Tag: food

Sonic the Hedgehog serves fun “fast” food!

The pop-up Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe has been open several days in San Diego’s East Village! You can find it at 910 J Street.

The soft opening of the Speed Cafe is already attracting many local families and lovers of the Sonic video games, cartoons and movies. The one-of-a-kind fast food restaurant will have its official Grand Opening at the start of Comic-Con 2023 next week. I suspect the lines will be very long, so if you’re hungry speed your way into downtown San Diego in the next few days! My wait today was perhaps 5 minutes. The restaurant will remain open until mid-August.

What fun! I saw lots of kids enjoying the cool atmosphere and playing several free video games that were scattered about.

The menu includes fast food with names such as Sonic’s Classic Chilidog, The Perfect Eggdog, Knuckles Sandwich, Piko Piko Tenders and The Evil Genius. Drinks include Sonic Heroes Slush, Blue Blur, Flying Fox, Sweet Amy and Team Dark.

I learned the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe is a project of video game maker SEGA. A new restaurant concept is being tested!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Tasty sights in San Diego before Comic-Con!

All sorts of tasty sights are popping up around downtown San Diego before the start of Comic-Con 2023!

Today is Saturday. Check out some of the fun stuff I came across while walking around the San Diego Convention Center, through the Gaslamp and into East Village!

A funny hamburger with eyeballs promotes Good Burger 2 from Nickelodeon.

The anime film Sand Land will have its world premiere screening at Comic-Con on July 21, 2023.

This cool structure will be part of Hulu’s Animayhem activation behind the San Diego Convention Center.

And beyond it, you can see the big Star Trek wrap on a Marriot Marquis tower.

Archer prop probably needs to be transported over to the FX area.

More structures being set up for Hulu’s Animayhem.

I can’t wait to check it out during Comic-Con!

Adult Swim on the Green hasn’t made much construction progress, seemingly.

The FX offsite this year is under construction. It appears to be less elaborate than usual.

FX will promote its shows here.

Alice in Wonderland and the mad tea party have been painted on the windows of Starbucks at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

Looking across Harbor Drive toward the huge Special Ops: Lioness building wrap.

I love the FOX animation wrap on the Omni so much I took another pic today of one section!

Looking toward the Gaslamp Quarter Archway from Gaslamp Square.

Looking at Hard Rock Hotel from Gaslamp Square.

Worker setting up the NBC offsite at Gaslamp Square.

The NBC activation appears to have several structures.

A big Yellowjackets wrap being applied to the front of the Hard Rock Hotel.

This should look pretty cool when finished!

Here’s one of the nearby Amazon Prime Video wraps: Invincible.

Happy Does will be the site of Paramount’s “The Lodge” offsite.

Workers busy getting The Lodge ready for Comic-Con.

Part of the big Daryl Dixon wrap on the Pendry hotel. The dead are still walking on AMC.

Dead City on a Pendry window.

Fear the Walking Dead. I don’t want to become food, so I’ll keep my head on a swivel!

A super cool activation at Ninth Avenue and J Street. It’s the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe!

Sonic runs across an East Village window.

A few would-be-Sonics were waiting in line for the unique culinary experience. Hungry fans weren’t moving too quickly, but quite excited!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Superhero, Star Wars, Mario donuts for Comic-Con!

A super cool San Diego Comic-Con tradition will continue in 2023! San Diego’s world-famous Donut Bar will be offering unique (and tasty) donuts that have to be seen to be believed!

The collection of donuts to be offered this year was previewed today. Joining Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman donuts are new edible creations that represent Captain America and Spider-Man. And there are Yoda and R2-D2 donuts to represent Star Wars. And, given the popularity of the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie, there are donuts for fans of Mario, too!

There are gold token donuts that work kind of like Willy Wonka’s Golden Tickets. Turn a token over, discover an image of Mario, and you win a trip to Universal Studios! There’s also a cool donut that features a replica of the most valuable Pokémon collectible card! And many more!

You’ll be able to grab some of these awesome donuts during Comic-Con, from Thursday to Sunday, at the Donut Bar downtown location (631 B Street), and in the heart of the Gaslamp at a pop-up shop inside the Pendry Hotel (550 J Street)!

Chef Santiago of the Donut Bar is smiling as usual.

Spidey is clinging to a yummy donut!

8-bit Mario for fans of old school video games.

Wonder Woman.

Yoda.

Look who welcomed yours truly to the Donut Bar. Princess Peach!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Help end hunger: plant a vegetable garden!

Would you like to begin a project at home that is fun and beneficial to others in need? Why not plant a vegetable garden, grow healthy produce and donate your harvest to a local food bank?

I was walking through the Garden Show at the San Diego County Fair when I came upon a “Homegrown Hunger Relief” display. I stopped to read what that meant.

The organization Healthy Day Partners works to feed the hungry with healthy food, and encourages the creation of home and school gardens. They offer gardening workshops, and support a number of different hunger relief programs.

