Since a trip to three states in just about a week is bold enough, we decided it would be best to make nature and activities our primary focus over our usual obligatory local food binges. We set out on this journey with our only food goals being street tacos and hole in the wall Mexican/Asian food. One can’t possibly be that close to the border without eating something from a place that has questionable sanitation standards. What we discovered, however, was very unique desserts and very par everything else.
Here are the highlights and low lights:
Alcohol:
The sangria at the Newark airport was surprisingly delicious- that was until we saw how much simple syrup they doused in the wine and liquor. Like so unnecessary. It still did the trick.
The margaritas at Pink Taco in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas were way too sweet. They tasted like candy. However, the alcohol content was perfect, so we can’t complain too much.
Stone Brewing Company: See Below
Coffee:
Found one perfect latte at the Commissary in LA. The artist had real #skillz and didn’t pretend he knew latte art. Most of the time I end up paying five dollars for a latte with a butt as a design. I’ll show you both.
Food Food:
Culinary Dropout in the Hard Rock Hotel had hearty pork belly nachos. They were pretty and flavorful. The grilled cheese sliders were awesome too, to sop up all of the beer.
We had tasty salads at Tender Greens, which is a popular chain out west. Can’t decide if they were like off the charts superb or if we really just desperately needed some fiber and vitamin C.
In N Out Burger was a typical fast food burger with a slightly thicker meat patty and a cheesy heart attack sauce for the fries. I wish I would have known that I could specify how I wanted my meat cooked before I devoured a double cheese burger because I might have appreciated it more if it was rare. I’m glad we got to try that though.
Breakfast at the Egg & I, just off the strip was actually wonderful. I’ve been going through this poached egg phase because I feel like it’s an over easy egg with more flavor from the vinegar it’s boiled in. I got them atop of Canadian bacon and an English muffin with some cheese on top and a side of fruit. The fruit was literally massive wedges of various fruit and I was so impressed. Nat’s Mexican breakfast was incredible, as well. They also gave us homemade muffins to take home and they were extremely moist. We snacked on these for the next few days.
The Liberty Public Market was everything you want a market to be but never get to experience. It was clean and not crowded in the slightest bit. Maybe we got lucky. There, we found the most juicy chicken empanada I’ve ever tasted. We also accidentally came across Stone Brewing Company which was a *100 emoji* find because their IPA’s are on point and you know how we feel about our craft beers.
We were referred to a Mexican restaurant called Lucho Libre on the outskirts of San Diego for dinner. I got a half sized steak and shrimp burrito and it had french fries in it (why?). At first I thought this sounded unique but it was basically just a filler. The side of corn was bland and overcooked. The salsas were good but none of them were spicy. Overall, the atmosphere was better than the food.
Thankfully, we found some street tacos in Huntington Beach on our last night. We were told to get the Carne Asada and the Al Pastor tacos. Also, we were threatened not to leave southern California if we had not eaten a fish taco. Therefore, we got one of each and almost immediately devoured them. They were small and so cheap. The fish taco was our favorite. Who doesn’t like fried fish?
Also had some exquisite Greek food. It really shouldn’t have even been that good because I’m pretty sure it was a chain AND it was closing. We were amazed.
Desserts:
In Utah right before Zion National Park, we found this little coffee trailer that had homemade ice pops. We tried the coffee one and the avocado lime one. The coffee one was to die for. The avocado lime one was almost savory and not sweet at all.
At this gift shop in Zion, we came across these pie balls made with local Bumbleberries. Bumbleberries are a real thing and you should Google it right now. I wish I bought more of these tiny treats.
The Sprinkles Cupcake ATM in Vegas is basically great for drunk people who want to be entertained. The cupcake was below average and it was way too expensive. I enjoyed the show though.
One night we stumbled upon a donut shop that had donuts the size of my head. They were cool to photograph.
At this market in LA, we found a coffee stand that offered espresso shots inside of little cones. They were adorable (and very overpriced).
Another night we came across a place called Afters, a Vietnamese trendy ice cream shop with ice cream in “buns”. Oh man, I want one of them right now.
Last but not least, in La Jolla, there was a little gelato place Bobboi that poured espresso “Affogado” (on top of) the most distinct gelato flavors in the world. I chose grape and goat cheese gelato with a double shot poured on top. It was literally the best thing my tongue touched the entire trip.
Gastronaut Girls 