My wife asked what we wanted for dinner. My son said he wanted a burger and suggested Shake Shack. My wife countered with The Friendly and I agreed.
Son outvoted.
I know my wife and I had the same motivation. We wanted to try what we’ve heard to be a good burger. My son rarely wants to try anything new.
When he was like 7 or so, he was vehemently opposed to trying Chipotle. I forced it, and thus ensued a lifetime of me or my wife refusing to go back to Chipotle again for every other meal.
Ok. That is an exaggeration, but suffice to say, he doesn’t want to try new things very often. But when he finds something he likes, he wants to go back a lot.
Today he didn’t want to go to The Friendly. He wanted Shake Shack. But then he found his new thing.
At 7pm on a Wednesday night, there was a fair bit of life in the Convoy District, but not at The Friendly.
When my son saw the small hole-in-the-wall joint with no customers, he didn’t want to go in. He said there was better stuff right there.
He was right. The Friendly in the Convoy is next to Steamy Piggy and a few other nice looking Asian spots. We haven’t even tried most of them. There was definitely much more elevated food right there—and with better vibes to boot.
But we had just driven down for the Friendly burgers. So we went in and ordered.
Viewing the limited menu, it was clear, we were all getting the O.G. Double Smash burger, and we could split one fry and one onion ring.
The food wasn’t fast, and the music volume increased dramatically, almost as a way of testing if I would get an annoyed as my dad would. I tolerated it.
They cranked up the rap song “Long Live the Greatest” by Drakeo the Ruler & Ralfy the Plug. They kept turning it up a little louder, trying to find the optimal party-scene volume they could get away with.
My son recognized—and liked—the next loud rap song—Young Thug’s “Digits.” I felt good that I recognized the performer.
The food came unceremoniously—as it should—and we were impressed with the crispy, super-smashy burgers. The fries were thin, hot and very salty. We all liked them, but they were too salty for everyone’s taste but mine.
My wife said she usually thinks fries need extra salt, but this was too much for her. We all liked the onion rings as well.
My son doesn’t usually partake in onion rings, but he was still hungry after wolfing down his burger. As he put it, it’s a double smash, but they smash it so much it has the thickness of a single.
He said the onion rings were good enough to snack on, which is an unusual complement from him viz a viz onion rings.
My son, having pre-judged this place, decided that, “It was actually a pretty fun place.”
He thought the atmosphere and the music and the food were all “pretty cool.”
BTW, there were like three lone young male patrons dispersed throughout the dining room and counter by the time we left.
The Friendly in Kearny Mesa is a fun spot for a cheap-enough, small but good smash burger that contrasts pretty starkly with the other offerings in the area.
BTW, they have three other locations in the San Diego area, and I guess they also sell pizza at those.
Here is an article about The Friendly restaurants:
SanDiegoVille: The Friendly Brings “Dirty Flat Top” Cheeseburgers To San Diego’s Convoy Area
Leave a Reply