Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Does your momma's birria taste like this?

The sizzling hot cow platter is just a bonus

The cow platter. Tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.
The cow platter. Tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.

When the server placed it on my table, she warned me the platter would be sizzling hot. I appreciated that. And also the fact it was shaped like a cow.

Place

Not Your Momma's

213 Highland Avenue, National City

It’s place called Not Your Momma’s, short for, “Good home cooking, just not your momma’s.”

Not Your Momma's sits a mile from the Navy’s harbor installations.

Owner and chef Michael Harwig is a veteran, and his casual National City restaurant sits a mile from the Navy’s harbor installations, catering to military and more permanent locals. One way he pledges to do this: if you’re hankering for a dish momma used to make, tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I was content to stick to the regular menu, described as classic American diner “with some Hispanic flair.” Breakfast is served all day, including biscuits & gravy, chicken fried steak, and breakfast burritos. Lunch and dinner go into burgers, hot dogs, hot sandwiches including pulled pork BBQ, Italian beef, and cheesesteaks.

There’s also a birria section on the menu, and that’s where I found the cow platter; technically a bull. Dubbed El Senor Guajillo ($12.70), it’s a birria stewed with “crushed beef” machaca, tomatoes, onions, and chilis, charred on the grill, topped with avocado slices, and served alongside chilaquiles and refried black beans. I added a sunny side up egg to the chilaquiles for $1.75.

I liked this dish for the bovine platter; I really liked it for the grilled birria. It reminded me a bit of the Caribbean dish, ropa vieja, except served with a calentador of hot corn tortillas. It reminded me I’m a sucker for any deft combination of charry beef, stewed tomato, and spice. The sizzling hot bull and avocado were just a bonus.

The tortillas in the chilaquiles were chopped into small squares and simmered in salsa verde — they mixed well with the egg, but needed a little more heat to keep up with the red spice on the other side of the generously portioned plate. If chilaquiles aren’t your thing, you can always sub in hash browns, or swap toast for the tortillas.

Or swap the birria for enchiladas. Or decide between french toast and pancakes. The place is accommodating like that. Harwig’s homestyle cooking may not, in fact, be just like your momma’s, but I bet she’d approve.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
The cow platter. Tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.
The cow platter. Tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.

When the server placed it on my table, she warned me the platter would be sizzling hot. I appreciated that. And also the fact it was shaped like a cow.

Place

Not Your Momma's

213 Highland Avenue, National City

It’s place called Not Your Momma’s, short for, “Good home cooking, just not your momma’s.”

Not Your Momma's sits a mile from the Navy’s harbor installations.

Owner and chef Michael Harwig is a veteran, and his casual National City restaurant sits a mile from the Navy’s harbor installations, catering to military and more permanent locals. One way he pledges to do this: if you’re hankering for a dish momma used to make, tell Harwig a general recipe, and he’ll make it for you.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I was content to stick to the regular menu, described as classic American diner “with some Hispanic flair.” Breakfast is served all day, including biscuits & gravy, chicken fried steak, and breakfast burritos. Lunch and dinner go into burgers, hot dogs, hot sandwiches including pulled pork BBQ, Italian beef, and cheesesteaks.

There’s also a birria section on the menu, and that’s where I found the cow platter; technically a bull. Dubbed El Senor Guajillo ($12.70), it’s a birria stewed with “crushed beef” machaca, tomatoes, onions, and chilis, charred on the grill, topped with avocado slices, and served alongside chilaquiles and refried black beans. I added a sunny side up egg to the chilaquiles for $1.75.

I liked this dish for the bovine platter; I really liked it for the grilled birria. It reminded me a bit of the Caribbean dish, ropa vieja, except served with a calentador of hot corn tortillas. It reminded me I’m a sucker for any deft combination of charry beef, stewed tomato, and spice. The sizzling hot bull and avocado were just a bonus.

The tortillas in the chilaquiles were chopped into small squares and simmered in salsa verde — they mixed well with the egg, but needed a little more heat to keep up with the red spice on the other side of the generously portioned plate. If chilaquiles aren’t your thing, you can always sub in hash browns, or swap toast for the tortillas.

Or swap the birria for enchiladas. Or decide between french toast and pancakes. The place is accommodating like that. Harwig’s homestyle cooking may not, in fact, be just like your momma’s, but I bet she’d approve.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.