Dining At Its Finest
S
earching for The Perfect Meal? An authentic island expe-
rience? This year’s Best of Coronado restaurants, bistros, coffee shops, bars and other memorable meal experiences can help point you on your way!
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Breakfast: Clayton’s Coffee Shop This “old-time’ coffee shop, complete with central horseshoe counter is adding something new this summer: A walk –up window where Coronadans can once again enjoy that morning favorite: Doughnuts!
Lunch: Tartine Tartine is an all-around favorite. Yes a noontime salad is divine, but so are dinners on the patio.
Dinner: Peohe’s, Brigantine Okay, so it’s a tie…that’s fine. Go to Peohe’s one night (macadamia nut halibut is superb as is the lobster bisque) and the Brig the next (Swordfish! Brig Burgers!)
Overall Value: VFW Fish Fries VFW wins a four-star salute for its Friday Night Fish Fries, held year-round the first and third Fridays of the month from 5:30 - 7 p.m.; just $8 for a whopper-sized fish, cole slaw, veggie and roll. And don’t forget the Sunday night steak dinners, now through Sept. 12, 5:30 – 7 p.m. -- barbecued steak, baked potato, salad and a roll, $11. Lots of folks pick ‘em up and take them across the street for a Concert-in-thePark first-class picnic.
Editor’s Pick: Best Meal-in-One Prime Rib at The Clubhouse Bar & Grill. On Thursday and Sunday nights (4–8 p.m.), locals head to the Coronado Golf Course for great prime rib dinners that come with a choice of baked potato or rice pilaf, Caesar, house or spinach salad and a vegetable — usually asparagus. Prices begin at $15.95 for a 10-ounce steak and go up to $19.95 for a 14-ouncer.
Best Dinner: Peohe’s
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Editor’s Pick Best Meal-in-One the Prime Rib: Clubhouse Bar & Gril Coronado Municipal Golf Course
Hotel Restaurant: Crown Bistro It’s one of the tinier restaurants on the island, but you’d never know that from the delicious meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner, that Jerry Tovar and his family serve here. Eat in or on the patio!
Bagels: Bruegger’s Bagels They bake up new batches of bagels by the hour. Go get ‘em!
Barbecue: Lil’ Piggies You can’t miss the whiff of down-home barbecue when you visit the Ferry Landing these days. It’s a take-out favorite for locals! Oink! Oink!
Bistro/Café: Chance Bistro Caterer: Southern Hospitality Catering Planning a wedding? A “celebration of life?” Casey and Alan Aegerter’s catering company always delivers scrumptious food, beautifully presented.
Coffee: Fuel Sure, this “juice bar” located near the post office has fabulous smoothies and we probably should have had that as a category. But they also raved about Fuel’s coffee.
Deli: Boney’s Bayside Market The market’s deli serves up all fashions of sandwiches, salads and take-out dinners that make every Coronadan look like they’ve been spending hours in the kitchen. At lunchtime, favorites include the Bayside Turkey Sandwich ($6.95) the Coronado Club ($5.95) and the Salsalito Island Baja, a cool but spicy turkey, avocado and cucumber delight ($5.95). All deli meats are Boar’s Head, a sign of the overall quality you expect at this locally owned market. 42 Taste of Coronado • Summer 2010
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Best Deli: Boney’s Bayside Market
Greek: Spiro’s Gyros Of course, you can order a gyros (lamb or chicken sandwich in pita bread with tahini sauce, tomatoes and onions — so good!) But try branching out because Spiro’s has many other delicious specialties on its menu. Try the roasted lamb shank, a whole tilapia fried fish or roasted lemon Corfu chicken — so moist and flavorful — all are $10 or less and served with salad and rice pilaf.
Hamburgers: Burger Lounge Burger Lounge’s beef are raised in a single farm where the animals are well cared for and they graze on tall Kansas prairie lands. No hormones, no antibiotics, no grain, no corn, no feed lots.
Home-cooking: Clayton’s Coffee Shop Homemade is what you’ll find here, from turkey dinners (you don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving!) to homemade pies. Summer 2010 • Taste of Coronado 43
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Best Burger: Burger Lounge
Health Food: Boney’s Bayside Market The entire store features healthier choices – from its produce to its meat counters to its organic brands. But do check out the Nutrition and Vitamin section…Nicole is a wealth of information!
Editor’s Pick: Best New Weekend Lunch Scene: Coronado Boathouse 1887 You can now enjoy lunch on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. when everything is $15 and under, ranging from the Boathouse Burger, Crowd Stack, Dungeness crab. And lunchtime is the time to enjoy the Boathouse’s specialty cocktails with a special price of $7. Now that’s a lunch!
Ice Cream: MooTime Since 1998, MooTime has been treating locals and tourists with delicious homemade flavors, blue “Silly Vanilly” vanilla ice cream for kids who are attracted by sight, and “Mix-ins” that are folded in on its marble slabs.
Best Health Food: Boney’s Bayside Market
Italian: Primavera Ristorante This dinner house may look unpretentious from the outside, but inside you will find delicious renditions of the foods of Northern Italy and attentive service from waiters who have been with the establishment for years.
