The 38 Best Restaurants in San Diego
San Diego’s essential restaurants across an array of cuisines, neighborhoods, and price points
Updated
Helen I. Hwang is a freelance journalist who covers food, travel, and news. She worked in the food industry as a mechanical engineer for eight years, training as a “supertaster.” She then worked as an editor for the now-defunct Philadelphia City Paper where she first began writing about food, lifestyle, and news.
This standout group of 38 restaurants reflects the best of San Diego’s diverse dining culture — covering cities across the county while spanning a range of price points, cuisines, approaches, and neighborhoods. With every update, Eater San Diego adds a few restaurants that have become newly eligible or have stepped up their game. As such, a few restaurants are retired from the map each quarter — not necessarily forever — to make room. For hot new restaurants, check out our monthly Eater heatmap.
In the latest update, we’ve added insider tips to each write-up, including what the must-try dish is, how to avoid a nightmare parking situation, and what occasion each restaurant is best known for. Also, watch out for our new price categories, ranging from $ for an affordable meal under $25 a person to $$$$, which indicates a splurge that may be a better fit for a special occasion.
New this update: Fleurette, Chick and Hawk, and Kinme join the list, while Matsu, Deckman’s North at 3131 (which have both closed), and Callie leave.
Valle
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
Roberto Alcocer’s landmark restaurant, Valle, has helped transform the small surfing town into a recognized dining destination. Alcocer transports his modern Mexican cuisine stateside, showcasing his approach to Baja and Californian ingredients in meat-based or vegetarian tasting menus with optional wine pairings that spotlight Baja California’s Valle de Guadalupe wine region. Grab a seat at the chef’s table for an inside look at the bustling, well-oiled kitchen. The menu now includes plates like local spiny lobster tacos, wagyu carne asada, and a honeypatch squash buñuelo.
Know before you go: Grab a reservation before the sun sets to take in the view over the Oceanside pier from the outdoor patio or a table near the window.
Kimberly Motos
Tanner’s Prime Burger
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price Range: $
Beef tallow is the name of the game at Tanner’s Prime Burgers, a casual burger joint that’s been recognized by the Michelin Guide. Chef Brandon Rodgers (The French Laundry, Benu, In Situ) partnered with Eric Brandt of Brandt Beef to launch this Oceanside restaurant after hosting pop-ups at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The simple interior features retro flair, with white tables and red stools, as well as indoor and outdoor counter seating and a spacious dining patio. Tanner’s serves its smash burger on a pillowy brioche bun with a USDA Prime Brandt beef patty, beef bacon, New School American cheese, lettuce, caramelized onions, and a drizzle of Tanner’s sauce. Don’t be shy about dabbing on some Tanner’s Prime Hot Sauce for an extra kick. An order of tallow-fried fries is essential on every visit here. Save room for a creamy milkshake, or the restaurant’s signature Fatty Patty, an ice cream sandwich with vanilla beef tallow ice cream between chocolate chip cookies.
Must-try dishes: Prime burger, tallow fries, and Fatty Patty
Chris Costa
Lilo
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
Within two months of opening in Carlsbad, Lilo earned a Michelin star, becoming the only new restaurant in San Diego to receive the accolade. Housed in a former boogie-board factory, the intimate 22-seat restaurant is tucked behind Bost’s all-day café, Wildland. Chef Eric Bost (Campfire, Jeune et Jolie) leads the kitchen alongside chef de cuisine Dusan Todic and pastry chef Madeline Biehl (Single Thread); the team serves hyperlocal California dishes with Asian influences in a 12-course tasting menu. Diners begin their culinary journey outdoors with an amuse-bouche and a zero-proof cocktail, under an Australian bottle tree. Next, they enter the dining room, surrounded by textured walls, where they delve into dishes like a spring pea tartlet, dry-aged wild-caught fish, squab, and blackened banana with shiro miso, accompanied by Koshihikari rice.
Know before you go: Inside the dining room, there are two options: a 14-seat chef’s counter or two chef’s tables. Ask for your preferred spot when you make your reservation.
Lilo
Manna
Open for: Breakfast, Lunch
Price range: $$
Atelier Manna, a Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognized brunch restaurant, started as a stopgap for chef Andrew Bachelier (previously of Jeune et Jolie and Cucina Enoteca) as he worked toward launching his larger restaurant partnership with pro skater Tony Hawk. It’s safe to say that this North County daytime cafe, Eater’s 2023 winner for Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, has already become a beloved fixture in Leucadia. Diners have fully embraced Atelier Manna’s feel-good menu, which includes comforting savory pork belly congee, seasonal salads, and Turkish eggs with chili garlic butter, as well as coffees, teas, wellness shots, and adaptogenic “vitality tonics” for the health-conscious.
