The collaboration between Luigi Angostini of Pizzeria Luigi and Tom Logsdon of The Balboa yielded this temple to topping food with chili. Burgers include a classic third-pounder and a flat-top grilled patty burger, while hot dogs run from the plain to the chili-slathered specialty dog. Other items include chicken sandwiches, salads, and crispy French fries. 

When it first opened in 1995, El Salvadoreño was the first restaurant of its type in San Diego. Today, this Imperial Avenue institution continues serving Salvadoran specialties like baleadas, fried yucca, and casamiento con platano in a homey dining room. Known for its pupusas, each one is stuffed with your choice of filling and cooked to perfection on a griddle. 

This unassuming mariscos restaurant should be on your radar if you are looking for fresh tostadas and cocktails on an airy patio. While the menu is consise, there is no going wrong with any item on the board. Standout items include the lime-cured aguachiles and the tostada loca, a medley of all the seafood on the menu. 

The second outpost by the North Park-based brewers, Thorn Brewing has been crafting some of its best suds at their Barrio Logan outpost since opening up production at the space in 2017. The modern tasting room features a large opening into the street and seating along production and fermentation tanks. The tap setup features 16 of Thorn’s best beers, from classics like the Barrio Lager to novel IPAs and stouts. An upcoming eatery at the site should make it even more of a draw.

Possibly San Diego’s most legendary Mexican restaurant, Las Cuatro Milpas serves fried tacos, red rice, and refried beans made the same way these were first made back in 1933. While lines can get long, your patience will be rewarded at the counter, where the experienced cooks fry tacos and flautas by hand before putting them on your plate. Ordering a side of beans and/or rice will also get you a couple of flour tortillas, also made by hand every morning. 

With creative takes on burgers and sandwiches and a world of influence, this Barrio Logan eatery lives up to its name. The more reserved diner will be easily content with the everyday burger special — a juicy third-pounder burger with house fries and a lemonade at a very good price. But anyone looking for something bold should gravitate toward the vegan tempeh tacos or the Clinton burger, a beef patty stuffed with goat cheese and topped with an over easy-egg. 

Filipino-American favorites pack rice bowls and bao buns at this fusion restaurant. Standouts include bowls featuring tapsilog beef and the house take on chicken adobo -- made with fried boneless thigh meat. The unique Oi Burger comes inside a pretzel bun and is stuffed with angus beef, pickled onions, and shiitake mushrooms roasted in balsamic vinegar. 

Traditional Mexican breakfast and lunch items are the specialty at this new incarnation of Logan Avenue’s beloved trolley-turned-kitchen. Stop in for the chilaquiles, available with your choice of and protein or one of five salsas, or a torta stuffed with milanesa. As a project from the minds of Por Vida owners Milo Lorenzana and Carolina Santana, coffee makes its mandatory appearance in the shop’s fragrant cafe de olla. 

While many hopped on the IPA trend during the rise of the San Diego craft beer scene, the Favela brothers opted to celebrate the flavors many Mexican-Americans hold dear through their brews. Today, the tradition continues with signature beers like the Blood Saison -- inspired by agua de jamaica -- the horchata golden stout, and the cucumber sour, among others. Border X also boasts a regular musical and cultural lineup, plus solid tacos in the back patio, making it a Barrio Logan favorite.

Baja-style hot dogs get a gourmet twist at this Logan Avenue eatery filled to the brim with lowrider memorabilia. Barrio Dogg’s innovative takes on the hot dog range from the grilled onion-topped Xolito — a homage to the Tijuana hot dog — to surprising franks like the Samurai and Pueblito, respectively inspired by bahn mi and chiles en nogada. A new taproom expansion keeps the good times rolling, with a 16-tap craft beer setup and a killer michelada list.

The newest project from chef couple Francesca Penoncelli and Mario Cassineri, Osteria Ciccia was among this summer’s arrivals to Logan Avenue, bringing warm Italian vibes to this family house turned restaurant. Order from the counter and enjoy countryside Italian dishes and fine vino in the outdoor patio, or sit inside among family mementos and wine bottles.