Eating through San Diego since before the algorithm
A firsthand guide to the places worth your time—from Convoy counters to coastal dinners—built from years of actual meals.
Need an answer now?
Three easy calls from Roger's current short list.
The short list
Places I would send a friend—no hedging required.
Roger's 2022 answer for Mexican food in North Park, built around a surf 'n turf he described as bigger than most people's forearms.
One of the two omakase counters Roger named when asked where to take a visiting friend for sushi in 2022.
Roger's University Heights omakase recommendation from 2022, paired with Tadokoro as his two go-to sushi counters.
A little closer to your next meal
Mien Trung Restaurant · Hokkaido Ramen Santouka · Ajisen Ramen · PT Eatery · Wah Tak Metropolitan · +55 more
60 published placesSaigon on Fifth · Cigar Cave · Hong Kong Restaurant · Taste Of Denmark · Two Seven Eight · +34 more
39 published placesColima's North Park · Ranchos Cocina · Saguaro's Mexican Food · The Smoking Goat · Seven Grand · +28 more
33 published placesBird Rock Coffee — Little Italy · Kettner Exchange · Nolita Hall · Ristorante Illando · GlassDoor Restaurant · +25 more
30 published placesThe Nolen · Taqueria Los Chuchys · Inka's Bar & Grill · Oxford Social Club · Sultan Baklava · +21 more
26 published placesYOHED Coffee · Tom's Chinese BBQ · Taquizas Maria · Aiberto's · Ly Heng · +14 more
19 published placesLazy Dog Restaurant & Bar · The Kebab Shop · Milano Coffee & Cafe · Monsoon Express · The Little Fish Market · +14 more
19 published placesThe Patio on Lamont · Hammond's Gourmet Ice Cream · Izakaya Pacific Beach · Sushi Ota · Santana's Mexican Food · +13 more
18 published placesThe original camera roll · 2012–2014
Hodad’s, a California burrito, a sushi boat and a line out the door for donuts — Roger’s original photographs, with the dates and source posts attached.
The long memory
Photos, ratings and check-ins tell a story that recommendation apps forget. San Diego favorites and meals around the world stay dated, source-linked and part of the record.
Explore Food History
Beyond the short list
From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · Reviews · San Diego
A dozen years of written reviews — the wings he calls the juiciest anywhere, the $3 skewer platter that wasn’t, a truffle nobody ordered and the coffee you should never add milk to.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · Reviews
A celebrity burger that disappointed, a dessert flight seven people didn’t love, a sandwich that flipped the verdict and a salad mistake handled so well it earned a toast.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · San Diego · Craft beer
Roger’s camera roll from the height of San Diego’s craft beer boom: brewery flights from Mission Brewery to Belching Beaver, a house IPA in Normal Heights and the cocktail bars in between.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · China · Food History
A family weekend across the border from Hong Kong — a Teochew dinner Roger called his people’s cuisine, full Cantonese tables in Guangzhou, Yunnan food in Shenzhen and a decades-old bargaining ritual in Luohu.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Hong Kong · Food History
Before the September diary there was a summer: a Tokyo stopover, Michelin dim sum that lived up to it, a ramen queue finally beaten, yum cha during a Signal No. 8 and the breakfast spot Roger called a favorite.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · New York City · Food History
A winter trip that mixed famous names — Doughnut Plant, Carmine’s, Max Brenner — with fishball noodles in Chinatown, a French bistro in the Village and a Cuban dinner uptown.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Pacific Northwest · Food History
A week in the Pacific Northwest, eaten in order: a Brussels waffle, a bison burger with a local IPA, smoked salmon Benedict, Laotian curry, Pike Place classics and the Vancouver hot dog Roger never skipped.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · San Francisco · Food History
A cha chaan teng breakfast, late-night boat noodles, carbonara on a Sausalito bike ride, oysters from four regions and a crème brûlée cart on Market Street.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Southern California · Food History
The $3.95 late-night steak at South Point, a 40-something-ounce ribeye at Pechanga, Northern Thai in Las Vegas, Roscoe’s in Long Beach and a Gordon Ramsay burger that did not deliver.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Cambodia · Food History
Roadside noodles in Phnom Penh, a bánh mì chased down on a bicycle and three meals picked by the locals who drove them — plus one very San Diego taco test.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Shanghai · Food History
Wood-fired Peking duck, a local craft brewery, a late dessert stop and back-to-back queues for soup dumplings — plus a first bowl of Lanzhou noodles in Guangzhou.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Hong Kong · Food History
After the September travel posts, Roger’s Hong Kong camera roll turns local: a Michelin-starred dim sum line, a spicy chicken pot, a dai pai dong under tarps and the roast-meat shop his grandmother used to buy from.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · San Diego · Regulars
One post is a meal. Two posts about the same place is a habit. Here are the San Diego spots that show up again and again in Roger’s photo archive.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · San Diego
Hodad’s, cơm tấm, claypot rice, a Societe return trip and one blunt dessert review — a month of everyday eating from Roger’s camera roll.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveTravel Eats · Hong Kong · Food History
Soup dumplings twice, dark beer and peanuts, a 118th-floor nightcap and a side trip to Phnom Penh — one month of Roger’s travel eating, in the order the photos were taken.
Read storyFrom Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveRoger’s Picks · San Diego · Status check
In 2022 Roger named nine San Diego places he would send a visiting friend. Here is what the public record says about each one in September 2026.
Read storyFrom Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFoursquare · Food History · San Diego
Short notes from Roger’s older check-in history—kept in their original time labels instead of being turned into invented exact dates.
Read storyFrom Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFood History · San Diego
What thousands of photos, ratings, and check-ins can reveal about a city that never stops changing.
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From Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveFrom the editor · Food History
A photo posted in 2013 and a restaurant note from 2026 answer different questions. Here’s how to read both.
Read storyFrom Roger’s 2012–2014 photo archiveEditorial standards · Roger’s Picks
A short list should make choosing easier. The order notes, context and history still matter.
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The person behind the picks
Roger Ma’s restaurant notes and original photographs, brought together in a guide with a long memory.
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