Browse This Year’s List by Category
Overall | Specific Cuisines | Specific Dishes | Ambience | Drinks
This year’s “Top Five” is a chronicle of obsession. When Callie chef and San Diego native Travis Swikard learns local boats have fresh spot prawns, he drives to Scripps Oceanographic Institute, secures optimal seawater, and keeps the prawns swimming in his kitchen until dinner service.
On the other side of downtown, fellow hometowner Tara Monsod and her three main chefs at the heavy-draped, softly opulent Animae are Filipina a major local culture represented at the height of San Diego restaurant life.In Mission Hills, truckfuls of American red oak are stacked and set aflame at Fort Oak.
Live-fire chef Brad Wise is among the city’s most active and ascendant talents, and his surf-and-turf haven—charred bones with one of the best pokes on the planet in an Atomic Age car dealership—is still the one to beat. The gravity in Little Italy still leans toward Born & Raised, where F. Scott Fitzgerald meets rap culture, a maximalist revolt against old steakhouse tropes and warehouse minimalism.
And, finally, this year has to be Addison’s. They hauled in their third Michelin star, making them one of only 14 restaurants in the country to hold that esteem. No matter your feelings about the tire company, chef William Bradley put San Diego on a mythological culinary map. People who travel the world for food will come here—and, in the process, discover tiny charms like Muzita Abyssinian Bistro or Wolf in the Woods.
This is the 2023 “Best Restaurants” list. Not the ultimate list. Just mine. A notebook scribbled in and adjusted and fine-tuned all year—my fifteenth year of eating the city, obsessing over its details.
Overall
Best Restaurants in San Diego
Critic’s Picks
Reader’s Picks
Best New Restaurant in San Diego:
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Chef in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
(Trust, Fort Oak, Cardellino, Rare Society, Wise Ox)
Runner-Up:
(Bad Boyz of Culinary)
Best Restaurant Service in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Hotel Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Catering in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Chef Kelston’s Culinary Experience
Best Restaurant in Baja California
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Cheap Eats in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Healthy Food in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Farmer’s Market Food Vendor in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Breakfast in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Bar in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Brunch in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Bakery in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Seafood Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Barbecue Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Steakhouse in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Dessert Spot in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Food Truck in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Chain Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Specific Cuisines
Best Asian Fusion Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Caribbean Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Chinese Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Ethiopian Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Filipino Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best French Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Greek Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Indian Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Italian Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Japanese Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Korean Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Mediterranean Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Mexican Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Peruvian Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Southern Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Spanish Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Thai Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Vietnamese Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Specific Dishes
Best Donuts in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Ice Cream/Gelato in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Pho in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Ramen in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Wings in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Burrito in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Chips & Salsa in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Birria in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Fries in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Poke in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Sushi in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub
Best Fish Taco in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Taco in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Sandwich in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Pizza in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Burger in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Soup Dumplings in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Dumpling Inn & Shanghai Saloon
Runner-Up:
Best Pasta in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Ambience
Best Restaurant or Bar Design in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Date Spot in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Patio Dining in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Dog Friendly Restaurant in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Diner in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Restaurant for Big Groups in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Restaurant at Petco Park
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Restaurant with a Waterfront View
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Restaurant with a View of the City
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Restaurant Reinvention/Rebirth/Remodel in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Drinks
Best Dive Bar in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Bloody Mary in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Margarita in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Wine Bar in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Brewpub in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Coffee in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Cocktails in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Reader’s Choice:
Runner-Up:
Best Distillery in San Diego
Critic’s Choice:
Pacific Coast Spirits & Kitchen
Reader’s Choice:
Pacific Coast Spirits & Kitchen
