The latest retro-tinged boutique on La Jolla Boulevard feels way more Brooklyn than Bird Rock, but that’s precisely where the owners grew up surfing. Brothers Benny Walter and Attila Betyar spent their youth in the micro-neighborhood of Lower Hermosa, and have been dreaming up the ultimate tribute in Hermosa Surf Shop.
Featuring matcha lattes, minty-hued twin-fins, and design by Solstice Interiors, consider it a 2022 nod to ’60s surf culture. The high-end hangout is equal parts shop and café: Racks brim with local brands—Raen sunglasses, Unhinged candles, Moon wetsuits, and hand-painted denim—while the midcentury chairs are an ideal spot to play chess and sip the Kale-r Wave, a vegan smoothie made with ashwagandha, kale, and house granola. Mitch’s Surf Shop this is not.
“We want all of our customers to feel like this is an extension of their home, because that’s the way we feel about it,” Betyar says. “This space is so much more than a surf shop.”
Walter is the shaper in the family; he earned his chops old-school style at Clairemont Surf before moving into sales for leading surf hard-goods supplier Surf Hardware. Meanwhile, Betyar took a radical departure from his mechanical engineering degree at USD to become an artist and muralist. He did creative work with Huntington Beach artist Blake Sandoval (aka Yung Pinch).
In back of Hermosa, Solstice Interiors designer Katie Gebhardt has set up a breezy little studio. The vibe she created throughout is fresh, airy, and modern with muted pastels and natural wood accents. In curlicue script, a poster proclaims, “Have a Swell Day” while a hazy homage to Super 8 films plays on the vintage TV.
Need help deciding which of La Jolla’s seemingly endless beaches to lay your towel out at today? Each little sandy sliver between the neighborhood’s sea cliffs has its own name and character: the Cove for swimming, Children’s Pool for seal-watching, Wipeout Beach for skim-boarding. Head to La Jolla Shores for that wide, sandy, picnic-with-the-family feel, and if you know what you’re doing, go surfing at Windansea or Bird Rock (if you’re a beginner, opt instead for the Shores, where most of San Diego learned to surf).
Of course, beachy isn’t La Jolla’s only vibe. The Village (locals don’t call it downtown anymore, says La Jolla resident and senior editor of lajolla.ca Elisabeth Frausto) is La Jolla’s most walkable area—highlighted by the main drag, Prospect Street—with a wide radius of shop-lined roads sloping down to the coast.
At long standing neighborhood staples like Warwick’s bookstore and Harry’s Coffee Shop, “old-timers still belly up to the counter and talk politics,” Frausto says. Art enthusiasts visit to peruse through its many galleries, including Quint and Joseph Bellows, and check out what’s on at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD). Shoppers wander Girard Avenue, picking out activewear at Lululemon and Vuori and fancier digs at Thread + Seed and Sigi’s Boutique. Friends gossip and sip coffee at locally owned outposts like Flower Pot Cafe and Il Giardino Di Lilli.
Courtesy of Il Giardino Di Lilli
Once isolated from the rest of San Diego, La Jolla became a popular resort destination when the San Diego, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Railway arrived in the 1890s and made the area more accessible to visitors (who wanted to spend time there so badly they stayed in tents during the summer). Some of those tourists got creative, too.
“Our tradition of supporting the arts goes back to the days of the Green Dragon Artist Colony that was founded in 1894,” says Athenaeum Music & Arts Library Executive Director Christie Mitchell. Anna Held started the Green Dragon Colony to attract visiting artists to La Jolla for a weekend getaway; it quickly became a venue for ad-hoc performances and bohemian artists’ salons.
However, it was Ellen Browning Scripps more than anyone who shaped La Jolla into the neighborhood we know today, commissioning buildings like the structure that now houses MCASD. The arrival of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1907 laid the foundation for the establishment of UC San Diego 53 years later at the longtime site of the military base Camp Matthews. All of these developments helped establish La Jolla’s layered identities: high-dollar beach town, arts magnet, academic research hub.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
Facts About La Jolla, CA
Ellen Browning Scripps commissioned Irving Gill to design a building for the La Jolla Woman’s Club in 1914; it still meets today in the same building.
La Jolla’s scenic beauty is a backdrop for many movies, including Thor, Gattaca, Traffic, Mr. Jones, and Andy Warhol’s 1968 experimental film San Diego Surf.
