This is a good time to check in on balloting in the The San Diego Sun’s inaugural “Downtown Dining Readers’ Poll.”
Hundreds of people are voting on our site (hooray!). One geography question has arisen (see below).
Serendipitously, the voting period for the best restaurants in 92101 overlapped the first-ever Taste of East Village (August 29-30). Our staff was out and about for that. We met lots of chefs and foodies. Balloting got a bump.
The next good chance for you to to do bulk taste-tasting: the imminent 27th annual Taste of Gaslamp (September 9).
The 27th annual Taste of Gaslamp will be served up from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Two dozen Gaslamp Quarter restaurants (on Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues) are banding together to offer bites and samples in downtown San Diego’s historic, 16-block entertainment district.
WALK THIS WAY: The Gaslamp’s main drag–Fifth Avenue from Broadway to K Street–has been re-imagined as the Gaslamp Promenade. Bollards block north-south street traffic for most of the day. That designates Fifth Avenue as a pedestrian-friendly “Slow Street.”
Our Sun team (including editor Ron Donoho, director of sales Steve Jahn and photographer Sal Giametta) will be out at Taste of Gaslamp. We’d love to say hello. And if you’re not holding a beer and a food sample, shake your hand. BONUS: Come see us at the official After Party, too: at Johnny WAHOO! Golf Bar (4-7 p.m.)
HALFWAY THERE: With our poll closing on October 1, we’re nearly halfway to the finish line. Consequently, there are just four chances left to win our weekly drawing.
THE WEEKLY PRIZE: Our weekly prize is a pair of tickets ($110 value) to cruise San Diego Bay on a 75-foot Triton Charters catamaran. The Triton is San Diego’s newest and largest catamaran yacht. We randomly select a winner every week. (Winners are notified by email.) FYI: It’s a mathematical fact that the sooner you submit a ballot the more chances you have to win.
THE LATEST WINNER: This week’s winner is Kaushal Patel. If the name sounds familiar, careful readers will recall she was a former subject of a San Diego Sun “Living In The City” downtown resident profile.
CORE-COLUMBIA. The Downtown Dining Readers’ Poll is the only best restaurants ballot where you can vote for the top eatery in Little Italy, Marina District, East Village, Gaslamp Quarter and Core-Columbia.
Most downtown neighborhood boundary lines are distinct. The merged Core-Columbia hood (central to all others) is proving to be the least identifiable. The boundaries are Harbor Drive to the east and Eighth Avenue on the west; Ash Street (primarily) to the north and Market Street (mostly) to the south. Here’s a map.
THE CATEGORIES. Along with bests in each neighborhood, the rest of the ballot is a citywide (92101-only) competition for:
- Best Coffeehouse, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert.
- Best Date Night/Romantic, Food & Music Combo, Cheap Eats & Fine Dining.
- And of course, Best Italian, Seafood, Steakhouse, Pizza, Mexican & Sushi.
THE RULES. We’re keeping it simple:
- One vote per person for each category.
- Submit picks in AT LEAST TWO CATEGORIES, including Best Overall restaurants.
- All restaurants must be located in the 92101 ZIP Code.
- Voting closes October 1, 2023, at noon PST.
- Results will be published in mid-October.
To paraphrase The World’s Most Interesting Man: “Stay hungry and thirsty, my friends.” SDSun