Must-try dishes: Locals come for the unparalleled Turkish eggs and Manna bowl. Don’t skip on a vitality tonic, including ones made with Steady State coffee.
Kimberly Motos
Chick & Hawk
Open for: Lunch and Dinner
Price range: $$
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk partnered with chef Andrew Bachelier (Atelier Manna) to open Chick and Hawk, a fast-casual chicken joint that opened five years after the initial idea first hatched. The restaurant’s interior feels like a skater’s vision/manifestation board with videos of tricks and falls on a loop, neon colors inspired by ‘80s Atari games, and Hawk’s own skateboards on display. Besides the nostalgia-steeped decor, Chick and Hawk’s dishes and drinks remain main attractions. Leading the menu is the Birdman, which features a thick slab of craggy fried chicken, zingy purple cabbage slaw, and kimchi comeback sauce (a Southern-style, tangy, sweet, and creamy sauce) packed in a pillowy potato brioche bun. Spice levels have been designated as rotations often found in skateboarding tricks: The heat level starts at a standard 360 degrees and soars to 900 degrees, a nod to the first-ever 900-degree spin Hawk landed in 1999. Pair with spicy duck fat fries or caramelized French onion dip with Kennebec chips; lighter fare includes a bluefin poke bowl with koshihikari rice and shaved Maui sweet onion. There’s a full slate of alcoholic drinks, as well as a “Fakies” menu with non-alcoholic alternatives. Look out for Hawk and his friends, who dine there regularly.
Know before you go: The fast-casual restaurant stays open straight through from lunch to dinner so the kitchen can satisfy mid-afternoon cravings as well.
Kimberly Motos
Leu Leu
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
Leu Leu has quickly established itself as a hidden gem in Leucadia. The restaurant showcases inventive culinary machinations from the Mediterranean in its dishes. Enter through antique doors with golden hands serving as handles and step onto a patio with tables on wooden floors. From here, diners wind into a breezy, eclectic lair with exposed beams, peacock-embossed velvet curtains, and a vinyl record player perched on a stage for regular DJ nights. The restaurant lives in the skeleton of a motel built when the Del Mar Racetrack opened in the 1930s, making it a visual treat for architecture aficionados. Start with the rose snapper ceviche in a Castelvetrano olive zhoug and the Smyrna-style meatballs made with mint, caper berries, and bulgur. The crispy chicken is served with a warm, herb yogurt to cool the Aleppo chile marinade.
Know before you go: Much of the seating is on the heated patio, so if you want to snag one of the tables inside or the bar seating for two, book early.
Leu Leu
Rare Society
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
One of San Diego’s most iconic retro swanky steakhouses, Rare Society, hits all the right notes with a Rat Pack–inspired ambiance, dry-aged meats, and a rich cocktail program that includes fat-washed bourbons. Chef Brad Wise and Trust Restaurant Group (Fort Oak, Wise Ox, A L’Ouest) launched their first Rare Society in University Heights before expanding to Solana Beach and beyond; its newest location opened in Las Vegas. Order the shareable steak board, layered with tender proteins selected by the kitchen team each night, alongside accompaniments such as Wise’s Santa Maria-style salsa, steak sauce, and creamy horseradish. If you have room on the table, don’t miss the wagyu steak dry-aged in house, then grilled over American red oak. Kick off the feast with a Rare Old-Fashioned, followed by a selection from the extensive wine list.
Know before you go: The Solana Beach outpost is located in a beachside community in North County with more options for street parking. After dinner, take a stroll through the neighborhood’s Cedros Avenue Design District to Fletcher Cove Beach Park, where you can watch the waves from a grassy knoll.
Kimberly Motos
Addison Restaurant
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
Guided by longtime executive chef/director William Bradley, Addison is San Diego’s only three-Michelin-starred restaurant. The culinary team leads diners through an elaborate $385 ten-course chef’s tasting menu, spotlighting local California ingredients and produce. While the menu rotates with the seasons (expect the spring menu to change three times), highlight dishes include the pillowy shellfish chawanmushi with broccoli and bok choy, Regiis Ova reserve caviar with koshihikari rice, smoked sabayon and sesame, and sourdough bread made with goat’s milk. A curated wine pairing is available at an additional cost. Make sure to try a libation from the spring cocktail menu like the Snap Pea, made with blanco tequila, lime, snap pea, muskmelon, and aloe.
Know before you go: Plan for the tasting menu by booking reservations well in advance. Arrive early for a drink at the lounge in the dining area for the full experience.
