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