Welcome to SDM’s Guide to San Diego Food + Drink, our new video series dedicated to our favorite food and drink in the city. At the end of the summer, we’re bring many of these restaurants to the Del Mar Wine + Food Festival for a massive party. You should come. San Diego restaurants, local wineries, Food Network chefs… it’s our big dream for the city.
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
I’ve lived in San Diego for 16 years and still unashamedly love Old Town. What other place in San Diego has so many kitschy shops, ghosts (totally real!), restaurants, breweries, and approximately one thousand different kinds of margaritas? Sure, there are a few obvious tourist traps, but there’s a startling amount of amazing things to eat and drink—from the housemade tortillas at Old Town Mexican Cafe to the sushi at El Sueño.
El Sueño’s sushi is so popular that the owners decided to convert the restaurant’s second story into a brand-new sushi and crudo-focused concept called Tako Vibrant Sushi. It’s slated to soft open at 2836 Juan Street on Tuesday, September 3.
Tako, which means octopus in Japanese, will offer Mexican-Japanese fusion and rotate based on what fish and other seafood are in season. Owner Pietro Busalacchi, who owns Tako, El Sueño, and Trattoria Don Pietro with his father Sal and partner Gustavo Rios, says guests should expect cocktails with an “over the top” presentation, with an emphasis on tequila, sake, and Japanese whisky. He says the food will be just as eye-popping.
Courtesy of Tako Vibrant Sushi
“The crudo and sushi at Tako is fresh, playful and bursting with flavor,” he promises. “As with our other restaurants, we’ll be focusing on quality, service and the full experience.” Head chef Eric Steadman (Hane, Barbusa) is behind Tako’s menu development. “He also developed El Sueño’s popular inaugural crudo menu, which did so well, we decided to expand and let him do his thing,” says Busalacchi.
The 1,100-square-foot space, designed by Busalacchi, features floral and jungle-themed décor, with a DJ booth, a 12-seat bar, and what he says is a small and intimate atmosphere that feels vibrant and fun. “[Tako] feels more like a speakeasy or intimate supper club,” he explains.
Tako’s hours will run Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.; and closed Mondays and Wednesdays. Reservations aren’t open yet, but locals should watch before the tourists catch wind. (No word on whether any of the Whaley ghosts are sushi fans.)
Courtesy of Coasterra
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Coasterra to Host the 21st Annual Harvest for Hope on Sunday, September 22
Since 2003, the Emilio Nares Foundation has helped more than 11,000 families across Southern California who have faced the most dire diagnosis they could receive—their child has cancer. To raise money and awareness for families affected by pediatric cancer, they launched Harvest for Hope, now in its 21st year. Head to Coasterra on Sunday, September 22, for the annual fundraiser and food festival with wine, beer, spirits, and plenty of food from 25 local businesses. Click here for tickets and more details.
The First Taste of College Area Kicks Off Sunday, September 29
College Area’s food selections are firing up. Now, the best of the best will showcase their stuff at the inaugural Taste of College Area on Sunday, September 29. From Ultreya Coffee to Corbin’s Q, taste over 25 local vendors from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Buy your ticket ahead of time and save $5.
I tend to prefer a light Japanese lager with my ramen, but Tajima just launched a new bar program spotlighting a few different drinks, like their spin on a margarita that uses sabe, a tequila-sake blend. That one can be found at Tajima East Village, while their North Park location has a new Sesame Highball, and Convoy has a Matchaholic with hot matcha, sake, and lychee. It sounds like a ramen bar crawl is in order.
There’s a new coffee-slash-surf-shop in Rosarito called Migrant Society. Brothers Erick and Carlos Palacio have done several pop-ups and farmers markets across San Diego, and this new spot features coffee from Danie Brewing, a unique surfboard design by Tyler Voth of Solana Surfboards. San Diego may be next if all goes well with the Baja California location.
Yakitori Tsuta opens this Wednesday in Convoy. The $108 yakitori omakase menu reservations are only available between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., with à la carte and walk-ins after 8 p.m. I can’t wait to get my hands on chef Tatsuro Tsuchiya’s charcoal-grilled delicacies.
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
Restaurants are the social lifeblood of a city. They offer a place to commune with friends and strangers alike, build relationships, explore new cultures through flavors, and offer a welcome escape from the reality of our own kitchens. All under the guise of getting something to eat.
With all restaurants do to nourish us, we invite you to give back to them by voting for your Reader’s Choice favorites in several categories.
Vote in as many categories as you like, but you can only cast one vote per category. If the altruistic love of your favorite spot isn’t enough, your vote will enter you to win a $200 gift card to the Catamaran Hotel Resort and Spa.
Winning restaurants earn bragging rights for the entire calendar year—and your continued love and support. So, go on. It’s up to you to decide on our city’s next culinary icon.
