Searsucker Lunch: Fast Fine Dining

When the DiscoverSD.com office moved downtown February 2010, my first plan of attack was to sample and solidify lunch spots. Though morning coffee will always be my first priority for a productive day, a close second is a healthy, fast, and affordable lunch destination.

While the Gaslamp Quarter is overflowing with restaurants, you’d be surprised to find how few eateries actually meet my common lunchtime requirements. Elaborate two-hour fine dining just doesn’t work during the day, yet we epicurious foodies hate to lower our standards for quick and overpriced bar food. And don’t even get me started on the $5 Footlongs we OD’d on in 2009.

Good news: After a year of research, I finally found the perfect downtown San Diego lunch spot: Searsucker. That’s right, Gaslamp’s swankiest restaurant turns causal-chic by day, serving Chef Brian Malarkey’s celebrated gourmet cuisine in a fast and efficient format, for a very low price. Monday through Friday from 11:30am to 2pm, cruise into Searsucker and order off the giant chalkboard menu up front, then grab your silverware and a glass of water, and choose your own seat. Or if you prefer to be served, grab a seat at the bar and the ‘tender will take good care of you. Either way, prices remain between $6 and $14 for salads, sandwiches, and daytime desserts. No muss, no fuss, just fast fine dining in a chill atmosphere, under your complete control.

While simplified and served straight-up, Searsucker’s variety of upscale lunch bites offers similar diversity to the popular dinner menu, split into three sections including Greens + Bowls, Sandwich Board, and Sweets. Favorite lunchtime salad selections include the Smoked Trout salad with avocado, radish, watercress and grapefruit vinaigrette; Flatiron Steak salad with charred peppers, bleu cheese, crispy onions and tomato vinaigrette; and the protein-packed Chop Chop salad with fennel, salami, chick pea, balsamic and lemon vinaigrette, plus the chicken, shrimp or steak add-on.

You’ve never seen a sandwich board sexier than Searsucker’s giant chalkboard menu, smothered with a delicious assortment of hot and cold crust creations. Use your lunch break to chill out and dig into a Salmon Cured sandwich with avocado, tomato, cucumber, sprouts and grapefruit aioli on whole wheat sourdough; or the Prosciutto Mozzarella sandwich with parsley pesto, tomato and Kalamata olive on French bread. Falling asleep at your desk? Spice things up with the hot-hot-hot Angry Rocker sandwich, with lobster and scallop, garlic, chili, orange, basil and sriracha aioli on open faced whole wheat sourdough; the Triple C 12 sandwich with crab cake, bacon, avocado, fried onion and tarragon aioli on homemade brioche bun; or the Steak and Egg sandwich, where breakfast and lunch meet in style, served on ciabatta with oven roasted tomato and chipotle hollandaise.

Whether you’re treating your co-worker to birthday lunch, or you just survived the most manic Monday morning of all time, sometimes you just need dessert and a frosty cold beer during lunch, or for lunch. As your super sweet meal, or a fun finale to share, try the Sucker Bar, Pucker “Lemon” Bar or Alba Sandwich – cake of carrot and mascarpone ice cream. And you can never go wrong with a local pour of Mission Blonde or Green Flash IPA.

A Better Lunch Break: For the hottest lunch in downtown San Diego, pay a casual cool visit to Searsucker Monday through Friday from 11:30am to 2pm. For more information, call 877.351.8073 or visit Searsucker in San Diego.

Photos by Chantelle Photography - chantellephoto.com

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