Every summer, thousands of pregnant female leopard sharks gather in La Jolla’s Marine Protected Areas to incubate their pups.
Zillow reports the average home price in La Jolla is $2.3 million.
Old Hollywood film star and La Jolla native Gregory Peck was one of the founders of La Jolla Playhouse, which opened its doors in 1947.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
Locals’ Guide to La Jolla, CA
Athenaeum Music & Arts Director Christie Mitchell is a bona fide La Jolla local, having grown up in the LJ neighborhood of Bird Rock. Her dad still surfs, and Mitchell met her own surfer husband at La Jolla High (their toddler has already tried surfing, too). Mitchell’s mom still lives in Bird Rock, and “it’s gotten a lot livelier and more pedestrian-friendly,” she says.
On weekends, she makes sure to hit Wayfarer Bread for “the gooiest, heaviest, stickiest cinnamon loaf—definitely preorder because there’s always a line,” she advises. Friday and Saturday are pizza night at Wayfarer, and the bakery’s industry collabs produce some unique pies. For coffee, head to Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, of course, where you can grab a cup and hang out in the open-air seating or stroll to La Jolla Hermosa Park for ocean views (and a skate park and bike paths for little ones to tire themselves out on).
One of Mitchell’s favorites for lunch with coworkers in the Village is Peruvian-inspired Pepino, owned by one of her high school classmates. “The sweet potato bowl is really good,” she says.
Courtesy of The Marine Room
She also cherishes La Jolla institutions. The Ascot Shop, a longtime men’s clothing boutique, is a go-to for gifts; founded by a local fisherman, El Pescador Fish Market is the place for the freshest seafood and fish tacos; and The Marine Room is for special occasions, with on-point service against a backdrop of crashing waves. “And nothing says ‘La Jolla’ like George’s at the Cove,” Mitchell adds. “With the John Baldessari mural and the view, it’s a great mix of the arts and the ocean.”
There’s a surprising amount to do on the weekdays in La Jolla, Mitchell says, with free live music every Monday at the Athenaeum (and weekly ticketed events), late-night DJ sessions at Le Coq, acts at The Comedy Store, concerts at the The Conrad (home of La Jolla Music Society), and the monthly First Friday Art Walk.
Photo Credit: Kimberly Motos
What’s About to Happen
The biggest talk of the town for La Jollans? Possible secession from the city of San Diego, Frausto says. Proponents want to separate so La Jolla can maintain its own infrastructure and make decisions about development (critics say La Jolla should contribute taxes to the rest of the city). If the initiative advances, final say would come down to a city-wide vote.
Additionally, locals and visitors alike are witnessing a genuine culinary explosion. Restaurateur Sami Ladeki’s Roppongi, a Japanese fusion and sushi favorite that closed in 2015, reopened in December 2025 under returning chef Alfie Szeprethy. Michelin-starred chef Elijah Arizmendi launched tasting-menu-only restaurant Lucien last year, and chef Accursio Lota of North Park’s Cori Trattoria Pastifico opened his new spot Dora in November. Local designers Paul Basile and Jules Wilson are building Roseacre, 5,000 square feet of culinary concepts on Girard Avenue. And one of La Jolla’s favorite restaurant families is opening a completely new eatery near Torrey Pines Golf Course in summer 2026: From the guys behind Puesto and Marisi comes an Eastern Mediterranean spot called Ikaria.
Back in the Village, a new boutique hotel by Orli is landing in the old nurses’ quarters (now condos) next to the original 1924 Scripps hospital (the institution moved to Genesee Avenue in 1964). La Jolla is also getting in on the thrifting trend—Goodwill opened a shop on Herschel Avenue in early 2026.
Pedestrian-friendly changes are afoot in two of LJ’s walkable areas. At La Jolla Shores, look for enhancements to Avenida de la Playa from El Paseo Grande to Calle de la Plata, where the street has been closed to vehicles since 2020 for outdoor dining. The Village Streetscape Plan is coming to Girard Avenue between Silverado Street and Prospect Street, bringing expanded walking areas, corner parks, improved lighting, new seating, public art, and landscaping to create shade canopies and gathering spaces.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
Also look for beautification projects along the coast. The 1920s stairs leading down to the tide pools at Whale View Point are finally getting a redo; Ellen Browning Scripps Park will receive fresh sod and much-needed widened sidewalks. And ADA trail improvements and a new restroom facility are on their way at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, making the beloved natural area more accessible.
