On Valentine’s Day, I went on a very romantic date (with my mother) to the newly opened Crack Shack in Encinitas. It is located by the in-n-out on Encinitas Blvd replacing Coco’s Bakery Restaurant. This is the second location for the store, the first being in downtown San Diego.

The restaurant had just opened the day before, so the wait was an hour long. That was expected, so it didn’t really bother me. The hostesses came out with menus and ice cream samples for the people in the line so that part wasn’t too bad. It will probably die down in a couple of days if you don’t want to wait.

Once you get to the counter, which is located right outside of the door, you order and pay: they give you a number and you go find a seat. As you walk in, there are sauces to add to the food that you can choose from on the left and drinks on the right. While I didn’t try any sauces the kimchi barbeque stood out as particularly unusual.

Once we got into the restaurant and sat down it only took about seven minutes before we got our food. I got the California Dip Sandwich which had pollo asado, schmaltz fries (fries fried in chicken fat), pickled jalapeno and avocado. On the side there was posole broth for dipping hence the name, “California Dip.” I really enjoyed it and it left me full afterwards. My only problem was the price. All their sandwiches are $12 without tax so it is a little pricey.

My mom got a kale salad which originally didn’t come with any protein, but she added the smoked white meat for $4. The salad had kale, apples, goat cheese, hazelnuts and champagne vinaigrette. My mom also left the restaurant pleased and conspiring to recreate the salad at home. The salad ended up being $12 dollars as well with the added meat.

One thing I do have to mention is the interior of the restaurant. The walls are mainly just glass windows that can be opened to make the store more like a very large gazebo. It was very beautiful but it was also a little brisk inside when I went in the evening. They thankfully had the heaters going but I was still a little cold.

My take from the Crack Shack is that the food was certainly good and deserves all the credit it has been getting. The setting of the restaurant was nice and aesthetically pleasing and the service was good with hospitable hosts and hostesses, but the price was a little too high for me. The Crack Shack, for me, will become a special occasion option only.