Hash House a Go Go
Meatloaf Hash from Hash House a Go Go
For breakfast we made our way over to Hillcrest, a cute inland neighborhood of San Diego, to eat at the Hash House a Go Go. Despite the relatively long wait, we were thrilled to enjoy the innovative breakfast cuisine they offered. Tyler ordered the meatloaf hash with roasted red peppers, fresh spinach, and smoked mozzarella. I ordered the corned beef hash with red onions and swiss cheese. Both of our breakfasts were served with two eggs, a slice of watermelon and a biscuit.
Hash House a Go GoT: I hope those hickups don’t stick around too long.
A: tell me about it! this is like the fourth time today i’ve gotten the damn hiccups! hopefully it won’t affect my blog-a-bility.
T: i think you’ll be ok. if we were making a podcast it might be a different story… but.. unless your hiccup causes you to delete something accidentally we should be ok.
A: true dat. we’ll leave podcasting food blogs up to our friends at MIA (they do it better than we could any way:-) ) so, i’ve been wanting to go to Hash House a Go Go for a while but i had been getting negative vibes from you for a while.
T: negative vibes? ok, ok… I haven’t had the best breakfast meals in San Diego up to this point. Most of them have been a bit bland and… crappy. Would you not agree?
A: unfortunately i do have to agree on that. most of the breakfast joints in OB aren’t worth the amount you have to spend to eat the bland crappy food at them. but that doesn’t rule out the rest of the city. I have high hopes for finding other gems like the Hash House.
T: yeah, i agree with that. So, 2 of our favorite restaurants in San Diego are in Hillcrest…
A: Hillcrest is definately known for its food.
T: I did not know that. I guess I didn’t really know anything about Hillcrest now that I think about it. For all I knew the Bronx Pizza was the only good restaurant there. I had never been on that part of 5th before. That was a pretty cool little section of town.
A: absolutely. A guy i work with always says that Hillcrest is his favorite section of town for food, so a few weeks ago i went for a little drive on one of my days off and just wandered around for a while and let’s just say my list of “Go to’s” grew exponentially. there are so many places we have to try.
T: I’m excited. I’m ready to go back to Hillcrest. So, Hash House a Go Go was definately a unique dining experience. I didn’t know what to expect, but it definately wasn’t the standard diner that I thought it might be.
Corned Beef Hash from Hash House a Go GoA: seriously. Hash House’s slogan is “Twisted Farm Food” and that is totally what they have. Although we opted for just getting two different enormous hashes, they have a wide variety of stuff on the menu. The next breakfast item i want to try is the house smoked salmon scramble with basil pesto, fresh tomatoes, and brie. mmmm. seriously. i have a hard time not reading their menu and getting hungry.
T: I was frustrated when we were ordering because I couldn’t make up my mind! The server kept asking us if we were ready but I was trying to decide between like 9 entrees. It was tough to narrow it down to the meatloaf hash. I know what you’re saying though. The menu’s pretty exciting.
A: especially for an american breakfast menu… those tend to be pretty boring. I really do think i could eat there for a few weeks in a row and not get the same thing twice but be happy as a clam every day.
T: yeah, I don’t doubt it. You might want to make breakfast your main meal of the day if you do that though, because those servings are insane.
A: seriously. I don’t know if i’ve ever been served more food at one time in a restaurant ever. I’m not saying that this is an awesome thing. I definately think the portions are out of control, but it just fits with the restaurant. My main complaint with the Hash House is that I don’t really like re-heated cubed hash browns because the potatoes get all funky. it’s like french fries. they just don’t work the next day. So we did end up throwing away the majority of our leftovers.
T: I like to think of it as feeding the wildlife at the landfill.
A: or those airline employees that were told to dumpster dive for things they want in order to save money.
T: yes, that’s true. We might have helped out some of Northwest Airline’s ex-employees. It feels good to help out in the world. Especially when all you have to do is throw away food.
A: hehehehhe wow. we are so wrong! actually, those silly people at northwest are the wrong ones for ever giving out that advice!
