Coronado Brewing Company - San Diego

Brew Ha-Ha
You can’t beat the Del for a drink or two, but around the holidays it’s a nuthouse (ice skating + palm trees = swarm), so we stuck closer to the harbor, walking along the water and stopping on the way for some lunch-time libations at the Coronado Brewing Company.

Orange Ave beer: Its hue matched its name, and its name matched its fruitiness. Light and crisp, this citrus sipper was 5.5% alcohol. Who says you need to guzzle OJ for vitamin C? This would cure what ales you.

Grilled mahi tacos: fresh, well-seasoned and best because my healthy choice of grilled fish left no guilt when hula-hooping onion rings around my tongue.





Buffalo chicken pizza: surprisingly tasty for an east coast pizza snob like me. Nothing to write home about and the crust could use some work, but the chicken was beautifully cooked breast meat, juicy and blanketed by melted cheese and the crunch of red onion for one well-balanced bite.

Lowdown: Relaxed and affordable, raised wooden rafters, open windows and fresh ingredients on bar-food favorites.

San Diego restaurant- South Beach

This is the last stop before you hit sand. South Beach's(5059 Newport Ave) weather-beaten bar only accepts cash and IDs patrons at the door (even during lunchtime), but continues to lure me with my favorite fish fantasy - the mahi taco.


It's not all mahi tacos I crave, only South Beach's concoction of shredded cabbage, melted cheddar and the thin white sauce (still mysterious in origin) atop this piece of fish, geometrically fitted to the tortilla's specifications. Every time I try to order something else (Rockefeller would surely grumble to know the oysters here shared his name and the lobster tacos aren't even a close second), I realize that they are the sole reason for my return.

It's not for their dysfunctional policy where food and drinks are ordered separately, forcing patrons to navigate the crowded bar whenever thirsty. Or for the criminal acts of line-cutting that ensue from their free-for-all philosophy about seating. Or for one of the grosser bathrooms in San Diego (mix sand with drunks and see what comes up).

It's for the personification of summer on a plate. Give me two mahi tacos with a pint of Hefeweizen and its all gravy baby.