As for housing, Frausto says, affordable units are hard to come by, and that probably won’t change soon. Most new homes and apartments are geared toward the luxury market, like La Jolla’s first new gated community in 40 years, Foxhill, which broke ground in October 2025 on the site of a former golf course—with empty lots selling for more than $8 million.
Think mood lighting, red velvet booths, lacquered wood, verdant plants, and an inviting 36-foot, stone-topped circular bar that welcomes you into the space. Complete with a “more functional and modern kitchen,” Monsod says, it’s a total overhaul of the 1930s La Jolla building at 7837 Herschel Avenue that once housed Puffer Malarkey’s Herringbone.
If Herringbone was a fairy grotto, Le Coq is a little more grown-up and libidinous, catering to modern running-away-to-Europe fantasies over storybook escapes. It’s made for tét-â-tét, flirting, lingering over dinner.
Certain elements of the 1930s warehouse, which once housed an Oldsmobile dealer, are still intact: exposed brick walls, naked steel trusses. Designer Megan Power of Workind Studio chose to keep some raw industrial elements, blending the building’s working history with retro ’70s supper club intimacy and hospitality.
“[There’s] old-school Parisian service [and] white-hatted chefs,” Monsod says. “But [it’s] not buttoned-up. We want you to relax and enjoy the experience.” To prep for her role in a French kitchen, Monsod, fresh off her James Beard nom, spent a couple weeks in the City of Light in February, soaking up knowledge and saucisson from Parisian chefs.
“Le Coq’s menu is an ode to the classics, [but it’s also] inspired by a new wave in French cooking,” Monsod says. “There are no rules; there’s influence from every which way.”
Energized by conversations with Asian chefs in Paris, Monsod added nods to Asian cuisine to the dishes she and her team developed for Le Coq. Take the jambon salad, for example: a Parisian bistro staple Monsod updated with chrysanthemum leaves (from Girl + Dug farm in San Marcos), Japanese sour plum, and ume vinaigrette. Under Monsod’s auspices, canard a l’orange becomes duck with tamarind puree, kumquat, and chicory, a twist on the sweet-sour classic that takes the flavor further east.
Look for Monsod’s version of mussels à la Les Enfants du Marché, a tiny counterside establishment with an outsized reputation nestled in Paris’s oldest open-air market. Her approach to land-and-sea dishes differs by focusing on the flora the ocean has to offer—“pork and seaweed,” Monsod explains, “and lamb and sea beans.” You’ll find hyper-local steak, pork from Thompson Heritage Ranch in Ramona, yellowtail from San Diego waters, and produce from San Diego farms on the menu.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be French without wine and dessert. French and Californian bottles share the wine list. Basque cheesecake, strawberry mille-feuille with vanilla cream, pistachio Paris-Brest with pâté à choux, and Herbsaint sorbet crowd the proverbial dessert cart. Executive pastry chef Laura Warren developed several sweet offerings around fresh fruit from San Diego growers. Warren and Monsod both worked with Puffer Malarkey Collective in the Herringbone days.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” says Puffer Malarkey Collective marketing director Lillian Dang. “It’s like a homecoming.”
Two old friends at the helm may help the Le Coq team cultivate the dinner party vibe they’re aiming for. “In Paris, we saw people gathering inside and outside restaurants, hanging out, talking, eating,” Monsod says. “That’s what we want to see here: diners engaged with each other, with lots of wine, lots of laughter, enjoying each other’s company. This restaurant is not meant to be quiet.”
Le Coq opens on June 20 at 7837 Herschel Avenue in La Jolla.
As part of its 95th anniversary, the Pink Lady has overhauled its front patio (as well as the rest of the hotel)
By Madeline Yang
Patio Sol at La Valencia
Imagine the silver screen. Imagine the mythical faces that once lived on it—the ones in black and white, their makeup divine, filmed in that dreamy, almost hazy way. They were good as gods. Now imagine these faces sitting around a table in La Jolla. The iconicLa Valencia Hotelowned that table, provided social harbor for stars like Ginger Rogers, Gregory Peck, and Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Mostly, they’d gather inside. The Pink Lady always had a front patio—Patio Sol—that was once a thriving alfresco dining scene of its own. But the most recent redesign didn’t have the come-hither it used to.
For their yearlong 95th anniversary celebration, La V fixed that.