Stake Chophouse & Bar isn’t your average steakhouse. Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Coronado outpost is a modern interpretation of a big-city steakhouse nestled in the heart of the small coastal community. The team at Stake has reimagined the whole steakhouse experience. By prioritizing a seasonal farm-to-table sourcing philosophy, a personalized guest experience, and unique service touches, like a formal steak presentation and a bespoke knife selection process, Stake distinguishes itself in a sea of steakhouses.
Exceptional steaks, including Wagyu from Japan, Australia, and the U.S., and fresh seafood flown in daily form the core of Stake’s culinary identity. The menu features a five-course omakase-style steak experience highlighting house favorites, plus an array of cuts, and classic steakhouse staples—think a wedge salad, baked potato, or pasta carbonara—refined for a contemporary palate without losing their traditional appeal. Stake focuses on seasonal sourcing from the region’s best family farms and specialty purveyors, and incorporates intentionally unexpected touches to create something truly unique.
“I challenge our chefs and myself to take it a step further in sourcing,” says Chef Ronnie Schwandt. “It’s important to us to highlight different farms, unique one-off farms—whether it’s cattle, strawberries, a local fisherman or from anywhere in the United States, we’re always trying to find that niche.”
Beyond the menu, Stake emphasizes outstanding service, says Vinny Spatafore, Director of Hospitality Operations. Staff maintains detailed notes, allowing them to remember guests by name, recall previous orders such as a favorite martini (also memorable for the customer since it’s served in an extra tall, distinctly-shaped glass), and celebrate special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
“When you have those points of topic that you remember about a guest, they appreciate that,” he says. “Our servers are really good with that—we have a couple servers who have been here since the beginning and they’ll remember somebody from years ago, their name, their kids’ names, where they live. I’m really thankful to have a great front of house staff.”
Award-winning wines, rare whiskeys, special events, and a complementary black car service that provides transportation for guests throughout Coronado add to Stake’s appeal.
Schwandt stresses that Stake offers more than a meal; they aim to give patrons something unforgettable.
“It starts when you walk up the stairs and are greeted by the hostess—that sets the tone for the night. Then you’re greeted by a server, who may know you by name, and can guide you through the menu and curate as they get to know you,” says Schwandt. “Most people leave kind of blown away; they leave feeling like they just had an experience. That’s the goal, right? Whether you’re serving smash burgers or high-end steak, you want somebody to leave thinking, Wow, that was awesome.”
Spread the news. Share the poll. Voting ends on February 23, 2024.
You’ve served us delicious food all year, so, sit back and relax, and leave the marketing to us. We’ve crafted all the materials needed to recruit your biggest fans and followers to cast their votes for you. The marketing materials include logos, graphics for email and social media, restaurant signage, and cards to place in your to-go orders. All you need to do is start promoting on February 12.
Promoting & Voting Dates:
Voting: February 12 through February 18 Extended get-out-the-vote week: February 19 – February 23, 2024.
Awards and Bragging Rights:
Winning restaurants will be announced in the Best Restaurants issue of San Diego Magazine this May and will receive “2024 Winner” graphics to plaster anywhere that’s legal.
Winners will also be invited to participate at the Best of San Diego Party on August 2, 2023, where thousands of our readers await the chance to savor the culinary creations that earned you the top spot.
Let’s Get Started:
A series of “Vote for Us” graphics are below. All static marketing materials can be downloaded by clicking on the image. Follow the steps below:
Static “Vote for Us” Graphics:
• Click on the image you want to open Google Drive. • Right-click or double-tap the image to open it larger. • Choose download or click the down arrow on the right side of the opened image. • Download your image.
Customizable “Vote for Us” Graphics:
• Click the graphic you want. • Canva will open on your browser. If you don’t already have a Canva account, you will be asked to establish a FREE account. • Once you log in, you can upload your photos, and add content to your graphics like the name of your restaurant and the category you aim to win.
Email Blasts:
Download an email blast graphic and send it through your email marketing platform! Don’t forget to link the email to the ballot page: www.sdmag.com/vote2024
Click the image above to download
Custom Email:
Click here to go to Canva and log in (it’s free to join). When you choose the graphic to edit, choose the prompt to “Duplicate” before you start. DO NOT CHOOSE EDIT. In your duplicated version, add your photos and text within the app. Download the type of file your email system requires. Don’t forget to link the email to the ballot page: www.sdmag.com/vote2024
Click here to go to Canva and log in (it’s free to join). When you choose the graphic to edit, choose the prompt to “Duplicate” before you start. DO NOT CHOOSE EDIT. In your duplicated version, add your photos and text within the app. Download the type of file your email system requires. Don’t forget to link the email to the ballot page: www.sdmag.com/vote2024
Instagram GIFY
Official Best Restaurants voting stickers are available in Instagram stories. Search Best Restaurants and add a sticker GIFY to your content. Click on the graphic to go to download. Don’t forget to include a tap-to-vote link in your story: www.sdmag.com/vote2024.
