Panchita's Kitchen & Bakery

Just a block away from the Fresh & Easy in North Park is the newest panaderia in North Park, Panchita's which has locations in City Heights, Barrio Logan and Golden Hill.

It's right in front of this building...

I was curious to check out what will probably be a hipster Mexican bakery...

Cat Cult mural + another bunny kitty

In the Chase bank parking lot is this...

A mural of epic cattiness..

Donuts 'n Coffee @ Nomad & Calabria + the Fresh & Easy in North Park

One of the last few days of Spring Break, Bert and I had a free morning...

while TC was a track practice...

Morning dates this past year have been pretty fun and since I saw on Instagram that Nomad was now offering vegan donuts, I was curious...

Bugsy's Brew

Having enjoyed our takeout from Craft Kitchen at the oh-so-romantic location of the Sprouts La Mesa Parking lot...

we checked online to see what coffee places were nearby...

Craft Kitchen

Early Friday evening, Bert and I dropped off TC to watch a school play for "extra credit".  Being without the teen meant "date night"...

So off we went to La Mesa to a place recommended by Cathy..

Return to Caffe Italia

Before heading back, we made a quick stop near the sign...

to Caffe Italia to make use of a coupon I've had since last year...

Pan Bon

Fueled up by our excellent drinks from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters on Kettner, we headed over to our next stop southwards...

I loved seeing all of the jacarandas in bloom...

At a highrise called the Ariel Suites, home of the soon to open Javier Plascencia project Bracero, is a relatively new food Italian hall called Pan Bon...

Ironsmith Coffee Roasters

Our quick jaunt to Moonlight Beach came to a close...

as we admire this vibrant hibiscus bloom somewhere along D Street.

Around the corner from the Encinitas arch was yet another coffee shop we wanted to try...

Return to Moonlight Beach

At the very end of D Street in Encinitas is this flight of stairs...

which is the D Street entrance to the poetically named beach below...

Moonlight Yogurt & Ice

Down the hill from the Lofty Coffee Roasting Works was the Encinitas arch...

and right next to it, on the north western corner near the arch was this small yogurt shop named after the beach a few blocks away...

Lofty Encinitas Roasting Works

Next door to the Rhino Art Co. was the roasting facility for Lofty Coffee,

Lofty Encinitas Roasting Works...

Rhino Art Co

They sure like the Surfing Madonna here in Encinitas...

This rendition was on a banner, just a few few steps aware from the actual mosaic piece at the Leucadia Pizza Company...

Last time we were here, we noticed this art store across the street from Lofty Coffee...

and figured today was as good as any to check it out...

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, Little Italy

While it was overcast down in IB, the sun was already peeking through...

Here we are traveling north on the 5 near Balboa Park while an airplane flies overhead...

I love this time of year...seeing the purple blossoms is a sure harbinger of springtime in San Diego..

The new Pond 20 Fence in IB

A few weeks ago, we dropped off TC to do some volunteer work with her youth group over in IB...

Bert and I took the scenic route after dropping her off at the beach...

which is marked by the iconic "Surfhenge" sculpture at the foot of the pier...

Dolci Cafe Italiano + assorted sweets from Pistachios

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with my good friend MFH....

We met in her neck of the woods...

Dessert at 85C, shenanigans @ Zion + more pastries at Paris Baguette with Astroboi

I know you've seen trays like this umpteen times in my previous posts on 85C...

This was Astroboi's inaugural visit. He wanted to see what the hype was about...

Birthday dinner @ Chamorro Grill w/Astroboi

Astroboi hadn't been here before...

and it was ages since I'd last been here as well...

Coupon fail + bargain finds & donuts for Astroboi from Mary's Donuts

Before my planned dinner date with Astroboi...I headed over to Santee to utilize a birthday freebie here...

Unfortunately, because I got there around 4 pm...

Lunch at Kanpai & drinks at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

During Spring Break, TC and I went to one of our favorite places...

located at the corner of Third and Palomar in west Chula Vista, good ole Kanpai...

Leucadia Pizza Company

While our pastries from the Carlsbad Danish Baking Co. weren't so great this time around (with the exception of the chocolate almond pretzel), we were hoping to have better luck later that day...

In this case lunch down in Encinitas. Here's a tip, try to find free parking at the train station lot on the conrer of Vulcan and Encinitas Blvd....

Return to Carlsbad Danish Baking Co.

[Update - Closed. As of 11/2015, it is now known as "C'est la Vie, The Cake 'n Quiche Company"]

I was so happy that Bert took a day off during our last day of Spring Break...

We planned a day in points North, specifically Carlsbad...

Return to Eccentric Bakers and Kaffee Meister

My other coupon(s) included a bakery which we visited last October...

