong ones, your smoothie never shows up, your standard entree will be missing ingredients, etc.

So if you are laid back enough to be able to roll with these possibilites, I highly recommend Swami's.  If you're the type of person where you would find this annoying, you should probably go elsewhere.

Aztec Brewing Co. Review (Vista Breweries)

Pricing:

About $6 for a pint.  You can taste four of their beers for $5.  Each "taste" is about 3 oz of beer.  

Distance:

Located in Vista.  Takes about 25 minutes to drive there.  You can either take the freeway or go on El Camino Real.  El Camino would be faster if there's traffic.  

Thoughts:

So I've decided to continue my microbrewery tour of San Diego.  I did this once before back in 2010 but in the last two years the microbrewing business seems to have exploded.  Apparently we are now beer country.  You'll get no complaints from me!

Aztec, like many other microbreweries, is a taproom rather than a sit down restaurant.  There was a food cart there but don't expect to see it every time.  But don't feel like it's a waste of a drive!  It's actually in an area where there are several other microbreweries and it's within spitting distance of San Marcos restaurant row.

They have eight different beers on tap at Aztec.  A few of the flavors do rotate in and out but there seems to be an emphasis on wheat and IPA beers.  I'm not generally one for IPAs.  So for my taster line-up I tried their one amber ale, two wheats and their blonde ale.  


None of the beers were very dark but I was impressed with how much flavor each one packed.  Their wheat beers were especially interesting.  Both of them had strong floral/herbal flavors laced through them making the taste very unique.


The atmosphere is laid back and fun.  Aztec is definitely a brewery worth checking out if you have no Friday or Saturday plans.  

Stumblefoot Brewing Co. (San Marcos Breweries)

Pricing:
The beers are all around $6 a pint.  Comparable to most beer brewing places if not a little cheaper.


Distance:
Very close to the Rancho Santa Fe Rd. and Melrose Dr. intersection.  About a fifteen minute drive for Encinitas locals.


Thoughts:
Make no mistake: this is not a restaurant.  It's basically a tasting room like you would see in the wine country... only for beer.  There is a food truck that stops by on some of the days but Stumblefoot is mostly a free pretzels and beer type of environment.

Considering the fact that it's located in a storage facility, it's a surprisingly popular hangout on Fridays and Saturdays.  Personally I think the storage facility kind of adds to the ambiance.  You can't help but think that you've discovered some sort of underground club.

The beer is quite good.  The owner has been a home brewer for many years and finally decided to make this first step to going public.  Most of the beers offered are stouts and IPAs.  But I imagine there will be more variety as time goes by.

Compared to places like Wine Steals where it feels like you have to fist fight the other patrons for standing room and only fashionable singles from Orange County are allowed, Stumblefoot is kind of a breath of fresh air.  Everyone is extremely friendly and the atmosphere is laid back (how posh can you really be in a storage shed?).  This is a perfect place to start out your weekend or have a pre-dinner drink.

Bucca di Beppo Review (Carlsbad Restaurants)

Pricing:

It terms of sheer quantity for your dollar, the only place that can really beat Bucca is probably Costco.  Everything costs between $15-22 but almost every plate is large enough to feed at least two extremely hungry hippos.

Distance:

In the Forum shopping center in hybrid Encinitas/Carlsbad.  About a 10 minute drive for most Encinitas residents.

Thoughts:

Bucca di Beppo is not your romantic dinner for two restaurant.  With trashy Italian decor every which way, this is definitely one of those large party event places.  It's fun, usually loud, and you can feed an army for comparatively low cost.

Quality was definitely sacrificed a bit for quantity.  The food here can best be described as average.  It's satisfying to eat and by no means bad tasting but nothing really stands out about it.  In my opinion, this is actually what makes this place a good kid restaurant.  All the food is straight forward.  The tomato sauce is just tomato sauce.  No fancy spices that might make the little ones turn up their nose.

Overall, an excellent choice for family outings or birthdays.  Plus the decorations make it worth frequenting at least once.  You know, just to say that you've done it.

