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!

Bringing the fun of Mexico to San Diego Lucha Libre is a great little taco shop located just north of downtown San Diego in the Mission Hills neighborhood. The first thing that will smack you in the head about this place is the wrestling theme. Lucha libre, Spanish for free fighting, is a form of professional wrestling practiced in Mexico and Latin America. If you liked Jack Black’s Nacho Libre than you’ll love the decor of this place.

The Good: As far as the food goes I was completely satisfied. Gourmet tacos, great salsas, Jarritos, and the infamous TJ hotog. What is a TJ hotdog? This is an all-beef dog, wrapped in bacon and swamped in grilled onions, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. This is one of those things you just have to try when you visit. At just $1.50 it’s worth it even if you just take one bite. The thing that makes Lucha Libre truly unique is the wrestling decor. Hot pink seats, wrestling posters and movies, masks, belts, and of course an area reserved for the champion. You’ll want to bring a camera and snap some photos of your group eating the TJ hotdog here. Price wise this may be the best deal in San Diego. Specialty tacos are less than $4 each. Even the hungriest of families is going to come up at less than $10 per person.

The Bad: If success in the restaurant business is based on location, location, location, than these guys are in trouble. The shop is small, seating about 30, and parking can be an issue.  The flip side of their location is that it’s really close to the airport. When we pick up friends from out-of-town we make Lucha Libre our first stop and indoctrination into San Diego.

Lucha Libre Taco Shop