Newport Avenue is a three-block stretch that features a treasure trove of cheap, interesting eats. In addition to Hodad’s, which might serve the greatest bacon cheeseburger on the planet, there’s a barbecue house, a top-level smoothie bar and a lunch counter that melds Chinese and Greek food. I’d probably walked past South Beach Bar & Grille a dozen times, but never thought to enter until reading this year’s Bon Appetit Restaurant Issue, which selected the eatery as one of the three best spots in the nation to eat fish tacos. Who knew?
Apparently a lot of people. The bar & grill was packed. Every seat at the counter and every table were full. I was able to cadge some information from manager Tim Lloyd. Apparently chef-owner John Thompson grew up fishing with his brother and opened South Beach in 1992. The bar & grill started on the corner, but proved so popular that Thompson expanded next door into a deli.
The eatery got its name by being situated on the southernmost point of Ocean Beach. This was our view right out the front door. As Larry David would say, “Pretty…pretty good.”
South Beach offers burgers, tostadas, quesadillas, and more. The long row of microbrews on draft was tempting, but after observing our sloppy neighbors, we stuck with solids. The menu imprinted with a mermaid offered 13 varieties of tacos, 8 grilled and five fried. We sampled every grilled sea creature on the menu.
Until recently, there was no doubt Ocean Beach was all about Hodad’s. My next trip to Ocean Beach will be the first time I’ll face an eating dilemma. Grilled fish tacos or bacon cheeseburgers? Hmm.
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