Best Restaurants in San Diego, CA
Sunny San Diego has more to offer than beer and tacos these days. Thanks to award-winning chefs, San Diego’s culinary scene is an eclectic mix of locally inspired flavors. The city's proximity to the ocean and an abundance of local farms, inspires dedication to fresh local ingredients and farm-to-table roots. From traditional Mexican spots, to trendy seafood dining halls, cheerful pasta joints and award-winning sushi locales, here are some of the best restaurants in San Diego.
3752 Park Blvd., Hillcrest, CA 92103
Chef-owner Brad Wise has created a rustic, seasonally driven food menu around wood-fire cooking. The menu of this minimalist restaurant with a bustling open kitchen, serves mostly small, shareable plates divided into categories: Farm, Ranch, and Ocean. You’ll taste the expert technique whether you choose the Trust Burger or the Ricotta Agnolotti. Leave room for chef Jeremy Harville's playful desserts.
11480 N. Torrey Pines Road,
La Jolla, CA 92037
Located on one of the country’s best golf courses—Torrey Pines— the Lodge’s signature restaurant, A.R. Valentien, serves modern, refined, farm-to-table French cuisine with a view. Named after the California Impressionist whose paintings grace the walls of the intimate dining room, the restaurant serves an innovative seasonal menu. Don’t miss the Thursday night artisan table dinners.
4529 Mission Bay Drive,
San Diego, CA 92109
Located in a strip mall in between a car dealership and a convenience store, this humble Japanese seafood restaurant serves the freshest sashimi and their specialty, Uni, sourced right from the San Diego docks. Omakase, the Japanese tradition of letting a chef choose your order, leaves guests with a memorable dining experience. Make sure to book a few weeks in advance.
3408 30th St., San Diego, CA 92104
Anchoring the end of North Park’s restaurant row, The Smoking Goat is a rustic French-American bistro that blends traditional French staples with sustainably sourced San Diego ingredients. Locals love their happy hour specials such as the duck fat truffle fries, escargot au gratin and goat meatballs, as well as classic bistro fare staples such as steak frites along with great service, comfortable atmosphere and a fantastic wine list.
2266 Kettner Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101
The chicken coop inspired décor of communal tables, a slick bar, and string lights, The Crack Shack serves a menu of ethically sourced free-range chicken and egg dishes: fried chicken, deviled eggs, chicken fat fries, biscuits, and their famed crack sauces, the likes of the curry mustard and kimchi barbecue.
1654 India St., San Diego, CA 92101
A beautiful polished nautical themed space, with the freshest Kusshi oysters, and 1lb brown butter mayo lobster rolls. If you can’t decide, try their signature “$420 Holy Sh*t" sampler platter. Order a Fog Cutter, served in a killer whale tiki mug and head to the piranha wall with hundreds of fish jaws protruding from the wall.
2725 State St., Carlsbad, CA 92008
This New American gourmet restaurant located in downtown Carlsbad, features woodsy camping inspired indoor/outdoor spaces with picnic tables, wood murals, antique camping gear and a teepee for the kids, all to help you celebrate the communal thrill of camping without the gear. The menu serves up grilled, charred, smoked or blistered, wood-fired meat, seafood and seasonal vegetables.
3001 Beech St., San Diego, CA 92102
This long time South Park neighborhood spot has been serving handmade pastas, family-style entrees and their famed Neapolitan pizza in a cozy atmosphere to a full house for years. And the Italian restaurant is now featuring all of their favorites, along with some new seafood dishes in Encinitas, in North County as well.
2228 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
This seasonal New American restaurant in the heart of San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood is home to playful molecular-style cuisine. Juniper & Ivy’s lively 7,500-square-foot setting boasts a two-story wine wall, and a beautiful open kitchen that gives diners a serious dinner and a show experience. Try the In-N-Haute burger, an ode to In-N-Out's double-double or the 4 x 4" --4 snacks, 4 plates chef tasting and don’t miss out on inventive cocktails with absinthe cotton candy and bone marrow-infused bourbon.