By Kathleen Mclean
FB: @kathleenmclean
I had been dying to get to this restaurant. Every weekend I wanted to get there for brunch I would call ahead but, it was constantly an hour and a half wait. I decided to beat the system and go on a Monday for brunch. I’m happy I did. There was no wait.
I specifically wanted to go to this restaurant for, of course, the bloody mary menu. A friend had told me they had an award-winning BLT bloody mary. The BLT is my favorite sandwich, and the prospect of having it served in my bloody mary was too much to take. I was so thrilled I ordered it before they even brought my husband and my waters. I was so excited, within about 10 min I was presented with a bloody mary that was garnished with a large piece of lettuce, a generous tomato slice, a piece of bacon, two triangles of toast and a packet of mayo. I felt like the price was super reasonable at $12.00. My BLT was super good but the bloody mary isn’t anything to write home about. I’m sorry for people reading this who disagree but, the tomato mix was extremely thin. That’s not even detailed enough. If anyone has grown up with people from the east coast and know the thick ragu sauce your mom makes from scratch, then you go to a friends house who’s mom uses spaghetti sauce from, say, the dollar store. This was that comparison. It was thin! It was thin like dollar store spaghetti sauce. There wasn’t a spice in site. My husband also ordered a bloody mary; his too was not amazing. Again, I realize this particular restaurant prides themselves on their bloody mary’s but, honestly I wasn’t impressed. In my book Breakfast Republic still, has the BEST bloody mary in San Diego. As I’m typing this, I know this makes people angry. But, I need to be clear, I don’t even like Breakfast Republic, I always get AWFUL service. I can’t deny their bloody mary though. They can treat me like total crap but, I’ll keep going back for this outstanding drink.
I loathe breakfast food, and I love fried chicken, so when I came across the sage fried chicken sandwich I was thrilled. My husband ordered their “famous” meatloaf hash. And by famous I mean review on the travel channel famous. The price wasn’t so bad each dish was $18-$25. I did think it was on the pricier end for brunch but, the portions were huge, which I’ll get back to. Just follow me.
After ordering, I got to take in the ambiance. It wasn’t awesome. The tables and chairs were so insanely close to each other I could easily watch the cartoon playing on my neighbors iPhone, and I can’t ever see anything more than a foot away. I know everyone tells me to get contacts but, I’m a smoker, and they are glued to my eyes by mid-afternoon. At that point, I choose to blindly wave at people I don’t know thinking I do know them. It’s embarrassing.
Back to the meals. They were good. The presentation was outstanding. I believe this could have been the fanciest fried chicken sandwich I had ever consumed. My plate came with brown edible sticks running across it, which I can only assume are for the look. I didn’t eat the brown sticks. My husband’s plate was excellent; he ordered their award-winning meatloaf hash. It was gigantic with an amazing biscuit the size of a small cantaloupe on the side. At first, he did think it was different because it came with veggies in it and it was separated. Usually, when he orders a hash everything is all mixed, eggs, potatoes, and well, whatever else comes in the hash. He did enjoy it and was able to take half home, which he’s always happy about.
The Hash House A Go Go was decent. The portions were insane which is a common review for this restaurant. I don’t think we will be back. I wasn’t super impressed. It was good but, I go for an amazing bloody mary, and I didn’t get that.
