Mike Hardin-Owner of Hodads April 26th 2012

Over the last couple of years, one of the highlights of going to Padres games was eating and drinking at the Baja Bistro.  Located in the Toyota Terrace area of Petco Park, it's a good restaurant with great service that we have enjoyed going to.  The day before the first Padres home game (an exhibition game with the Kansas City Royals) we found out from Jay, one of the servers at the restaurant, that the Bistro was gone and replaced by Hodads.  My first reaction was anger!  Replacing the Bistro with a place called Hodads!?!  What the heck! I was not a happy camper at all.  After researching the restaurant online, I found out that Hodads is a local hamburger place that has a reputation as being one of the top 5 burger joints in the country.  We decided we would head up there to see all of our friends that work there and give it a try.  We walked in and sat down and were greeted by Mike Hardin, the owner of the restaurant.  He was extremely nice and has a passion for people pleasing which means great food with a smile.  We ordered our food and I had to admit that they're burger is the best I have had.  Better than the best burger though is Mike, and as you get to know him and the restaurant, you find out it's a family business.  His parents started it and now he runs it with his girlfriend.  Every time we have been there, he has greeted us and he remembers us by our first names.  Last night, I gave him a business card with info about my blog, and asked Mike who his favorite player was.  He told me about how his son played Little League, but struggled being a good player and how he told his son to watch Tim Flannery.  He loved how Tim would, "run to first base with a passion" and how much you could tell that Tim loved playing the game.

If you're at Petco Park for a game, go to Hodads and get a burger.  Heck, even the dreaded veggieburger tastes great!  When you see Mike, he'll shake your hand and make you feel at home.

Update:  On April 26, I went to the Giants vs. Padres game at Petco Park.  I brought a baseball with me hoping I would be able to track down Tim Flannery and have him sign the ball for Mike. Tim was getting ready to hit some grounders to the infielders. I called out to him and held up the ball.  He asked me to toss it to him and I requested he sign the ball to Mike.  Tim signed the ball, "To Mike Friends Tim Flannery" and tossed the ball back to me.  I went up to Hodad's with my friend Rebecca Herman and we presented the ball to Mike.  He was thrilled and gave both of us a big hug.  I have included the pictures below.

From this point on, I will ask the players that I get a chance to talk to if they have ever met their favorite players in person and what was it like for them to meet their hero.