T: not that there’s anything wrong with dumpster diving. It helps save global resources. I wonder if there are any food blogs about people who dumpster dive… that would be truly interesting.
A: interesting… and scary. I know, i know. it’s natural and it’s beautiful, but my god. I can’t imagine eating trash… with other people’s germs all over it. i guess i’m mildly germaphobic.
T: I wouldn’t describe a pepperoni pizza with jalapenos and onions as trash. i don’t care if it’s under 3 feet of garbage in a dumpster with a dead cat on top.
A: hehehhe… suuuureee… i totally believe that. You wouldn’t even reach into a completely empty, freshly lined trash can to pull out something that accidentally got thrown away!
T: ehh, that was more laziness than anything else. I didn’t need it too bad.
A: heheheh okay. enough with the dumpster diving… is it gross that we are talking about food and dumpster diving in the same post?
Amanda getting excitedT: well, it’s too late to go back now. the damage has been done. we’ve mentioned dead cats and trash. And food. It’s ok. On that note, I give the Hash House a Go Go a rating of 4.65/5. It was fun. It was tasty. The woman sitting at the table next to us had the largest flapjack ever. I definately want to go back and try out more of their menu!
A: i totally agree with you on this one T! I give the Hash House a 4.34/5. It was rockin’ and the menu left me wanting to try more stuff. I’m a huge fan of corned beef, but i think there are other items that that could do better. The corned beef was good but it wasn’t the best i’ve ever had. I particularly like the substantial biscuit that was served with the meal. It came with a huge twig of rosemary stuck in the middle. The best part was that the rosemary actually gave a wonderful flavor to the inside of the biscuit. Needless to say, we will definately be going back to this establishment.
T: yes we will. next time we will know in advance that there might be a bit of a wait to get in. Like 30 minutes. So we will not go on completely empty stomaches.
A: but the wait certainly won’t keep us from returning.
T: no way. there’s a wait for a good reason. people know what they like, and Hash House a go go is pretty damn likable.
Kwaherini mabibi na mabwana.
I have to give you guys props for not taking the obvious joke about the name of that restaurant.
thanks adam, it took serious self control, but we totally persevered.
I’ve always wanted to try the Hash House, but I’m afraid of the legendary lines! Thanks for the great report. Sounds like I’ll definitely have to get over my issues and go-go!
(uh, oh i went there made the pun…)
One of THE most scrumotious blogs I’ve ever been to!
mmm… Hash House A go go… (ala Homer)
BTW, The Comment Whore led me this way. 🙂
I remember going to the hash house like the first weekend they were open – I asked my husband “Gee, do you think this place will get crowded like all the other breakfast joints in town?” Guess we know the answer to that question!! I love the fried chicken and their biscuits! I haven’t been there in a while, come to think of it…
You guys would probably also like the Cantina Panaderia – which I just wrote up on Sunday. They serve a lot of the same items as the Mission restaurants.
i cant believe the tree of rosemary, that crazy! i have to remember this place next time we are down in san diego, looks like fun.
Mmmm. Looks good. We’ll be there soon!
Whats your other favourite restaurant in Hillcrest?
I’d recommend Harry’s in La Jolla for brekkie and Pannikins down the street. We also liked Azul for sunday brunch.
I’ve just been here once with a group – and wowsa what big portions. I think the plate my dad got was 2 and a half feet wide! I guess they are open for lunch and dinner – I wouldn’t mind trying them out for those meals too.
You know I’ve been having mixed results eating in SD so far. I’ve had some very, very bland Italian and Mexican food in Mission Valley and Point Loma, respectively. But it’s good to know good food CAN be found in places other than my own kitchen. And I love a good hash!
beth, oh i know you didn’t make that pun! 😛 i think if you try hitting up the hash house on off hours, the line might not be so bad. when we were leaving at around 1:30pm the line was miniscule. good luck!
Thank you Alternati! that charles always leads us to new and exciting sites:-)
Alice, i read your review of Cantina Panaderia and it’s definately on our “try soon” lists. i also went through your list and found some other intriguing places i want to visit.
