Berta and Hilda

While in SD last week, one of the places on my list of food to eat was Berta's in Old Town. Now, you may be wondering, why there? sure, they're in Frommer's (but do I read that? no), so why go to SoCal and eat South American food (instead of Mexican which SD has a ton of). Well, I wanted to go to Berta's because it's owned by Hilda's sister (Berta). Now, you may not be aware of Hilda, but Hilda owned a wonderful South American restaurant in Eugene, OR. This would be the restaurant that we would pick for 'fancy schmancy' dinners like for birthdays, or if a guest speaker was coming into town.

Well, on a foggy night, z's dad, myself and z drove to Berta's and all was looking like it was maybe going to be okay when z decided he's had enough of this vacation stuff and decided to be a pill and have a major meltdown. We barely got through dinner. I ordered paella venezuela (my long-time fave) and z's dad got a chicken dish. And z? he had tortillas and that was it. He melted down. Fortunately, the place had emptied out a little and so as soon as z's dad was done eating, they went out to the car. The food? I thoroughly enjoyed mine. z's dad thought the chicken was overcooked.

The sad part was when I was talking w/ the waitress (Berta's daughter), and I mentioned that I came here because I used to go to Hilda's, I found out that Hilda closed down her restaurant over 5 yrs ago! Did I mention that an alternative to going to SoCal was to go to Oregon--but w/ the yucky weather (rain and cold in November), we opted to go to SoCal. But that would be one of the only reasons that I'd want to go back to Eugene--to eat at Hilda's.

Very very sad. But at least I got to eat really good SoAm food. If you're ever down in Old Town, I highly recommend Berta's.