FOTB- Nicky Rottens

What you've all been waiting for, help me introduce... Nicky Rottens! Nicky Rottens (http://www.nickyrottens.com/) is in downtown San Diego on 5th and Market. Being the case with everything in Downtown, good luck finding parking, you'll need it.

[Insert your own juvenile sex joke]

The Food: 5/5 Stars
Nicky Rottens burgers are awesome! Not only are they tasty, but they are big. Which confuses me... Everyone at the table kept praising these burgers, saying they were on the shortlist of best burgers, but I looked around and saw some unfinished burgers at the table. Tasty AND huge?! Yes and yes. They have some great choices for burgers, but I chose the Famous Rottens Burger, and it didn't disappoint. I heard great things about some of the other style burgers ordered, from the Stinky Burger and the Breakfast Burger. And to really test them, one buddy ordered his burger rare; apparently he says most places won't cook a burger rare, but will go medium rare-- he gave them a two thumbs up for that. Oh, and their fries are really good as well, but good luck getting to them after such a large burger.



Burger, fries, and beer! Oh my!





The Drinks: 5/5 Stars
Great selection of beers. Full Bar. Wine. Granted, I only need about 3 good beers to choose from to consider it pretty good, I totally back a place that has 3 styles of Stone on tap along with some other good offerings. I stayed away from the macrobreweries, but they're available, and cider is available for puffs out there (editor's note: London, England bartenders claim that cider is a puff's drink. They are correct). A full bar allows for shots and cocktails and wine is available. But I'd still stick to Stone, can't be beat.

The Atmosphere: 5/5 Stars
Really cool decor. The brick walls and wood floor make for a unique look that is stylish, yet not over-pretentious. Multiple levels which was a huge plus. Most burger places wouldn't be able to have seaten 20+ people, but we got an entire floor to ourselves. Really approachable and helpful staff. And yes, they are very easy on the eyes. The owner's wife, April, even called earlier in the day to make sure that I would have her number in case I needed anything.
Overall: 4.9/5 Stars
I can't score any place perfect. That is the only reason that they didn't have a flawless score. Throw in a free burger and topless waitresses and they would've gotten it (I had to come up with some negative, no matter how unrealistic). I could go on and on about all sorts of things, but I want to sum it up in one sentence. You NEED to go to Nicky Rottens. No, not tomorrow or the weekend. Right now.

FOTB- The Corner

The Corner is located, wait for it, on the corner of 10th and J in downtown San Diego. It's a block from Petco Park, so it makes it a good place to grab dinner and drink before heading over to the stadium. Like everywhere in downtown, parking isn't really available, and it only gets worse when the Padres are in town, but it just makes those bike-rickshaws look more appealing.

The Food: 3/5 Stars
The Corner offers only a couple of choices for beef burgers, but they use high-quality beef for a good taste. Unfortunately, the beef is overpowered by the condiments on the burgers. The Jalapeno Burger was good, but the spiciness of the jalapenos and serrano pepper coupled with the chipotle aioli source overshadowed the taste of the burger. The peppers' heat lingered in my mouth longer than I anticipated, so if you can't handle the heat, you need to avoid this burger. The beef taste is lost to the flavors of the peppers, but if you like spicy food, you'll love this burger. The Frontier BBQ Burger was good, with amazing bacon (thick strips of flavorful applewood bacon, those bacon strips were easily in my top 2 of favorite bacon condiment) and some onions and cheese to accompany. But, the highlight of the burger was the RedStar BBQ sauce they use. Until eating here, I never knew that good BBQ sauces could have originated in Russia. I'm posting the link, in hopes that enough people buy this delectable product and I can see some kickbacks from the owners: http://redstarbbq.com (editor's note: the author doesn't receive kickbacks from any product endorsement, but we are aware that he needs to find new ways to pay for those weekend bartabs). I must mention that the food score was negatively affected by the terrible sweet potato fries. I know I'm judging burgers here, but the sweet potoato fries they served with our burgers were inedible. I saw them bring out better fries, so I know they can serve good fries, but they need to treat all customers the same and bring out cooked food. Soggy, undercooked fries f*ckin suck.




