20 Best Restaurants in San Diego
1. CARNITAS' SNACK SHACK - EMBARCADERO
Situated on the Embarcadero waterfront, Carnitas' Snack Shack - Embarcadero is San Diego’s original pork house offering a wide variety of indulgent food, local craft beer, and specialty cocktails, and also they offer you the ocean view that you can enjoy your meal with it.
You can enjoy many kinds of food at this restaurant, they have sandwiches, tacos, tailgate boxes, Cali burritos, sides menu, dessert, beverages, and brunch. There are several favorites food by people here and one of them is tacos grilled fish, it contains avocado cream, radish, serrano chiles, red cabbage, guacamole, and pico de Gallo.
Pork belly and margarita are also two favorite foods at Carnitas' Snack Shack - Embarcadero, soft serve as a dessert, besides all the food are delicious, it's also simple to eat and the oceanview that can make you more enjoy your dinner or lunch.
Carnitas' Snack Shack - Embarcadero
2. HERB & WOOD
Herb & Wood offers you many varied menus available such as appetizers, vegetables, entrees, pasta, pizzas, dessert and sweets and sippers, cocktails, wine, and beer.
Some several foods and drinks got many people's hearts, the cocktails here are so good with many selections of cocktails like Mezcal & Flowers, Ginger & Smoke, Blueberry & Spice, Bourbon & Honey, Fire & Thyme, and more to go. The most orders of entrees food is Gnocchi with oxtail, roasted garlic, parsley, chive, sherry, and parmesan. Then, end your day at this restaurant by eating the delicious blueberry soufflé with blueberry, lemon curd, lavender cream, and lemon buttermilk ice cream.
Herb & Wood
3. ADDISON RESTAURANT
If you're looking for a place for romantic dining with your partner, or just spend your night with your family or a lovely one in San Diego, Addison Restaurant should be the place that you have to visit.
Addison Restaurant will pamper your dining with several choices of tasty and delicious foods and drinks, and the restaurant staff is incredibly friendly and attentive. Wine pairing is one of the goddess things at this restaurant, the 5-star course will never let you down, and enjoy the Chocolate dessert with PB caramel, banana, and maraschino cherry at the end of the day.
Addison Restaurant
4. LAS CUATRO MILPAS
Las Cuatro Milpas is an old-school Mexican restaurant and they are opened every day except Sunday from 8 AM to 3 PM. If you are in a Mexican restaurant, it means you'll see tortillas, tacos, and chorizo.
But, the food that every customer love at Las Cuatro Milpas is flour tortillas with $3.25, or you can try chorizo here start from $3.75, and roll tacos with $5.00. One thing that you have to know before buying some tacos and chorizos at Las Cuatro Milpas is they just accepted cash only, so prepare some bucks with you before going to this place.
Las Cuatro Milpas
5. WRENCH AND RODENT SEABASSTROPUB
Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub is a sushi restaurant which opens from 4.00 PM until 8.30 PM. You'll get many choices of menus at this restaurant such as Japanese foods, wrench rolls foods, rodent rolls, beer, wine, sake, bubbles, and some non-alcoholic beverages.
If you are a vegan, this restaurant could be one of your choices because they offer vegan sushi and could be the best vegan sushi in the town. So, if you are looking for a sushi restaurant that has good food quality with a very impressive omakase option, Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub could be your best choice.
Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub
6. BARBUSA
Barbusa is one of many Italian restaurants in San Diego which offers you different selections of menus. From artisan pizzas, handmade pasta, and seafood-centric dishes to handcrafted Italian cocktails and Southern Italian wines, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
Barbusa offers you light, delicious, and authentic Italian cuisines such as Granchio spaghettini with shallots, soft shell crab, serrano chile in rosa sauce, or Cavatelli Con Bone Marrow with ricotta dumplings, Sicilian sausage, and cream. Not only the food, but there are also some tasty hand-crafted cocktails and draft beer available such as Boujee, Caloroso, Allegre, Palermo, and more.
Barbusa
7. THE CRACK SHACK - LITTLE ITALY
The Crack Shack - Little Italy is a chicken restaurant or we can call one of the best chicken restaurants in San Diego. On the menu, you'll get several options including, flock meals, fried chicken, sandwiches, bowls menu, side dishes, Lil cluckers, and sweets.
You can enjoy the delicious double clucker sandwiches with two ground chicken patties, cheddar, bacon, smashed avocado, burger sauce, pickles, fried onions, and potato roll, or order sides like Mexican Poutine with schmaltz fries, pollo asado, and jalapeño cheese wiz. And, end your lunch with some sweet desert-like cookie monster milkshake and cookies with the salted chocolate ship with love.