La Valencia Hotel – The Med – food
James Tran
“The front patio was underutilized,” says General Manager Summer Shoemaker. “It didn’t have any charm or real sense of space.” The team installed folding terrace doors to make it a fully indoor-outdoor great area that bleeds into the hotel’s signature restaurant, the Mediterranean Room. They added a satellite bar (La V cocktails tend to be a beacon for humanity), opened up the landscape, and inserted design elements like a long fire-pit table that invites guests to sit, talk, and watch the throb and pageantry of Prospect. They’re casting it as more of an alfresco lounge, with weekly live music.
Being careful to respect the legacy, La V has been modernizing the entire hotel, including the Mediterranean Room. The pink Spanish Revival–style still echoes that elegance and nostalgic ambience. But there’s now all-new flooring and epic furniture. The hand-painted tiles adorning the fireplace, walls, and ceiling? Fresh paint, same signature design.
The Mediterranean Room at La Valencia
The Mediterranean Room also comes with newly appointed executive chef Fabian Aceves, formerly of The Resort at Pelican Hill, Arlo, and L’Auberge Del Mar. Born in Guadalajara, Aceves incorporates subtle nods to his Latin heritage in his Cal-Med menu. Dinner highlights include a shawarma-spiced octopus made with ’nduja, black garlic, arugula, and pickled Fresno chiles; lamb sugo with pistachio, pappardelle, spicy breadcrumb, and burrata; and clams and guanciale with grilled bread, mushroom butter, and herb broth. For dessert, Kari Cota (ex-Market Del Mar, L’Auberge) is serving a dark chocolate gâteaux with ginger and Valencia orange-bourbon-tangerine sauce, and a toffee rum cake with candied walnuts, honey rum sauce, whipped cream, and mint.
Renewable energy companies building hundreds of power plants. Biotech startups using artificial intelligence to create personalized medicine for children with rare diseases. Hospitality companies quietly powering thousands of local events. Consumer brands growing from beach-town startups into national businesses. These are the kinds of companies driving San Diego’s economy today, and the businesses recognized at this year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards offer a snapshot of where the region is headed.
Hosted July 23 by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards event honored four local companies for innovation, growth, and economic impact. More than 100 nominations from San Diego’s middle-market businesses were reviewed by a 10-person judging committee, with winners selected across four categories: startup, early-stage innovator, rising star, and established heavyweight.
Two-time honoree Jimbo Someck, founder of Jimbo’s organic grocery stores, also joined the event for a fireside chat on buying local, supporting emerging brands, and giving back to the community.
“San Diego’s strength comes from its makers and builders—the resilient people who endure great risks and overcome obstacles to build and scale a company,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager and Middle Market Banking at JPMorganChase & Co. “These awards aren’t just recognition; they spotlight the talent, grit, and innovation shaping our region’s future. By celebrating those who create and build, we foster connections and fuel the growth that keeps San Diego thriving.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Building the Infrastructure Behind Clean Energy
Heavyweight honoree SOLV Energy has grown alongside the country’s rapid investment in renewable power. “It’s an exciting time for SOLV Energy as we are experiencing significant growth,” says CEO George Hershman. “The business has doubled over the last year and has almost double-digit growth since its inception.”
The Rancho Bernardo-based company designs, builds, operates, and maintains utility-scale solar and energy storage facilities. Since its founding in 2008, SOLV Energy has built more than 500 power plants.
Growth has translated directly into hiring. About 200 employees work from the company’s local headquarters, including roughly 20 interns. “Our intern program is a big part of the way that we grow our workforce,” Hershman says. “Last year, 43 percent of our interns became full-time employees. We believe San Diego is a great community to build and grow a high-tech infrastructure and technology company because of the incredible workforce—the ability to attract top talent and draw from world-class universities.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Developing Medicine One Patient at a Time
Startup honoree La Jolla Labs is tackling one of medicine’s biggest challenges by developing personalized RNA therapeutics for patients with rare diseases—many of them children with neurological disorders like ALS. Using proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, the biotech company develops treatments tailored to each patient’s specific genetic mutation.
CEO Tamar Grossman says the recognition reflects how far the company has come despite limited resources. “We’re honored to be recognized for our ability to change and save patients’ lives and turn our lean startup into a clinical company with very minimal resources,” she says.
