Two weekends ago, FH and I attended Taste of Hillcrest. We got to spend an afternoon in beautiful San Diego weather, walking around Hillcrest, grabbing bites from participating restaurants. There was a whopping 52 places participating this year. We tried to move fast, but we were only able to hit about 20+ places before needing to leave early and also being completely stuffed. Perhaps if I stayed the last hour I could have come closer to hitting them all.
I always enjoy experiencing these Taste events because it let’s you taste many restaurants in one go and gives you a better idea of places you want to try in the future and ones you’d rather skip.
You pick up your tickets at will call and then are given a stamp card and map. Each participating restaurant is assigned a number and when you visit that place for a bite, someone will be there to mark it off. So no repeats allowed. In front of each restaurant were blue signs with the assigned numbers, making the places much easier to spot.
Here are some highlights from our eating extravaganza:
Mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes from Babycakes
Spicy Edamame, aspargus salad and sesame sauce teriyaki chicken wing from Raku
Pizza from Arrivederci
Pulled pork from Urban Eats
Santa Monica roll, margarita, and chicken wing from Fiesta Cantina
Pink lemonade, fried green beans and crown hats to wear from Urban Mo's
Red miso wings from EmpireHouse Urban Palate
Pulled pork and smoked beans from Brazen BBQ
Chocolate chip cookies from Bread & Cie
Chicken green mole from Mama Testa
Bagel poppers rolled in cinnamon from Einstein Bagels
Bagel with cream cheese and turkey sandwiches also from Einstein
Chocolate dipped apples from Edible Arrangements
Mango stuffed brioche french toast from Fig Tree Cafe
Chicken burrito from Freebirds.
Steak burritso from Freebirds
Pork and chicken green mole from Mama Testa
Chicken skewers and mango sticky rice from Amarin Thai
Lychee yogurt with chocolate crisps from Pinkberry
Basil shrimp and Miss Saigon Seabass from Saigon on Fifth
Corn fritter and chicken salad from Lotus Thai
Beef stew and chocolate mousse from Au Revoir
Some of my favorites included Saigon on Fifth, Lotus Thai, Brazen BBQ, Pinkberry, and Fig Tree Cafe.
We had a lot of fun and the weather was great. I definitely will have to come back and try out some of the restaurants I haven’t been to that I enjoyed during the taste event. I’ll have to train my stomach better for next year so I can eat at more spots.
Please note: I was provided two complimentary tickets to Taste of Hillcrest, but my opinions are my own.
OH MAN. I am SOOO bummed that i missed this! Well, at least i get to live/eat vicariously through your pictures. 🙂 It’s good to be back, and catching up on all the deliciousness on your blog!
There’s a few more Taste events throughout the year so I’ll try to alert people to them on the blog. =)
TAKE ME WITH YOU NEXT TIME. :p Hahaha, I think if I’ll have to try and sign up for this next year, because wow… ! Also your photo of the chocolate dipped green apple slices is super cute. 🙂
Haha. I will try to remember to post about it next year when tickets are being sold so you don’t miss out!
OMG Kirbie! That looked amazing! I haven’t been to this event before as I thought the food portions/options would have been weak but it looks like I was wrong 🙂 I’m going to try to make it to the next one (do you know a date?). Nice post!
I don’ t know the date of next year’s, but I believe it should be in April again like this year. Having been to Taste of Downtown, and Taste n’ Tinis, this was my favorite one. So many places. It was almost impossible to hit them all. The food portions are small for each spot, but it’s actually a good thing, or else you simply can’t try so many places.
I’m so glad to find your post about Hillcrest! We love to come to San Diego when we can leave the avocado ranch, but haven’t eaten in Hillcrest. Glad to have your recommendations!
Oh you should definitely check out Hillcrest. It is full of many great restaurants. Out of all the different areas in San Diego, I think Hillcrest area definitely has the most yummy restaurants. The other places have gems as well, but Hillcrest manages to pack so many in such a small area. You could also consider doing a Bite tour. I did the one of Hillcrest and liked it. It’s a food walking tour and they took us to about 6 spots.