When I say family restaurant, I mean a family like mine, one whose members range from mostly vegan (me) to unpicky omnivores to American traditionalists who are suspicious of ethnic foods besides Italian and Mexican. While I love vegetarian restaurants, some of my absolute favorite places are those that cater to a wider dining spectrum. Restaurants like Swami’s and Rancho’s allow my family to eat together in peaceful bliss.
Breakfast is served all day at Rancho’s Cocina.
I grew up in San Diego eating at neighborhood corner taco stands. Rolled tacos and quesadillas were my comfort foods of choice. But when I stopped eating meat in junior high, my taco stand options began to close down. I ate many quesadillas with guacamole until I began wondering if there was lard in the tortillas, and then I started avoiding cheese. In my many adult visits to see my family in San Diego, Mexican food stopped being for me. Until I discovered Rancho’s Cocina, which has been my favorite San Diego restaurant for at least a decade now. Vegan taquitos? No problem! A giant quesadilla stuffed with non-dairy cheese, vegetables and guacamole? Yep. Plus numerous veg or vegan burritos, tamales, enchiladas, tortas, tostados and tacos. Meat eaters can get all their Mexican restaurant and taco stand favorites complete with meat. Wash it down with beer, wine, juices, smoothies or an espresso drink made with cow or soy milk.
Cinnamon: the secret ingredient in Rancho’s multigrain banana pancakes.
While I’d eaten lunch and dinner many times at Rancho’s, on a recent trip I had breakfast there for the first time. I ordered the organic vegan multigrain pancakes with banana and maple syrup. I wasn’t that hungry; I expected to eat one or two and take the remainder of my three pancakes home. But I will not lie. They were so delicious I ate all three. The bananas were cooked into the pancakes the way I like. Cinnamon was the secret weapon that made me gobble them down. My mom had a vegetable-stuffed omelet adorned with chunks of avocado and tomato. It turns out that even breakfast starts with chips and salsa. And it’s served all day. Rancho’s has two locations, one in Ocean Beach and the other in North Park.
Swami’s is another story. My two sisters and I were exploring downtown La Mesa and stumbled upon one of their three outlets by accident. It looked like an ordinary sort of diner, but I thought maybe they’d have a garden burger. Being the pickiest sister, I slipped in to read the menu. They did have a garden burger. And a tofu stir fry, veg ginger wrap, Indian curry with tofu, black bean burritos, giant, creative salads, and a whole sandwich menu available with real or mock meat. A huge selection of smoothies and juices are also served. I was pretty excited, as I had the apparently incorrect notion that vegans take a great risk by entering the La Mesa city limits.
Swami’s serves a big, nutritious Indian curry over brown rice.
Our sisterly lunch at Swami’s was a total success. I had my Indian curry over brown rice, full of big chunks of carrots, squash and tofu, and served with a good-sized side salad. My sister who likes American food had an attractive club sandwich, and my non-picky sister had a lovely chicken quesadilla stuffed with vegetables. Swami’s also has an Encinitas and an Oceanside location.
If you find yourself in San Diego with a family like mine – or a similarly diverse group of diners – take them to Rancho’s or Swami’s. Everybody will be well-fed and happy.
