Ready to know more about San Diego?

Subscribe

What to Eat in San Diego Before You Die

Troy and David name their favorite meals of all time and share a sneak peek at this year’s Petco Park concerts
Courtesy of Bahn Thai

Is it dark in here? Maybe a little. This week on Happy Half Hour, David and I invent the ways we’d like to undo this mortal coil (our deathways include expiring from overexposure to the almighty T-Swift and falling from a helicopter into a pool of sharks).

The whole point? To name what we’d eat if it was our last meal on earth. And then point you to the San Diego restaurants we suggest getting these last-meal greats.

I start with the meal I order every Sunday when the scaries hit, and just when pleasure is a life pursuit. Drunken noodles with duck. Those wide rice noodles, like some sort of overly indulgent, super-fettucini. And duck, my favorite protein. Some people say “gamey” as if it’s a bad thing. For me, “gamey” has always been a plus, something to put on a resume as a food. There are few places that still serve duck (most seem to have moved to mock duck only), so it’s Banh Thai for me.

David expresses his kinda surprising love for brunch cocktails (David is in a metal band, so I have a hard time seeing him in a sunny-happy meal experience, but maybe he owns some wide brim hats I don’t know about). And he raves about the Sakura Bloom at Morning Glory, a cocktail worth waiting for. Egg whites get whipped, the cocktail gets prepared, then gets put in the freezer for what feels like eternity. When it gets delivered, they pour the cocktail through the egg whites making them stand straight up four inches out of the glass, then garnished with a straw laid across it.

All told, on our last enjoyable meal on earth we’re headed to Chris’ Liquor, Royal Mandarin, OB Noodle House, Arlo, Cardellino, Wayfarer, Preger Brothers, Izola, Born & Raised, Costa Brava, Swami’s, Rudford’s, Krisp, Working Class, and City Dragon.

We also talk with event guru Jaclyn Lash, who books all the shows at Petco Park. Petco’s become one of the best live-concert venues in Southern Cal now, and she gives us a sneak peek at the 2023 lineup. Some of our favorites include Jimmy Eat World, Band of Horses, and Pixies.Can you guess what we’re having at each? Email us what you’d eat if it was your last eating, and where you’d get it. We’ll read a few on air.

Thanks for listening, guys.

By Troy Johnson

Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.

Share this post

LATEST EPISODES

Podcast

Why Thompson Heritage Ranch is Changing San Diego’s Menus

Listen now

Podcast

Rumorosa Chef Marcos Seville Shares His Thanksgiving Day Tip...

Rumorosa Chef Marcos Seville Shares His Thanksgiving Day Tips

Listen now

Podcast

How Randy Smerik Turned Solare into a Local Icon

Listen now

Podcast

Celebrating 10 Years of Juniper & Ivy with Chef Jon Sloa...

Celebrating 10 Years of Juniper & Ivy with Chef Jon Sloan

Listen now

Podcast

Diving Into Local Fishing with Chris Rov Costa and Theresa T...

Diving Into Local Fishing with Chris Rov Costa and Theresa Talley

Listen now

Podcast

Beards, Brews, and Building a Mobile Bar & BBQ Empire

Listen now

Podcast

How Dang Brother Pizza Turns Fire Trucks into Pizza Hotspots

Listen now

Podcast

Kitchens for Good Tackles Food Waste & Empowers Student ...

Kitchens for Good Tackles Food Waste & Empowers Student Chefs

Listen now

Podcast

How The Mental Bar Became Encanto’s Third Place

Listen now

Podcast

The Story Behind San Diego’s Most Legendary Cocktail

Listen now

Podcast

Hidden Foods Co. is Cracking the Code for Picky Eaters

Listen now

Podcast

The San Diego Nonprofit Saving the World with Stoves

Listen now

Podcast

How Sam The Cooking Guy Won the Internet

Listen now

Podcast

Stella Jean's Secret Sauce Is Its Milk

Listen now

Podcast

Jimbo’s Naturally Celebrates 40 Years of Supporting Local ...

Jimbo’s Naturally Celebrates 40 Years of Supporting Local Farms & Businesses

Listen now

Podcast

Lia's Lumpia Fuses Filipino Cooking with Black Soul Food

Listen now

Podcast

Little Lion’s Chef Learned Everything from Her Grandparent...

Little Lion’s Chef Learned Everything from Her Grandparents

Listen now

Podcast

Actor Martin Short Becomes Mayor of a Food-Obsessed Town

Listen now

Podcast

San Diego’s Best Beer Isn't an IPA

Listen now

Podcast

Javier Plascencia Talks Michelin Stars & Caesar Salad's ...

Javier Plascencia Talks Michelin Stars & Caesar Salad's 100th

Listen now

Podcast

All the Best Eats at the San Diego County Fair

Listen now

Podcast

Cardellino Owner Brad Wise on Truffles, Caviar & Butcher...

Cardellino Owner Brad Wise on Truffles, Caviar & Butchering

Listen now

Podcast

San Diego's King of Produce

Listen now

Podcast

Is this San Diego's Most Picturesque Rooftop Restaurant?

Listen now

Contact Us

1230 Columbia Street, Suite 800,

San Diego, CA