UYE: Farewell to the Tractor Room

Happy to hear we’ll still be brunching for awhile at Tractor Room because the food is delicious! I ordered the Boston Sandwich which is a moist and flavorful crab cake accompanied by criss cross fries. A meal that is worthy to eat at 10:30 a.m., such as I did. If I didn’t have other things to do where I would need to be fully functionally, I would have gladly taken part in the Bloody Mary goodness like my fellow table mates. The one with the steak is definitely on my brunch bucket list!
Omar always puts a great group together, which makes it fun to get to know other Elites. Our server, Robin «as in Hood» was fantastic and dealt well with our large, loud, opinionated group. :)
My jaw dropped open with every plate or pan that came out and I don’t think anyone left hungry. Fantastic conversation covering food and travel all around. This UYEs are always such a treat!

So it’s not «Farewell» after all? Was it a marketing ploy about closing? Whatever…
Thank you, Omar, for putting this event together. Your organizational skils are without peer. The company was just super, and it was my first visit to the Tractor Room. Our server did an admirable job taking care of us cranky Unilocalers.
All in all, an excellent UYE. Well done, Omar.

Our sad farewell to The Tractor Room was interrupted by outstanding news — The Tractor Room (TR) will remain open for an indefinite time!!! Some background before launching into a review of our amazing experience. Word on the street was that TR may be closing. This seemed puzzling given its 5-​star Unilocal reviews and always packed business with people sometimes waiting outside on the sidewalk. Turns out TR’s owners also own the mega successful «Hash House A Go Go» chain. A possible future sale of TR’s building and property would simply be a business decision and is no reflection of a decline in customers or cult following.
Whew — and now onto our amazing TR experience! Sadly I must admit this was my first visit to TR. It just hadn’t been on my radar screen until Omar S sent out invitations. Omar has amazing insights into San Diego restaurants and also impeccable taste. Wife and I gladly accepted Omar’s invitations to join Unilocal Elites for Saturday brunch at TR. A couple of things had me very excited about TR even before arriving onsite:
— First, their brunch menu. Unbelievable diverse meal offerings! In addition to what we would expect of standard brunch offerings (Eggs, Pancakes, etc.) there is also Wild Boar, Elk, Buffalo, and many other exciting meals.
— Second, TRs gracious proactive handling of a large group. Normally I’d expect restaurants facing a large group to place some restrictions. Commonly imposed limits are restricted menus (i.e. order one of four similarly priced menu items) and a single check for the entire group. TR proactively reached out in advance with open arms, open menu and individual checks. This is no easy proposition and greatly challenges restaurant staff. Enter TR’s server extraordinaire, Robin, who enthusiastically greeted, took orders, monitored drinks, served and organized perhaps 20 separate checks (all accurately)! Well done Robin!
And OMG, all this chatter and I haven’t even gotten to the meals!!! Three words for you — Wild Boar Hash!!! Unbelievable symphony of tastes from free range Wild Boar Hash, crispy potatoes, pancetta, fresh tomato and goat cheese all topped with two eggs! Wife and I split this tasty meal and could barely finish it. I guess that’s one thing for new visitors to note — the meals are huge! Most members of our group ordered a meal per person which provided a happy outcome — they had large boxes of tasty leftovers to take home. All meals were also a jaw-​dropping visual photo treat (photos being posted). My two favorites to look at:
— Sage Fried Chicken Waffle Tower. I was speechless.
— Bloody Mary topped with a skewer of beef tenderloin. I was immediately thirsty but I couldn’t get the drink’s owner to look away.
In conclusion my only regret is for the past, not already being a regular at the TR. That problem is solved and you can look for me often at the TR — cheers!

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye! Or not… Although the Tractor Room’s demise is not as close as we thought, the premature farewell was a lovely event. Omar did a great job at organizing it. There was fun Unilocal paraphernalia: I got a shot glass, and my +1 got a wine opener, both of which will obviously remain unused until we turn 21. It was great meeting fellow Unilocalers and hearing the elite gossip.
Thank god we did not have to wait an eternity for our food because I was nearing starvation. Nothing could have prepared me for the gargantuan portions. The In «Good Health» Scramble satisfied my hunger +more. It was really nothing special, which I could have deduced by reading the menu description. But, my friend had the Chicken Benedict and it was absolutely delicious (but did not remotely resemble a classic benedict).
I wish I hadn’t sat at the very end of the table so I could have met more people, but the end-​of-​table conversation and company was very interesting. Thanks, Omar, for including this non-​elite in the Unilocal community. I’ll be sure to practice my paddle ball skills incase another competition arises at another brunch. And, I should probably practice taking candid pictures because I did a really poor job.