Mexican: Miguel’s Cocina No, you don’t have to go to Old Town to experience the flavors of Mexico…just head to the 44 Taste of Coronado • Summer 2010
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Best Ice Cream: MooTime
covered patio in the El Cordova courtyard. Yes, there’s usually a wait in the summer, but enjoy it with a margarita and chips. Once inside, you’ll find the food amazing (try the shrimp burrito or the fish tacos) And it will be delivered to your table in record time. Ole!
Muffins: Villa Nueva This establishment, like many on Orange Avenue, is biger than it looks from the outside. Muffins are huge here and baked on the premises of this 100 year old bakery. But do pair them with a breakfast of great omelets, too.
Pastries: Tartine Baker Barbara Massey creates some of the most outstanding scones, turnovers and lemon bars to meet your lips. But then there are all those cheesecakes, not to be ignored…
Best Italian: Primavera Ristorante
Pizza: Alexander’s Pizza One again, voters have flipped over Alexander’s pizzas. And you can even stop by and get it by the slice -- a big humongous slice!
Salad: Panera Bread Panera’s salad are hand-tossed and made to order and use the freshest ingredients, like vine-ripened tomatoes. Try the Asian Sesame Chicken. New for this summer is a tomato-mozzarellabasil and back by popular demand is the strawberry poppy seed and chicken. Summer 2010 • Taste of Coronado 45
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Best Steak: Coronado Boathouse 1887
Marty Jensen, one of Boathouse 1887’s partners, offers up a Jack Daniel’s New York steak is USDA prime, with a sauce of the famous whiskey, Dijon mustard, horseradish, fresh rosemary, brown sugar and port wine.
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Best Sushi: Yummy Sushi
Seafood: Brigantine Seafood There are so many ways to enjoy fresh seafood at “The Brig.” Check out the fresh catch of the day, the signature swordfish, firm and so flavorful, or the macadamia-crusted mahi mahi. On a hot summer day, you might enjoy the crab and lobster cobb salad.
Soup: Panera Bread Here you can enjoy your soup with a side of freshly baked bread, or have it served in a bread bowl. Several soups are offered daily and include such favorites as French onion, low fat vegetarian black bean, baked potato, and New England clam chowder.
Steak: Boathouse 1887 Whether you fancy a New York Steak, a rib eye or filet mignon, this is THE place. Enjoy that steak as you watch the boats glide in and out of the slips at Coronado Yacht Club.
Sushi: Yummy Sushi Here’s the first hint: sit at the sushi bar, where the chefs are friendly and it’s quite entertaining to watch them at their craft. The fish here couldn’t be any fresher and you’ll find a depth of ingredients beyond the California roll. You’ll also find more fish and rice in many of the rolls.
Tea: Tartine Where can one go for tea, now that Crown City Antiques and Tea Parlour has closed? Head to Tartine, where you can pair a choice of tea with a lovely pastry when it’s “tea time” (That’s 4 p.m. for those of us on this side of the pond.) Summer 2010 • Taste of Coronado 47
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Best Wine Bar: WineStyles Take-out: Clayton’s Mexican Takeout This clean-as-a-whistle little take-out cubbyhole is a economical, quick and muy delicious choice of locals who want tacos, enchiladas and burritos on five minutes notice.
Thai: Swaddai Thai It’s authentic Thai cuisine, prepared by Tasna, who hails from Thailand and brought her superb ethnic cuisine to America. Try the curry dishes!
Yogurt: Yogurt Escape Serve yourself at just 39 cents an ounce for yogurt and toppings.
Bar Scene: McP’s Irish Pub & Grill It’s Happy Hour from 4–6 Monday – Friday at McP’s where you’ll find half price wine and $1 off beers and lots of half-price appetizers. McP’s makes the best Bloody Marys in town and, of course, a truly superb “Irish Coffee.”
Entertainment: McP’s Irish Pub & Grill There’s live music Tuesday — Thursday from 8 p.m. to midnight (Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.) at McP’s and this is where you’ll find that rare offering: a dance floor!
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Best Romance: 1500 Ocean
Sports Bar: Island Sports and Spirits With 10 high definition monitors throughout the bar, you can bet Island Sports is the place to view your favorite sporting events. But there’s more: live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and Karaoke on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (bad singers welcome!) plus video games and a Happy Hour from 3–7 daily.
Wine Bar: WineStyles It’s like a little trip to Napa…right on Orange Avenue, where there’s wine-tasting every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and live jazz Wednesday – Saturday. The restaurant has also started a “wine and dine” program, partnering with a dozen Coronado restaurants that waive corkage fees on wines purchased at WineStyles.
Romance: 1500 Ocean You don’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day to take your sweetheart to this casual yet elegant restaurant that opened in 2006. With terraced seating overlooking the ocean, the interior features glowing sunset colors and a menu that emphasizes “Southland Coastal Cuisine.” There’s a four-course “tasting menu” ($75 per person) and you can pair it with wines ($45). She’s worth it! Summer 2010 • Taste of Coronado 49
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