![\"Art](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Exteriorwebtop.jpg\")
<\/a>In previous decades, the address was supposedly home to other eateries, at least according to Trudi, the caf\u00e9\u2019s spry waitress of 27 years who served us eggs, pancakes and red chilaquiles on my first visit here.<\/p>\n
A lunch counter with low, swivel stools absorbs the center of the dining area. It\u2019s encircled partly by several cozy booths. And perched above the milkshake machine is the original notice from Aug. 6, 1988, alerting customers the caf\u00e9 would be closed that day \u201cdue to the filming of the motion picture \u2018K-9.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The action-comedy was released the following year and starred James Belushi, who played Officer Dooley in the movie and entered the caf\u00e9 to buy a cupcake.<\/p>\n Also displayed is an autographed headshot of John Stamos. Trudi says he was here possibly for a commercial shoot. She later added that it might have been for the filming of a scene from a failed TV pilot, but couldn\u2019t recall for sure.<\/p>\n I was less swept up by the celebrity factor of this Golden Hill landmark than I was with the authentic feel of the place. As one of the few surviving all-American diners in San Diego, it offers a sense of discovery outside places such as Rudford\u2019s and Hob Nob Hill.<\/p>\n The only thing missing is a pie case, which means settling for a milkshake, fruit cup or dish of ice cream if your sweet tooth needs pampering.<\/p>\n Breakfast dishes dominate about 75 percent of the menu. They\u2019re served daily from 6:30 a.m. to when the caf\u00e9 closes at 2:30 p.m. Although if you\u2019re hankering for a tuna melt or cheeseburger when the morning birds are still chirping, the kitchen obliges.<\/p>\n My favorite dish over two visits was the chilaquiles.<\/p>\n Upon ordering these fried and sauced corn tortilla strips, Trudi asked me in a forewarning tone, \u201cDo you like spicy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Bring \u2018em on,\u201d I insisted.<\/p>\n Simmered gently in red hot sauce, they maintained the right amount of crispiness and offered a high but manageable mouth burn. Compared to versions covered in green tomatillo sauce, which tend to taste one-dimensional, this was worlds better.<\/p>\n The plate included refried beans, the kind I\u2019m guessing contain lard based on their creamy texture and old-school flavor. For $2 extra, I upgraded the meal with two over-easy eggs, knowing full well the love affair that ensues when chilaquiles meet runny yolks.<\/p>\n My companion ordered the \u201cfarmer\u2019s mix\u201d breakfast consisting of two (possibly three) eggs scrambled with bacon, sausage, onions and bell peppers. He gave it an instant thumbs-up. It also included a moist house-made biscuit draped in white gravy that further gratified his rural-Midwestern roots.<\/p>\n We shared a short stack of fluffy pancakes elevated by a spatula\u2019s worth of butter the cook applied as he set the plate onto a waiting ledge. When they arrived to our table moments later, the butter had melted into a foamy, yellowish puddle that we weren\u2019t about to shove away. No doubt, you\u2019ll need to foxtrot down and up the hill several times to burn off these jumbo fat-soaked disks.<\/p>\n A week later I returned to a hit-and-miss lunch. A cup of admirable tortilla soup was the highpoint. The savory, judiciously salted broth was brimming with tortilla strips, cubed queso fresco and chunks of fresh avocado. So hearty, I almost ordered a second round.<\/p>\n The turkey-bacon club sandwich that followed, however, was disappointing only because of the low-grade turkey in it \u2014 the mealy, processed kind with water added. The sandwich would have otherwise sent me into diner bliss, given that it was a classic triple-decker on toasted white bread, cut into four triangles, and neatly tucking in crisp iceberg lettuce, juicy tomatoes, crisp bacon, and oozing measures of mayo. Nobody seems to make them like this anymore.<\/p>\n A heap of medium-cut french fries in the middle of the plate compensated in sustenance for half the club I abandoned. They were crisp and golden on the outside, steamy and soft inside.<\/p>\n Part of the thrill of eating at Golden Hill Caf\u00e9 is that you won\u2019t find rosemary trees sticking out of omelets and brown sugar bumping up the bacon. Nor will you encounter healthy smoothies or gluten-free anything. We know where to go for those, which is precisely why flashing back to the basics on occasion tastes so special.<\/p>\n \u2014Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/em> es el autor de \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press), y comenz\u00f3 su carrera como escritor local hace m\u00e1s de dos d\u00e9cadas como miembro del personal del antiguo San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en <\/em>fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":816,"featured_media":232779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Old-time diner on a hill","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/816"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>There are no salads listed on the menu except for a mention of one that comes with \u201cfish and fries.\u201d Though according to my lunchtime waitress, a basic garden salad ($3.75) is available for customers in the know. But in the face of pancakes and patty melts, I have to wonder how many of them actually drop in for the greens.<\/p>\n