Six months is way too long to wait. Time for another “field trip,” this time with Dee Dee and Suzanne, friends from our church’s Bunco Club. Incidentally, Bunco Club needs to be renamed to “Let’s Have a Blast Chatting about All Our Favorite Things, Then Finally Get Around to Throwing Those Dice” Club (at least on the day it was held at my house, oops). Well, we chit-chatted about so many different favorite products, foods, restaurants and other places that we promised to go on a field trip to a few of these spots the very next week.
Which brings us to today: Fruitilandia, Pancho Villa’s Farmer’s Market, and Penzey’s Spices. Two of our stops I was very familiar with, but Fruitilandia was my new venture for today. This place was really neato-burrito.
According to Dee Dee, Fruitilandia was once a dumpy-looking small shop across the street from it’s current location at 4328 University Avenue in San Diego. Now it is located in a bright spot, still offering smoothies and all kinds of fabulous Mexican drink specialties.
We asked about the different snack options and were all in for sharing a Tostilocos, and tried the Strawberries and Cream (unfreakingbelievably delish), Pico de Gallo Fruit Salad, Fruit Salad with cottage cheese, raisins and honey, and a Licuado.
Holy cow, where has a Licuado been all my life? It is kind of like a Mexican milkshake, only lighter, like a smoothie. And tastier. And more refreshing. Choose which of many fruits you want blended into your drink with the milk- I chose pineapple and mango. Wow. Delish.
The three of us split a snack that we decided was like a Walking Taco… on steroids. We barely made a dent in the Tostilocos- served in one opened small bag of Tostitos was cucumbers, jicama, fried peanuts, tamarind bits, spicy sauce and chicharron strips. I’m pretty sure there were 42 other things in there, we just couldn’t get down to the bottom of the bag.
Imagine how sad I was to find that the chicharrones were not fried… boo hoo hoo! I definitely prefer my chicharrones fried. Pork skin cooked this way is like calamari, only a little more firm. Not bad, but not to my taste.
Fruit Salad Pico de Gallo- something I never had, but always meant to- chunks of fruit with chile. Definitely tasty, now all my So Cal and Mexican friends and family can get off my case. I think I liked the papaya and watermelon best.
Fruitilandia could take over the country’s smoothie market. I hope it does.
And I NEED to get out with the women more often!
How lucky can you get? The people on Kenamar Drive- a little side street packed with industrial worksites- get not only
One of the first beer discoveries that I made (“Hey, I actually like this!) was Ballast Point’s Sextant Oatmeal Stout on nitro, even, so it was extra-creamy good… mmmm. Beer Stop #2 is their new restaurant and meeting place in Miramar.
I like how the menu organizes the drinks for the less beer-savvy people like me. New to me is the Commodore American Stout- a good, strong drink like a punch in the tastebuds strong. It hits your nose with a huge toasted malty aroma that delivers straight into the flavor. Roasty, coffee-like flavor.
Bottom line: the fries were really good! As much as I love In-N-Out, I really love everyone else’s fries more than theirs. The onion rings were nothing special at all. But about The Habit’s Burger? Well… it was definitely good, just not great. The price was great, about $7 for burger, drink, and fries, but I think my hamburger tasted only marginally better than a Big Mac.
branching out... on a limb 