Healthy Day Partners has collaborated with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to plant fruit trees in many communities throughout San Diego County.

They also offer Grab & Grow Gardens to aid people grow their own food. A small selection of vegetable and/or herb seedlings are handed out in an easy to carry bag, along with instructions in English and Spanish.

Sounds like a good thing? Check out the Healthy Day Partners website and perhaps become involved by clicking here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Deep fried EVERYTHING at the County Fair?

Is there anything edible not deep fried at the San Diego County Fair? Walk past the endless food stands and it might seem that way!

Of course, there are many non-deep fried offerings everywhere you turn at the fair, like burritos, hot dogs, hamburgers, barbeque, turkey legs, cinnamon rolls or ice cream. But who hasn’t made a joke about the numerous, sometimes bizarre deep fried treats that might tempt curious fairgoers?

Deep fried pizza.

Deep fried decadence: Mexican funnel cakes.

Totally fried Oreo.

Fried s’mores on a stick.

Fried shrimp with French fries.

Totally fried avocados.

Totally fried Twinkies.

Fried chicken, of course.

Fried veggies. (Is that more healthy?)

Bacon wrapped pickle totally fried!

Deep fried pork sandwich.

Yum!

Lip smacking good!

Where’s my bottle of antacid?

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Our People’s Garden in downtown San Diego.

Over the years, a small garden space south of The New Children’s Museum in downtown San Diego has undergone several transformations. Early this morning, during a walk down the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, I noticed it is now called Iipay Nyechewuuw, or Our People’s Garden.

A sign near the wooden planter boxes explains that Our People’s Garden was inspired by the Barona Indian Charter School’s Native Plant Garden, and the Barona Cultural Center + Museum’s Native Plant Seed Library.

The garden is now used by the nearby children’s museum to teach kids about the environment and Kumeyaay culture. The Kumeyaay have traditionally used native plants in our region as food, tools and medicine.

I noticed bits of art scattered about, evidently painted by young hands. I added contrast to my photograph of the sign so it can be more easily read.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Community composting project in Balboa Park!

Territorio autonomo de lombrices. Autonomous territory of worms.

Hey, San Diego! Did you know there’s a community composting project in Balboa Park? The public is invited to participate!

I met the above super nice people today and learned about this environmentally friendly project.

The message is: Everyone, bring your compostable food scraps and grass clippings to the colorful structure you see in these photographs. The composting operation is located behind the Centro Cultural de la Raza at 2004 Park Boulevard. You can’t miss it!

From time to time, a batch of composted material is ready for use, and the organically rich soil is set out for participants to take home for their plants and gardens.

I learned the best time to come by is Saturday around noon. Smiling project volunteers are usually present around then. They can help you out, and perhaps even convince you to volunteer, too!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Presidential visit exhibit at Hotel Del’s museum.

Last February a new exhibit was added to the Hotel del Coronado’s museum, which is located in the Victorian resort’s old ice house. Several display cases contain historical photographs and ephemera recalling visits to the Hotel del Coronado by United States Presidents.

How many Presidents? Count them. Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

In addition to fancy printed invitations and menus, you’ll see that one state dinner in the Hotel Del’s famous Crown Room required 450 pounds of Totuava Sea Bass, 1000 pounds of Nebraska Prime Beef, 300 pounds of California Roasted Potatoes, 300 pounds of Colossal Asparagus, 1400 heads of Kentucky Lime stone [sic] Lettuce, 1400 Hearts of Artichoke…20 cases of Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon 1966…etc…

That must have been quite a feast!

I first visited the Hotel del Coronado’s fascinating museum a year ago and posted a blog about it here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A taste of the 40th Annual Ethnic Food Fair!

The 40th Annual Ethnic Food Fair is taking place today in San Diego’s Balboa Park!

If you read this in time, the big culinary festival continues at the International Cottages through 7 pm.

I must confess I walked through the event quickly and didn’t partake of any food, but I did pause for a few minutes to take in the atmosphere, and to watch dancers in folk costume from the House of Turkey performing on stage. Look at the huge crowd!

I did smell many different wonderful aromas!

Here’s a photographic taste of what visitors to the Ethnic Food Fair enjoyed today!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Dance and food at the Cervantes Festival!

The Cervantes Festival was held today in San Diego!

The House of Spain hosted the fun cultural event in Balboa Park, with visitors enjoying entertainment, authentic Spanish food, a kids art table and more. I’m told the festival kicked off in the morning with young people reading from Cervantes’ classic novel Don Quixote.

When I arrived, people were watching flamenco dance on the International Cottages lawn and devouring tasty Spanish paella, jamón serrano, Manchego cheese (made in the La Mancha region of Spain) and other gastronomic goodies.

I walked about for a bit, looking for sights related to the great Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. I found small sculptures of the timeless character Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza in a display case inside the House of Spain cottage!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!