san diego cheese crawl

To follow the Bacon Crawl I organized earlier this year, I took my co-workers on a little Cheese Crawl of San Diego! We originally intended to go to four places but we all cried uncle after three, and considering we ate way right off the bat it’s not really that surprising we called uncle so early.

The cohorts for this crawl were: myself, Jake, A. (Jake’s daughter), Lauren, David, Allison and Matt.

Our first stop was at Urban Solace:

[cheese biscuits – $5.75 for four / $1.25 for one]

Urban Solace’s famous Cheese Biscuits with orange butter and tomato jam.

Comments:

“I heart orange butter. Biscuit a little too crunchy today. Better on previous visits. :(”

“It was good but cold and a little dry. Like the orange butter mixed in.”

“Best part was the crispy cheesy crust around the outside – inside the biscuit wasn’t really that flavorful. Didn’t care for the orange butter flavor combined with it.”

“Biscuit texture was great, loved the crunchy outside. The orange butter was surprisingly good, great contrast in flavor. Tomato jam was okay.”

“A little too crunchy, nothing special.”

“Square, glistening, looked nice and flaky. Giving tomato jam and orange butter is smart, a little dry. Tomato jam is great.”

“Liked the spice. Not super cheesy but definitely tasty.”

[eggaroni – $12.50]

It’s kind of like macaroni and cheese with eggs and ham baked into it.

Comments:

“Covered in healthy serving of cheese. Egg adds depth, keeps it from being dry. Not enough flavor.”

“It’s like breakfast mac n cheese! Nice cheesiness.”

“Lots of cheese, tomatoes were juicy, smooth.”

“I’m not usually impressed with restaurant macaroni, but this was good. I liked the sausage in it.”

“Tasty, good breakfast dish. The noodles were a little too hard but the ham was nice.”

“Good combo of flavors – almost like breakfast. Nothing really stood out, wish it had more cheese flavor.”

“Not very creamy.”

[cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting and pecan sauce – $4.75]

This totally counts because it has CREAM CHEESE frosting. Hellz yeah!

Comments:

“Generous amount of frosting – love it! Dough itself was okay, not as flaky and light as expected. Good but not amazing.”

“Very sweet, a little crispy, delicious.”

“Has like a baseball size mount of cream cheese frosting. Nice and gooey, yummy frosting.”

“I didn’t like it – just bland, dry texture, too much frosting. Sorry, I like my Pillsbury Flaky Roll of dough!”

“Pile o’ cream cheese! …. Cinnabon is better.”

“Huge portion, smothered in cream cheese and cinnamon. So rich, sweet and tasty. Would come back just for this.”

“Looks like a cinnamon roll with mashed potatoes and gravy.”

Second stop at El Comal:

Our second stop was within walking distance of Urban Solace – just around the corner! Jake and I have been here several times in the past. They give you freshly made chips and salsa which are delicious. I think everyone filled up on chips here…

[cheese gorditas – $4.50 each]

The gorditas are not like the ones at Taco Bell (come on, now). These are made with handmade tortillas and stuffed with cheese.

Helloooo, cheese!

Comments:

“Really good – awesome homemade tortilla, chewy cheese topped with cotija for a bit of salty flavor. Not greasy or heavy – just right!”

“Not very cheesy, not terrible but not good.”

“Awesome.”

“Nicely fried with more cheese on top. As Matt said: Mexican mozzarella stick!”

“Looks very unique and purposeful, thick tortilla. Nice, crunchy, oozing cheese bit not too much. So good!”

“The cotija cheese on top added just enough salt. The texture was great and the homemade tortillas are amazing.”

“Gooey cheese, yummy fried goodness.”

[queso fundido con chorizo – $6.50]

This came out still bubbling! Served with thick, homemade tortillas. For a little extra flavor, we ordered it with chorizo.

Comments:

“Excellent, chewy tortillas. Glad the chorizo was added for salt and savory flavor – it also added a nice variation of texture.”

“Melted bubbling cheese.”

“Bubbly cheesy goodness! Just enough chorizo.”

“Bubbling cheese goodness! Handmade fresh corn tortilla with a tasty chewy cheese + a nice blend of chorizo – very good!”

“Greasy, cheese, very good.”

“Fresh tortillas and bubbly hot cheese! Unique – not your “bottled cheese”. A little too greasy.”

“Bubbling hot cheese, what’s not to love? Excellent balance of flavor.”

Third stop at El Salvador Restaurant:

We had to drive to this one, but it was only about five minutes away!

[pupusa with pork and cheese – $1.99]

We were already full, so we only ordered two of these.

We got them mixed with pork. Maybe I should have picked a different addition? I don’t know… pork and cheese seems to go so well together, if you ask me. Though on this day the pupusa was maybe not as good as it usually is…

Comments:

“Very greasy.”

“Looks a little greasy. Cheese and pork a good combo, average.”

“Pork was pretty tasty and the cheese combined well. A little greasy, but I can imagine it to be a great post-bar snack!”

“The most amazing thing I’ve ever had (pupusa-wise).”

“I liked the assortment of sides that went with it. Good, but a little generic tasting.”

“Little greasy, it was ok, ground pork + cheese, nothing special.”

“A bit greasy today… like the puffy tortilla shell.”

This was when everyone agreed that we could not make it to another stop… and then I pulled out this:

Because honestly, dessert is still needed! I didn’t have anyone “judge” my cheesecake because well… I didn’t want to hear anything bad? Okay, I don’t think anyone would have said anything bad, maybe I’m just self-conscious. But honestly… this was the best cheesecake I have ever made. I’ll give you the recipe later, promise.

The Results:

Here’s the order of the items, from last to first place!

6) Pupusas

5) Cheese Biscuits

4) Eggaroni

3) Cinnamon Rolls

2) Gorditas

1) Queso Fundido

I’d have to agree – the items at El Comal were really, really excellent that day. Thanks to my cohorts for joining me on another food crawl! I wonder what I should do next? Got any suggestions for me – hit me up in the comments!