Buddies Burgers - San Diego, California

Buddies Burgers opened near San Diego State University earlier this year. My friends were pretty excited about Buddies when it opened but my first visit was this month. After having eaten there I'm not disappointed that I waited so long. I probably won't be going back anytime soon.

Buddies is very similar to In-N-Out but they don't have a drive through, the service is slower and the food is more expensive. The restaurant is very well kept on the inside with lots of family photographs from the guys who started the restaurant. However, the atmosphere doesn't make up for the overpriced food and slow service. After ordering we waited for probably 10 minutes before getting our food. Unfortunately my roommate's order was taken down incorrectly so we had to wait another 15 minutes for them to get her what she wanted.

This is the first review that I've written where I wouldn't recommend the restaurant to friends/family. I want to be as objective as possible so that you can decide for yourself but that is how I feel. I ordered a Double-Buddie with Pepper Jack cheese.The beef patties were well cooked and the vegetables were fresh. By the way the burger tasted I could tell they used quality ingredients. The burger was good but it wasn't great.

Along with the burger I also ordered fries and a chocolate milkshake. The fries were beer-battered and were pretty good. My milkshake review may be biased because I'm used to having Burgerville shakes from the Northwest. That being said I thought that the milkshake at Buddies was mediocre. It was small, too sweet and was not very chocolaty. 

My biggest beef with Buddies, pun intended, was the price. My meal came out to be $10.40 before tax for a Double Buddie, Fries and a Chocolate Milkshake. The food was good but was undeserving of the high price tag. The discrepancy between price and quality is what puts Buddies at the bottom of my list of places to eat near campus.

Phil's Barbecue - San Diego, California

Phil's Barbecue is easily the most popular barbecue place in San Diego. When I went with the boys there was a line that would probably have taken us an hour to get through. However, since we're problem solving college students we decided to order the food to-go. There was no line for food to go so we got our ribs in about five minutes instead of waiting an hour. 

This picture shows that the seating area is filled. I would have taken a picture of the line outside but I would have needed a wide angle lens because it was so long. We were there on a Thursday night around 7:30 which makes this sight even more ridiculous. 

As you can see here, there are plenty of registers. However, because of the limited seating inside the restaurant there is a line outside of the restaurant nearly every night. If you want to try this place but don't want to wait in line just call in your order to-go and you can bypass the line completely.

After ordering, paying and driving to some park by the beach we finally got to eat. I was pretty hungry and riding in a car that smelled like ribs was not an easy task. These ribs are covered with a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Although the sauce isn't my personal favorite it is pretty good.

My sides were also good, although they aren't what I ordered. I ordered baked beans and mac and cheese. I was given fries and macaroni salad. In that sense the service was slightly disappointing. However, the sides that I was given tasted good and I was satisfied. If you haven't been to a barbecue restaurant be ready to spend a decent amount of money. A rack of ribs with two sides, which is what I ordered, was $18.95 before tax.

Overall I would definitely recommend Phil's to anybody in San Diego looking for a good barbecue restaurant. However, you out of town barbecue snobs may not be huge fans.

Phil's Barbecue
3750 Sports Arena Boulevard
San Diego, California 92120

State Street Grill - San Diego, California

State Street Grill is located across the street from San Diego State University. Their location is great for students living on or near campus. It isn't a very big restaurant, which is emphasized by the lack of available parking.

We went to State Street at dusk and sat outside. They have a nice enclosed patio which is great for the beautiful San Diego weather.

State Street has an interesting menu. They mix diner classics like burgers, sandwiches and salads with an Asian-American menu. Although I'm not a big fan of sushi my friends say that State Street's sushi is pretty good.

This was my first visit to State Street and my friends told me that I had to have fries. There weren't any other recommendations so I decided to get a burger. The "Hall of Flame" burger was what I ultimately decided to get. The burger had bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocados, lettuce, tomato, Frank's hot sauce and habanero lime mayo.

