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EL POLLO GRILL FLAME-
SOLOMON BAGEL COMPANY JALEPEÑO SHMEAR Salt bagel toasted with jalapeño
BROILED CHICKEN May come as a shock, but
cream cheese: That's my go-to for trying any bagel spot. Nail this simple order, and a bageleria can be trusted. Solomon's on 30 th St. in North Park does this classic right, with a very chewy, not-too-salty bagel and nice
most of the city’s best eats don’t have a million-dollar bar or an Instagram wall. Sometimes it’s a four-decade family business in a strip mall. Started in Lemon Grove in 1987 by Rafael and Costanza Lopez (now run by their son, Victor), EPG is the place for flame-broiled chicken. Perfectly browned, seasoned, and moist. –TJ
spice on the back end. Plus, the crew is friendly even amidst the busiest rush. Check out their bran and asiago cheese bagels too. –MH
SIDE CHICK CHICKEN AND FRIES HOT CHICK SANDO
Don’t let the food snobs tell you fried chicken sandwiches have had their moment. Pickles, slaw, brioche. Classics never go out of style. Located in Manolo Farmer’s Market near Ridgeview/Webster, Side Chick serves up $5 sandos in a world that often easily charges three times that. Their hot chick sando is a mouth melter. Not Nashville hot, lava hot. Grab a Jarritos. –MH
TASTY NOODLE HOUSE (CONVOY) SHANGHAI GRILLED PORK BUN Pork buns can sometimes come off as phoned-in… and expanding to eight locations in Southern California, (with one in Carlsbad on the way!), you’re never far from dough-enveloped pork. –SL 14 these do not. Cushy steamed dough, generous and fragrant pork filling, nutty seared sesame seeds crusting the bottom. I ate three in a span of five minutes and do not regret it one bit. Originally opened in Hacienda Heights
CARDELLINO TUSCAN FEAST
Calling out to the exquisite Florentine steak dinners found all over Tuscany, Mission Hills’ Cardellino does the tradition well with its bistecca fiorentina (from its in-house butcher), a few pastas, a crudo, dessert, and its delicious fire-roasted sides. Easily the best package dinner in town right now. –JB
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BARBUSA PESTO GNOCCHI Now that Costco is 11
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selling silos of pesto, I feel it’s been unfairly viewed as un-special food
HELL’S KITCHEN AT HARRAH’S RESORT SOCAL POTATO PUREE
(no offense to Costco, which deserves reverence til the end of days). A good pesto is an intoxicant, and chef Neeno Zizzo’s is just that—the vibrant, almost Comic-Con vibrant green—pillow gnocchi, pistachio pesto, panna (heavy Italian cream), roasted tomato. –TJ
What could be easily just another potato dish is instead a near-perfect recreation of the steakhouse classic: potato purée, in this case, akin to the famed version made popular by Joel Robuchon. Think: butter, cream, velvet, carbs. That’s all you need to know. –JB
VERBENA KITCHEN SHRIMP & GRITS
One of the best dishes on cozy North Park spot Verbena Kitchen’s brunch menu is its shrimp and grits, which come loaded with spicy crustaceans laid atop creamy hominy with pickled pepper relish and a poached egg. –JB
CLOAK & PETAL PORK BELLY KAKUNI
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I always feel just a little bit cooler stepping into Cloak & Petal in Little Italy, thanks to its graffitied walls and abandoned Tokyo subway feel. But it’s the melt-in-your- mouth Pork Belly Kakuni with a soft-boiled egg that is the real showstopper eliciting audible moans with each bite. The slow-cooked pork is finished off with hot mustard and chives. –NM
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21 SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
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