Happy Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween!

(from "Beef 'n Bun Whistle Stop" 2015, post is forthcoming)

Alas, no carved pumpkins from us this year...

San Marco Coffee Roasting House

With the lovely Verdugo Mountains in the distance, we headed east from Martino's Bakery...

which was right off Magnolia; the coffee place would also be right off Magnolia, but due east...

in this tiny commercial corner with a old school cleaners and hamburger joint as neighbors...

Martino's Bakery

Not that far from Creature Features was Martino's Bakery...

which was known for a very specific baked good that I was curious in trying.

Return to the LA Roadtrip - January 2015 Day 2 Porto's & cool window art @ Creature Features

Everytime we stay overnight in Burbank...

we always make sure to go to Porto's...

It's across the bridge on their  main drag, Magnolia St...

Late night snack at Doughnut Hut

We'd been here before, but only in the daytime...

I know that's a crappy photo of the Doughnut Hut, but the car was moving and it was dark...

Pan de muertos & more...2015 Edition

The other day I was off work early and had some errands to do on the west side of Chula Vista...

It was that time of the year...

Rafo's Cafe

We always stay at the same hotel in Burbank, the Holiday Inn Express. It's close to the freeway and pretty affordable.  Unfortunately there are way too many chain restaurants there that I wouldn't set foot in...Most of our stays have involved us driving out for dinner. Bert had dinner destination choosing duty and he picked a good one!

That night's dinner wold be in this strip mall...

Coffee & Donuts with Astroboi @ Dark Horse & Nomad

Just a few blocks east from the Masonic lodge was Dark Horse Coffee...

where last week Bert and I tried their new fall drinks...

Ocean Cove Bar & Grill

Even though it wasn't that late, we were tired after having explored the Armstrong Redwoods followed by the Guerneville Bank Club for snacks...

Our  lodging for the night was in the seaside town of Jenner..

Silver Gate Three Star Lodge + garage sale in North Park & the soon-to-be-closed Thrift Trader in Hillcrest

We parked across this cool looking building before heading to The Mission for breakfast...

I made a mental note to find out more before we heading to our coffee destination.

Belated birthday breakfast for Astroboi @ The Mission, North Park

It's been a long six months since I last hung out with my dear friend Astroboi...

We'd gone out for my birthday back in April and were supposed to go out the following month for his...

Lette Macarons and Cafe Dulce

Across the street from the JANM "Hello Kitty" exhibit was the Japanese Village shopping complex...

Unfortunately, Mikawaya was closed, but several other places we wanted to try were open!

Guerneville Bank Club

Fresh out of the Armstrong Redwoods...we drove the few short minutes to get to town..

(the mural behind our snack destination; it was in an enclosed garden)

in Guerneville that is...

which we later found out was a big vacation getaway

North Park Produce, Normal Heights

Before heading home after our craptastic coffee from Mission Hills Coffee Company...

we took the long way home and stopped by the NPP in Normal Heights (well south of it), which is on the corner of Wilson and El Cajon Blvd.

The return of random pix from October to December of LAST YEAR

Talk about cleaning out the memory card...

These photos date back from the last few months...of LAST YEAR!

D'oh!!!

Japanese store two-fer: Tokyo Central & Main plus the new Daiso in Kearny Mesa

I still have to get used to the new signage...

(photo from my "TORC's birthday lunch @ Purple Mint" post, September 2015)

after having been known as Marukai Daiso for awhile...

This was one of our stops when TC was gathering up items for a birthday gift basket...

Manna 3x + Mission Hills Coffee Company

Bert and I had some free time this morning...

TC was doing volunteer work so it was yet another morning date, this time in Mission Hills

"Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty" @ the JANM in LA

Our French dip sandwiches from Cole's were quite filling and proved to be the right sustenance to get through the next phase of the day..

which was visiting Little Tokyo's Japanese American National Museum

Return to Olympic Cafe & Golden Donut

Earlier today I made good on my promise to take TC here...

Bert also accompanied us quite early to beat the rush...

Armstrong Redwoods

With salt water taffy from Patrick's giving us a sugar boost, we headed off to our next destination...

where we would hang a right...

Gelateria Uli @ The Spring Arcade Building

We saw this historic building while on the way to Cole's and made a mental note to come here on the way back...

Under the beautiful and ornate archway were a series of shops, one of which served gelato...

Cold as Ice or Hotter than Hell? Salted maple lattes from Dark Horse Coffee in North Park

Coffee Stop #2 was here...

a place we've been to previously. I secretly hoped that the ginger barista who resembled GOT's Tormund Giantsbane younger gentler brother would be there...

Cole's French Dip Sandwiches

Not too far from The Last Bookstore and diagonally across the street from hipster bakery, Semi Sweet is this beacon for the food curious...

How can you pass up a sign like this?

Well I guess if you're a vegetarian, it would be easy, but we weren't, so in we went...

Return to the Last Bookstore

The $5 lot we parked in had many advantages...

One, it was cheap and two, it was close by to many places we wanted to check out in DTLA...

The Bradbury Building + the Million Dollar Theatre

Just down the block from Grand Central Market are two iconic buildings in DTLA...

The first was this Romanesque building which was a  popular during the late 1800's...

The Bradbury Building is one of the most photographed buildings in LA and has been featured in many films...

Return to Grinds and Vine

One block north up Texas was our next stop...

Coffee Stop #1...

On the weekend is the only time that I drink coffee and today I would have two...

DTLA's Grand Central Market - G & B Coffee + Ana Maria's Mexican Food

Our visit to Angels Flight and Angels Knoll earlier this morning was strategic...

Just south of the base of Angels Flight was LA's historic Grand Central Market...

We'd never been and itt was nice to go so early in the morning when it wasn't crazy crowded yet...

Our first stop was for some much needed caffeine...

Golden Donut

Of course I could not resist the siren call of toroid calorie bombs nearby...

for just a few storefronts away from Olympic Cafe where we just enjoyed breakfast,

was the namesake of the iconic sign...

Olympic Cafe

It was a morning date for me and Bert...

so while TC was assisting with the church rummage sale...

we headed over to the Northwest corner of Texas St. and University Avenue. You've seen this sign with the donut before. This was our destination...

Where have I been? Return to Phuong Trang

Wow, when did this happen?

The signage for Phuong Trang is new and spiffy...

Late dinner at Mandarin Beijing

We hadn't been to Mandarin Beijing in a while...

Three years to be exact and it was also for the same reason...

The new Heaven Sent Desserts

From their previous spot on the southwest corner of 30th and University...

(photo from my "Anniversary food crawl..." post, July 2015)

to just a few doors down around the corner where the Ms. Vintage boutique used to be...

is the new location of Heaven Sent Desserts...

San Diego Serbian Festival

Located on a hill overlooking the western edge of Clairemont and Bay Park...

is the beautiful cerulean blue domed structure that is St. George Serbian Orthodox Church...

the site of that day's festivities...

Negociant

After my visit to Grinds and Vine Coffee Bar during the last week of vacation...

I thought I'd take up manager Brian's invitation for a wine tasting...

Now this isn't something I normally do and I wasn't going to do it alone, so...

Filippi's Pizza Grotto, Mira Mesa

Bert, Scregman, Tatonka and Superman had just finished watching the new Depp flick, "Black Mass"...

TC and I had just finished our Indian food crawl when we got a text from Bert...

Art Produce Gallery

Since we were right next to it...

we all decided to check out the art gallery which shares space with Tostadas...

Return to Tostadas

Yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting up with the Horns...

Darlene and Paul that is...

Our lunch destination was the fairly new Tostadas which TC and I visited a few weeks ago...