Try Hodad's For a Great Burger

A while back I wrote about my favorite burgers in the San Diego area. What about Hodad's, asked Cookie and Jeff? Well, I had never been to Hodad's, but now I have, and it is definitely in my top five. It was awesome.

First, it is located in Ocean Beach, on a funky little street called Newport Ave. The street has lots of bars, liquor stores, tatoo parlors, head shops, and second hand stores. There is street parking and a parking lot next door. Check it out online at http://www.hodadies.com/.

It's a small restaurant, with booths, counter seats, and big family style tables in the middle. The mix of old, young, black, white, rich and poor makes for great people watching. Everyone is so friendly, the waiter may even sit down and chat with you. Surfboards and old license plates cover the walls, and loud music (the only drawback for me) is nonstop.

Food is fantastic. I got a single burger, no cheese, no onion. It was big, a 1/3 pound burger, two patties, chopped lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles, mayo, catsup and mustard. It was messy and fun to eat and had great flavor. The fries are more like potato wedges, crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. They also have fantastic malts and milkshakes that I did not eat but admired from afar. Dinner for two was $16 and worth every penny.

Several months ago I wrote that Hodad's was opening in Carlsbad Village, where Mr. Peabody's used to be. Scratch that. They had problems with the lease and had to cancel the whole project. There are opening in another San Diego location, and hope to open in the Carlsbad area when they obtain a good space. So for now, we in North County will have to make the drive to Ocean Beach to get our Hodad's fix.