Addison [Official photo]
Fleurette
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
La Jolla’s newer French-Mediterranean restaurant Fleurette sits as a portal to the easy, elegant Riviera vibe you would find in Nice, France. Opened in December 2025, Fleurette marks chef Travis Swikard’s sophomore debut. His first restaurant, Callie, earned Michelin recognition in the East Village for dishes like Aleppo chicken and Japanese kanpachi crudo. Fleurette’s airy space features an open kitchen, a stone and copper bar, and a landscaped backyard with citrus trees and an herb garden that supply ingredients for the kitchen. Start with the famous “oeufs and eggs,” San Diego uni gently stirred into pillowy scrambled eggs, served in the center of a black, spiky sea urchin shell, which pairs nicely with a cooling cocktail like the Cannes, made with French Riviera gin, lemon, Champagne, and Campari foam. Expect the menu to lean into the seasons with dishes such as poached vegetables dressed in a Provençal potato aioli that go well with homemade garganelli alla Genovese or mains like lamb rack dressed in red pepper jus. Desserts should not be missed, with selections like honey semifreddo paired with a pistachio financier or warm dark chocolate fondant.
Best for: When you want to impress a date or out-of-town guests.
Eric Wolfinger
George’s At The Cove
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price range: $$$
A landmark La Jolla restaurant, George’s at the Cove has been going strong for over 40 years now. The culinary team is led by chef Trey Foshee, executive chef Masa Kojima, and pastry chef Anna Adams. The restaurant’s three levels, each with different vibes, all have sweeping views of the Pacific shoreline. The rooftop Ocean Terrace features a full bar and a new snacks menu with fresh anchovies, sardines, mussels, and grilled cheese. Right below is the newly renovated Level 2 dining area and bar with a high-top counter facing the ocean. Hit up the spring and summer happy hour for half-price beer and wine, along with bar bites. The lowest level works well for large gatherings.
Must-try dishes: For lunch, don’t skip the lobster roll and rockfish tacos. For dinner, try the seared rare yellowtail or prime flat iron steak.
George’s at the Cove
Lucien
Open for: Dinner
Price: $$$$
Lucien swept into La Jolla’s dining scene in 2025, led by a team of New York City transplants who spent time in an impressive array of Michelin-starred kitchens. The 30-seat restaurant, which serves tasting menus with an option of 12 or six courses, has been swathed in dim moody lighting with booths tucked away in alcoves. California’s seasonal bounty informs the menu, from which diners can also find local uni from Santa Barbara or San Diego, La Jolla yellowtail slightly spiced with chile morita, aged Sonoma County duck, or Masami Ranch wagyu rib-eye. A delicate egg custard with Chantilly topped with N25 Oscietra caviar gets served in an eggshell; tables receive ancient grain bread accompanied by cultured butter made in house and sea lettuces. The meal ends with a trio of desserts, including San José single-origin chocolate made with Mostra Ghost Bear espresso and dark soy, and an herbal tea course.
Insider tip: Stop in the sleek bar with an elongated oak bar top supported by sculpted quartzite rock for a pre-dinner cocktail. Located in a separate space from the restaurant, it’s a sophisticated setting for drinks like the Hana Haze, made with sake, gin, and maraschino.
Kimberly Motos
Yiko Yiko
What started as a home baking venture has blossomed into a must-try charming bakery in Kearny Mesa, earning Eater San Diego’s Best New Bakery award in 2023. Yiko Yiko (which roughly translates to “one bite, one bite” in Mandarin Chinese) has stepped up its game with a staff of six in the windowed kitchen to expand its dessert case offerings and fulfill customized cake orders on quicker turnaround times. The cafe, dressed in a sunny yellow hue, offers not-too-sweet mochi and cakes that are all made within 24 hours. Baker Yuan Yuan Zhang uses organic ingredients and substitutes jujube for sugar as a healthier alternative; the result is mochi that literally melts in your mouth. Stuffed inside the mochi are textured delights like taro, chocolate, Oreo, matcha, and mango. Other highlights are airy chiffon cakes layered with light cream and fruit, and party cakes. Look for a new membership program that allows regulars to earn free desserts.
Must try dishes: Snowball mochi, mini mochi balls, and matcha grape mini cake.
Helen Hwang
Shan Xi Magic Kitchen
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price Range: $
Peer through the oversized glass window and into the kitchen at Shan Xi Magic Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant on Convoy Street, to watch cooks deftly stretch dough into lengthy hand-pulled noodles, before dropping them into an awaiting pot of boiling water. The specialty of this family-owned restaurant is the cumin-lamb biang biang noodles, which are tossed with cumin-spiced lamb and pepper flakes. Also, try the beef brisket hand-ripped noodles, served over the same wide, chewy noodles that retain a pleasant, bouncy texture. For non-noodle options, try the stewed pork burger or the spicy cumin lamb burger. Add in an order of lamb skewers and dry-fried green beans to round out the meal.
Know before you go: If the long noodles feel unwieldy, ask for scissors to trim them to size.
