My wife and son took me to Encinitas Ale House for a belated birthday dinner.
I’ll be honest, this wasn’t a super inspired choice, but it was a spot we hadn’t tried before in a town that I like, just a tad bit north of Carmel Valley. I knew going in that they had a weird tag line about being “locally world-famous for burgers.” I didn’t expect too much since places that brag about their burgers often disappoint. This was not an exception.
It was cozy and half full at 5:15 or so. We got a decent table. My wife liked the decor. A Cotton Bowl game was on the TV and fun enough 90s music played at a good level. I noticed an appetizer I thought would impress my son, sliced steak with chimichurri. It looked great and my son loved it. I prefer my steak not cut up for me, but it was good. I think I would have preferred the wasabi tuna or the poke tower for an appetizer.
My wife ordered the 12-inch meat pizza, which was good, but didn’t blow me away. Honestly, I am rarely blown away by pizza in California. I grew up in Michigan. My favorite pizza growing up was at a joint we went to after my peewee hockey games called The Penalty Box. Now that was great pizza.
Back in California I felt compelled to try the cheeseburger. I mean, they say they are locally world famous for burgers right? It arrived and was visibly obnoxious. Now… I expected that. I knew what I ordered. The smoky grilled flavor of the meat was quite good, but the size of this half pound monstrosity with artisanal greens squashed between buns that may have been inspired by side curtain airbags was too much.
I get that some people—especially people who know what they are ordering—enjoy fighting with their burger. I however, outgrew the desire to bury my maw into an animal half my size. My wife managed to cut the beast in half, and that helped, but the thing really fell apart.
I think I would have preferred a different dish, like the seared tuna steak sandwich or maybe even the patty melt. Something that would hopefully be more manageable.
My son got a spicy chicken sandwich. Once again—huge. It came cut in half, which was a blessing. He ate most of one half, leaving much bun. My wife and I each gave it a test nibble, and found the chicken to be interesting in being decently spicy but also quite sweet.
Since this was my belated birthday, I ordered the chocolate sundae. The good news? I didn’t feel that guilty. The bad news? I was looking forward to feeling guilty.
It looked huge, but was half whipped cream and no buried fudge. There was a little chocolate syrup spread on top and some kind of little caramel-colored things (candied pecans?)
Now I don’t want you to get the impression that there is anything wrong with this place. I think some of the food is quite good, In fact, the onion rings were very good, well above average. In general, they deliver what you order. I just made a mistake. I didn’t really want a huge burger. I could have ordered better.
I also, want to point out that the atmosphere was good. The place was full before 6pm, decorative lights, music, football, people being friendly, even some young kids and elderly. The bar atmosphere was pleasant and inviting, not too much of a hard-core bar type thing that my son would hate.
I’d go back, but not until I try a whole lotta other places first. Next time I’ll try the seared tuna sandwich.
Here is their website: