Neighborhood
Neighborhood
777 G Street
San Diego CA 92101
619.446.0002
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I’ve lived in the downtown area of San Diego for what will soon be two years, and while I won’t pretend to know every nook and cranny of downtown and the tenacious local businesses that exist there, I have been to quite a few. I’ve passed by Neighborhood numerous times, and was always drawn to the somewhat modern look from the outside, and the scent of what I hoped was delicious food being served inside and on the patio (large windows that are, more often than not, wide open separate the two dining areas). My opportunity to finally try the joint arrived last week with a few of my friends — a Tuesday night I believe.
I was back there on Thursday for lunch. If that doesn’t say enough, continue on with the review.
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Establishment | Employees | Eats | Expense
The restaurant itself, at the ground level of what appears to be a newly built condo building, sits just a couple of blocks north of Petco Park, smack in the middle of the up and coming East Village area of downtown. It is modern and contemporary from the outside, with a slight industrial look — the inside is no different. There is some interesting artwork (notably, Jesus Christ eating a burger, albeit a damn good burger, I’m sure), and adorning almost an entire wall is a massive black and white mosaic of the San Diego skyline — very, very cool.
I’m not sure about you, but you’ll soon find that customer service is a major sticking point for me. You can offer all-you-can-eat, melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon for $0.50, but if you’re not friendly and my beverage isn’t reasonably well attended to, we’re through. The first time I dined here, the service was fine — we’ll leave it at that. On Thursday, however, our group was met with one of the friendliest and most attentive wait staffs I’ve ever had the pleasure of being served by. Water, napkins, and extra sauces were all in abundance, and that’s no easy feat considering we were a group of eight. The take-home: maybe the hostess on Tuesday night was just in a terrible mood, but I wouldn’t let her surly demeanor deter you from trying this place — everyone else was great.
Not the most extensive menu — most, or all, fits on one page — but the great thing is that it doesn’t need to be. They have appetizers and entrees that range from corn dogs and a PB&J stacker to steak tartar and butter poached black mussels. I’ve had both the cobb salad and turkey cobb sandwich (I’m trying to eat healthier foods, cut me some slack), and both were extremely filling and very good. The turkey cobb sandwich was particularly surprising because it had this spicy cranberry habanero aioli — enough said. I also had friends and coworkers gracious enough to let me try some of their choices, which included: sweet potato fries (get some), chorizo corn dogs (get even more of these), and the Neighborhood burger (I think this is my favorite). I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. With regard to beverages, they have a number of beers on tap, some of which I tried and liked, but I’d rather cover that in a separate appendix of sorts to this review.
True, most burgers or sandwiches do not come with fries — you can order either regular fries or sweet potato fries for a price. But for the quality of the food that I’ve had, and judging by the comments of other friends, the $10.00 or so you pay for a burger is well worth it. Appetizers generally stay comfortably under $10.00, and a meal and a drink, including tax and tip, can be had for around $20.00 per person. If you can fit that into your budget, Neighborhood is definitely worth giving a shot.
Quick & Dirty Assessment: Two enthusiastic thumbs up — go now.
EM
Disclaimer: This post isn’t as quick or dirty as I’d like it to be — I haven’t yet perfected the craft. That said, please leave a comment or two if you’d like, and let me know what you liked, and what you think could be improved. Thanks.
This very much jibes with my one-time experience. The food was quite good and attractively–and, in some cases, artfully–presented. Service was top-notch. I had the burger…yum…accompanied by the sweet potato fries…super yum. I sampled a companion’s mac and cheese with jalapeno, and it was terrific. Another companion’s thinly sliced apple stuffed with salad and sprinkled with blue cheese and walnuts looked like the perfect light meal. Two thumbs up from this diner, too.
p.s. I love the 4 Es concept for this review. Hope to see more from you soon.
Service WAS top-notch! Very thoughtful, flexible wait staff. When asked to bring mayo for a burger, she went one better and brought a variety of house-made sauces for us to try, one of which was a garlic mayo. ALL were good, and I am a condiment person–sometimes eating things just for the condiments that go with it. I had a great salad–did you forget the steak, Eddie?–whose base was peaches, greens, & nuts but you could add chicken or steak and I asked thank god for the steak…sublime. Perfectly cooked. One of MY pet peeves (don’t ask me how I want it cooked if it’s all grey anyway.) As for the art, that bigger-than-lifesized painting of the old dude eating a burger was a bit disconcerting, that hamburger was as big as my head, but I know Jesus was wanting to take his into the afterlife with him.