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Nothing fancy. Nothing chic. Just fabulous, freshly caught fish cooked simply over mesquite and served with savory side dishes. That's what draws a standing-room only crowd to Matt Rimel's tiny café each night. Since there are just three tables plus counter space inside and a half-dozen tables on the shared patio, many fans opt for takeout.
During the present local lobster season, Rimel's features the juicy, mesquite-grilled crustaceans with black beans, rice, tortillas and terrific salsa fresca. There's also grilled chicken and vegetable plates.

Dining Guide
The San Diego Union-Tribune
October 19, 2000

“Everything we do is from scratch; it's all natural and healthy with a lot of Mexican and Asian influence...This is traditionally a real local place. We know most of our customers by name and face and many of them eat here two to four days a week.”

La Jolla Cuisine Golden Triangle
Thursday, February 5, 1998

The menu calls it “Steaming Rice Bowl.” But I call Rimel's feast of chewy rice, wokked veggies, moist chicken chunks and spunky green chile-garlic sauce “solace in a soup bowl.”
The rest of the menu is equally satisfying. Homemade soups – especially the Tortilla Roja – are fabulous. Chicken from the rotisserie is served with saucy black beans and terrific dipping sauces. Salads are first rate. Pot-stickers are yummy. And the simple, mesquite-grilled fish and California spiny lobsters (in season) are among the best seafood offerings in town.

Dining Guide
'The San Diego Union-Tribune
Thursday, October 18, 2001

Where there is local lobster, there is Matt Rimel. The enthusiastic owner of Rimel's Rotisserie and Zenbu in La Jolla and the recently opened Mesquite in Rancho Penasquitos has been plucking local lobsters from the sea since he was a teenager at La Jolla High School. “When we were kids, we free-dived for them at night, with flashlights. We'd go tight into the rocks and catch our limit, which was seven.”
Today Rimel has a half-dozen commercial fishermen out with skiffs every day to get lobsters from baited traps.

Leslie James –
Dining Guide
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Thursday, October 23, 2003