East San Diego County rec's?

Question

Okay, so I moved from North County to East, Santee specifically, and need some decent rec's for chow out this way or within a 15 minute drive. Looking for the good eats, the cheap and fast, to the expensive and slow, little hole in the wall mom & pop places, to some place I need to put on my best digs. Good pizza rec's would help too. I love it all, mexican, japanese & sushi, thai, italian, greek, vietnamese, cuban, middle eastern, chinese, steak & seafood, anything goes.

Answer

Oiishi sushi on Mast, close to Magnolia (across from the Albertsons).

Middle Eastern- *many* on Main Street in El Cajon. Or on Bradley and 67 (SE Corner; it says "Greek Chicken"). That area of El Cajon was where the former Iraq residents came to vote from all of Southern California. Next closest voting place was in north LA.

Mexican- In Santee, the Albertos at Carlton Hills on Mission Gorge is always good...or on Cuyamaca one block South of Mission Gorge (East side) is a sit down...Rosas I think... Down Magnolia to Bradley (southeast corner from In-N-Out for sit down, behind the Trifty gas station) or go down Bradley about 3/4 mile east and you'll see a sign for "Señor Taco", next to the 7-11. Home made tortillas there....Venture into El Cajon and go into the store called "Food Land" (its an IGA) on Broadway just west of 2nd (same parking lot as Big Lots) and inside they make tacos, home made tortillas, have a nice deli- all Mexican food...and a fresh bakery.

Pho- Broadway and Second, SE corner next to the Starbucks.

Not very good Italian or seafood out here- We go to Bronx when we want real good...but the Giant NY Pizza on Carlton Hills will let you put gyros as a meat on their pizza and I hit the Anthonys Grotto in La Mesa for lunch or Happy Hour appetizers. Welcome!

Answer

Welcome to my neck of the woods! A dining mecca it's NOT, unfortunately. Two of my favourite places have already been mentioned: Trattoria di IV is wonderful for Italian food and Oiishi does good Thai and Japanese. Love their sushi! Be sure and order the BJ roll and the spicy crunchy albacore roll. For Mexican, we prefer Cotija's at Fanita and Mission Gorge. Panda Country and Michael's are both in the Von's mall on Mission Gorge. Panda Country has been turning out quality Chinese food for over 20 years. Michael's makes a wonderful panko-crusted shrimp and filet of sole that melts in your mouth. Good variety on their menu, too. I've heard the little Cafe 67 at Mapleview and Hwy. 67 makes a good breakfast, but I've yet to try it. 

Santee was without many restaurants at all - especially in light of their population - until Trolley Center went in. Unfortunately, the restaurants there are all chains. Fortunately, most people don't know any better so it's not unusual to see long lines at the Olive Garden out there. Oggi's and Mimi's are pretty good, though. Steer clear of the La Salsa in that mall. It blows. Again, welcome!

Answer

Yay, thanks for the rec's and the welcomes everyone! 

Phee, I know what you mean about the long lines at the chain places. I met some friends the other night and they chose The Original Road House. It was ok for chain fare, but the wait was epic. Mimi's can be very good and very bad, you just have to know what to order and stick with it. 

I saw Tratori di IV and was wondering about it. I actually forgot about Cheers (yum!) and Tivoli, where I used to occasionally meet my sister for lunch. 

I've also been meaning to try the Fish Merchant, figuring if it's ben around for as long as it has, I should at least see why. I have not been to Anthony's since I was 10, when my grandparents took me. I am planning on trying Michael's, I love fillet of sole. 

I had brunch at The Brigantine, and the salmon with lemon buerre blanc with potato hash was very good, as was the cocktail del mar. For dessert we had this cranberry blondie with vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry sauce. I had that dessert before, and knew it was fabulous. The first time I ate there though, I was not terribly impressed. Thankfully this time was a much better experience. 

I met some friends at BJ's Brewery and thought the pizza was awful. The avocado egg rolls were interesting, everything else standard chain fare and they use bottled ranch, ew! 

We've had Cotija and Cazadores for our taco shop fix, was told to try Real Mexican which is next to Oishi, and considered Marietta's but my only experience with them was as a child, again with my grandparents. 