Aria, i know! i have to admit, i took home both of the rosemary trees for future consumption. i’m sure the server thought i was crazy with the garnish jutting out of my box!
Jenny, we only just discoved hillcrest for it’s bountiful harvest of restaurants 🙂 i’ve seen so many places i want to try but we really haven’t gone to many at all, so… i’ll answer your question in the future! I’m always looking for new breakfast joints, especially because i work overnight. so it’s dinner for me! Harry’s sounds great, we will definately work it in there sometime.
Scott, seriously, they must be using serving platters for dinner plates. the pancake that was served to the table next to us nearly filled the entire thing! I, too want to try them out for lunch or dinner, but i’m kind of scared how large those portions will be!
Michelle, you hit that the nail on the head with your remark. since we’ve been here we’ve found the restaurants to be somewhat lacking. unless you’re willing to spend lots of money and pay for the flavor:-) i just know that there are pockets of good restaurants tucked away that we just haven’t found yet. keep the faith!
Hash House is da bomb. Hubby and I went for dinner on our anniversary, and I got the hand hammered pork tenderloin with blue cheese mashed potatos…it was awesome. Dinner’s kinda expensive there, but there was enough food for 3 meals.
We’ve had pretty good luck with not waiting in line for weekend breakfast….of course, it’s probly cuz we don’t get there til 12:30-1pm…..
oops, forgot to add this… have you tried Ranchos Cocina for breakfast? Tasty mexican…..you can also get the food vegetarian style. They’re on 30th street near University avenue in North Park. Not too far from Hillcrest.
OMG!!.
We were told we had to go this place and try it out. We were told it was at was at the at the Imperial Palace Hotel in LV. I never go to this Hotel for any reason. Perhaps simply because I have never found the front door but, once I found the restaurant, again OMG! I ordered my personal breakfast appetizer a Bloody Mary but decided on the Hash House Bloody Mary and the Corned Beef Hash. My Mary came first and I wasn’t sure if I was to drink it or make a BLT out of it since it was huge. It came with perfectly cooked bacon, a delicious fresh and thick slice of tomato, fresh and crisp ruffled lettuce and a toasted piece of bread along with other nummy garnishes. I opted to drink it and although I don’t like my Mary’s too hot, the fresh horse radish was delightful!
My Corned Beef Hash was incredibally huge and I wanted to share it with my partner but he ordered something that was so huge that I couldn’t see over his plate to see his face.
We both knew we would spend less time gambling and more time eating here. The next encounter with Hash House was by a very happy accident. We were in downtown LV. It was getting a bit late to find a finer dining experience. We knew a new fine dining restaurant had opened at the Plaza Hotel and checked it out. Lovely and pricey, we decided it was not the mood so decided to check out the other eateries of the Hotel. About to give up and find some mediocre to junk food, two more steps led me to another Hash House!!. I was thrilled to see it was open and basically ran into the store looking to be seated.
The experience there was even more exciting and memorable because of a nearby table of what I will describe as golden agers.
With my stomach now focusing on dinner type menu items, I ordered a Chicken Pot Pie. My partner, something over his face again.
The Waitress brought an order to a neighboring table where all appeared to order a mountainous hamburger. One of the golden agers saw the food, rose and went to their table to ask if what they had ordered was a hamburger. To his surprise, the towering vibation was just that. He had the audacity to ask the customer to cut it in half which he agreed to do. The visiting golden ager then beaconed to his wife to come over with their camera who obediently came over and took a picture.
When we received our order, the same harmless golden ager yelled to me to find out if I had ordered a Flying Saucer. Not only was the food excellent and again, too much to eat, but the experience was unforgettable.
To sum this up, I begged the Waitress to tell the owner he/she needed to open a store in Seattle. Sadly the Waitress thought they would be opening one in Chicago.
Really?!?!?! The Windy City versus lovely rain that makes Washington the Evergreen State? Regardless, we all should have a Hash House a go go nearby! You’ll be there 3 times a day, if not more!