When I’m with friends and we are all looking for someplace to eat, Sipz is a restaurant that I never worry about suggesting. It is a “sure bet” for making everyone happy. In fact, since the last time I’ve been there, they bought the restaurant next door and knocked down the walls to expand Sipz to twice its original size. Obviously, Sipz is catching on in San Diego.

Sipz serves Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai entrees. What makes Sipz unique is that all the food is vegan/vegetarian. The menu is a little deceiving because it lists items like Thai Chicken Curry, Crunchy Chowmein and Cashew Chicken. But in small print you’ll see that all the meats are “mock”. In other words, it’s ALL TOFU. But don’t let that four letter word scare you away.

The reason I don’t worry about inviting my friends to Sipz, not even the carnivores, is because the food is delicious and you won’t even notice that you aren’t eating meat. Everyone always leaves full and satisfied. Sweet and Sour Pork is my new favorite dish.

Sipz entrees are served in a bowl with a scoop of rice. They are reasonably priced at $7 or less. In the picture below, I’m holding the Thai Chicken Curry on the left and the Chicken with Basil on the right.

Sipz has two locations. One in Clairemont and one in Poway. Bring your friends to Sipz for a healthy meal that you’ll never know is vegetarian.

July Update:

This weekend I went to Sipz again with some friends, and one of the dishes we ordered was Pad Thai. Unfortunately, this was really bad pad thai. The noodles were very sticky and clumped together. The mock chicken tasted good and we ate that by itself while leaving the noodles untouched.

Sipz Fuzion Cafe - Claireomont
5501 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
92117
858-379-3747

Sipz Fuzion Cafe - Poway
11385 Poway Road
92128
858-468-7479

North Park is experiencing an overdue revitalization within San Diego. At the intersection of University Ave and 30th street, stores are getting new face lifts and the La Boheme condo complex is being built. In the center of all this activity is Spread, which bills itself as serving vegetarian comfort food. After many months of driving by, I finally stopped in to try it myself.

Spread is a very funky restaurant with a style all its own. When you walk in you’ll notice that even though it is a small space, it is very open. The decor is mix between a retro restaurant and a bar with a live DJ. There are a couple “bubble chairs” hanging from the ceiling, and a professional turntable in the back corner pumping out an eclectic mix.

After ordering our food, Andrew (the owner), brought out one dish at a time so that it could be shared by both of us. He doesn’t recommend each person getting their own plate. What I immediately noticed about the food was how many flowers there are. It seems that each dish is garnished with an abundance of flowers and we are encouraged to make sure we eat each one. For example, this picture is the truffled almond bowl.

After getting past all the flowers, I discovered how flavorful the food was. Each dish seemed simple enough when it was placed on the table. But taking a bite revealed a totally different experience. The vegetable medley was a pasta dish with an assortment of seasonings. The truffled almonds were very tasty, but we couldn’t finish the entire bowl b/c the oil was too rich.

The only word of caution I have about Spread is the price of each entree. Although each dish is very simple, the price is a bit steeper than I would have expected. The price of each entree runs between $16 and $20. This would be expected for other upscale restaruants, but at Spread the portions are very small. For example, the vegetable medley was just a small bowl of corkscrew pasta and it cost $18. The duck egg fritatta cost $20 and was a bit more filling. In the next picture, I’m holding up the duck egg fritatta plate and to the right is the small bowl of pasta (notice in the background the bubble chair suspended from the ceiling).

With as much as I spent, I would hope to not leave feeling hungry.

Overall, if you want gourmet vegetarian food and aren’t worried about the price, you’ll be very happy dining at Spread.

Spread
2879 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92104

Just off the corner of El Cajon and Alabama, is my favorite lebanese restaurant. Well, it’s actually the only lebanese restaurant I know of in San Diego, but that doesn’t discount the fact that Mama’s Bakery has wonderful food.

Mama’s Bakery appears to be a house converted to a lebanese eatery. The left side of the house is a converted garage where you order your food and the kitchen is behind the counter. The outdoor patio has been covered and has tables and chairs for sitting. It’s obviously a very casual atmosphere (even by San Diego’s standards!)

The basis for most entrees is that they are served in a pita wrap that is cooked on a “sajj”. The sajj is a domed stove where the bread cooks on top at temperatures up to 600 degrees. They throw the dough on it, add various seasonings, and cook until ready to wrap. It’s delicious bread.

When I lived in North Park, I made sure that I went to Mama’s Bakery once a week for lunch. They have great wraps with all types of fillings. My favorites are Soujouk (spicy armenian beef sausage) pictured below, Makanek (lebanese beef sausage), and garlic chicken wrap.

Although I’m clearly a carnivore, Mama’s has pleny of selections for vegetarians. For example, you can have a Lebni Wrap (yogurt cream cheese with vegies), Feta Cheese Wrap, and Baba Ghanouj Wrap. If you are hungry for more than just a wrap, you can order them as a plate dish that comes with hummus and a salad. I recently put Mama’s to the authenticity test when a lebanese friend from LA came down to visit. I took him to Mama’s for lunch to see what he thought. He thought it was fantastic food and said that it was very authentic.

The one last part that I always like about Mama’s is that you can buy old-time soda pops. This reminds me of when my Mom used to give us a treat of letting my family get drinks from the “Soda Pop Shop” that had all types of flavors to choose from (cream soda, orange, etc.). When I get a drink at Mama’s, I always get the Stewart’s Black Cherry soda pop. =)

If you’re looking for something different for lunch and you’re near North Park, Mama’s Bakery is a great choice that will keep you coming back.

Mama’s Bakery and Lebanese Deli
4237 Alabama Street
San Diego CA 92104
858-688-0717