grumpy dan’s grill / coronado – san diego, ca

Jake and I don’t get over to Coronado very often, but when we do, I sure do like driving around and looking at all of the beautiful houses over there. It’s almost like another world just across the San Diego Bay Bridge – it seems almost quaint. I’ve always loved how every house has it’s own charm and each one is unique. No cookie cutters homes over there!

One Sunday afternoon Jake and I drove up through Silver Strand and into Coronado to visit Grumpy Dan’s Grill, which is located on the Coronado Golf Course. When you drive in, there’s no signs on the outside – you just see the building which is their “19th Hole”.

There’s a small stand up sign that indicates it’s the right place. There’s a bar and a large seating area plus outdoor seating – which is where we headed for our meal. I watched the golfers try their hand at hitting golf balls while we enjoyed our first visit to Grumpy Dan’s Grill. Grumpy Dan’s philosophy is “locally grown” and they try to source everything they serve from San Diego – from the owners (who are from Coronado!) to the meats which are processed here in town, the eggs are from Ramona and the breads are baked daily in San Diego as well!

We started off with a basket of Onion Rings ($3.75). These onion rings had a nice coating on them – not too heavy and the onions rings kept their shape after you bit into one. I liked that. I hate when the onion just falls right out after one bite! It was easy to crunch right through these, though near the end I ended up pulling the onion out when I ate them. Quite tasty!

I’ve been wanting to eat a lot of soup lately. I have no idea why this is. It’s summer, for goodness sake! Shouldn’t I want to be eating slushees and cold things? Ah well. I satisfied my soup craving by getting a cup of this Chicken Tortilla Soup ($3.75/cup). The soup was obviously just kind of tossed into my bowl since it’s slurped all over the sides, but no matter. It was still a hearty and tasty soup. Not the best ever, but I still liked it.

For my main meal that afternoon, I opted to get the Sliders ($6.95) – Three grilled Petite Angus OR TURKEY burgers with cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, crispy bacon, chopped onions and our chipotle ranch sauce on fresh dinner rolls.

I got the beef sliders. Our waitress actually asked how I wanted these cooked – I say medium – but they came out well done. I figured they’re so small they probably cooked so fast on the grill and wondered why they even bothered asking. I loved the little buns/dinner rolls used for these sliders – they were so cute and really the perfect size. There was a good amount of toppings for each little slider and even though they were well-done, they were not overcooked. I got a side of fruit with my meal – it was all cantaloupe that day. Our waitress explained that they usually have a variety but they had run out of other fruit that day. It was fine with me though – the cantaloupe was very refreshing and perfectly ripe.

On our first visit, Jake just got the half sandwich + side dish – this is his “Build Your Own” Black Forest Ham Sandwich (half sandwich – $5.95). You get to choose your meat, bread and condiments to make it just how you like it. He really liked his sandwich and this made for a really lovely meal.

The only downside was the incredibly slow service that we got. I was in no rush though, so it didn’t really bother me too much, but it was noticeable. We ended up going inside to the bar to pay since our waitress disappeared for so long. The upside though (besides the wonderful view and tasty food) was that I had coupons for this place. We didn’t use the full value on this visit, so they put the balance on a gift card for us – sweet!

On our second visit, we brought Jake’s kids with us.

We played Jenga. It was my first time playing.

The rounds didn’t last too long, but it was fun!

This time I ordered an Arnold Palmer (iced tea + lemonade) to sip on while we sat outside and watched the golfers. It seemed appropriate. I love how it looks before it gets stirred together!

Jake’s daughter opted to get the Build Your Own Chicken Burger ($9.95 – bacon was $.50 cents extra). The top bun is around there somewhere…

This is Jake’s insane The Beast ($12.95) sandwich: Grilled ½ Pound Angus Burger with bacon, sautéed onions, mushrooms, sandwiched between two grilled sharp cheddar cheese sandwiches. (sans onions and mushrooms)

He didn’t understand from reading it that the “buns” for this sandwich were actually grilled cheese sandwiches for buns. Holy goodness. All of us were in awe of this sandwich – it was wider than Jake’s mouth!

I had a small bite of the crazy sandwich and while it was good, I don’t think I would ever order it. Too rich for me! I also ate a weird partially ungrilled portion so the bread just tasted like butter which made it overly rich for me. But Jake, who ate the good bits, really liked his sandwich. Craaaaa-zy.

I got a slightly more “normal” sandwich, though probably just as wide as that one: Clubhouse Triple Decker Sandwich ($9.95). Pretty classic sandwich though. I loved the bites of avocado and how fresh everything tasted. My fruit cup had more variety this time around as well!

I enjoyed eating here for the atmosphere and the beauty. The food is pretty good, too, but again – on both visits – the service was seriously lacking (we had the same waitress for both visits). Our waitress kind of disappeared on us regularly, attended to other tables before getting to us, and everything came out very slowly. I was never in a rush either time we visited, but slow service still can put a damper on things.

Grumpy Dan’s Grill also has a daily happy hour from 3PM-6PM offering various drinks and a $3 appetizer menu. A few items that look tasty to me are the Crab Cakes with Garlic Sage Mayo, Calamari Rings with Green Chili Mayo Sauce, Potato Skins (with Cheese, Bacon & Green Onion) and Street Tacos! I may have to drop in some time to try out those offerings, hopefully sitting outdoors again and enjoying the afternoon breeze.

Grumpy Dan’s Grill
2000 Visalia Row
Coronado, CA 92118
619-435-1740