Helen Hwang
Paradisaea
Open for: Dinner
Price Range: $$$
Nestled in Bird Rock, Paradisaea is a breezy, floral, birds-of-paradise-themed restaurant in the iconic Piano Building. After starting as chef de cuisine in 2024, Denmark-born chef Anders Jensen now leads the kitchen, serving a menu influenced by French technique and Baja and Nordic influences. Start with the colorful Jalapeno Caesar salad with lemon anchovy and the Thomson Heritage beef tartare served with rye toast points before moving on to fish dishes or steak frites with duck fat fries. Make sure to try the Copenhagen sourdough bread, a nod to Jensen’s heritage. The bar menu features playful items, such as newspaper-wrapped fish and chips and goat cheese croquettes. Don’t skip the cocktail menu, which offers a robust non-alcoholic selection.
Know before you go: Try to snag one of the two chef’s tables to watch the open kitchen in action. Diners at the tables have the opportunity to sample dishes from both the bar menu and the main menu.
Helen Hwang
Yakitori Tsuta
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
One of the most exciting openings in 2024 is San Diego’s first yakitori omakase restaurant, headed by the venerable chef Tatsuro Tsuchiya, who has spent time at Sushi Tadokoro, Yakitori Yakyudori, and Yakitori Hino. The elegant space seats eight people at the counter and four guests at a single table. Needless to say, reservations are hard to come by, so book early. Seats are released 30 days ahead. Over two hours, the chef will parse out 18 to 20 dishes during the omakase meal. Available at both the 5:30 p.m. or 8:15 p.m. seating, the omakase, priced at $115, is worth the adventure. Chino Farms’ seasonal produce is used for the starters and is found in the chawanmushi. Forget beef, pork, or fish — only chicken and vegetable skewers are served, followed by refreshing, tiny desserts.
Must-try dishes: If you do the omakase, you’ll get to try all the dishes. If a la carte is more your speed (only available at the 8:15 p.m. seating), be sure to order the chawanmushi, chicken broth, chicken liver, and chicken skin.
Kimberly Motos
Wayfarer Bread & Pastry
Open for: Breakfast, Lunch, Weekend Dinners
Price range: $
When it set up shop in the quiet coastal community of Bird Rock in 2018, Wayfarer brought the beach its first modern artisan bakery. Established by owner and master baker Crystal White, the takeout-only spot has become a destination for its flaky pastries sweetened with local produce and sturdy-crusted, naturally leavened loaves made from heirloom grains. Popular favorites include the kouign amann, baguettes, and croissants that come in a variety of flavors, including plain, almond, chocolate, or ham and cheese. At 11 a.m., Wayfarer offers meat or veg grab-and-go sandwiches on their own bread with ingredients from nearby farms. On weekend nights, pizzas are available by pre-order only.
Know before you go: If you want to skip the long weekend lines, pre-ordering is a good option so you can dive right into the pastries.
Matthew Kang
The Fishery
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price range: $$
For a city of its size, San Diego has too few restaurants dedicated to showcasing local seafood and the bounty of the West Coast. This family-run Pacific Beach institution is currently helmed by chef Mike Reidy (Callie, Ironside, Melisse). The casual restaurant is also a seafood distributor and retail market, ensuring that the freshest catch lands on the menu. All the fish and shrimp are wild caught, and the names of the local purveyors (fisherfolks and farmers) are acknowledged on the menu. The local seafood, oysters, and ocean-themed cocktails, like the Selkie Song, are made with Bimini overproof gin, Taiwanese sunset oolong, and seaweed.
Must-try dishes: Indulge in the shareable seafood tower, which has a little of everything, and pair it with a Tiny Martini made with Layback vodka and oyster shell vermouth.
The Fishery [Official photo]
Sushi Ichifuji
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
There is no shortage of sushi bars in San Diego, from the everyday to the sublime, but Sushi Ichifuji has risen to the top of the pack while remaining an accessible and attainable reservation. The 10-seat sushi counter, manned by two skilled itamae with decades of experience between them at revered local Japanese restaurants like Soichi Sushi, Sushi Tadokoro, and Taka Sushi, is a showcase for a nigiri-focused omakase menu and a more elaborate eight-course menu that changes with the seasons but always includes impeccable fish, creative appetizers, and homemade desserts like hojicha panna cotta and yuzu cream sorbet.
Know before you go: The omakase menu changes seasonally, so going every few months isn’t a crazy idea. Don’t skip the sake, which comes from small-batch distilleries in Japan.