The name of this bakery seems a bit odd especially since it was just a regular bakery and nothing to wild and crazy inside...

Sandwich Bags Deli

Sometime last month Bert and I made the trip up to Santee (aka Cathy's 'hood)...

I had some coupons to use and decided to try to kill three or four birds with one stone...

In this stripmall  with a "wide variety" of services...

Our lunch @ Dinosaur Caves Park

As we drove up Price Street (one of the main streets) to get to the 101 North, we passed by the only Filipino store on the Central Coast, De Bu of Pismo Beach.

We'd been there three years ago but didn't stop during this trip...

As you can see, it was pretty foggy!

Bert read up on one of the newer parks in the area and though it would be a nice spot to have our lunch...

The Orange Cat Cafe

It's the return of the Summer Road Trip Post. As in LAST SUMMER...

This was Day 3 and we'd just come from SLO making our sticky mark at Bubblegum Alley...

Birthday Highlights 2015

What a groovy year this was...

But the best day in April was LUCKY 13!

because it marks, as The Fonz once said in the special sign language episode of "Happy Days", my BORN DAY, haha...

Dessert revisited at Sea & Smoke

Dessert was just downstairs...

(photo from my "Dessert @ Sea & Smoke...", April 2014)

and since TC really enjoyed that dude's acoustic set...

Return to Cafe Cantata

Our original lunch destination wasn't open until 4:30 pm today (d'oh for Sundays!). $%#@! I couldn't believe I didn't double check before we left the house...

Thus Plan B was put into action, which was to meander up Del Mar and head over to another lunch spot...

Pre-Birthday Dinner at Cafe 21 + dessert at Le Parfait Paris

Earlier this evening, Bert, TC and I went out for my pre-birthday dinner...

which was at Cafe 21 in the Gaslamp...

Sucky noodles from Noodles + return to the Cravory, an almost coupon fail at Sunshine Smoothie & return to Boll Weevil

I think I'm done now with this place...

Noodles & Company. I totally made the same mistake twice...

Snacks from K Sandwiches, and wrap ingredients from Thuan Phat

Bert and I had some time to kill before picking up TC from track.

After our breakfast and coffee in La Mesa...

we headed to Linda Vista...

All the Perks Espresso Cafe

While still in La Mesa, we maximized our time here by going to another coffee place...

located in this strip mall within walking distance from downtown La Mesa and its trolley stop...

@Spacebar Cafe

@Spacebar (not a typo) was a place we wanted to go to a month ago but their posted online hours differed from their actual hours so Bert and I went somewhere else...

This particular morning, they were indeed open so it was off to La Mesa...

Return to Ra Ka De Ka and tortas from Tropical Fruit Paradise

During the break, TC and I went to one her favorite Thai fast food places...

which was also near a few other places I wanted to hit up that day...

More snacks from Bane Phonkeo

A few days ago Bert and I stopped by Bane Phonkeo's before picking up TC...

I wanted some of those flower shaped cookies...

Donuts 'n Coffee @ Donut Panic and return to Cuppa Cuppa

This particular visit was during Spring Break but a few days ago, there was an accident at Donut Panic (saw it on their IG) and the front is all boarded up. Perhaps a car crashed into it? Luckily the kitchen is all right but for the time being, the store isn't open. I hope that Linda and her father are able to recuperate their losses and come back stronger...

During this visit, TC and I picked up a few toroid delights before heading to lunch...

Easter 2015

Aw, isn't this cute...

(The bag, a present from Cathy, as originally seen in my "More Food Gifts" post, February 4, 2014)

This year we stayed home and enjoyed the day....

A pair of Vans

Last week TC and I went shoe shopping...

I was the one who ended up with shoes that day at an old school favirite brand of shoes that I grew up wearing...

Seafood Friday #7 - Classic Old Bay Crab Cakes

Alas, this is the last Seafood Friday for this year since Easter is this weekend.

I recently picked up a couple of packets of Old Bay crab cake seasoning packets (only $1.50!) from I don't remember where...

Return to Papa Luna's & Junz

After getting coffee from Ladies & Gentlemen, TC and I headed over to go thrift store shopping on Garnet...

visiting Goodwill, Thrift Trader and Buffalo Exchange all within walking distance...

Hello there Ladies & Gentlemen Coffee Roasters

[Update - Unfortuntely, this coffee shop is now out of business (as of early summer 2015)]

"Hello there Ladies & Gentlemen...hello there ladies and gentlemen...

Are you ready to raaaaaawk? Are you ready to ROCK!!!"

I still heart you Robin Zander!

The lyrics of one of my favorite Cheap Trick songs ("Hello There")  is also the moniker for this fairly new coffee place in Sherman Heights just east of the 5...

just west of this awesome mural...