Talk to any vegan who visits San Diego regularly, and you’ll immediately get their answer to the all-important question:

Does Pokez or Ranchos have the best Mexican food?

While I have a very clear preference, answering the question is a little like answering somebody who asks: “Should I buy a Ford Explorer or a Mini Cooper?” Those cars are designed for entirely different purposes, and the two restaurants are different enough to warrant a similar analysis.

In this case, rather than write yet another typical review of each, here’s a shoot-out comparison of several categories, with the inevitable “winner” chosen by adding up the wins and losses. Here we go:

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we go down to san diego pretty often, and for ages people have been urging us to check out ranchos cocina. the small mexican restaurant has two locations (one in ocean beach and one in north park) and although it serves meat, it boasts a massive vegan-friendly menu with everything from breakfast to dinner and specialty products like daiya and mock chicken & steak. we visited the north park outlet for an early lunch, and i can safely say that it was better than most vegan mex options in LA.

we arrived at around noon and were quickly seated. the waiter was friendly and helpful, and brought us a basket of chips with unlimited salsa. great way to start the meal. the salsa was superb too: packed with heat and super chunky. for my entree, i went with a combo plate that came with rice, beans, and 2 bean enchiladas for $7.95. it’s worth noting that this normally comes smothered in daiya, but i opted to get it plain…

Combo plate w/ rice and beans: Bean Enchiladas topped with sauce. $7.95

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this looks absolutely amazing. my advice for those who live in LA: plan a trip to san diego for the weekend of november 5th. i went to the last LOVELIKEBEER event, and it was AWESOME. i promise i’ll post on it soon, but in the meantime, do not miss this.

via LOVELIKEBEER…

LOVELIKEBEER and San Diego Beer Blog have joined forces to kick off San Diego Beer Week 2011 with a beer dinner unlike any other the city has seen.  We’ll be returning to Sea Rocket (site of our first event) for a prix-fixe, multi-course dinner featuring Chef Chad White’s culinary creations paired with rare and world famous beers from fellow vegan and head brewer Ron Jeffries’ Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales of Dexter, Michigan.  It’s the first completely vegan/vegetarian event in San Diego Beer Week history and proceeds will benefit the San Diego Chapter of Engineers Without Borders – USA.  We’ll also be releasing a limited, hand-signed/numbered 18″×24″ screen-printed event poster by artist Josh Higgins.

Different from previous events, advance tickets are required and can be purchased here starting at 6:00pm on Wednesday, October 12th.  GET TICKETS HERE.

Get a sneak peak of the menu here.

summer is almost over, and what better way to make it count than to plan something epic for the 3 day labor day weekend? i suggest taking a vegan road trip to san diego and kicking it off with LOVELIKEBEER at hamilton’s tavern on september 2nd, where they’re celebrating to-firkin friday.

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i’ve said it before, i’ve said it again, i’m saying it now, and i’ll probably say it in the future: pokez in san diego serves up the best vegan mexican food ever.

chimichanga: a flour tortilla, deep fried and loaded with beans, onions, peppers and tofu. topped with guacamole and salsa. $5.50

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UPDATE 8/31/11: just confirmed that the dough at pizza port IS vegan. here’s the official word from the restaurant: All of our dough is vegan as well as our traditional tomato sauce (not the pesto or ranch). 

oh man, sometimes i forget how good GOOD cheeseless pizza is. sometimes i’m all caught up in the technology of stretchy melty-liciousness, that i forget to savor the flavor of exceptional sauce and perfect crust. pizza port in solana beach provided me with a much needed wake up call.

pizza and beer: 2 of our favorite things.

not only does the small family-friendly pub brew their own beer, but they also make their own pizza. and they’re damn good at it. first let’s discuss the pizza, because i know the majority of you are just interested in food. it was off the chain. after verifying that the normal crust (sorry, i’m not sure about the wholegrain!) and sauce were both vegan, we ordered directly off the menu—the “garlic veggie pizza”, sans cheese.

small garlic veggie pizza (no cheese): spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic. $8.25

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san diego is a beautiful place to visit, and when in town its worth organizing your trip around a weekend breakfast in ocean beach at people’s organic foods market. the all vegetarian co-operative store has been around since the 70s, and houses a small vegan cafe upstairs with a morning spread that can’t be beat. we’ve reviewed brunch at people’s co-op before, and i’m happy to report that when we visited again a few weeks ago, it was just as good as we remembered.