Candice Woo
Bosforo
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
Bosforo has made a definitive splash in San Diego, slinging some of the best Turkish dishes in Southern California. Chef Seckin Sage Anlasbay runs the Turkish-Mediterranean kitchen in Normal Heights after honing his skills in restaurants in San Francisco and San Diego; he still operates his mobile wood-fired pizza catering company, Pizza Bosforo. After 15 years, Anlasbay has finally been able to offer homestyle dishes that he grew up with: mezze like creamy smoked cacik with yogurt, garlic, and mint, and Bosforo wood-fired hummus made with kayseri pastrami and chile-burned butter; Bosforo kebap (only 50 of the Adana-style marinated hand-minced beef skewers are made each day); and lahmacun—a thin-crust Turkish-style pizza topped with minced beef or mushrooms. Anlasbay has recently added new dishes, including olive oil fasülye (braised green beans with tomato and olive oil), and kalamar dolma (whole calamari with spiced rice). In the coming months, look out for an outdoor patio with a wood-fired grill for more kebap varieties you would find in the Eurasian country.
Know before you go: Don’t skip the salgam (fermented turnip juice) to accompany the mezes, and make sure to order the Bosforo kebaps before they run out (only 50 get made each day).
Kimberly Motos
Wormwood
Open for: Weekend brunch, dinner
Price range: $$-$$$
When Wormwood landed in North Park in 2021, the French-Baja restaurant brought San Diego its first absinthe bar. It’s been a darling spot for intimate gatherings ever since that transports guests to a bohemian bistro in Paris. The kitchen is led by chef Omar Armas, who spent 10 years in Michelin-starred kitchens (Pujol in Mexico City, Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York City, Quique Dacosta in Dénia, Spain) before returning to San Diego, where he was born. The moody ambience lends itself as a fitting home for the “green fairy,” the mythical muse supposedly induced by absinthe. Be sure to partake in one of the broadest absinthe menus in San Diego, ranging from rare bottles to absinthe flights and absinthe cocktails. (Try the Absinthe Sauvage 1804 based on an old French recipe.) A fountain of ice water with a spout accompanies the absinthe, slowly dripping the liquid over a sugar cube into the liquor. The food also makes an impression: Don’t skip the punchy oysters in a citrus-y mezcal mignonette, corn and mascarpone agnolotti made in-house, or the 8-ounce chicken roulade with a crispy layer.
Insider tip: Book a table in the Secret Garden, an outdoor dining terrace surrounded by succulents and shrubbery tucked behind the main restaurant.
Wormwood
Elvira
Open for: Dinner, weekend lunch
Price range: $$
When chef Cesarina Mezzoni debuted the ultra-popular Cesarina Ristorante in Point Loma, she acquired a strong local following and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand. For her second restaurant, Elvira, she decided to create intimate dining spaces divided into quirky rooms to make her second Roman trattoria, this time in Ocean Beach, even more memorable. Grandmacore decor defines the interior design with checkered floors, wooden tables, and vintage ‘nduja, burrata, and pepperoncino from the restaurant’s wood-fired oven, as well as pastas, from rigatoni to tonnarelli (square-shaped noodles known as Roman spaghetti) made in house, and beef tenderloin with a uni reduction and wood-fired bone marrow. Daily specials pay homage to the chef’s family traditions, such as polpette (meatballs) on Tuesdays, grandma’s gnocchi on Thursdays, and tripe on Saturdays.
Insider tip: In the adjacent greenhouse space, Elvira runs Cucina di Nonna, a private Roman family-style supper where servers act as family hosts in an immersive experience. The five courses include baked timpano sliced tableside and a wood-fired roast carved for the table, followed by coffee brewed in a vintage moka pot.
Elvira
Fort Oak
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
This sophomore entry from chef Brad Wise behind Trust Restaurant Group is a well-loved staple in Mission Hills. Housed in a former 1920s Ford dealership, there’s an oval-shaped cocktail bar that fits nicely in the showroom that once sold cars. With an upscale dining room, outdoor dining space, and chef’s counter perch, the restaurant offers a range of hearth-driven meals. Start dinner here with a selection of dishes from the raw bar like scallop aguachile and ahi tartare before digging into mains like pork chop with black garlic sauce and New York strip steak.
Must-try dishes: Oysters, scallop aguachile, Cedar River Prime New York Strip with asparagus and chanterelle mushrooms.
James Tran
Sushi Tadokoro
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price range: $$$
Well-crafted nigiri sushi is one of the attractions at this Michelin-recognized restaurant, which tops many sushi aficionados’ lists for its adherence to traditional Japanese style and technique. Classic edomae sushi is the ethos here, meaning the raw fish is served simply with rice seasoned with vinegar. Tucked away in Old Town, the setting is sparse and intimate; all of the fireworks are reserved for what’s on the plate. Menu options include omakase at the sushi bar or the table, as well as a la carte sushi. Be sure to try the sea urchin sushi, a specialty here. Chef Tadokoro selects the seasonal sea urchin from Hokkaido and California for the best flavors.
