Choose-Your-Own-Adventure San Diego Trolley Line Food & Drink Crawl

TWO WAYS TO START YOUR DAY YOUR DAY

OPTION 1: Start in La Mesa with Bloody Marys & Brunch
La Mesa Blvd. Trolley Stop (Orange Line)

One block away from the La Mesa Boulevard station is Farmer’s Table, a fantastic breakfast spot with over-the-top pitchers of Bloody Mary’s topped with the likes of bacon-wrapped hot dogs or roast chicken. They will make you glad you aren’t driving. 
 
If you have a sweet tooth, try the Tiramisu French Toast, made with coffee-soaked ladyfingers and a rum-mascarpone cheese spread. Your best bet for a savory option is the Short Rib Benedict with creamy lemongrass polenta and rosemary hollandaise. Farmer’s Table gets a lot of their ingredients locally – their bread is from Charlie’s Best Bread and their eggs are from Eben-Haezer Poultry Ranch in Ramona, for example.

Farmer’s Table
8141 La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa
Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 8am– 3pm & 4pm–9pm; Friday to Saturday, 8am– 3pm & 4pm–10pm

Walk it Off in Mission Valley

Take the Orange Line towards Santee to Grossmont where you can catch the Green Line towards 12th & Imperial. Get off at the Rio Vista stop for a walk around the fountain or along the San Diego River. Alternatively, go three stops further to the Fashion Valley Stop to shop while you walk. When you've had your share of shopping jump back on the green line toward 12th & Imperial and get off at the County Center/Little Italy station (see below Next Stop: Little Italy - Lunch & Harbor Views).

OPTION 2: Start Downtown with Coffee & Bagels
Park & Market Trolley Stop (Orange & Blue Lines)

Start your day with coffee and a bagel at Spill the Beans, near the Park & Market stop on both the blue and orange trolley lines.

Spill the Beans has, hands down, the best bagels in San Diego. While other bagel makers try to imitate a New York bagel, Spill the Beans has created a distinctly California bagel. The light and fluffy bagels are made addictive by house-made cream cheeses. Try inventive flavors like wasabi, ginger, and soy or caramelized shallot and chive. My favorite combo is the roasted garlic and herb bagel with the decadent white truffle Parmesan cream cheese. Pair it with the One Trick Pony latte that adds a house-made cinnamon syrup to Dark Horse cold brew to jump start your day.

Spill the Beans
555 Market Street, Downtown San Diego
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 6am-6pm; Friday, 6am-7pm; Saturday to Sunday, 7am-7pm

Walk it Off in the East Village

It's an easy walk from here to the 12th & Imperial station where you can pick up the green line towards Santee. Get off at the County Center/Little Italy station.

Next Stop: Lunch & Harbor Views
County Center/Little Italy Trolley Stop (Green Line)

There is no shortage of places to shop, eat, and drink in Little Italy, but I love the their Milanese street food “Market Lunch” at Monello.

Go all out with their famous cheese wheel pasta. Weekly special pastas and risottos are served tableside out of their massive cheese wheel pasta. This technique – known as Dalla Forma – is a unique preparation method where freshly-cooked pasta is finished in a huge Pecorino Romano cheese wheel right at your table.  

Or, if you’re simply too full, just order up the Panzerotti - lightly fried mini calzones – to snack on while you stroll around Little Italy and shop for ingredients at old markets like Mona Lisa.

Monello
750 W Fir Street, Little Italy
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 11am– 9:30pm; Friday, 11am– 10:30pm; Saturday, 10:30am– 10:30pm

WALK IT OFF in Little Italy/ San Diego Harbor

Enjoy a walk along the San Diego Harbor or wonder through the shop-lined streets of Little Italy. In either case, walk south until you get to the America Plaza Station on Broadway.

Next Stop: Happy Hour Sips & Snack
5th Avenue Trolley Station (Blue Line)

At the America Plaza trolley station board the blue line toward San Ysidro and get off at the 5th Avenue trolley station.

Grab a happy hour drink at Curadero (daily from 3-6pm). Snack on a Ceviche de Pescado - white fish, tomato and cucumber brightened up with serrano, cilantro, and avocado silk, only $6.

Meander south along 5th and 6th Avenues through the Gaslamp Quarter. Make one last stop at The Blind Burro where you can treat yourself to a glass of White Hot Sangria, a spicy sweet drink with Serrano peppers and strawberries that makes for a perfect ending to an indulgent day. 

Curadero
1047 Fifth Avenue, Downtown
Hours: Daily: 7am-10:30am &  5pm-10pm | Happy Hour: Daily 3pm-6pm

The Blind Burro
639 J Street, Gaslamp
Hours: Monday to Thursday, 11am-11pm; Friday & Saturday, 11am-1:30am; Sunday, 10am-10pm

Get Home
Park & Market (Orange Line) or 12th & Imperial Trolley Station (Green, Blue, & Orange Lines)

If you’re heading back to La Mesa, simply jump on the orange line at the Park & Market trolly station. Otherwise, head to the nearby 12th & Imperial station to pick up the green or blue lines.

San Diego MTS  
Fares are $2.50 one way or $5 for a day pass. The trolleys run every 7 minutes peak and 30 minutes off-peak. Download maps and get more information on public transportation in SD county online.