Day of Five Dates

Date Two- Cafe La Maze & National City

Cafe La Maze opened in 1941, a lady at a Victorian Tea Party told me that it was once busted by the Feds for illegal gambling upstairs.  :) I chatted with the Tea Party ladies and learned a little about National City.  Here's something interesting facts per Wiki

• Brick Row on Heritage Square, 909 A Avenue Designed by San Diego architect R. C. Ball (who designed Folsom Prison), it was constructed by Frank Kimball in 1887 for $30,000. These 10 individual row houses were to be used by the executives of the Santa Fe Railroad. This architectural style is unique to this region and was molded after the row houses of Philadelphia and similar eastern cities. It was hoped that the railroad VIPs would not only feel at home surrounded by familiar architecture, but also be impressed by the cosmopolitan appearance of the young city. All the apartments have a formal dining room with fireplace, a kitchen, a parlor with fireplace, a butler's pantry, and four bedrooms upstairs

Twelve-inch-thick (300 mm) interlocking brick walls divide the units. The brickwork on the row houses was laid with an artistic eye to break the severe lines of the long walls. The bricks above the second story are set upright at an angle. A one-story wooden porch runs the length of the building.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it now is an integral part of National City's Heritage Square. Each of the 10 units is privately owned and maintained; however, there is a protective covenant on the facade, so the exterior will always be in keeping with the Victorian surroundings.

Oh and this gem,
Napoleone Pizza House (est. 1958) is the pizza place that Tom Waits worked at as a teenager ^[19] He mentions it in the song "I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)" from Small Change and "The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone's Pizza House)" on The Heart of Saturday Night.

  We had sauted mushrooms & prime rib.  It was really good, however I think Red Fox Room, Albies, Phillips and the Butcher Shop might be just a little better.  Definately the same league tho!

The decor is sweet, red velvet designs on smokey glass, red leather plushy booths, all round.  I'm I getting to picky when I complain about salad dressing in plastic cups, and drinks in plain pint glasses? :(  I love the framed pictures of the old movie stars!  Prime Rib was excellent!