Best Pancakes in Town Served at OPH?
Plus: Do We Need an LV Mascot?, Money for a Linda Vista Sign, Nominate a Small Business, Park After Dark Announcement, and LVTC Monthly Meeting
Steve and I love to go out for breakfast, and we have our favorite breakfast haunts like the Denny’s on Friars Road and the Waffle Spot on Hotel Circle. But we recently had an urge to try something new. Fortunately, we recalled eyeing a pancake house on Convoy Street up near the business center Costco, so we thought about venturing forth out of our usual comfort zone to give this place a try.
The Original Pancake House has been around a long time, although this was our first time there.
According to the website it was founded in Portland Oregon in 1953 and now has over 100 franchises from coast to coast. The story of the local restaurant began in Detroit where Mike Sentili began his career as a bus boy at the OPH in Grosse Point. He rose through the ranks and opened the Convoy Street location while studying business at San Diego State university. That was in 1979 and we are happy to say, it is still going strong.
It is a large restaurant with a good-sized parking lot which seems to be rare in the Convoy area, so that made us happy. The restaurant was spacious and very clean and had a nice California vibe. We were seated quickly and the servers were very friendly.
The menu was extensive, and we had a hard time making up our minds. Many of the breakfast items included meat, but there were enough non-meat items to choose from.
Steve ordered a vegetable omelet which came with pancakes. I love poached eggs but have problems making good poached eggs at home, so I ordered two poached eggs with an English muffin and a side order of breakfast potatoes. Although the coffee was $4.50, I ordered a cup (and proceeded to have it refilled two more times).
Steve’s omelet was the biggest I’ve even seen. It was chock full of vegetables. I tasted his pancakes and they were so light and fluffy they nearly floated away. My poached eggs were perfectly cooked and delicious. There were so many potatoes that I knew I could not eat them all.
As it turned out, Steve could only eat half his omelet and so we took home the other half and a bunch of my potatoes for another meal at home. We really enjoyed the food. Steve said they were the best pancakes he ever tasted.
As it turned out, I was reading about the restaurant on my phone when I saw a picture of the original owner and realized he was in the restaurant, serving coffee and taking orders. We introduced ourselves and had a nice conversation with him. He reiterated he has been working at that restaurant for 40 years—“since he was 4 years old,” (he said smiling). His family is also involved in the running of the restaurant
Although the recent prices of restaurant meals are really starting to freak me out, as they probably are you, sometimes we do indeed get our money’s worth, and this was such a time. We would have to say we got four rather than two meals and it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a while. When telling people about our meal, we found out that we are probably two of the few people in the area who have never previously eaten there as everyone else tells us they’ve been going to OPH for years. So, if you haven’t been there yet, give it a try. I think you will enjoy it.
The Original Pancake House
3906 Convoy Street
Phone: 858-565-1740
Commentary
Time for a Linda Vista Mascot?
With June 17 being National Mascot Day—a day set aside to “appreciate the spirit of fun that mascots bring to every event”—I believe now is a good time to reflect on the value of mascots. We can do so by first reviewing the presence of local mascots in the LV area, and subsequently thinking about whether Linda Vista might be more effectively served by having its very own mascot to help promote the community and assist in generating resident enthusiasm and support. Employing the right kind of charming and notable mascot could go far in ensuring Linda Vista is known as the kind of fun and special community that people from all over the world would want to live and work in, and that businesses of all types would want to set up shop.
Ask any long time local resident to come up with a list of the greatest “sports figures” in San Diego history and names like Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Dan Fouts, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Trevor Hoffman will certainly be included. These individuals proved their greatness over an extended period of time and repeatedly thrilled sports fans with their superior athletic prowess. But one noted sport figure who should definitely be included on that list of great “sports figures” isn’t even an athlete. Though just a sports mascot, I contend the famous San Diego Chicken deserves a place on that list. No one can argue against the claim that the San Diego Chicken (as portrayed by Ted Giannoulas) did a fantastic job fulfilling the role of an effective mascot, which means helping to promote the team and generating fan enthusiasm and support. No doubt about it, as silly as some mascots might appear, they can bring a certain level of energy to an official event, and pride and emotion to an organization.
Sports teams aren’t the only type of organization that employ mascots. There are a number of commercial businesses that have been successfully represented by playful mascots promoting the desired image of a company or group. For example, Mr. Peanut has done wonders for Planters Peanuts, Jack has established himself as a quirky but noteworthy TV commercial spokesman for Jack in the Box, while Ronald McDonald has done more than his share in promoting McDonalds. And think of all the good that Smokey the Bear has done for the U.S. Forest Service. We strongly identify these popular mascots with their respective commercial or government organizations.
Here in the Linda Vista area we have a few mascots that serve as playful symbols for their teams. At the college level we have Diego Torero who shows up at football and basketball games to represent the University of San Diego (USD). According to the USD web site, Diego Torero has been the school’s official mascot since 2006; selected after a vote of students.
At the high school level we have the Kearny High Komet. He is usually seen walking around the football stadium on fall Friday nights.
Sports teams aren’t the only organizations in Linda Vista to have mascots. Over at the Linda Vista Park and Recreation Center the Monstarz—a cartoonish figure originally designed by a young person who played on one of the Rec center sports teams—serves as the organization’s symbolic mascot.
