Pier One

The cafe that’s out on the Ocean Beach Pier is one of those places I love intensely every time I’m there, but most of the time I forget about. When I do decide to go, I worry that it will have closed, but I can’t remember its name or phone number, so can’t call to check. I remembered it the other day, when I made a date with a friend for breakfast. When I arrived at the pier gates, the fog was dense. Moving into the eerie gray mist, I wondered not only if the cafe survived, but if everyone in San Diego had forgotten about the pier itself. And if the pier was deserted, how in the world could the cafe still be functioning?

After a long minute or so of walking, shapes began to emerge: a few scruffy fishermen, a jogger, seagulls. And there in the distance, some decrepit looking buildings loomed.

I shouldn’t have been amazed that the WOW (for “Walking On Water”) Cafe was indeed still open. It’s been here for decades, and it looks the same to me as I recall it looking at least a decade or two ago. Not a soul was in the joint, except for the single cook/waitress. But it still felt cozy, with those old wooden tables, snugged up against the huge windows.

I had the Pier Breakfast (buttermilk pancakes and bacon), which may be the only thing I’ve ever eaten here. My friend Neal had bacon and eggs. The food comes on paper plates and you eat it with plastic cutlery and wash it down with mediocre coffee. It was fine, if no bargain ($16.50 for the two of us.)

Looking at the menu, I was reminded this place is open every day of the week, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner (burgers, tacos, fish and chips, and the like). I came away with a new item for my To Do list: devote a whole day to the pier food of San Diego County: maybe breakfast at Ruby’s out on the end of the Oceanside Pier, lunch at the WOW, and dinner at the original Tin Fish in Imperial Beach. For whenever I get to that, the WOW’s phone number is 619/226-3474.