Jalapeno Burger is muy caliente!





The Drinks: 4/5 Stars
A reasonable selection of beers on tap and in bottle, a wine list, and a full liquor bar along with specialty drinks boosts the score of The Corner. No pitchers and no amazing beer selections (other than Stone Pale Ale, which is amazing, and Fat Tire, which is also good) hold The Corner from scoring higher. The prices are normal for the downtown area, so expect beer to run $5-6 a drink, and liquor to run a little more. Or you can go for the best deal and get properly drunk with 24oz cans of PBR for $4.


The Atmosphere: 4/5 Stars
The atmosphere of The Corner is pretty hip urban. The decoration and feel of metal beams gives it a neat feel. It's a little small upstairs, but not too crowded with people that it gets overwhelming. There are TVs strategically placed, so that no matter where you sit, you are able to catch the games on. I saw some people shooting darts away from the crowds around the bar, a nice touch that allows for darts and keeps patrons safe. The waitresses all wear cute outfits, but the waitstaff is clueless-- I asked someone carrying two plates if they were for our table, he told us "no," and came back in a couple of minutes to then tell us that the plates, were in fact, ours.

Overall: 3.5/5 Stars
The Corner is a great place to start off a Padres game. Be sure to go on Tuesdays for the 2 for 1 burger special. Few things beat a free burger! Go early to grab food and drinks and shoot some darts before heading over to the stadium. The food and drink is good enough to make it a date location, but I would advise going elsewhere first. The Corner is an average place that doesn't really stand out, but it won't let you down. Don't expect to get blown away, but as long as you don't order the Hippie Burger, (yeah, I can't believe someone ordered a veggie burger, either) you won't be disappointed

FOTB- The Neighborhood

This is where our journey begins...

The Neighborhood (http://neighborhoodsd.com/) is a little establishment located in East Village on 777 G Street. This is downtown SD for those not aware and too lazy to use Google Maps.

We spent a bit of time, 10 minutes+, looking for parking in the area, and eventually had to park a couple of blocks away. No big deal, we can walk off some of the burger and beer... Only to find ourselves missing Happy Hour by 5 minutes!

Coincidentally, we arrived there on the day their new menu was unveiled, so my review is actually relevant! Our waitress brought us all menus and we began to scour over their good selection of beers. All except for one of our friends. His boyish good looks earned him the "kiddy" menu, the menu missing the entire beer selection. I'm guessing that the menu was priced pretty reasonably for being in downtown San Diego and it offered a reasonable variety of food choices.

The Food: 3.5/5 Stars
The food was pretty good. We split the fennel frites for an appetizer and it was good, kind of a mix between onion rings and fries. I split the Spicy Cajun Rubbed Burger and Jalapeno Mac and Cheese. The burger was pretty good, but not a conventional burger; served on a ciabatta- like bun with a side of potatoe chips, you won't find this combination too many other places. It was a tasty burger with a little bit of spice. The Jalapeno Mac and Cheese was a solid dish. It was thick pasta covered in melted Velveeta and the jalapenoes provided a nice kick, so wussies beware.

The Drinks: 5/5 Stars
The drink selection was awesome. It had quite a large selection of beers on tap and bottled beers to choose from. Not your most common selection either. It had some familiar faces, but there was quite a new selection with accompanying descriptions of what you were about to taste. The descriptions of the beers were longer than the descriptions of the food, so I have to give it to them that they've got their priorities straight.

The Atmosphere: 3/5 Stars
Urban hip with a casual crowd. The place had a bar and a smattering of tables. The crowd was mainly dates along with a group conversing over a couple of pints. Clean and nice, nothing wowed me except for their table decorations: a box of grass and these really cool table lights. The table lights were a soft rubber feeling, a little larger than a baseball. They put off a nice red glow, but apparently pretty expensive at $60 bucks a pop.

Overall: 3.5/5 Stars
I recommend this place as a date location. With a good selection of beers, you will both find something to your liking. The food is good and won't run off anyone, but it won't blow away your tastebuds. The decor is modern and the crowd isn't boisterous, so you don't have to yell over the crowd to woo your date, Cassanova.