Tin Leaf Fresh Kitchen Review (Carlsbad Restaurants)

Pricing:

It's going to be about $9-12 per entree.  This means you pick your main dish plus two sides.  They do serve wine and beer here.  So if you get drinks it will be about $18 a person.

Distance:

In the La Costa area of Carlsbad.  Right on the corner of Avaria Parkway and El Camino Real.  Theoretically close to Encinitas.  If you hit all the lights, 10 minutes.  If you don't, 20 minutes. 

Thoughts:

An interesting establishment.  I was a little thrown off at first by the "fresh kitchen" title.  Like, what the heck does that even mean?  Tin Leaf is a walk in, order and then sit down to eat type of place.  So this also makes it easy for take out.

Essentially, the menu consists of fresh American food options.  So you'll have options like soup and salad along with meatloaf, mac and cheese or turkey breast.  While not exactly a gourmet steak or farmer's market, it is fresher than a fast food joint.  I would place it in the same genre as Panera Bread.

The food is quite good and not at all a bad option for a fast, sit-down lunch or dinner.  I've yet to order something I didn't like.  There are enough menu options to appeal to both health conscious parents and hungry kids.

Zenbu Sushi Bar & Restaurant Review (Cardiff by Sea Restaurants))

Pricing:
Ridiculous for what you're getting.  They clearly feel justified in charging you extra for the hip atmosphere.  The cheapest sushi you can purchase here is $8-10.  Yes, it's $8 for California or Philadelphia rolls.  To give you perspective, standard rolls such as these are $4.50-6 at pretty much every other sushi place.


Distance:
Right on the corner of San Elijo Ave and Birmingham.  So very close to most Encinitas residents.  A 5-10 minute picturesque drive.


Thoughts:
I was thoroughly unimpressed with this place.  Unless you walk in looking like a high-roller, don't expect your water glass to be refilled.  Ever.  Or even a polite, "May I get you anything else?"

With an extremely sparse sushi menu (you call yourself a sushi bar) that contains all over-priced items, the only thing really going for this place is the atmosphere.  They definitely did a good job making it feel like you're at a party "scene."  The large fish tank is cool and it's fun having both bar and cozy VIP-like booths.

But you know what?  I came to this place to eat, not party.  I feel like it would actually be better if they just advertised themselves as a bar and they happened to have some sushi snacks you could buy.  Because that's essentially what you're getting.

The food was fresh but not exactly flavorful.  At these prices I expect at least a signature dish or sauce.  Sometime to make me go, "Well, that was expensive but so good!"

After ordering three rolls and a bottle of sake, my boyfriend and I were out $65 and still feeling hungry. I feel like there are just too many other sushi options out there to make Zenbu a worthwhile dining experience.

Panera Bread Review (Carlsbad Restaurants)

Pricing:

Depends on what you get.  There a variety of items on their menu from just a single baked good/bagel to soup/salad/sandwiches.  If you get an actual meal with a sandwich, side and drink it's going to be about $9-11.

Distance:

In the Forum shopping mall off El Camino Real.  Very close to most Encinitas residents.  About a 10 minute drive.

Thoughts:

I've been eating at Panera Bread for years and I feel like it has ups and downs in its overall quality.  Though I'm not really one to keep track of these sorts of things, my guess is that the quality is probably directly related to who owns the chain at the time.

In general, I feel like Panera is a good lunch or light dinner option.  I almost always like whatever seasonal soup they are serving and any kind of breads they use are always fresh (one would hope so given the restaurant name).  The price isn't too terrible either.  Yes, it will be more expensive than Subway.  But the ingredients are also quite a bit fresher than Subway.

When Panera is on one of its "high quality" streaks, the sandwiches will be well made, the salads contain a good population of toppings and the soups are served hot.  In the "low quality" phases you ask for everything on your sandwich and they don't put any mayo/mustard on, there's one piece of chicken on your salad when you pay extra for chicken or your soup is icy.

I only point out these good and bad instances because I have experienced both extremes on numerous occasions.  The end result is that I'll still eat at Panera but it's just not a place I go to regularly.