The Crack Shack - Little Italy
8. TRUST
Trust offers you a fantastic atmosphere, excellent service, and delicious food and drinks that available. This hotel has a lot of options with dinner, brunch, drinks, and desserts menu on the table.
For dinner, you can get Coal Roasted Sunchokes, Kimchi Fried Rice, Ricotta Agnolotti, Scottish Salmon, and the famous Octopus Fritters. For brunch and drinks, there are Smoked Salmon Toast, Fried Pork Cutlet, Wood-Grilled Cauliflower with some cocktails, and draft beer like summer gypsy, voodoo mistress, grapevine fires, Moulin de Gassac, and more. Then, the dessert is also can pamper you while eating at this restaurant like carrot cake, key lime cheesecake, profiteroles, and Mr. Trustee's weekly flavor.
Trust Restaurant
9. MORNING GLORY
If you want to enjoy your breakfast or brunch in San Diego, Morning Glory has the best menu on it. This restaurant has some favorite foods by people such as the delicious and light soufflé pancakes, the tasty Morning Glory fried rice, and chicken and waffles which perfect for brunch.
You can even enjoy scalloped potatoes at this restaurant with very delicious and unique cocktails for breakfast and brunch. Morning Glory also offers you a great ambiance, comfy atmosphere, and restaurant interior is incredibly awesome, a very nice place to spend your money for breakfast or brunch.
Morning Glory
10. BUONA FORCHETTA - SOUTH PARK
Buona Forchetta started in 2011 as a craving of Matteo’s to bring some of his native Italy to South Park. This restaurant is open everyday, start open from 12.00 PM.
Since it's an Italian restaurant, you'll be offering a bunch of Italian foods such as Fattore with mixed greens, grapes tomatoes, walnuts, and shaved Parmigiano or Calamari Fritti with fried calamari and marinara. They also have lasagna bolognese, lasagna vegetariana, zuppa del giorno, buona forchetta, and the most-like food in this restaurant, Gnocchi. So, don't think twice to visit this Italian restaurant in San Diego, put it on your list.
Buona Forchetta - South Park
11. SUSHI OTA
Besides the Italian restaurant and some local restaurants, San Diego also has several Japanese restaurants and Sushi Ota is one of them. This restaurant has a commitment to bring an authentic Japanese experience to all the guests, it starts to open at 11:30 AM to 02.00 PM for lunch and 05.00 to 10.00 PM for dinner time.
Sushi Ota offers you several cut roll menus such as Albacore sunrise roll, California (snow crab), caterpillar roll, crunchy tempura roll, jalapeno salmon roll, shrimp tempura roll, and still more to go. Then, there are also sashimi, grilled food, steamed food, fried food, salad, baked, vegetables, and cold sake. Then, all the guests also be offering fresh fish which you can taste and enjoy in every bite of it.
Sushi Ota
12. PROVISIONAL KITCHEN
After the Italian and Japanese restaurants that we discussed above, Provisional Kitchen is an American dishes restaurant with an open kitchen. Provisional Kitchen offers you two types of menus available, there are Provisional Brunch menu and Provisional dinner menu.
For the brunch menu, there is Pendry breakfast, eggs benedict, avocado toast, buttermilk pancakes, Angus Beef Burger, Chicken Quesadilla, and more. Then, for the dinner menu, all the guests will be offering Prime Center Cut Ribeye Filet with Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, Balsamic Reduction, and Arugula or a few vegan menus like Grilled Lemon Broccolini, Pesto Potatoes, and Spicy Crispy Brussels Sprouts.
Provisional Kitchen
13. BORN AND RAISED
Born and Raised is a steak restaurant in San Diego with a spacious modern destination for high-end steak and cocktails with glitzy décor and a rooftop patio.
Born and Raised offers you several favorites menus at the restaurant which include the amazing beef tartar and Caesar salad made tableside, the Bone Marrow Escargot, Mac n Cheese, Hasbrowns, ribeye, the fancy wagyu, and the magnificent beef wellington will get rid of your hunger here.
As we said before, this restaurant has art deco and the century architecture mixed with a modern flair, so you can enjoy every bite of steak with an amazing view of the sky on the rooftop patio.
Born and Raised
14. JUNIPER & IVY
If you are looking for a restaurant with good service and friendly staff in San Diego, Juniper & Ivy is one of the restaurants that you have to visit. Located in the Little Italy portion of San Diego near the airport, the restaurant services are amazing with the simple beautiful interior.
