Photo from searocketbistro.com

Located in the hip North Park neighborhood Sea Rocket Bistro stands apart as a truly unique concept. While North Park is full of great places to eat, no other establishment embraces the aesthetic of serving sustainable, locally grown and harvested foods quite like this place. Sea Rocket not only embraces that concept theoretically, they prove that you can do it well!

On a recent Wednesday night we strolled in at 6 and were very pleased to be greeted with a window table and a comfortable server. Knowing that Sea Rocket specialized in locally harvested fish, we were heavily dependent on our server to act as a guide through the simple, yet ample menu. Likewise, we continued this dependency through a local beer and wine list of San Diego area beverages.

For our starter we enjoyed mussels and clams as well as some fantastic bread and flavored butter. (We chose to skip the house special of raw sea urchin. We were in the mood for adventure, but that was a smidgen beyond our comfort level.) The following two courses, we played it safe and enjoyed the recommendations of our server. We loved that the entrees weren’t so abundant that we had to shy away from dessert. We topped off our meal with a kumquat bread pudding that was both tasty and light. While our meal was full of fresh seafood it is notable that Sea Rocket Bistro offers a full array of vegetarian dishes.

When visiting Sea Rocket you really need to accept that part of the fun is that everything is local. The food is local. The drink is local. The clientele is local. The staff is local. I don’t think their goal is to please your inner food critic. I think their goal is to prove that to prove that you can have a vibrant, great bistro fully supplied and supporting by the local economy. And that is a goal I think they achieve with flying colors.

Geeky side notes: As a social media junkie I was pleased to see that Sea Rocket actively maintains both their website and a blog. Additionally, you can follow them on Twitter. (We actually heard about Sea Rocket on Twitter!) I’ve been especially impressed at how active they are in the community and how well their blog documents involvement. Oh, and you don’t want to miss this little detail. You can go to their food map and see exactly where everything they serve comes from! Transparency in a restaurant? Imagine if that concept took off!

As a border community, San Diego is filled with excellent Mexican eateries. From the neighborhood taco shop to the high end offerings downtown, we have lots to choose from. As you can imagine this makes it hard to stick out. Mario’s in La Mesa is unique enough to stick out. Let’s look at three things that make Mario’s an East County favorite.

Location: This spot takes “neighborhood restaurant” seriously. It looks like a house from the outside. Feels like a house on the inside. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this building started out life as a house. It also serves as a gateway to a neighborhood. There’s both a good and a bad side to a neighborhood location. With a tiny parking lot, you will likely have to find street parking. Also, the dining areas are pretty small. So expect a wait at high traffic times and if you have a group of more than eight… well, I’d like to see how they handled that. Maybe the patio?

Home-style: Before we went to Mario’s we had heard two must have items on the menu. First, the carne asada platter. Second, tamales. The former lived up to its billing while the latter was good but not superb. (Not sure why tamales were covered in sauce, we didn’t like it.) Besides the menu items there are a couple of things that make Mario’s amazing. The chips and salsa are fantastic. While it’s just an expected condiment at a Mexican restaurant these stood out as especially good. Also, diners were given a taster of fruit salad. The fruit salad was fantastic and added to the family-factor of our time there.

Also atypical on the menu is home-style Mexican breakfast. If you’ve never tried that it is worth the trip to La Mesa alone.

Service: The waitstaff was great! While busy during our visit I was surprised at the attention we were given. Courtesy, prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable. These are all words we thought of to describe the service we received.

Are you in San Diego with your kids and looking for an unforgettable family dining experience? Chances are, if you’ve spent the day exploring Balboa Park or playing at the beach, you are in the mood for something where you don’t have to entertain the kids… that your dinner will be both entertainment and a meal.

That’s exactly the type of day our family had when we decided to go to Corvette Diner. Among the promenade of the Hillcrest neighborhood, Corvette Diner has established itself as a fun, family-friendly hang out in a neighborhood filled with eateries of every variety. Mom and dad were tired from a day of sun and surf at Coronado Beach but our kids were fired up. We wanted a quiet evening and they wanted to be entertained. Our trip to Corvette Diner was really an ode to parenthood. We did it for the kids.

The Decor

Boy were we wrong! Corvette Diner really was fun for the whole family. As we approached the building we could tell that this was going to be a blast. The swooping 1950’s curved sign let’s you know that your evening will be representing the bygone days of Dwight Eisenhower, the twist, Skinny Elvis, and all things pre-Sputnik in America. Once you finally get a table the fun continues with turquoise, black and white checkerboard patterns, rounded corners and the centerpiece… a smoking red and white Corvette. Not to devalue the staff who works here, but they are actually part of the decor as well. Waitstaff who plays the part definitely entertains the kids. The entire time we were seated my 5 year old kept his eyes on them and gave me updates. “They are crazy, they are dancing and asking other people to dance with them!” It was a much-needed distraction. As much as mom and dad were happy that the waitstaff threw straws at customers or told someone to hurry up with their order we were much more pleased that we had a chance to talk while the kids were entertained.

The Food

True to form the Corvette Diner delivers in the greasy spoon category. I should clarify, while they have tons of items covered in cheese and knee deep in calories, they also have responsible menu items for those inclined. I even spotted a few vegetarian dishes! For the sake of the children we cast our diet aside and ordered as much artery clogging goodness as we could. Monster cheeseburgers, a mountain of fries, vanilla malts, and washed it all down with a Cherry Coke that had as much cherry as Coke.

Kids entertained, stomachs full of delicious fod, we didn’t think it could get much better. Shortly after the bill arrived it did. As I was paying the tab our table was showered with bubble gum. Nothing like taking happy, jacked up on sugar kids, and making them blow bubbles with glee to warm a parents heart for the ride home. Corvette Diner may be a little too touristy for mom and dad. But it’s a great unique place in San Diego well worth checking out.