vegan biscuits and gravy, rice and beans. $3.99 per pound

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oooooooh, this is gonna be epic. we’ve already blogged about love like beer’s upcoming vegan dinner this thursday in san diego, and the menu they released today is making us really wish we didn’t have to work on friday. the taps and food all look amazing.

check it out for yourself…

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if you don’t have a reason to make the drive from LA to san diego anytime soon, you certainly will after reading this post. the beach city is one of our favorite long weekend getaways, and it’s not because of the gorgeous weather or relaxing scenery. nope, we make the 2.5 hour drive for one thing and one thing only: dinner at pokez.

at first glance, the shabby little mexican restaurant doesn’t appear to be anything special–just your typical dive in a college town with scrappy decor and a heavily tattooed waitstaff. one look at the menu though, and you can see that this place is a godsend for herbivores. pokez serves classic style mexican fare, but without all the chicken stock and lard that we’ve come to expect at “good” mexican restaurants. in fact, the menu is highly vegetarian-friendly and all options that can be made vegan are marked with a “v” symbol. not to mention, the food is insanely cheap and the portions are massive. what more do i require?

our first visit to pokez was about a year ago, and to say it was the best mexican meal of our lives would be an understatement. we returned this weekend with uber-high expectations, which i’m happy to say were exceeded…

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remember that vegan beer dinner we blogged about that’s taking place next month at stone brewing world bistro and gardens? well they’ve announced the dessert course!

cantaloupe napoleon with cucumber granité

fancy, fancy!!! the four course dinner looks so amazing…read more about it here. i can’t wait until stone releases the beer info. stay tuned! get tickets now.

good god, somebody pinch me because this cannot be real. stone, one one of our favorite breweries on earth, is hosting their first ENTIRELY VEGAN BEER PAIRING DINNER next month at their world class restaurant in escondido.

we’ve already raved about stone world bistro and gardens a couple times on this blog. in fact we love the restaurant at their brewery so much, it’s where we spent our five year wedding anniversary. when i heard stone would be holding an entirely vegan dinner with four courses and beer for just $49, i couldn’t believe it.

here’s how stone describes the evening…

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My dear wife, Quarrygirl, says she loves only two things more than me: vegan food and beer. Bearing in mind she writes this blog, her standards for vegan food are stratospheric, and her increasingly sophisticated taste in beer (really brought to the forefront when she co-organized the world’s first Vegan Beer Festival) refines itself almost daily.

So, faced with the self-wrought challenge of choosing a perfect location for us to spend our 5th wedding anniversary, I wanted to find somewhere romantic and out-of-the-way that had awesome vegan beer AND really good vegan food, under the same roof. Close to home, I was considering Pure Luck and Tony’s Darts Away – two locations that firmly check the above boxes. However, there was one thing missing: Ms. Quarrygirl really likes freshly brewed beer and prefers to consume it at the point of manufacture – a brewery if possible.

Let’s examine each subject set closely:

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it’s hard enough finding vegan mexican food at all, let alone stuff that actually tastes good—i’m happy just to get a burrito that’s free of chicken stock and lard in the first place!

so imagine how shocked i was when i ate at pokez in san diego. they serve up authentic mex that is downright delicious and even have the vegan options clearly indicated on the menu.

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as far as i’m concerned, the people’s organic food co-op in ocean beach is a MUST VISIT anytime you find yourself in san diego.

the small, clean, vegetarian grocery store has been in business since the 70s, and is now housed in a eco-friendly building made from recycled steel and engineered lumber. on the bottom floor, there’s a completely meat-free market filled with everything you’d need to get you through the week. on the top floor, there’s a modest cafe that serves up a killer vegan breakfast every morning.

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Stone Brewing is one of Southern California’s largest breweries, perhaps best known for its “Arrogant Bastard” brand, a beer which they say was named after me. If you’ve only ever had the Bastard, there are another 14 beers, each of which is expertly crafted and brewed. Oh, and the entire brewing process is 100% vegan so you can drink yourself silly with Stone products worry-free.

I’ve long been a fan of Stone IPA, one of the best American style hopped IPAs available, even though it can be a little on the strong side. This means that after your fifth glass you may not be able to stand up, a fact which I gladly verified recently. Gulp. On our recent trip to San Diego, we decided to detour slightly through Escondido so we could visit the brewery and dine in the restaurant, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, which we’d heard had a few vegan options.

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