And, all the guests can get several options of incredible menus such as snacks, small plates, plates, and dessert. For the snacks and dessert, there is a buttermilk biscuit, spicy tuna handroll, corn dog, pistachio cake, hazelnut creme brulee, and more. Then, there is small plates and plates menu which includes, halibut Crudo, sea urchin, citrus cured salmon, squid ink linguine, black cod, hanger steak, chopped salad, and many more.
Juniper & Ivy
15. PARAKEET CAFE
Parakeet Cafe is located on Indiana Street, San Diego, California and it's open every day start from 7 AM to 7 PM. You can start your day at Parakeet Cafe with the charcoal and turmeric latte, avocado toast, waffles, and zucchini bread as a great and healthy breakfast.
If you are love to eat fish, Parakeet Cafe also offers you tasty and rich salmon. You can also try the organic and scrambled egg which is very interesting foods here. This restaurant is recommended for vegetarians because you'll be offering multiple options for gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan foods.
Parakeet Cafe
16. TIDAL
If you are looking for a place for a romantic dinner with a beautiful view, Tidal should be on your destinations list. Tidal offers you a gorgeous patio with a wonderful bay view, a comfy atmosphere surrounds it, the ambiance is fantastic.
This restaurant is open start from 5.00 PM until 9.00 PM on weekdays and 10.30 AM until 3.00 PM on Saturday. For the options of foods, you will get Mochiko Fried Chicken with sweet rice flour, kimchi, aioli, and furikake. Crispy Tofu & Veggie Bibimbap with sticky rice, wilted spinach, carrots, tempura fried enoki mushroom, marinated sprouts, cucumber. They also have a kids menu which includes, Teriyaki chicken breast with rice and veggies, and a fried tofu teriyaki bowl with rice and beans.
Tidal
17. AMBROGIO15
Ambrogio15 is a restaurant with a cozy atmosphere and has an identity as a pizza restaurant in San Diego. Ambrogio15 is perfect for you if you want to dinner with your friends or family or partner with pizza alongside. Pizza in Ambrogio15 is famous for the thin crust, flavorful, creamy burrata, proper prosciutto, and good quality ingredients. Besides the pizza, they also have a tasty and quality Italian wine list, and the heavenly dessert of tiramisu to close your dining at Ambrogio15.
Ambrogio15
18. PARMA CUCINA ITALIANA
Another Italian restaurant in San Diego that we will discuss, it's called Parma Cucina Italiana. If Ambrogio15 is famous for their pizza, Parma Cucina Italiana is famous because of the delicious and tasty lasagna, the taste of lasagna is just amazing, alongside with wonderful wine list.
Besides the lasagna, there is also some good food that loved by many guests such as Ravioli in rosa which spinach and ricotta ravioli in a pink tomato sauce, Gnocchi 4 formaggi potato dumpling with 4 cheeses sauce in a white cream sauce, and Tiramisu with Italian soft cookies dipped in espresso coffee and sprinkled with cocoa powder.
Parma Cucina Italiana
19. HARNEY SUSHI
If you are a sushi hunter and lived in San Diego, Harney Sushi is the restaurant that you need to visit. Harney Sushi has unbelievable tasty and delicious food, friendly staff, and accepted prices which is highly recommended for the Japanese food enthusiast.
They open start from 4 PM until 9.00/10.00 PM every day. All the guests will get a bunch of menus that are interesting to try and eat, for appetizers they have cup o'miso, edamame, classic tempura, gyoza, sweet potato frites, pork fried rice, salt, and pepper Calamari, and more.
Then, for the favorites entrees and rolls menu, they have teriyaki chicken bowl, katsu chicken, kids bento, yakisoba, spicy orange chicken, or the famous one - rollz Royce with shrimp tempura, asparagus, topped with tuna sashimi, jalapeno, money sauce, hand seared garlic, ponzu, faux-nagi sauce.
Harney Sushi
20. TRULUCK'S OCEAN'S FINEST SEAFOOD AND CRAB
Just like the name, Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab offer you several delicious seafood menus that you can try.
Start open at 5.00 PM and closed at 9.30 PM, Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab have a seafood classics menu which includes, North Atlantic Salmon with asparagus, Miso-Glazed Seabass, Hawaiian Ahi Tuna, Prime King Crab Leg, South African Lobster Tail, and more. Then, to end your dining at Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab, make sure you order carrot cake since it's one of many famous foods at this restaurant. So, don't think twice to visit this restaurant and bring some money because it's worth it.
Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab
