Maye's Bistro, Bonita, San Diego, CA

So it's a sunny Sunday afternoon, my fiance and I are headed over to her parent's house to help clean up a few things for our reception a few weeks from now. Still a bit tired from my morning run I race down the highway to Bonita, wondering what I can possibly stuff in my face without going through a drive-thru, but that won't take forever to prepare. That's when I remember a little empanada place a friend happened to mention the day before. Sure, I think, it's not like you can really screw up empanadas. Little flaky, pieces of dough stuffed with anything you can imagine, and that is where Maye's Bistro (pronounced Mai yeh according to the friend who recommended it)shines.

You'll have to look hard for it. Maye's is located in a little strip mall off Bonita Rd. While the outside may be nothing to talk about the inside is somewhat quaint. There are only two tables inside, as most people prefer to grab their empanads to go, but the tables are clean and come with a few condiments, hot sauce (first time I'd seen Tapatio in a packet), and BBQ sauce to name a few. A flat screen TV sits above the front counter, and on the wall as you enter are a few pictures of the owner, and a plaque from the city business commission. Behind the counter is a a little oven used to heat the empanadas if you feel like eating them there. Besides that the room is dominated by two refrigeration units with clear glass allowing you to look in at the flavors of empanada that are there that day.

My fiance and I took a seat by the window perused the menu as we waited for the lady in front of us to finish ordering. It was there that we amazed by the sheer number of empanadas available. I was expecting things like the Pollo con Papas and Carnitas, but there was also Hawaiian Rib, Meatball, Scampi and Linguine, even Lobster (if in season). Not what I was expecting at all. When our turn came we decided on a few different empanadas to split between us. We got the Pollo Chile Verde, Carne Con Chile, Shepard's Pie, and the monthly special Corned Beef and Cabbage. For desert we got a Mango Pineapple and the Blueberry with Blackberry. Then we sat down and waited for them to warm.

As we sat a wide variety of people came in and I was impressed with the the customer service. Polite and hard working there was only one woman working the front and another woman, who I believe was Maye herself coming out if things got too busy. Explanations on how to warm up the empanadas at home, and recommendations on what was good, or at least the staff's favorite. Simple things that some of the larger eateries forget are important.
Finally our food came out, and I both took a bite. So the play by play is like this: the Shepard's Pie was good but had a bit too much potato in it for me. The Carne Con Chile was great, just stuffed full of meat, but became perfect with a dash of hot sauce. The Corned Beef and Cabbage was surprisingly good, and I was amazed on how they were able to capture the that taste of the dish in such a little package. Finally Pollo Chile Verde was my favorite. The chicken was perfectly cooked, and the Chile Verde was not too spicy. I even enjoyed the taste of the black olives, and I usually am not a big fan. As for the desert empanadas my fiance's was good. There mango and pineapple were definitely fresh and tasty, but they tasted a bit heavy and lacking in complexity. My Blueberry with Blackberry had just the right amount of tart to it, with the cream cheese smoothing out the flavors to create an ideal dessert.

Satisfied we got up ready to tackle our afternoon of heavy lifting. I will definitely be heading back to Maye's, I have my heart set on trying some of the more unusual empanadas (Captain Kids with chicken mac and cheese or the Nacho Bites with ground beef, seasoning, cheese, and jalapeno), and definitely the Mole. Mmmmmm, mole...

P.S.: Make sure to get there early as they only make so many empanadas per day.

Maye's Bistro
4240-A Bonita Rd.
Bonita, CA 91902
(619) 479-0251
Mon.-Fri.: 6:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Sat.: 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Sun.: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
http://www.mayescabistro.com/

Cafe Athena, Pacific Beach, San Diego CA

So my sister came down last week, and I decided to try and hit her up for a free meal. This is infinitely more difficult than it sounds as my sister has something of delicate stomach. Gone were my usual go to options: Italian, Mexican, and Thai. I was down to the a hamburger with its magical quality to be both forgiving on the stomach but pleasing to the palate when I remembered a little place that my fiancé and I had found just after moving to our new place. After all what can be more delicious, as well as easy on the stomach, than Greek food.