Given that a fun mascot can bring a certain energy level to an organization, this leads me to wonder if perhaps our community of Linda Vista would benefit from having its own mascot. I’m not sure what that mascot would look like—I suppose a committee of forward thinking residents could be formed to help pick a mascot. They could eventually filter through suggestions made by the public. Once selected, the mascot would be required to show up for all major public events held in Linda Vista. It would march at the head of every Linda Vista parade, occasionally attend City Council meetings, be present for LV business grand openings, periodically help old people and elementary school students cross busy intersections, and its cheerful caricature would be placed on all official LV correspondence and promotional material.
Linda Vista having its own mascot is not too far-fetched of an idea. In Japan, for example, civic mascots are very popular. Many cities have their own bizarre looking mascot. They’re called yuru-kyara, which means “loose or relaxed character”, or gotochi-kyara, which means “local government character.” They are often characterized by words such as colorful, creative, and cute. Linda Vista should jump on the Japanese mascot bandwagon.
Yes, picking an appropriate mascot for our LV community would not be an easy task. There are certain communities in San Diego where a potential mascot readily comes to mind. For example, Ocean Beach would certainly have a laid back, long haired, psychedelic T-shirt wearing surfer as a mascot. La Jolla could have a snooty mascot resembling Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island, or perhaps the rich guy from the Monopoly board game. North Park would obviously have a trendy, bearded, Brussel sprouts eating hipster representing its community. But Linda Vista presents a challenge. Our very diversity makes picking just one mascot a difficult task.
Nevertheless, here are some possible mascot concepts and/or names. Each name or concept honors either an LV geographical feature, local business, civic feature, historical event, or positive aspect of our community’s ethnic/cultural diversity:
-Jose the Canyon Coyote
-Messy the Mesa
-Dan the Asian Dragon
-Russell the Rush Hour Driver
-Diversity Guy or Gal
-Lindy or Visty
-Eleanor Roosevelt
-Skater Rat
-Empty, the Bike Lane Guy or Gal
-Steaming Hot Pho Bowl
I’m not exactly sure what any of these prospective community mascots would actually look like—that’s a job for the selection committee and any creative community artist(s); but no matter how he/she is eventually depicted, the LV mascot would possess that necessary degree of fun, charm, quirky cuteness, and energy. And Linda Vista could collect royalties from renting out the mascot for private birthday parties, graduation parties, funerals, and weddings.
If you have an idea for an LV mascot, please forward your suggestions to this newsletter. We promise to publish all suggestions as a way of getting the mascot ball rolling amongst the community leadership.
More commentary
Convoy District to Get Sign. But What About Linda Vista?
In the February 22, 2022 issue of this newsletter we discussed the possibility of an “Linda Vista” gateway street sign to hang over Linda Vista Road in the middle of our community’s downtown area. Such a sign would look much like the iconic street signs that have long existed in such communities as Hillcrest, North Park, and City Heights, as well as in newer communities like Civita.
The article was well received by many of our readers who agreed that a Linda Vista gateway sign would look great and go far toward enhancing the community’s appearance and promoting its identity and pride. However, most supporters of the idea expressed doubts about ever seeing plans for the installation of a sign coming to fruition because of the likely cost. We estimated the cost as being approximately $500,000, though a smaller sign like the one at Civita (mounted on a pedestal instead of hanging across the street) would cost a bit less.
In spite of this money issue, a number of readers enthusiastically suggested various ways to raise money for the cause.
Fortunately, it seems money is no longer an issue. As pointed out in a recent SD Union-Tribune article about the city of San Diego’s approved budget, the city council appears to be a logical source of money. As pointed out in the article, the city budget just allocated $500,000.00 for the installation of a Convoy District sign.
We assume this means that Linda Vista is next on the list for city-paid community sign. It’s only fair, right? What does the Convoy District in Kearny Mesa have that our very own Linda Vista doesn’t have, besides a hundred more restaurants, thousands of hungry daily visitors, and a plan for many more housing units?
We at the Linda Vista Update believe the leaders of the Linda Vista community may want to consider starting a campaign to petition the City of San Diego to fork over $500,000 for a Linda Vista sign. Approval of the next City budget is only a year away.
Opportunity to Recognize an LV Small Business
Assemblymember Chris Ward (District 78) has released the following information regarding the Small Business of the Year recognition program:
“I invite you to nominate a small business that you believe deserves this recognition. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate and support the small businesses that make our community great. To nominate a business, simply fill out this form here. Please submit your nomination by July 12, 2023.
Please consider the following requirements when nominating your favorite small business:
Small business or owner must be located within the district. Confirm by checking the address here: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov
Small business must have fewer than 100 employees.
Small business has $15 million or less in gross revenue over the last three tax years.
I look forward to receiving your nominations and celebrating the exceptional small businesses in our district.”
We encourage LV Update readers to nominate a small business from the Linda Vista community.
Linda Vista Town Council Monthly Meeting
The June general meeting of the Linda Vista Town Council will be held Wednesday June 21 at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the American Legion Post 731 at the corner of Genesee Avenue and Linda Vista Road). The public is invited.
Dinner will be provided by Giovanni’s Restaurant. Come to the meeting and learn about what is going on in Linda Vista while meeting your fellow residents.
Instructions for attending on Zoom can be obtained here on the organization’s website.
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You are absolutely right about LV Man as a suitable mascot. I wanted to include a photo of him in the article but I ran out of space. He’s as good as if not better than any Japanese civic mascot.
I’ve lived here all my life. If you want a mascot, it better be a good one and something that represents Linda Vistas long history. Nothing funny or inappropriate. Long time Linda Vistans are proud of where we live and don’t need the acceptance of others.