Click the image above to download.
Custom Instagram Story
Click here to go to Canva and log in (it’s free to join). When you choose the graphic to edit, choose the prompt to “Duplicate” before you start. DO NOT CHOOSE EDIT. In your duplicated version, add your photos and text within the app. Download a .png or .jpeg. Don’t forget a tap-to-vote link in your story: www.sdmag.com/vote2024.
Click the image above to download.
To-Go Order QR Cards
Get out the vote by placing one of these cards in all your to-go orders. A convenient QR code that links to voting is on each card. The QR Code will take your customer directly to vote at www.SDMag.com/Vote2024
Click the image above to download.
Poster
Print and hang a poster in your restaurant! The QR Code will take your customer directly to vote at www.SDMag.com/Vote2024
Click the image above to download.
Logos and Icons
Add a logo or icon to your email or website. Don’t forget to include a link to vote: www.SDMag.com/vote2024
Logically, the restaurant scene should’ve been dead-silent this year. Food costs went berserk. Labor costs swelled. We all knew how to cook because we were marooned in our own homes for a few years. And yet San Diego’s food scene unveiled a few dozen more pretty fantastic restaurants in 2023. This is what I love about restaurants and the people behind them. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Sure, money is to be Danny Meier’d for the few and the lucky and the ulcered.
But financial analysts who are not sadistic would advise you to put your money into the stock market, into real estate, into off-brand Beanie Babies before putting it into the restaurant industry. That means all you’re left with are people who do it because they have to, or because the dream of creating a hospitable place that makes humans happy is just too compelling to ignore.
Here are the new arrivals that won me over in 2023 and became part of my own personal hit list of the best new restaurants in San Diego.
Photo Credit: James Tran
Kinme
Omakase-only sushi spots took over the whole dang scene (omakase means you eat what chef deigns their best and most creative stuff that day, with no menu to choose from). Azuki in Bankers Hill has long been one of the city’s favorite sushi spots. It was never hype-trained. It just quietly, consistently snuck up on us all, probably because of owner Shihomi Borillo and chef Nao Ichimura’s obsession with the good-food movement.
Kinme is their tiny (900 square feet), 10-seat, omakase-only concept a block up the hill. It’s a mix of Edomae-style sushi and kaiseke, a seasonal, multi-course Japanese meal. The menu changes all the time, but it has included things like grilled corn with koji miso and tomatillo salt, A5 wagyu in ginger shoyu, and chawanmushi, plus Japanese whiskys, rare sake, and top-notch tea to finish.
Courtesy of Fish Guts
Fish Guts
A hell of a fish-taco-and-sammy shop. San Diego born and raised, Pablo Becker helped open some of the bigger Mexican restaurants in the country with his cousin, famed Mexican chef Richard Sandoval. He needed a break, so he moved to Chicago for five years and became a line cook. He was offered management roles, refused. Head down, cooking. Five years.
Fish Guts is his return home, a small-but-mighty corner spot in Barrio Logan. It serves sandwiches during the day, tacos at night, using almost all sustainable fish from local boats. Get the blackened whitefish with the jalapeño-cabbage slaw, the mushroom taco, or the fantastic Negra Modelo beer–battered lunch sammy with Mexican tartar sauce.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
MAKE Projects
MAKE Projects is one of the city’s most inspiring food nonprofits, helping low-income refugees and immigrant women learn farming, cooking, and catering skills and earn a living as they acclimate to their new life in the US.
During the weekends, the women cook and sell specialties from their native countries—East African mandazi (they’re like beignets), halloumi with farm veggies, pancakes with Cambodian orange syrup, Afghan chicken tacos with Haitian pikliz—made with ingredients from their urban farm. Now they have a permanent home in North Park.
Lia’s Lumpia
I could hang on this back porch all day, joy-shoveling lumpia with a couple beers. Chef Spencer Hunter’s grandma owned one of the first Filipino restaurants in San Diego decades ago and was famed for her hand-rolled lumpia (being lazy, but real close to accurate, let’s call it the egg roll of the Philippines).
Spencer went to college for sustainable hospitality and cooked in huts in South America, then came home to work through some top-notch kitchens (Searsucker, Waters Fine Foods + Catering). He and his mom, Benelia Santos-Hunter, started doing lumpia pop-ups at festivals, including Coachella. They went on Great Food Truck Race, nearly and probably should’ve won (a contestable second place), and found a permanent spot in Barrio Logan in an old house filled with pop-culture and Filipino cultural knicknacks.
It’s a total work in progress, design-wise. This is two family members ad-hoc’ing a dream, and I like that. Spencer will do seasonal riffs (ramen lumpia, Thanksgiving lumpia), but get “Lola’s Lumpia,” stuffed with a mix of beef and pork marinated in oyster sauce and various things. And don’t miss their ube-coffee ice cream with white chocolate shavings.
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
