San Diego Walking Tour: Downtown La Mesa

Downtown La Mesa, surprisingly, has a number of good places to dine. Most of them are pretty casual and relatively inexpensive. For Mexican food, the most popular is by far Por Favor - you can't miss the bright yellow building at the corner of Palm and La Mesa. The outdoor sidewalk tables are always popular, especially on warm evenings. My favorite Mexican restaurant is actually a few blocks east: Mario's de La Mesa is housed in a cozy cottage, and serves up a fine carne asada plate. For burgers, everyone knows you have to go to Johnny B's near the corner of Fourth on La Mesa. By far the best burgers you'll ever have. Across the street, the Village Restaurant serves up great homestyle meals, especially breakfast. Then, of course, there are the neighborhood bars to satisfy your thirst: Pete's Place, an old school haunt, Joe N' Andy's Hole in the Wall (says it all), and the aforementioned Johnny B's and Por Favor. And Cosmos Coffee is a great place to sip some brew and listen to some acoustic music.