If you don't like spicy food, don't get this burger. It was hot and left my mouth a little tender afterwards. However, despite the heat the burger was great. I really enjoyed the combination of flavors. After the burger I  dove into the fries. They tasted really good and had a nice crispness to them which many places do not get right.

Overall State Street Grill is a good place to eat if you're at San Diego State and you're looking for a casual sit down meal. The relaxed atmosphere makes it a good place to hang out if you want to get appetizers and drinks with friends while watching a game.

5131 College Avenue
Suite F
San Diego, California 92115

Firehouse: San Diego (Pacific Beach), California

Firehouse is a trendy restaurant in Pacific Beach. I recently went there with a group of people for dinner and was impressed by the atmosphere. There was house music playing in the background which I thought was a nice touch. The mix of bright colors and the unique layout of the tables, lounge, free wi-fi, bar and rooftop patio make this a fun place to hang out even if you aren't eating.

This is a picture of the interior of the restaurant that was taken at the beginning of the evening. Twice during the night the lights were dimmed which made everything a little more romantic. Also, our female friends were particularly infatuated with the male waiters. This may or may not have been related to the fact that the lights were dimmed.

This is a picture of a "cup" of clam chowder. I was excited to see that the portion was so large because I was hungry. My excitement continued when I tasted the chowder. There were thick chunks of potato and  a good amount of clam meat swimming in this creamy and flavorful bowl. If you like chowder you will be satisfied with this choice.

Pictured here is the Firehouse Burger with bacon. The burger was pretty good, nothing too exciting. If I had to complain about something it would be that the bun was soggy on the bottom. That may have been my fault for choosing to eat the chowder first and the burger second. The fries were crispy and tasty. Kudos to the waiter that asked if we wanted any dipping sauce for the fries, that should be protocol at all restaurants. 

Overall I would recommend the Firehouse. It's a good place to go for a nice dinner, especially if you want to be close to the nightlife in PB.

Extra notes about this restaurant. Parking in Pacific Beach is horrendous but Firehouse has complimentary valet. There is an automatic 18% gratuity on parties of 6 or more and there is also a $3 charge to split the check. 

Stepping Stone Cafe: Portland, Oregon

Our family first visited Stepping Stone Cafe last year. My cousin saw it on an episode of Man vs. Food and suggested that we visit because it is relatively close to my parents' house. I was intrigued by the "B.A. Omelette" and ordered it on my first visit. It was really good, as was the rest of the family's food. Whenever I visit home I always request that we go back to Stepping Stone.

This particular visit we went on a Friday morning. The restaurant was full but we were fortunate to come in right as another group was getting up to leave. There are all sorts of little eclectic items in the restaurant. A Charlie Sheen poster, tiny figurines above the door, etc. It all makes for an interesting environment.

Pictures above is the chicken fried steak breakfast platter. It comes with eggs (cooked to your liking), toast (wheat, white, sourdough) and potatoes. The chicken fried steak is really good. This is the same chicken fried steak that is contained within the "B.A. Omelette." If I had to come up with a complaint about this meal it would be that there is almost too much food. I was feeling like I had eaten enough when I cleaned my plate and hadn't even begun eating the Mancakes yet.

These are what Stepping Stone Cafe calls "Mancakes." I would assume this is short for Manly Pancakes because these things are huge. The small sliver cut out of the stack of three is what mom decided she wanted. My brother, father and I finished the rest of them. The pancakes taste great. They're cooked to perfection, no goo in the middle, no burn on the outside. Personally I like to drown my pancakes in maple syrup. If you want to feel full after breakfast just eat one of these. If you want to be rolled out of the restaurant after your meal, eat all three.

I'm ashamed to admit that the three men in our family couldn't finish what was left of the stack after mom took her sliver. About half of a pancake was left and brought home to our dogs. They also enjoyed them thoroughly.

Stepping Stone Cafe

2390 NW Quimby

Portland, OR 97210

The Coachmen: Battle Ground, Washington

Battle Ground Village is a new development just outside downtown of Battle Ground, Washington. The area seems to be Battle Ground's attempt to modernize the area and make it more attractive to younger residents. The Coachmen is a relatively new restaurant in Battle Ground Village. My mother suggested that we dine there for lunch and I agreed that it would be good to try something new (new things don't come around often in Clark County).

