Adams Avenue Business Association

Love Adam’s Avenue, especially the Ken Cinema. I haven’t even been to Farmhouse Café, that sounds good. I’ve been to the Burger Lounge, Viva Pops (They’re awesome), Señor Mangos Juice House is good, I haven’t been in a while though. The Incredible Cheesecake company was good. Well I did sample from Farmhouse Café, I meant that I haven’t eaten a full meal at Farmhouse Café.
I went to the Taste of Adam’s Avenue in 2010, there was one place that blended together a mediterranean platter, that was kind of gross. Café 21 is a great place to go for breakfast or lunch. I haven’t been there for dinner. It was awesome how burger lounge gave a whole burger, but they do that at the Taste of Hillcrest as well.

Just moved to the neighborhood about 6 months ago and my roommate and I absolutely love it! All the events that the ASBA organizes are AWESOME. This review is for Taste of AA.
$ 30.00 is completely worth it. Besides the food, you get to take a little tour around the neighborhood and get to check out little places you might otherwise never go to.
My friends and I took Taste of Adams very seriously and we were on a mission to go to every single place. Therefore, strategy is necessary. Here are some helpful tips.
1. Start on time! 4 hours seems like a long time but not long enough if you’re determined to go to 31 places.
2. Buy your ticket ahead of time so you won’t waste time waiting in line the day of. (We bought our tickets at Mariposa Ice Cream which was a participant.
3. Start in the middle, work your way to one end, and then take the trolley to the other end. The old town trolley came in handy and the driver was really nice. He also gave us a little history lesson about the area which was cool. We got on at University Heights and dropped us off in Kensington.
4. It is A LOT of food! It might be a good idea to buy one ticket and share with a friend. We were getting REALLY full and towards the end we couldn’t eat anymore! If you share with a friend you can share a bite and move along.
5. Drink before! Me and my pals made mimosas at home before we started our treck. You not only save money but you’re less likely to get stuck at the bar and miss all your other spots! Plus it makes for a more exciting time.
My only gripe: Restaurants: Commit to the 11 – 3 time line. I don’t like the places that ran out of food ahem… Dimille’s and that other place in Kensington… it was 2:50pm and you had stopped.
even if you run out of what you were giving out, give us another little snacky. It makes you look cool. Plus, everyone knows that you should always make more than what you’re expecting. If I plan for a party of 50 people, I have enough for 100…
So many places impressed me but here are a few that come to mind… so kudos to you!
Señor Mangos — You’re not even on Adams! You’re awesome…
Antique Row — You gave us so much food! And a regular sized cup of ice tea!
Burger Lounge — A whole hamburger for everyone! However, at the end you ran out. Maybe cut in half next time or bite size pieces is all we really need!
Heights Tavern — The most delicious bite size piece of chicken and waffles I’ve ever had.

