SAN DIEGO -- Sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the California Restaurant Association (CRA), the City’s biannual Restaurant Week returns this month. For one week, Jan. 13-18, over 140,000 people are expected to participate by visiting numerous restaurants, including several in Uptown.

Restaurants will be offering three-course prix-fixe dinner menus for $20, $30 or $40 per person. There are over 180 eateries scheduled to offer the special prices. In addition, several restaurants will be offering two-course lunch menus, starting at $10 per person.

SAN DIEGO -- Indecision strikes fast and furiously when stepping into Jersey Joe’s Pizzeria in North Park, where customers are greeted by a kaleidoscopic display of pies that demonstrate New Jersey is a land of multiple pizza styles.

“Everything’s so beautiful,” my companion said, gushing when encountering for the first time Jersey’s Joe’s imposing showcase of golden-crusted discs and squares, blanketed with ingredients like bright-red plum tomatoes, fried eggplant, leafy basil and even ziti pasta tubes poking out from their mozzarella mantles.

Mo’s Universe welcomes new chef, Sean Magee, who will oversee the menus at Gossip Grill, Urban Mo’s, Baja Betty’s and the upcoming Hillcrest Brewing Company, due to open June 8. Magee helmed the kitchen at Proper Pub downtown after working for Urban Solace and the Grant Grill. “He has great energy and he’ll bring a lot to all four restaurants,” said Chris Shaw, founder and owner of Mo’s Universe. The position opened recently after Gossip Grill Chef Mary Jo Testa left to launch a restaurant in Italy. Magee said most of his changes will materialize by fall.

As I mentioned in my last column here, and as goes without saying for most Uptownians, one of the great assets of our area is the wonderful variety of neighborhood restaurants. From massive fish burritos for five bucks to white tablecloths and bay views, you can get pretty much whatever you crave around here, including traditional cooking from different countries.