They were also hungry but we chose to go to the Denny's that was farther away from the SoMa...
TC and her friends had a good time; it was her first unchaperoned concert. The SoMa is an all ages venue and she saw several other friends there from school (a few whose parents are friends of mine). Instead of the Denny's near Sports Arena, we went to the one in Roseville (closer to the western end of Point Loma).
I know this is a craptastic shot but I just wanted to show the iconic Googie-architecture shown in that peaked roof. There are quite a few Denny's that sport this look, including one in Pasadena (our trip posts are forthcoing) that was featured on the front cover of graphic artist/illustrator Adrian Tomine's latest book, "Killing and Dying" (this is not a reference to violence but a term used in comedy to indicate whether your act was successful or whether it sucked).
Breakfast for late dinner? Yes.
Not very crowded in here, but then again, it was 11:45 pm. While Bert and I were waiting in the parking lot for the kids, we chatted with a long-haired fellow, who turned out to be the father of one of the musicians that performed that night (the guitarist for the Frights). He himself was also a musician and performs at various clubs in the OB area. Anyhow, that was quite interesting.
The kids weren't as hungry as we thought they would be. They all shared a sampler which had fried chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks and onion rings. The hash browns and sausage links were for me and Bert.
Fried snacks galore with ranch dip and ketchup.
All that was missing were eggs for a full breakfast.
The food was your standard diner food. Nice crisp hash browns but not as good as other versions I've had (Perry's, Olympic Cafe, even Aunt Emma's). I'm sure it all hailed from Sysco.
Back to the Denny's architecture. I just recently purchased Tomine's latest book, "Killing and Dying". I've been a fan since the early '90s when he was still writing his 'Optic Nerve' comics in Tower Records' free Pulse! magazine; he was only a teenager at that time. I have the hardcover edition which comes with a clear jacket sleeve (pretty nifty). What I recall from reading various interviews with Tomine was his depiction of real life places in his art. In his early Optic Nerve comics, many of the locales were from Berkeley (where he was an undergrad); we recognized many of them since we used to visit Thane frequently in the mid 90's when he was doing his ph.D program. So....the Denny's on the cover here is a real Denny's according to Tomine.
The Denny's in Pasadena on the southern end of East Colorado Blvd served as the book's cover art. This one is actually near a Target, although you can't see the Target sign in my photo (but you can see a tiny bit of it on the book cover).
You can read more about the book's stories/vignettes from the reviews below. My verdict, classic Tomine. The art varied from story to story (which was a nice departure to his usual clean lined style) but the stories themselves were quite sad, poignant, and even cringeworthy (such as the title story).
More info:
Drawn & Quarterly (Tomine's distributor)
Reviews of "Killing and Dying":
Salon.com
New York Times
Good Reads
The Guardian
Chicago Tribune
The New Yorker (where Tomine is an illustrator)
Denny's
1601 Rosecrans St.
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 223-8946
Denny.com/Rosecrans
Will we ever come back here? Probably not. A Denny's is a Denny's. There weren't a lot of late night choices around. The other Denny's near the SoMa was actually near Les Girls and those other nude places. Not something we'd want the kids to be near...
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