The restaurant is relatively small. There may be seating for about 20 guests inside and there is additional seating outside if the weather is decent. There were only three other guests in the restaurant when we arrived around noon, pretty bleak for a lunch hour.

Although Battle Ground Village is a relatively new area there is high turnover. The rent in the new buildings is probably too high for the low amount of traffic in the area. This makes it hard for restaurants to stay afloat. I hope that The Coachmen is an exception to this phenomenon because the food was really good.

The menu was relatively simple. They had appetizers, soups and salads, chicken burgers and hamburgers. I appreciated this approach because they took the time to make their few items well instead of serving up a variety of mediocrity.

The empty tray you see was filled with pita bread, sliced cucumbers, those tiny tomatoes and had hummus in the cup in the middle. This was a well presented appetizer. I was impressed with the freshness of the vegetables and the quality of the hummus. Definitely would recommend this if you're in the market for an appetizer.

Next came the meat and potatoes (quite literally) of the meal. I had a Jalapeno Burger which was delicious. They use 100% Angus beef patties. The menu said they were half pound patties but the burger seemed larger than many others that claim to be a half pound. The bun was fluffy, the onion rings were cooked just right and they used fresh cut jalapenos! FRESH CUT JALAPENOS! I hadn't ever had those on a burger before, I've only had the lesser-quality pickled jalapenos that appear on most restaurant burgers. The tomato slice was juicy and the lettuce was crisp. All the freshness and quality justified the $9.50 price tag on this burger meal.

The other thing pictured is a potato. I'd assume they used an apple peeler and put a potato on it, then stuck a stick through the middle of it. Then they dip the stick in a light batter and deep fry it. What you end up with is something similar to a huge curly fry. The texture of this creation was amazing, the potato was soft inside but the outside was crispy. It was the best of both worlds when it comes to fries. They also gave us a side of their custom cucumber-ranch dressing to dip them. The cucumber-ranch, like everything else served, was very well done. It had a great flavor and texture.

Overall, if you want a great burger and you're in Clark County you need to go to The Coachmen. This place is way better than Red Robin's "gourmet burgers" and any other place I've been to in the area. If you know of a better place I'd love to know because this is the best place around here.

The Coachmen

1417 SE Rasmussen Boulevard, #130

Battle Ground, WA 98604

Smokin Mo's Barbecue: Chico, CA

Oh barbecue, how I had missed you. We were last together during winter break. I dreamed of the day when we would finally reunite. After our last encounter I knew you needed your space, needed some time to recharge the batteries. I dreamed of you, thinking of you made my mouth water.

Who knew that we would be brought together in Chico, California? Only someone with divine power could have predicted such a thing. Ultimately though, it happened.

Smokin Mo's in downtown Chico is a quaint little restaurant in downtown Chico. Luckily this was the recommendation of choice on Sunday afternoon. After spending 9.5 hours in a car we all needed to refuel. What better way than with rib-sampler-protein-overload?

The rib sampler consisted of three different sets of ribs, each with a different sauce. I believe the total was about one full rack but I could be mistaken. There were also four sides included in the meal; cornbread, coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans (which were more like a thick chili).

The quality of the ribs was pretty good. They definitely were cooked by people that are well versed in barbecue. There was no meat falling off of these bones, instead it was cooked for high flavor and chewiness. That may not sound appealing to some of you, but this is how ribs are supposed to be when cooked correctly.

The sauces were the most disappointing part of the experience. The regular sauce was very plain with no excitement. The sweet sauce was also fairly bland. The shining star of the three was their mustard based sauce. This sauce took the experience from mediocre to good for me.

Overall, I had a good experience at Smokin Mo's. If you happen to be rolling through downtown Chico and have a hankering for barbecue this is a good place to stop.

Smokin Mo's Barbecue

131 Broadway Street

Chico, CA 95928-5317