Cafe Gratitude – A hot vegan spot with locations in San Diego and Los Angeles. Also surprised to find out that this restaurant group also owns Gracias Madre.

Comforted – Roasted Yams

Excited – Mojito Spritzer

I ordered the Liberated (Pesto Kelp Noodles), it was my favorite of the dishes we ordered. It didn’t totally convince me that I will go back to Cafe Gratitude but I still had a good experience.

Humble – Indian Curry Bowl

Colors of Little Italy

The Mad Beet – Acaiwol Nation, this place is obnoxious and over priced. Located in my hometown of Pacific Beach. I miss Big Squeeze, they had acai bowls before they were a thing and made them so good.

Pretty sure I rave about my favorite taco truck every time I visit home. Mariscos German in Logan Heights is amazing. I always get the fish tacos and ceviche.

Ceviche

Sidecar Doughnuts – This is an LA doughnut spot. We flew down to SD and drove back up to the Bay because I HAVE A CAR NOW. It’s a long story and I never wanted a car while living in Berkeley but it has happened and it is awesome. We stopped in LA for the night to break up the driving a bit. My sister set super high expectations for these doughnuts. Like super high, she raves about them often and said they were better than Bluestar (gasp). So she had some ready for us for our early morning drive the next morning.

Mexican Hot Chocolate – so unimpressed, I took two bites and was over it. My sister and her boyfriend were so offended that I didn’t like Sidecar and they claim it is because the doughnuts weren’t fresh.

Elderberry (I think, maybe it was passion fruit), it sucked.

Ximena.