Taste of Adams Avenue– June 30, 2013 from 11−3pm. $ 30/​ticket.
Out of all of the «Tastes» I’ve been to (North Park, Gaslamp, and Hillcrest), Adams Avenue takes the cake. It’s got the best assortment of cuisines, and all the restaurants in the area are highly reviewed anyways. I had high expectations, and Taste of Adams Avenue did not disappoint.
The event runs two miles along Adams Ave. from University Heights through Normal Heights then to Kensington. Ticket pick-​up starts in the middle of the event at Smitty’s Auto Shop. We parked near Smitty’s, then walked from the middle to the West side of the event, then back East before I-​15. We picked up our car and drove to Kensington and then back West to hit Farm House Café. There’s also a trolley that runs up and down Adams.
The only negative is that I feel most places didn’t really take time to explain what they were serving us, so there’s a lot of guessing on my part.
1. Farm House Café– I think this was a ricotta pancake with an orange-​infused syrup. They made it fresh, so it was nice and hot.
2. Café 21– the biggest disappointment. Café 21 has been on my bookmarks for the longest time, and they served a bland goji berry iced tea and a thumbprint jam cookie.
3. Twiggs Bakery– made-​to-​order cheese omelet, Mexican Chocolate cake, White Velvet cake, biscuit that tasted like a popover (a good thing)
4. Hanna’s Gourmet– vegetarian lasagna, creamy white sauce with asparagus and pesto, really good
5. Soda and Swine– meatball slider with marinara sauce, already love this place
6. Antique Row Café– coffee and iced tea, biscuits and gravy, potato pancake, sausage, they did a great job with providing lots of food and drink.
7. Jayne’s Gastropub– the longest wait for food, but very good. Sausage with caramelized onion and mashed potatoes. Cute establishment, so it was a nice opportunity to sit down inside.
8. Señor Mangos Juice House– wow, this place was awesome. Fresh juices, acai bowls, or fruit salad. We got the fruit salad and it had coconut, tons of fruit, and nuts. Very healthy and tasty!
9. Sabuku Sushi– albacore tuna poke with fried wonton chips, I think there was chicken in here as well.
10. Incredible Cheesecake Co.- marble, strawberry, or original cheesecake
11. El Zarape Mexican– chicken and steak fajitas with rice and beans
12. Viva Pops– your choice of a full-​size pop. I had the blood orange.
13. Tao Vietnamese and Japanese– vegetarian vermicelli, tofu with black bean sauce, and a sweet red bean filled sesame ball. I think this place was actually called Dao Fu. They serve vegetarian cuisine with homemade tofu. The food was very good, and they had roasted garlic chips.
14. Lestat’s Coffee House– cold brew coffee and brownie
15. Jyoti Bihanga– red lentil soup, vegetarian meatloaf, sweet mango lassi. Interesting vegetarian restaurant, kind of looks like a cult, but the food was good.
16. Heights Tavern– chicken and waffle, finally someone who understands that chicken and waffles should be both sweet and savory
17. Proprietors Reserve Winebar– line was too long so we skipped it
18. Rosie O’Grady’s– beer
19. Blind Lady Ale House– margarita pizza, pretty good for pizza even if it was on the boring side of the food options, it had just the right crisp though
20. Mariposa Ice Cream– two scoops of ice cream, I had the Raspberry and Mexican Chocolate
21. Tam’s Thailand– Thai fried rice with veggies and some sort of vegetable goulash. Seriously, it was a soft consistency that kind of reminded me of soggy fried foods’ batter. Pretty terrible Thai food.
22. Dimille’s Italian– marinara rigatoni, pesto pizza, and a cold pasta salad
23. Broke Girls Coffee Bar– cold brewed coffee
24. Ponce’s Mexican– carnitas taco, really good and very spicy
25. Haven Pizzeria– chicken and veggie pizza? They also had a vegetarian brussel sprouts pizza.
26. Fish Public– one of the best entrees, fried calamari and octopus on a light cabbage salad
27. Village Vino– watermelon salad with arugula and feta
28. Clem’s Bottle House– beer
29. Burger Lounge– a whole grass-​fed beef burger
30. Starbucks– Tanzania coffee with clover something and pumpkin bread or lemon cake or pound cake
31. Kensington Café– delicious smoked gouda and caramelized onions on grilled sourdough
As I stated in my Taste of Gaslamp review, lessons learned:
— Start on the opposite end of everyone else.
— You’ll need the entire time to get to all the restaurants, so be sure to get there early to get ready. A lot of people started after 1 pm, not sure how they planned on getting very much of anything in just two hours.
— Bring a baggy if you want to store some of the goods for later (lame, I know).
— Be a friend to the environment: save your utensils/​cup so you don’t have to get new ones every time, ask for two portions on one plate to share with your buddy instead of getting two separate plates.
— Don’t waste your precious stomach space on fillers, the majority of people will get full before finishing the event

