crest cafe

there are so many places to eat in hillcrest alone, not to mention in the greater san diego area, so how do you make the decision to try some new place? i love that groupons give me a reason to try new places--hence my trip to crest cafe last night with a work friend.
thursday are long(er) days, so i was hungry by the time we got there. but i was not starving. (just wanted to throw out that caveat--this praise was not just due to me being food-deprived)
that "diner smell" hits you when you enter--french fries and pancakes and coffee. i was sold already. the challenge was deciding between breakfast, lunch, or dinner. i decided on dinner so that i could have some wine and not feel like a weirdo. i wanted a burger--it seemed like the diner-appropriate choice--but they all looked good. so when tom (our server) came to take our order, i asked him what his favorite dishes were. he suggested the balboa burger and some other chicken plate. i went with the balboa burger. half-pound burger (woah) with bacon and cheddar cheese. this thing was monstrous. the fries were freshly-cut and the only criticism i had the entire night was that the fries needed a little bit of salt.
i boxed half of the burger to take home and was already making room for dessert. i was eyeballing the croissant bread pudding.  tom did me right on the burger so i asked him about his fav dessert. he said the croissant bread pudding. this was fate folks. i ordered, it came, i ate. this was de-to-the-lish! the serving size was monstrous (again) and i went home feeling way too full. but i will for sure be returning...
http://www.crestcafe.net/