Tobeys 19th Hole Restaurant

Where WorldBeat runs vegan political, Kingfisher does velvet-banquet special occasions, and Panchita's trades in three-generation bakery rituals, Tobeys does something none of them can: it sits on a working golf course in the middle of Balboa Park and feeds anyone who walks up, golfer or not. The building is old — not charming-old, just old — but the patio view is ridiculous: fairway rolling out, downtown rising behind it, enough space that kids can wander while you work through a chicken fried steak that comes with gravy people describe as "not salty, just perfect."

This is diner food with a captive audience that doesn't need to try hard, which makes it remarkable that it does. Breakfast runs all day, the kind of two-eggs-and-toast simplicity that tastes better when you're outside and slightly sweaty. The bucket of beer situation is real — twenty-five-ounce drafts for nine dollars, margaritas if you're feeling tropical, ice cream sundaes if you brought kids or just like ice cream. The menu's limited outside breakfast and bar food, but that's the point: Tobeys knows what it is.

Parking's tight in the main lot but there's overflow behind the building. Waits happen during weekend brunch when half the neighborhood walks over. The service runs friendly and efficient, the kind of staff that's seen a hundred brunches this month and will see a hundred more. You're not here for innovation. You're here because sometimes the move is sitting outside with cheap beer and decent eggs, watching strangers three-putt while the city skyline does its thing in the background. It's been doing this since 1927, and it'll outlast most of the fusion spots trying harder.