Taste of Adams 2012
SD: Adams Avenue
11am — 2:30pm 24 June 2012
Four Stars
After coming here last year, we planned our route a little better. We parked by BLAH went across the street to pick up our passes, we walked down the south side of the Adams Avenue and hit Café Cabaret, Kensington Grill, and Kensington Café. We circled back up the North side of Adams and hit Starbucks, Burger Lounge, Blue Boheme, Ponce’s, Subway, Demille’s, Skipped Tam Thai (long line), BLAH, Rosie’s, the Wine Bar, Tao, and Viva Pops. We then came back around to Incredible Cheesecake, El Zarape, and Lestat’s. We Drove to 30^th Street hit Señor Mango, Sabuku, Hanna’s, and Twiggs (Matina Mayahuel was closed). We drove the half mile to Farm House.
1. Farm House Café — Bouillabaisse with Toast Point with $ 3 Mimosas
2. Twiggs — Mexican Chocolate Cake, White Velvet
3. Hanna’s Gourmet — Tarragon Chicken and Potatoes
4. Catina Mayahuel — (Closed)
5. Señor Mango — Smoothie or Acai Bowl
6. Sabuku Sushi — Deep Fried Shiso Leaf stuffed with Spicy Krab
7. Incredible Cheesecake — Reese Cheesecake with Oreo Crust
8. El Zarape — Fajitas, Rice, Beans, Cheese, Salsa
9. Viva Pops — DELICIOUS BLODD ORANGE POPS
10. Tao — Curry Noodles and Black Bean Tofu
11. Lestat’s — Great Ice Coffee and Brownie
12. Proprietor’s Reserve Wine Bar — Roasted Red Pepper Crostini /​Blue Cheese Crostini
13. Rosie O’Grady’s — Pork Tacos
14. BLAH — Pizza
15. Tam’s Thai — Skipped
16. DiMille’s — Pasta and Pizza
17. Subway — Chocolate Chip Cookies
18. Café Cabaret — Flax Seed Espresso and White bean dip
19. Kensington Grill — Pork Rib with Jalapeño Corn Bread
20. Ponce’s Mexican — Fish Tacos
21. Blue Boheme — AMAZING ESCARGOTS WITH BLUE CHEESE MASHED POTATOES
22. Burger Lounge — Beef Slider or Quinoa Slider
23. Starbucks — Ice Coffee or Passion Fruit Ice Tea
24. Kensington Café — Bruschetta

I can’t say enough great things about the Adams Avenue Business Association. These guys break a sweat to bring some of the coolest and most culturally diverse events to the oldest community of San Diego.
Taste of Adams, Adams Avenue Street Fair, The Roots Festival and more… every one of those events requires several hours of man power, and they do it with a smile.
Big ups!

This review concerns the 2008 Taste of Adams Avenue, an event with more than 20 food venues spanning 4.5 miles of Adams Avenue in San Diego.
First off, comprehensive planning of the event was lacking. Early on the Association’s website link to sell tickets was not working. This gaffe was so pedestrian, say circa 1998. The HTML code problem could have been resolved by a fifth grader.
The trolleys to move the people were following each other. Why not split them up and be more responsive? Did anyone think about this?
In the middle of a heat wave, Twiggs and Antique Row Café were offering bottled water. Kensington Grill seemed to violate the spirit of the event by offering to sell a bottle for $ 2. I don’t think so. The bottles for sale at Kensington Grill wholesale for 35 cents. The event is not exactly a marathon, but hydrating the participants seems like the thing to do. Water should be freely available. Doesn’t have to be bottled, just has to be there.
Kudos and Pans
Kudos to Burger Lounge for giving an entire burger, tasty and wonderful eaten in the lounge, which is an experience in itself.
Kudos to Mariposa for scooping all the famous ice cream. The line out the door never ended.
Pan to Jaynes Gastropub. Not prepared, not ready, couldn’t handle it, we walked out after waiting 20 minutes.
Update 6÷23÷2008:
Jon Erickson, owner of Jaynes Gastropub, wrote me a personal apology. Despite his prep and planning, the crowds generated by Unilocal overwhelmed his restaurant. He estimated 900 people in 3.5 hours. Jon’s gracious letter convinced me that I have to go back. Truth is that I have heard good things about his restaurant, and I love great food.