Tender Greens (Point Loma)

Still holding at under $10 for most meals, this sensibly “green” kitchen in Liberty Station offers substantial salads, grilled-meat sandwiches and soup combos stamped with organic quality and excellent flavors. We pay homage also to their mashed potatoes, priced at only $3 for a fat mug’s worth. Think Yukon Golds making love to butter and cream.

Taste of Italy (Hillcrest)

Is there diamond dust hiding in this food? When you are charged $13 for caprese, $17 for a cheese pizza or $20 for fettuccini-chicken alfredo, served in a pizza-parlor atmosphere devoid of comfy seating, you have to wonder if the ownership thinks that we’re still reveling in the booming 90s.

T-Deli (Hillcrest)

Owner Alex Marin proves that salads aren’t for rabbits, but that they provide lasting sustenance to humans in the form of seasonal produce originating from farmers markets and specialty vendors. Nothing is pre-mixed and full-size portions are memorably large. Among the winners is a fruit salad boasting a kaleidoscopic, nutritional mélange of mangos, watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, bananas, apples and kiwis, all cut to order.

Cucina Urbana (Bankers Hill) and West Coast Tavern (North Park)

In a welcoming redo that banished the intimidating haughtiness of Laurel, owner Tracy Borkum has given us a coolly designed, cheerful hangout that is now Cucina Urbana. Modern interpretations of Italian cooking seal the concept.

The recession also sparked the rebirth of Hawthorn’s, turning it in to West Coast Tavern to attract a broader base of hipsters. The reconfigured space incorporates a neighborhood-friendly front-room bar, jumbo circular booths and exposed brick, setting the stage for some good ales, comfort cuisine and guest DJs.

At hamburger franchises that begin with the letters B, J and M, plus a national taco chain that begins with T

Underpaid, zoned-out employees lacking communication skills continue riddling our clandestine fast-food experiences with mixed-up orders and frightening negligence toward restroom upkeep. Please, save the mop-and-bleach acts for where they are most needed and turn off those beeping deep fryers when they go off. It means that my fatty junk is cooked!

RICE (W Hotel, downtown)

Forget the leading steakhouses. A wonderfully beefy filet mignon resides at RICE, where chef Rocio Varela glazes the buttery cut in an Indonesian-style “ketchup” containing soy, garlic and ginger. If you can forego the usual mashed potatoes and creamed corn in lieu of some interesting gluten-free side dishes, you’ve come to the right place.

Bing Crosby’s Restaurant and Piano Lounge (Fashion Valley Mall)

A gracefully imposing front entrance leads into a $4 million shrine to the late Bing Crosby, complimented with rich woods, plush fabrics and classical details beckoning to fancy supper clubs of a bygone era. Both the ambience and dinner selections are uncommonly upscale for a mall restaurant.

In restaurants near you

Sliders; gourmet mac-and-cheese; wedge salads; ahi tuna; braised short ribs; crab cakes, truffle French fries; crème brulee; and brownie sundaes.