This week’s blog is a little different. Instead of discussing one spot, we will be talking about six! Consider it six for the price of one. Although, the price of one is free… so I’m not sure it really matters. As all you lovely readers know, Ian and I live in the beautiful, hip North Park area. This past weekend, we decided to play tourist in our own neighborhood with a walking food tour. This food tour is run by the awesome Bite San Diego. It was given to us as a gift by Sean (Ian’s twin) and his girlfriend, Tara. (Thanks again ya’ll!). Bite San Diego has several tours all over the SD area, but this one featured our one and own neighborhood! It takes you around University and 30th area to six hot spots. It’s a fun little tour filled with good food and interesting historical facts about the neighborhood. We thought we would give you the rundown of the yummy spots we hit on the tour in order to inspire you to check out the tour, and North Park!

VENISSIMO CHEESE

The tour meets up at Venissimo Cheese. This fun shop has several locations in San Diego. They sell specialty cheeses and charcuterie. The one in North Park is also associated with Bottlecraft- a craft beer and wine shop. They even have beer and cheese pairing flights– which is right up my alley! If you haven’t figure it out yet, I am a giant cheese fan. Ian does not share my passion, but I still love him (and plus then I get double the cheese). The selection at Venissimo does not disappoint. They let us sample this double cream Brie that was probably the best cheese I have ever had. And I have had a lot of cheese. A LOT. Even Ian enjoyed it (after he spent a while a couple of weeks ago telling me how much he dislikes brie.. unBRIElievable, am I right?)

 

CRAZEE BURGER

Stop two on the tour was to Crazee Burger on 30th Street. Have I mentioned how much I love burgers yet? I believe I have (please refer to the Prepkitchen blog for more details). So I was shocked and appalled that Ian has not taken me here yet! We had these little Kobe beef sliders on the tour, and the meat was fantastic! Melt in your mouth! I took one look at the menu, and have already decided it’s going to be the first item on our new 2018 list! I also believe it’s been featured on a Food Network show!

BERKELEY PIZZA

My love of burgers = Ian’s love of pizza. Berkeley pizza is a cool spot that serves “Berkeley style” pizza. Not quite deep dish, not really like any other pizza I’ve ever had before. The crust is laminated like a pie crust, which gives it a nice texture and crunch. The garlic and pesto one is stellar. And they have a fantastic craft beer selection! Check it out! It’s also conveniently located next to Coin Op– which is a great bar if you like arcade games and drinking!

TOSTADA

Now here is a spot Ian and I haven’t been to yet. Spoiler alert, Tostada serves tostadas. And they are good. We got the Cochinita pibil (a slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán Peninsula marinated in citrus, anatto seed for color, and a blend of spices) and it was delicious! Ian and Sean make a delicious Cochinita pibil dish, to which they compare all other versions, and this one passed the test!

SPLASH

Ok, so I have been dying to go to this place since I first heard about it. Splash is based on a really cool concept. You preload a card, and then pour your own glasses of wine. Pretty awesome, right? And while you are at it, check out the appetizers and flatbreads! The “Splackers” are pretty awesome– seasoned crackers served with raspberry chipotle jelly folded into cream cheese. Very reminiscent of a good old Southern classic! This place is perfect for a girls’ night! (I’d love some wine buddies if anyone wants to join me…)

CALIFORNIA TAP ROOM

Technically we did not go here on the tour, but they usually do and it is worth mentioning because it’s really, really good. The serve handmade pretzels and mostly local craft beers. My personal favorites are the Philly pretzel and the pretzel puffs. Don’t forget the beer cheese! It’s a great spot to relax and get a pretzel and a beer. Plus, how great is North Park that we have a specific place for pretzels?!

We had a blast on the Bite San Diego tour. Our host was great and the restaurants were all great representations of our unique little neighborhood! We are even thinking about checking out the Downtown/Little Italy tour and probably the Coronado one as well! The tour is really a steal when you think about it, and totally worth every penny!

There are also plenty of other North Park spots we think you should check out that we will cover in some future blog spots! Some great places to keep an eye out for include Urbn pizza, Nomad donuts, Waypoint Public, Underbelly, and many more. And make sure to check out next week’s blog when we talk about some of our favorite spots in South Park! Thanks for reading!