I asked my sister about Oishi and she said that she had them deliver some thai & sushi a few times before and she liked it. I will be trying them soon. I used to get this roll at Katsu in San Marcos, called the Mickey roll (named after my favorite sushi chef) which consisted of soft shell crab, cream cheese, chili peppers, glazed with eel sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I have been hankerin' for such a beast, so I plan to see if they can hook me up at Oishi. 

Anybody have any breakfast rec's out here? I was not pleased with the Omlette Factory. As a child we had a Saturday morning family breakfast at Country Comfort, which was then in Spring Valley on Troy Street. I heard they relocated to El Cajon and plan to see if it is as good as I remember. My tastes and standards sure have changed since childhood, hehe.

Oh and has anyone tried Fix Me A Plate?

Thanks again for all the recommendations!

Answer

Tell Mike at Oiishi (he's the sushi chef) what you want for your roll, and he can do it. You'll see rolls on the board that have been named after customers (i.e., the BJ roll, Arden roll, etc.). Who knows - maybe you'll have one named after you!

Answer

I have visited the Greek Chicken off the 67freeway and give it a big thumbs up! I have the chicken, gyros, salads, and the gyro burger, which is awesome. 

They have a clean dining room area, but they do mostly takeout.

Only complaint is that they don't offer any greek side dishes like hummus or dolmades.

Answer

Welcome to the E. County, we too are somewhat new to the area -we moved to La Mesa/Mt. Helix from Kensington about a year ago We haven't found too many places we like - we go to Saritas in Casa de Oro for Mexican Take out, and get pizza from Giovanni's, but other than that we pretty much eat at home or venture west. 

The sushi joint in Santee sounds promising, we got takeout from Taka in La Mesa and it was pretty good, but not cheap. The Brigantine is always packed, and so are the chains over at Grossmont mall - East County is so underserved! 

I do have one recommendation, especially in light of the hot weather - the peanut butter milkshake at the Beef and Bun on Fletcher Parkway, just E. of the 125. The fries are frozen crinkle fries, but the burgers and chicken sandwiches are pretty decent.

Answer

forgot to mention Las Parillas in Rancho SD for great cheap Mexican food.... and the Jamacha Bar and Grill for a great Prime Rib sandwich and interesting desserts! :)

Answer

It may have been mentioned elsewhere, but I just want to note that Trattoria di IV has moved to the Best Buy shopping center on Mission Gorge and is now called La Trattoria. I ate twice at the old place and have been to the new place once. There is a new restaurant called Fiore in the old location. Haven't tried it yet. Anyone? Also, Aliberto's on Mission Gorge at Carlton Hills was previously mentioned and it is gone as well. I second the recommendation of Cotija. It is my favorite taco shop in Santee. I am not a fan of Marieta's or Casa Picante. The food at the taco shops far surpasses them, but if you must have a "sit-down" restaurant, I guess they will do. I also have been to Oiishi and love both their sushi and Thai food. Has anyone tried Scootz in Santee?

Answer

Brigantine at Fuerte in La Mesa is great for happy hour..love the fish tacos
Antonelli's Deli is one of the best in El Cajon off Bradley/67..
Jamacha Grille is a great place to have drinks and app's on Second Street in EC.
Filippi's is always cheap and good..I get their 1/2 lasagna for $5 thats huge and yummy...pizza is good too.
Oggi's in Santee has great happy hour beer prices and Oggi's sticks..

Answer

DiningDiva..
I was just at the Brig in La Mesa and the fish tacos and marg's were great..$2.25 for a huge fish tacos..
We are talking East County...being native La Jollan, I only get out here once and awhile but the "operative word" is it's good eats and cheap!

Answer

I like both Scootz and KB's. 

Scootz: The fresh & hot rolls, border caesar salad, broasted chicken and potato wedges we had were really good and the quality and service were definetely a few notches above Pat & Oscar's.

KB's: First off the owners of the place are very accomodating and friendly. We tried the pulled pork & brisket sandwiches, greens and cajun fries which were all good. Can't wait to try the ribs and sweet potato pie next time!

Answer

I noticed that Hillcrest's Arrivederci is opening a new branch in the Rancho San Diego shopping center, near Target and the Coldstone. I don't know when it will open, but it should be a good addition to the area!

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East San Diego County rec's?

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