It had been a while since I’d been able to attend one of illustrious Unilocal Elite Omar’s UYE get-​togethers, and so when he announced that the Tractor Room was closing (or so we thought, more on that in a bit) and he wanted to have one more final brunch here, I threw my hat in. Besides, I hadn’t been there before and wanted to explore my epicurean horizons… especially after going online and seeing that there was a chicken and waffles option at the venue.
After finding parking at what used to be Pernicano’s and walking a few blocks down to the Tractor Room — and running into fellow Unilocal Elites Isabella B., Marlene J., and her +1 Greg B. along the way — we let our server know we were with Omar’s party and got ushered into what was called the cabana. In this case, it was the back part of the patio where Omar and a number of us (including familiar faces like Soo, Josephine, Bert, and in a non-​CM capacity, Trish S.) were getting comfortable and getting to know each other. The Tractor Room is a bit on the tight side, but the couches that half of us were sitting on were quite comfortable.
While I knew from the get-​go that I wanted the chicken and waffles, it was the Master Mary that got my attention. You see, up til now I’ve never had a Bloody Mary before, and after the events of this past Tuesday at work (I was in the active shooter event at NMCSD), I told myself that I would treat myself to a steak and a beer after the fact. Well, while I wasn’t able to get my steak and beer that day, I decided to go for broke by getting the Master Mary as a starter… and for those of you wondering, it’s more than your typical Bloody Mary — Belvedere vodka, tomato juice, and house Mary mix with garnishes of lemon and lime wedges, pickled green beans, stuffed green olives, a Romaine lettuce spear… and a grilled beef tenderloin served rare. (No wonder this is amongst the top ten Bloody Mary cocktails in the US, according to the Tractor Room.) Yes, this got everyone’s attention, and I could only finish half the cocktail! Killed off the beef tenderloin skewer, though… the Bloody Mary marinade definitely gave it some flavor.
The Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles definitely were worth the hype: two HUGE sage fried chicken breasts on a bed of waffles with bacon mixed into the batter, and served with hot maple reduction and fried leek garnish. I had also opted for an extra side of scrambled eggs… too bad my Master Mary had filled me up that I couldn’t finish my dish, because every bite that I did have was purely delicious. My friends’ orders looked ravishing — Bert’s Wild Boar Hash, Josephine’s crab cake burger, and Greg’s Super Flapjack Combo were very pleasing to them.
After paying our bills (yes, this place is pricy, but well worth it), Omar had one more surprise for us: in order to win the door prizes of West Bean Coffee, mugs, and cereal, we had to play paddleball (last person standing won)… and with my uncoordinated @$$, I was out after only one bounce. Congrats to Marlene for winning, and to Soo for second prize, a really nice cap.
Great times with great people… and looking forward to not just more meetups like these, but also more visits to the Tractor Room! (Turns out that their lease got extended at least a few more months, if not a whole year.) A big thank you to Omar, our server Robin for being so patient with our orders, and the rest of the Tractor Room’s staff!
Until next time…

After nearly 10 years of serving as the sister restaurant of Hash House on the other side of 5^th Avenue, Johnny Rivera has decided to close down the Tractor Room to expand on his Hash House and Great Maple restaurant franchise. What better way to kickoff the farewell to this classic SD brunch spot by having a group of Unilocalers pay homage by having brunch here. Like his previous farewell UYE to Albie’s Beef Inn Omar did a wonderful job coordinating the staff and fellow Unilocalers to make this event possible. And what a way to seal off the experience by being able to dine in such a cozy cabana!
Robin did such a great job serving our big table. Huge props for being able to keep tabs on all of our orders!
The Tractor Room is a collaboration of the Midwestern meat and portion heavy entrees devised by Chef Adam and Johnny Rivera’s award winning cocktails — specifically his bloody Marys. I wanted my meal to contain one of each so I got the following:
— Union Mary (Texas Tito’s Vodka, Mary Mix, Fresh Horseradish, Olives and Spicy Green Bean, $ 8.95). Their house bloody Mary. This proves that all it takes to make a good bloody Mary you just need high-​quality ingredients, especially your vodka and your tomato juice/​Mary mix. It is mixed so perfectly — cannot taste the vodka but its aftereffects were felt rather quickly. One of the best bloody Mary’s I’ve ever tasted that was less than $ 10.
— Free Range Wild Boar Hash (crispy potatoes, pancetta, fresh tomato and goat cheese all topped with two eggs, $ 17.95). Eggs are made to order so I got over medium. The potatoes were big for breakfast potato portions but crispy, pancetta was like a thicker bacon and the wild boar meat was a mixture between beef and chicken.
This also came with a choice of biscuits and cornbread — having tasted their legendary cornbread I just had to have it again. The cornbread looked and tasted exactly as I remember it: served in its own cask-​iron skillet with a small dollop of butter and chives. It was firm on the outside and fluffy on the inside, buttery texture with that all-​too-​familiar taste of corn in bread. When the Tractor Room finally does close I hope that one of their parting gifts is their cornbread recipe as I would love to make it again someday.
The portions, like Hash House are known to be huge. I was able to stuff my to-​go box with leftovers for the next 2 days. Too bad that my dad ate the rest of my cornbread :(
As always it was good to see the Unilocalers I’ve come across from time to time at other events: Steve, Joseph, Soo, Maggie, Bert and Marlene. Congratulations to Soo and Maggie for winning the door prizes!
As many people have stated the Tractor Room won’t be closing for a while so this is more of a first of many series of goodbye brunches. At least this will give San Diegans more time to express their grief and pay homage to a business that has left its imprint in the SD brunch and cocktail scene. Thanks again Omar, I look forward to your next of many events!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
It’s a little tight on the side, but being in the middle of the action with Trish, Tanya, and Omar is the best place to be!
THE EATS
Elk Sausage Hash — As with most of the hashes at Tractor Room and Hash House, the potatoes were plentiful but an unfortunate distraction in my opinion. The sausage was incredibly flavorful and was complimented beautifully by the smoked cheese and veggies. My only issue is silly: I can never finish the dang plate! =]
Cornbread — A giant 6“x6″ square of honey, butter, and chive-​topped corn goodness. This is surprisingly amazing, but I barely finished one fork-​wide edge. Hooray for leftovers! \(^o^)/
Lemon Lavender Mimosa — Superbly balanced and delicately flavored with lavender, this mimosa was a treat. Most times when I see lavender, I find the chef or product uses a heavy hand with that herb. This mimosa was not in that camp, having a very light essence of lavender complimenting the pleasant sweet and tart lemonade (with a happy bubbly kick).
THE SERVICE
Tractor Room pulled out the stops. Our server Robin handled our two-​dozen strong group of observant Unilocalers. Hanging out here was completely devoid of the feared sensation of being rushed. Robin was attentive, patient, and offered suggestions from their enormous menu of equally gigantic portions. Way to go, Robin!
THE VERDICT
This was only my second visit to the Tractor Room and it absolutely did not disappoint. This place is a much more pleasant and rustic upscaled sister restaurant to the Hash House. If you get a chance to visit the Tractor Room before they close, definitely definitely go!
P. S. — I snapped a video of all you silly people and your paddleball prize competition. You can find it here:

I’m gonna live till I die.
Frank Sinatra
Feels strange to have a party before a restaurant closing. This UYE turned out to be a celebration of a reprieve from the end. I have admired the Tractor Room from afar but this was my first time getting up close and personal. In addition to the dark inside there is a nice outside area which is somewhat shielded from the cold. Omar reserved a big section in the back of the outside area for us. As always Omar’s chosen were interesting and social foodies. I’m usually more inclined to document than participate but these Unilocalers were quite interesting conversationalists. There was a cool activity at the end to see who could bounce a ball on the paddle the longest. I use to play when I was a kid. It was good practice for ping pong when I didn’t have an opponent handy. I won second place with the prize being a hat. Nice. I had a great time meeting new people like Emily P & Charlie V. and seeing old friends Steve, Trish, Isabella, and Marlene. Was awesome meeting Taylor H. in person after being Unilocal friends for years. Thanks for the awesome time Omar!
I ordered the wild boar hash with scrambled eggs and biscuit. Eggs were hot, fresh, and cooked just the way I like. Country potatoes were big, had good crunch and flavor. Wild boar and tomatoes were an excellent flavor combination. Boar had gamey flavor and tomatoes had a juicy freshness. Dish was awesome except for a few overcooked pieces of wild boar. Biscuit was a bit like those at KFC only bigger with slightly different flavor. Being related to the Hash House I could see where the huge serving size comes from. I ate the biscuit at home as that was the item that would taste the best later.

Brunch is the best meal of the day and the UYE @ Tractor Room was no exception! Huuuuuuge shoutout to Omar for making this happen — the execution was flawless and made for such a fun environment. We even engaged in some competitive paddle ball with some hot prizes at stake. Being as this was my first Unilocal event, I got to meet a handful of my Unilocal friends in person. Matching the face to the profile was really cool and got me excited for some upcoming events!
Ok onto the food. First, service was great thanks to our stellar waiter Robin who was super attentive and strong carrying out all cast iron serving platters loaded with scrumptious grub! I ordered the chicken hash. Tender white meat chicken with onions served alongside fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, a touch of fruit, asparagus and a hunkin side of cornbread. First off, these portions are absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible. This meal was large enough to rollover as my dinner and was just as good the second time around. The chicken hash had a healthy amount of smoked white meat chicken and paired well with the crispy taters served underneath. Eggs were a no brainer, because brunch, and the fruit and asparagus helped me feel healthier than I actually was. I had the choice between the biscuit and cornbread and I’m so glad with my choice. The cornbread was super moist and crusty on the outside topped with a huge slab of butter and honey.
I loved the hash and was also able to try my sisters «healthy» scramble and Omar’s bacon waffle, both were winners. This event was made as a farewell to The Tractor Room but the host manager let us know that it’ll be around at least until summer — hooray! This was my first Tractor Room experience and hopefully not my last. Next time I want to eat my weight in quality brunch fair I know where to go!