All praise to the daytime disco ball in the sky. She has finally shed her foggy coat, and it’s all sunbeams and ice cream for months to come. There’s no better time to explore the city. So, with our salsa-stained fingers on the pulse of San Diego, we’re pointing you where to go.
In this edition, you’ll find our gigantic Best of San Diego feature, where we’re shouting out more than 100 of the coolest things happening around town. Our picks include the teams turning San Diego into a sports powerhouse, a famous theater turning triple digits, and a legendary dive’s fancy new sibling— plus a human claw machine, rez radio, and a tiny Taco Bell.
We’ve also got some of the best places for a cold beer, the best bodegas serving sandos, the best places to snag vintage scores, the best bibliophile haunts, and the best protein powerhouses, and—after years of hunting—I finally crown the best chocolate chip cookie in town. All that and your reader’s picks, too. These pages are packed—you might want to grab a backup issue in case yours gets “borrowed.” Or, better yet, gift a subscription to your sticky-fingered friends.
And there’s so much more.
On the cover is 19-year-old San Diego Wave FC phenom Jaedyn Shaw, decked out in a custom jacket from local design shop Sew Loka and hanging out at perhaps the best place in all of SD to catch a weekday vibe: Winyl Club, a DJ-session-slash-kickback in Balboa Park. Shaw has had a hell of year playing for the Wave and the USWNT, so editor Nicolle Monico caught up with
her, along with number six-ranked surfer in the world Jake Marshall and Olympic skater Bryce Wettstein, to learn what it took for these local athletes to become elite at a young age.
And the fun continues. I’ve long wanted to let our readers pick the restaurant where we send our food critic, Troy Johnson. So, after much cajoling and haranguing, Troy agreed that we could buy the ticket and he would take the ride. If it were up to me, he’d have headed to the Denny’s on Rosecrans. Instead, though, we asked our social media followers where they would like him to go. Troy ended up meditating on arguably the most classic burger in town. If you’re not hungry, you will be after reading his review.
Is that not enough? We’re celebrating 50 fabulous years of SD Pride, and we’re opening love letters from people who found their soulmates in San Diego. Get your tissues ready—we all cried working on that one.
So, bring on that cosmic campfire. Bring on summer. You’ve got our guide to some of the best spots in town to explore during the best time of the year. Hope you enjoy.
