Miguel’s Cocina

Excellent Enchiladas Rancheras at Miguel’s in 4S Ranch!

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Outstanding burrito bowl thing (with no beans of course) at Chipotle. My favorite protein option is definitely their delicious barbacoa.

Nuevo Grill & Cantina

Excellent carne asada quesadilla appetizer at Nuevo Girl in Ramona! The special surprise here are the green chiles they put inside.

Las Olas Mexican Restaurant

Outstanding enchilada and taco combination plate at Las Olas! This time I’m visiting their Carlsbad location. Not quite the stunning beach setting as their Cardiff location but the restaurant here seems bigger and nicer overall.

Yard House

Excellent Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds at YH in Mission Valley! Also had a very tasty sammich & salad lunch special. Always an impressive selection of fine draft beers here.

Pinto Thai

Outstanding Pad Thai at Pinto Thai in Ramona!

Panda Express

One of my favorite things to order at Panda is this one item bowl thing. Simply outfitted with chow mein and orange chicken.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s is now serving breakfast and I tried it recently. Outstanding chicken biscuit with some sort of honey-butter sauce. The hot biscuit wasn’t quite up to Mack Donald’s standards but it was tasty nonetheless. Those tater wedge things were very good too.

Farmhouse 78

I finally tried Farmhouse 78 in Santa Ysabel and I have to echo the chorus of great reviews I’ve seen! We went for breakfast and I ordered “The Farmer”. Fluffy scrambled eggs and crispy hash browns piled high atop a jumbo buttermilk biscuit, then smothered with country sausage gravy, $13.95. My initial sense was that the protein to starch ratio was unbalanced so I requested an add of sausage patties which the chef thoughtfully cut up. This was a good call. If you ever order this, I recommend you do the same. The dish was outstanding and quite hearty. I’m glad I wore loose fitting clothing.
I could tell when it came out that I didn’t need to add any salt & pepper. Everything was perfectly seasoned and robustly flavored. The biscuit itself was rather dense and dry unfortunately. I only took a couple bites from the top then set it aside. The gravy-soaked bottom half was of course perfect. I thought the country gravy was excellent. It rivaled similar gravies from both Marinade on Main and MMG. Nothing institutional here.
I’m not gonna sugarcoat it; this is not an inexpensive restaurant. The food served however is of remarkable quality. Among the finest you’ll find in the back country. I still need to try F78 for dinner though, but I’m confident my observation will hold up. The restaurant itself is beautiful. Spacious, bright, airy, modern and very clean. Looking forward to a return visit, now that one of my cars is paid off.