Know before you go: Parking is tight in the modest strip mall where Sushi Tadokoro sits, but nearby street parking is usually available.
Sushi Tadokoro [Official photo]
Tribute Pizza
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$
Though it was initially built to honor some of the world’s great pizzerias, this North Park restaurant has earned respect for its own menu creations, from homemade bread and farmer’s market-sourced vegetable plates to its “Neo-Neapolitan” pies that range from creatively topped weekly specials to classic pies. Choose your own adventure with pizza styles, including neo-neapolitan, Grandma style with a rectangular pan, or New York-style pan. Popular favorites include the Margherita and Dirty Dancin’, made with house-made Italian fennel sausage, jalapeños, and pineapple (not from a can, as it states on the menu).
Know before you go: Pizzas are made by hand and can take up to 45 minutes, so be sure to order an appetizer if you’re peckish.
Matthew Kang
Mabel’s Gone Fishing
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
This bustling, friendly restaurant, which serves up seasonal seafood and mixes stellar gin and tonics, has racked up accolades that include being named to Eater’s list of the best new restaurants in America and earning Michelin Bib Gourmand status. Building on the goodwill garnered by the Rose, their South Park wine bar, the team has set up a firm footing in North Park with the seafood-forward restaurant. Hit up the happy hour from 4 to 5 p.m. for a dozen oysters at half price and drink specials. Also, make sure to try the smoked mackerel and Basque cheesecake.
Must-try dishes: To sample all the best dishes, it’s worth ordering the sharing-style chef’s menu at $85 per person.
Kimberly Motos
Cori Pastificio Trattoria
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$
Since opening in 2019, Cori Pastificio Trattoria, a cozy Italian restaurant, has showcased Sicilian dishes from chef Accursio Lota. While the interior shines with sunny colors, the outdoor patio space is warmed with heaters and string lights. The house-made pastas are made on the premises each day with heirloom Sicilian grains and local seasonal ingredients. Try the yellowtail crudo, Thompson Heritage Farm porchetta, ancient grain tonnarelli pasta, and the award-winning seafood carbonara pasta. Well-received by locals as well as the international culinary community, this North Park treasure has a vegan menu and Sicilian desserts such as the ruota menfitana, a ruota shell filled with sheep ricotta, candied oranges, and prickly pear juice.
Must-try dishes: Be sure to try the seafood carbonara pasta, made with ancient grains. It’s a dish that made Chef Lota the winner of a global pasta competition.
Sam Wells
Kinme
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
From the same owners of Azuki Sushi, Kinme arrived on the scene as an elegant 10-seat omakase experience focused on highlighting the sophistication of Edomae-style sushi and kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal). Each of the mesmerizing small plates gets prepared in front of you, either at the sushi counter or on the compact stoves behind the chefs. Expect a parade of delicately prepared courses such as a clear broth with seasonal vegetables, tender slices of sushi, a tower of three types of tuna, Kagoshima wagyu, and a strawberry ice cream made in house; the meal finishes with Japanese matcha whisked to order. The immersive experience grows even more memorable with attentive service, beginning with the staff displaying raw proteins before they’re prepared and ending with personal goodbyes from the dedicated team of chefs just outside the door.
Best for: Dining solo since there’s limited seating at the sushi counter. Here, the omakase feels like a show with the right balance of chef interaction and quiet time to savor each course.
Kinme
Artifact at Mingei
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price Range: $$
Artifact anchors the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, showcasing ancient cooking methods, flavorful spices, and bright botanicals as a nod to the dozen or so museums that surround the restaurant. The menu offers an edible history lesson, tracing the evolution of dishes across the globe. Be sure to try a few dishes from the dumpling category, which spans gyoza, pierogies, and somasas with turmeric. Short rib resting on a bed of egg noodles and crispy tofu with gai lan in fermented black bean sauce are also highlights at Artifact. Keep an eye out for monthly regional dinners, which focus on specific cuisines from around the world; upcoming events include Romania, Switzerland, and Parisian Christmas.
Know before you go: Artifact offers a weekend happy hour from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. from Friday to Sunday.
Kimberly Motos
Herb & Wood
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
Head to Little Italy to experience chef Brian Malarkey’s flagship restaurant with its sprawling dining areas, including a roomy rectangular bar, a low-lit, sophisticated interior with exposed wooden beams, or an enclosed patio space with a warming fireplace in the center. Herb & Wood is still a stunning spot to see and be seen in, with its California-meets-Mediterranean menu of grilled meats, pasta, and wood-fired pizza that keeps diners coming back. Start with pork belly with vadouvan aioli or roasted oysters with bone marrow before exploring the rest of the menu with dishes like a wagyu New York strip, roasted branzino, mushroom pizza, and lobster mafalde.