Cafe Athena is a quiet little place in a pleasant strip mall off of a major street in Pacific Beach. On the outside it appears as a quaint little collection of buildings, but inside is a light airy white washed room with bits of Greek decor here and there, enough to enliven the atmosphere but not enough to distract from the food. We arrived a little after noon, and were seated quickly. Our waiter was both patient and quick to answer questions, the majority of them about how to pronounce the items on the menu.

Thankfully I didn't even have to and after pointing to a couple of names on the menu the waiter left and we fell into an easy conversation until the first dish arrived. My fiancé got her Avgolemono, which is an egg lemon soup with rice Orzo and chicken broth. I took a sip of it and I thought I would love to have this if I had come down with a cold. It reminded me of chicken soup with a strong but not overpowering lemon flavoring to it. After polishing that off we got the rest of the dishes pretty much all at once.

Now ahead of time I apologize if this seems like a lot of description but I believe the combination of flavors and textures are what really sold me on this place, and I think it will help you understand just how complicated great Greek food can be. All right as an appetizer my sister surprisingly chose to get dolmathakia (Grape leaves stuffed with a blend of seasoned ground beef, rice and herbs. braised and served with Tzatziki sauce). After all the stories from my Lebanese friends about how their grandmother made the best grape leaves in existence I expected the Greek version to pale in comparison to theirs, but I was surprised by just how great it tasted. I didn't quite take to the Tzatziki sauce so I quickly found myself gobbling up the dolmathakia dry, before getting to the rest of the meal.

In addition to that my sister got a combination plate, the Macedonian Sampler. In it was Spanakptia (a blend of spinach, onion, feta cheese, eggs and basil between flaky filo), Bourekia (lean ground leg of lamb, pine nuts and onions in a filo roll), beef kebab and chicken Souvlaki (basically chicken and beef on skewers with the bits of zucchini, red bell pepper and onion), Briami (roasted vegetables with tomatoes, zucchini, potato usually roasted in olive oil) and rice pilaf. Again it came with Tzatziki sauce, but maybe this was a different batch because I definitely enjoyed it more. I, of course, took a bite of everything and found all of it cooked perfectly and incredibly tasty. The highlight of the plate was the Spanakptia, as I'm a sucker for anything with spinach and flaky filo, and the low point was the beef kebab. It just didn't taste all that great compared to the rest of what was there.

In between stealing most of my sister's meal I had ordered Papoutsakia (Italian eggplant filled with seasoned ground leg of lamb, onion and pine nuts. Topped with tomato sauce, fresh basil and Feta cheese. Wrapped in Pita bread). At first glance it looked a bit like ground hamburger tossed into a pita bun, but the taste was nothing short of heaven. The ground leg of lamb offset the bits of eggplant, the one thing I wished it had more of, perfectly. The pita was warm but not hot, and the feta cheese added just the right amount of bite to the plate. It was another dish that I would force myself to eat slowly so I could savor each bite.

I also took a bite of my fiancé’s dish. She ordered the Chicken Aioli (Diced chicken breast tossed with fresh pesto sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. Wrapped in Pita bread with spring mix. Served with garlic Aioli sauce.). I'm really not a big fan of sun dried tomatoes, but I love garlic, and the aioli sauce was incredibly garlicy, which I loved. The first time we'd gone there I'd commented that the chicken was cooked perfectly, but this time around it hovered a few degrees closer to overcooked. Still it all came together nicely, and I let her finish it off, showing just how much she liked it as she usually keeps the leftovers for work the next day.

Overall everything was delicious, and not too expensive. The staff is super friendly, and the atmosphere peaceful and relaxing. One of the best lunches I've had in a long time. If you like Greek food or even just good food, you need to check this place out.

Cafe Athena
http://www.cafeathena.com
1846 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
(858)274-1140