Category: The Widder Curry

“Espresso Cucina”
1776 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-224-2227

This restaurant was closed far too long and was missed by many patrons of the area. I am happy to report it has reopened Wednesdays through Mondays.

The restaurant has been cleaned up nicely, and although much the same as the old “Espresso” there are subtle differences in the new surroundings. For one, it looks much cleaner than the old restaurant; it has a little more ambiance than it used to.

Old Townhouse Restaurant
4941 Newport Avenue
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-222-1880

It has been years since I had a meal at the “Old Townhouse.” I am not sure why we stopped going there, but I am sure it had nothing to do with the food. I think more restaurants opened in the area and we started going to some of them.

The place, on Sunday, was packed, and there was a line waiting to get in when we left. .

By Judi Curry

So, is the drought over in OB? If you have driven down Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in the past three months you would sure think so. I stopped driving down this street months ago when there was construction going on and I had to take detours.

Guess what? There is still construction going on and the street is like a floating river.

“Antique Thai Cuisine”
3373 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92110
619-222-0689

I have frequently had lunch at the “Antique Thai Cuisine” restaurant in the Midway section of San Diego. Their lunch specials start at $5.99 and it is easy to have a satisfying lunch for under $8.00.

This evening I had to take one of my students back to the airport so that she could begin her journey back home to Sao Paulo, and my other student – Felizia – and a friend – Warren – wanted to see her off. Since it was dinner time when we began to return home and Felizia saying she really liked Thai food – and since we were on Rosecrans anyway – my car just automatically drove into the Antique Thai parking lot.

The dinner menu is pretty much the same as the lunch menu, but different prices –and a few items that are only available at dinner.

Every now and then my name crops up on one or more of the dating sites that I used to belong to and I receive correspondence asking if we can chat, go out for coffee, or… Here is a quick tale from last night:

Brian and I had been corresponding for several weeks; talked a few times on the phone and he asked me to join him for dinner at the “Olive Garden”. Since my student was going out for dinner, I agreed to meet him and asked him what he would be wearing. He told me he would have on a western shirt and Levi’s. We agreed to meet at 6:00pm.

Eager volunteers work long hours recreating Cabrillo’s galleon at Spanish Landing

Editor: We covered the building of the San Salvador by San Diego volunteers back in May of 2012 and posted a photo essay of the wonderful reconstruction of the Spanish galleon. Here, Judi Curry continues our coverage with a special focus on the women volunteers, the Women of the San Salvador.

By Judi Curry

The Maritime Museum of San Diego is building a $5 million replica of San Salvador, the galleon Cabrillo guided here in 1542 when he became the first European to explore what is today known as San Diego Bay. The museum has dedicated a construction site for the ship which was donated by the San Diego Port District on public land at Spanish Landing, 2 miles from where its main collection of historic vessels are docked on North Harbor Drive.

Thirty-five months have passed since the keel was first laid in March of 2011. This three-masted galleon, totaling 88 feet of beautiful wood will weigh 200,000 tons when completed. Plans call for the ship to open as a paid attraction in 2014, when it joins the museum’s other ships at the nearby embarcadero.

The Habit Grill
3455 Sports Arena Blvd., #104
San Diego, CA 92110

Just what the area needed – another hamburger restaurant. My favorite has been “Raglan Public House” ever since it opened, with “Hodad’s” and “In and Out Burger” second and third. Yes, I have tried the other “new” ones in Liberty Station; in Mission and Fashion Valley, but Raglan’s still comes out on top to my palate.

I picked up my granddaughter Molli at school today and rather than take her to my house for dinner until her mother picked her up, I decided a fresh, young palate would help me with my review. We went to “The Habit” because it is new to our area; it is in the Ralph’s/Target shopping center; and is across the road from PetCo – all places I needed to stop at after she was picked up.

From the side that we came into the parking lot from it appeared to be closed, but when I drove around to the front of the building it was open, albeit dark. The first thing I would suggest is better lighting along the side of the restaurant. There is an outside patio, replete with space heaters, but the lighting is still bad.

Several years ago, as a new widow, I wrote an article about how lonesome it was to watch the Super Bowl without a companion to discuss it with. I have made it a point from that time on to always be with friends when the biggest game of the season plays. Today was no exception.

As the oldest of my group today, I was interested in the other comments about the commercials and the Half-Time shows. There was quite an age gap between us, and I was curious about their responses. As a group, there was total agreement that the game lacked excitement. Since I was the only one that wanted the Seahawks to win, I found that I had to temper my enthusiasm when the Seahawks scored the safety; when the return man from Seattle ran the ball the length of the football field; when Denver fumbled and the Seahawks recovered – how many times was that? – you get the picture.

Embargo Grill
3960 W. Point Loma Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
619-786-7522

There are so many new restaurants opening up in San Diego that it is hard to decide which one to try out first. Since I was going to meet a young man to interview in Pt. Loma, the Embargo Grill seemed like a good place to try out.

The restaurant is located in the old “Longs” shopping center on the corner of West Point Loma and Midway Ave., where the Soup Plantation, the Halibut Shop, Denny’s, CVS, etc., are located. I hope that the location is not a bad omen, because the restaurant that used to be in the same location, “BGR” was one that I rated highly – at least the first time I was there. The Embargo Grill is in the same place, and unless I am mistaken, even the furnishings are the same.

Ortiz’s Taco Shop
3704 Voltaire
San Diego, CA 92107
619-222-4476

By Judi Curry

As the Chargers lost on Sunday, interim Mayor Todd Gloria had promised to send authentic Mexican food to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. As an aficionado of such cuisine, I was amazed to see the three restaurants Gloria selected: Ortiz’s Taco Shop in Point Loma, Lolita’s Taco Shop in Kearny Mesa and Mama Testa Taqueria in Hillcrest.

So I called two of my friends – Ro and Irene – and asked them if they would like to join me in reviewing these three restaurants – one at a time, of course.

Sundara Indian Cuisine
1774 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-889-0639

There is an old saying that states ‘you cannot go back and expect to find the same things you found originally.’ Such is true of the Sundara Indian Restaurant in Ocean Beach.

I originally reviewed this restaurant August 3, 2012, when it was located in a tiny restaurant almost on the corner of Sunset Cliffs and Pt. Loma Ave. At that time it was sharing its restaurant with the “Pt. Loma Beach Café” – cooking its meals in a community kitchen during the late afternoon and bringing that food to its patrons for dinner. It was very good and I gave it a favorable review in the OBRag.

Asked again to review it now that it is in a permanent place with the ability to cook all of the meals on the premises, I asked my friend Eric to accompany me, as he has done several times in the past.

This a warning from the Widder Curry:

When was the last time your came off Highway 8 west, made your left hand turn, and continued to Famosa Boulevard (the street and bridge that runs over Nimitz Blvd), turned right at the signal and coming up to Voltaire St. Then, after making a complete stop at the intersection of Famosa and Voltaire you turned right? (Famosa becomes Catalina at the 7-11.)

Yesterday? Did you get a ticket? No? You don’t know how lucky you were, because without any notice a sign has been placed at that intersection that now reads “no right hand turns on a red light.”

People are complaining that they are getting $293 tickets for making that turn.

Where did you say that is again?