Must-try dishes: The rustic atmosphere lends itself to wood-fired dishes like the shareable mushroom pizza.
Bailey Films
Kettner Exchange
Open for: Dinner, Sunday Lunch
Price range: $$
An expansive rooftop patio is part of the draw at this bi-level restaurant that’s a fixture on the nightlife scene but was also recognized with Michelin Bib Gourmand status in 2021. The downstairs level is hip and happening, and the upstairs is quieter, with an eye-catching tree in the middle of the second-floor patio. Helmed by executive chef Brian Redzikowski, who has created a consistently thoughtful menu with dishes infused with Asian ingredients and techniques. Menu highlights include spicy tuna crispy rice, spicy garlic noodles with royal red shrimp, butternut squash dumplings with black vinegar, and crispy fried butternut squash with peanut crunch and nuoc nam.
Must-try dishes: Be sure to get something from the inventive cocktail menu, like the Curry-osity with gin, curry, turmeric, and coconut, along with dishes showcasing seasonal ingredients, like the satisfying butternut squash from Two Forks Farm.
Kettner Exchange [Official photo]
Meet Dumpling
Open for: Lunch, Dinner
Price range: $
Don’t be fooled by Meet Dumpling’s nondescript storefront in the Point Loma strip mall, near San Diego’s marinas and military bases. The tiny Chinese restaurant, owned by a husband-wife team that moved from San Francisco in 2022, serves dumplings from the Chinese province of Liaoning, where co-owner Howard Gao grew up. A small cut-out in the kitchen door gives customers a first-hand view of the deliberate process that begins with a piece of dough being broken off and flattened with a rolling pin. Each wrapper is filled individually and pinched in pleats before being dropped in scorching hot water. The boiled dumplings are available with fillings, including ground pork, shrimp, celery, mushrooms, and cabbage; the green chive dumplings with shrimp and pork are a signature dish. The rest of the menu is worth exploring: Dongbei beef noodle soup with thin, springy wheat noodles and Beijing-style zhajiangmian noodles, mixed tableside with sesame oil, soy sauce, and housemade chile oil for a kick. Also try the rougamo, a Shaanxi flatbread sandwich with stewed seasoned meat, paying homage to the Western province where Gao’s wife, Alice Wang, grew up. No meal here is complete without an order of boba tea, made with muddled fruit like passionfruit, lychee, or strawberry.
Know before you go: Take a peek in the kitchen cut-out to see the dumplings scratch-made in small batches.
Candice Woo
Kingfisher
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$
Kingfisher continues to be one of the city’s most dynamic restaurants, bringing destination dining from executive chef David Sim and team to the undersung neighborhood of Golden Hill with a menu that elegantly modernizes classic Vietnamese dishes while highlighting San Diego produce from farms like Chino Farm. Don’t miss the dry-aged duck, available in limited quantities, seasonal congee, and scratch-made spring egg noodles with stinging nettle, a bright lemongrass sauté, topped with a soft poached egg to poke and stir through the comfort porridge dish. The fantastically creative cocktails incorporate Asian ingredients like miso, jackfruit, and Chinese five spice in a knock-your-socks-off, refreshing kind of way.
Know before you go: Make it to the Golden Hour happy hours extended to 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday, with elevated bar bites like crispy chicken wings, crispy pig ear salad, or littleneck clams and mussels. Don’t forget to try the warm bread pudding with roasted banana ice cream for dessert.
Kimberly Motos
Animae
Open for: Dinner
Price range: $$$$
Named as San Diego’s first James Beard Award finalist, executive chef Tara Monsod helms San Diego’s Filipino- and Asian-inflected steakhouse. Cooking the restaurant’s most compelling menu to date, Monsod’s cuisine brings a new perspective to Asian classics with dishes like tuna kinilaw, short rib kare kare, Taiwanese fried chicken, and wagyu fried rice. The modern, opulent dining space with sky-high ceilings, huge windows with velvet drapes, and cushy, curvaceous booths adds to the ambiance of a night out with elevated comfort dishes. Stop at the gorgeous bar for bites and cocktails. Don’t skip desserts like chocolate crèmeux and buko pandan.
Must-try dishes: Don’t miss out on the pork tomahawk tocino, brightened with a red beet glaze and accompanied by a citrusy mango sawsawan, a Filipino favorite that chef Tara has incorporated into the dinner menu.