Grossman credits San Diego’s concentration of research institutions—including UC San Diego, the Salk Institute, and Scripps Research—with creating a pipeline of talent and collaboration. “San Diego is one of the world-leading centers for technology, genomics, and RNA therapeutics,” she says. “We have over 30 RNA therapeutics companies here, and we support each other and help with anything related to drug discovery.”
She says that collaborative spirit extends beyond formal partnerships. “You can walk around Torrey Pines, go into a café, and find colleagues from the industry and have an ad hoc conversation,” Grossman says. “That’s something very unique to San Diego.”
While Snake Oil Venue Company may not be a household name, chances are many San Diegans have attended one of its events. The early-stage innovator honoree has expanded from beverage catering and mixology consulting into venue management, operating Julep Venue in Mission Hills, Bramble Bay Venue in Imperial Beach, Vesper Venue, the Chapel at Liberty Station, and five outdoor venues throughout Liberty Station—more than 500,000 square feet of event space altogether.
“We do a lot of launch parties for corporations and new products,” says CEO Mike Esposito. “I really like working on the entrepreneur side of things, where new businesses are entering the San Diego market and looking to make a splash.”
Snake Oil has executed more than 16,000 events, employed more than 1,000 people, and partnered with more than 900 local vendors, including caterers, florists, photographers, entertainers, and other hospitality businesses. The company also works with many of San Diego’s nonprofits, museums, and cultural institutions. “We get to celebrate people’s most important moments,” Esposito says. “Whether that’s a wedding, celebration of life, or quinceañera, we’re fortunate to be involved in the community in so many different ways.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Growing a Beach-Town Brand into a National Business
Rising star honoree ALOHA Collection is proof that a simple idea can grow into a thriving company. Founded by two roommates who wanted a better way to carry wet swimsuits after a day at the beach, the lifestyle brand has grown into a business while maintaining strong year-over-year growth.
Now headquartered in Carlsbad, ALOHA Collection employs more than 100 people and operates its California flagship store in Encinitas, which is slated for a remodel. With roots in Hawaii, the company is known for its lightweight, splash-proof travel bags that have become a familiar sight on beaches in San Diego and beyond.
“‘Aloha’ is part of our name, but it’s also how we move through the world,” says CEO Lynna Barnard. “It’s how we show up for people, the way we travel, the way we give back.” Since day one, the company has maintained a 5 percent giveback to Hawaii conservation efforts, contributing millions of dollars over the years.
“I think what’s so inspiring about ALOHA Collection, and the founders in particular, is when you dream big, those dreams can come true when you work hard and trust in the universe,” Barnard says. “It’s inspiring to be a role model for other people wanting to start businesses from humble beginnings. Start small and watch it grow.”
Together, businesses like these form a cornerstone of San Diego’s economy—not only through the jobs and revenue they generate—but through the local workers they hire, vendors they support, and investments they make in the region. Their growth doesn’t happen in isolation; it ripples outward, strengthening the broader business community and the people who call San Diego home.
The April 27 La Jolla Half Marathon, a stunner for runners and spectators alike, explores the San Diego coastline starting at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and ending at La Jolla Cove’s Ellen Browning Scripps Park. (A great place to watch: the island in the middle of North Torrey Pines Road.) Net proceeds from the Half are donated to the La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation, which supports programs such as high school key clubs and youth sports, while a $1,000 cash prize awaits the first man and woman to break the course record—1:06:23.2 and 1:16:52, respectively. But everyone’s a winner: A live music festival and beer garden will be waiting for runners at the finish line. $90 for individual registration.
The April 27 La Jolla Half Marathon, a stunner for runners and spectators alike, explores the San Diego coastline starting at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and ending at La Jolla Cove’s Ellen Browning Scripps Park. (A great place to watch: the island in the middle of North Torrey Pines Road.) Net proceeds from the Half are donated to the La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation, which supports programs such as high school key clubs and youth sports, while a $1,000 cash prize awaits the first man and woman to break the course record—1:06:23.2 and 1:16:52, respectively. But everyone’s a winner: A live music festival and beer garden will be waiting for runners at the finish line. $90 for individual registration.
It’s estimated that 44% of women in the U.S. have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, but many don’t know it. The disease often has no symptoms, and when symptoms do present, they can appear similar to many other conditions. High blood pressure increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, so it’s critical that it’s detected and treated early. And for women at risk of developing high blood pressure, prevention is key. Click here for the basics of high blood pressure and how Scripps physicians at Scripps use screenings not just as a diagnostic tool, but as part of routine preventive care.
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