Jim Sullivan
Izola Bakery
Open for: Breakfast, lunch
Price range: $-$$
What started as a home baking business during the pandemic has transformed into a standalone 4,200-square-foot bakery thriving in East Village. (The bakery originally developed a cult following for lowering croissants from a third-floor apartment window to their customers.) Izola has since introduced sourdough loaves to its menu, which fly off the shelves each morning. In addition to conventional croissant flavors, like chocolate, almond, and the 96-layer butter croissant, the kitchen offers savory renditions, like the bibimbap croissant that went viral. Sourdough flavors include seedy multigrain, cranberry pecan, and the Lao Gan Ma Gruyere loaf, which started as a monthly special before popular demand made it a permanent fixture. With inventive, unexpected versions of pillowy pastries and hearty sourdough dropping in every month, Izola has only grown its fanbase to enormous proportions.
Know before you go: Lines can wrap down the block on busy weekend mornings and holidays, so it may be best to order online to snag your pick of the sourdough and croissants.
Izola Bakery
Sovereign Modern Thai Cuisine
Open for: Lunch, dinner
Price range: $$
In East Village, Sovereign is the only Thai restaurant in San Diego consistently recognized by the Michelin Guide. The casual dining room, with two walls of windows and deep red booths, surrounds a large bar where the full menu is available. Sovereign’s brother-sister team, (JuMi Pitiwartarlai runs the front of the house while her brother Uthan Dejcomrunkul helms the kitchen) focuses on seasonal ingredients and inventive takes on regional dishes from their native Thailand: Their grandmother was employed by the Thai royal family, and her favorite recipes have been passed down through the generations. Highlights include wasabi scallop ceviche, small squid nestled in a pool of puckery lime sauce, grilled pork paired with a sweet and spicy Isan jaew sauce, and slow-poached soy braised chicken thighs infused with cilantro root, garlic, and white peppercorns.
Know before you go: Available from Thursday to Sunday, the whole rockfish, fried and smothered with a spicy tamarind herb sauce, remains a must-try dish, though it’s best to order early because the number of rockfish plates available depends on how many their personal fishermen reeled in that day.
Sovereign Modern Thai
Fish Guts
Open for: Lunch
Price range: $
Chef Pablo Becker starts most mornings with an early trip to Tunaville Market to pick out fresh fish from legendary fishmonger Tommy Gomes. Moving quickly to keep the fish fresh, Becker heads back to his taqueria, Fish Guts, to prepare the city’s best fish tacos. The local white fish used for the Estilo Baja tacos, usually rockfish or sheepshead, is portioned out before being battered with a mix of flour, Modelo, bread crumbs, and French mustard inspired by a trip to Ensenada, Mexico. Just before the fish is ready, Blecker prepares the coleslaw and assembles the taco on a fresh corn tortilla made with masa from a local vendor. The outer coating is not too thick, and the fish is tender, practically melting in slivers with each mouthful. Add orders of smoked monchong fish dip, Baja-style battered shrimp tacos, and freshly fried fish and chips to round out the meal. Signature drink options at Fish Guts include a smoky mango margarita made with agave wine and fresh juice or a classic michelada.
Must-try dish: You can’t drop into a place with “fish” in its name without indulging in a fish taco.
Serea Coastal Cuisine
Open for: Breakfast, Dinner, Weekend Brunch
Price range: $$$$
The iconic Hotel del Coronado’s anchor restaurant is also a showcase for the region’s best seafood. With views facing the Pacific Ocean from almost all the tables, the interior is decorated like a beach house with a tiered outdoor patio so everyone gets a view. Executive chef JoJo Ruiz (Lionfish, Joya Kitchen, Temaki Bar: Handroll, Sushi, Sake) has a long history of supporting local fishermen, whose fresh catch is cooked whole and served tableside just steps from the beach. On the menu are seasonal dishes, such as the “Greek Freak,” crusted tuna with crispy dolmas, grilled swordfish “piccata” made with horta, lemon, capers, and piccata sauce, and Greek grilled chicken with lemon mustard sauce.
Know before you go: Book a table at sunset for spectacular views while sipping on refreshing cocktails like the spicy hibiscus margarita.
Aqui Es Texcoco
Open for: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Price range: $
Birria might be the Mexican slow-cooked meat dish of the moment, but barbacoa — particularly barbacoa de borrego (lamb) — might reign supreme. Traditionally roasted for over seven hours in an underground fire pit and covered with maguey plant leaves, the kitchen uses a specialized oven to replicate the flavors. This roomy Chula Vista restaurant has been focused on lamb barbacoa for nearly 35 years, turning out tender, succulent barbecue that’s best had as a build-your-own taco experience, served with fresh tortillas, salsa, garnishes, and a side of rich lamb consomme, but it’s also excellent as a filling for crunchy flautas or cheesy quesatacos. Although lamb is king here, don’t miss the zucchini flower or huitlacoche quesadillas.
Must-try dish: Start with the lamb barbecue plate to establish a baseline if you’ve never tried barbacoa before.
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