Look, I get it. I know San Diego is a diehard breakfast burrito town. I, too, am an active and enthusiastic participant of this glorious tradition at every possible turn (or as possible as it can be without going into cardiac arrest before I turn 40). But sometimes I like to sink my teeth into something more substantial than a tortilla. Enter: the breakfast sandwich.
Breakfast sandwiches are fairly easy to find around town, but not all of them are created equal. From crispy bacon biscuits to overflowing omelets on toast, here are 10 of the best breakfast sandwiches in San Diego. (And as always, these are 10 of the best, not the 10 best. I encourage everyone to explore what America’s Finest City has to offer and find your own favorite!)
Tobey’s 19th Hole Restaurant
Remember when I said my suggestions are some of the best? I take it back for Tobey’s 19th Hole Restaurant. This is the gold standard of breakfast sandwiches in San Diego. It’s nothing fancy—egg, cheese, choice of meat on an English muffin—but for $8, you can’t beat it (or the view).
2600 Golf Course Dr. at the Balboa Park Clubhouse
Sunnyboy Biscuit Co.
I was raised in Virginia, so I know my biscuits. Sunnyboy Biscuit Co’s are some of the best in town, and the Motherclucker Biscuit sandwich with its sweet-spicy mix of seven pepper sauce and honey butter atop a deliciously juicy (and yet somehow still crunchy) slab of rosemary fried chicken is an ideal way to start a day—or inspire an early nap.
3749 Park Blvd., North Park
Ultreya Coffee & Tea
This queer-owned coffee shop just expanded to its second location in Ocean Beach, but Ultreya Coffee & Tea’s original College Area location is also home to one of my favorite sandwiches of all time—the Hash n’ Cheese breakfast sandwich. It’s a carb lover’s dream, with grilled sourdough impossibly stuffed with melted cheddar, a crispy hash brown, arugula and other greens, and a housemade avocado-cilantro-jalapeno sauce. I don’t know how they manage to pack in so much deliciousness without it falling apart, but I also tend not to put it down until it’s devoured.
4653 College Ave., College Area
Rose Donuts
New Yorkers know the magic and simplicity of a good BEC (bacon, egg, and cheese). San Diegans can get their version of it at Rose Donuts which, yes, despite the name, serves more than donuts. Rose’s breakfast sandwich menu sticks to the conventional, exploring the different combinations of eggs, meat, and cheese, but why reinvent the wheel when perfection is already achieved?
5201 Linda Vista Road Suite 100, Bay Park
Claire’s on Cedros
This Solana Beach breakfast staple has served early morning deliciousness since 2009, using bread delivered daily from the equally iconic local bakery Bread & Cie. Claire’s on Cedros’ brioche breakfast grilled cheese sandwich highlights everything wonderful about the most important meal of the day, and combines it into one ridiculously crushable sandwich that’s an actual omelet served on toast. Does it get any better than that? You can get your choice of meat, but if you ask me, Canadian bacon is the way to go.
246 North Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Wayfarer Bread (Pop-Up Only)
Don’t expect to stroll into Wayfarer Bread and pick up whatever breakfast sandwich you want, whenever you want. Actually, don’t expect to stroll into Wayfarer ever—the uber-popular bakery has topped Best of Bakery lists from San Diego Magazine to Food & Wine, and it’s fairly common to see a line snaking down the block pretty much all the time. Their breakfast sandwich pop-up is available via pre-order only for pickup every Monday, but if you plan ahead, you’ll be richly rewarded. With a sandwich. Which is, IMHO, the most glorious reward of all.
5525 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla
Nomad Donuts
Nomad Donuts has been a North Park institution for over a decade, long before it became the culinary epicenter it is today. It’s known for innovative donut flavors, but its large menu of breakfast sandwiches have an equally ravenous following. It’s hard to pick just one, but the carnitas borrachas with braised pork shoulder confit, pickled red onions, and two salsas is a savory meat-lover’s delight. Not into animal products? Nomad also serves a variety of vegan-friendly options.
3102 University Ave., North Park
Sunny Side Kitchen
How can one improve a grilled cheese, one of the best sandwiches of all time? Miraculously, Sunny Side Kitchen in Escondido cracked the code with The Works sandwich—they added egg, bacon, and avocado to three types of cheeses (havarti, munster, and parmesan) and put it on sourdough. Why did no one think of this before? Not to fret, gluten-free diners. You can get down, too, with GF options available on any of its breakfast sandwiches.
155 South Orange St., Escondido
Wildland
Carlsbad’s latest gem Wildland wowed us from day one, thanks to executive chef Eric Bost’s vision of an all-day oasis that happens to serve some of the best food in North County. Breakfast service starts at 8 a.m., and while choosing just one thing might be the most difficult decision you make all day, the breakfast sandwich is a very safe choice. Everything is dialed up to 11—it’s not just cheese, it’s two-year aged cheddar from award-winning cheese company Hook’s—and you can taste the difference instantly.
2598 State St., Carlsbad
Ben & Esther’s
It doesn’t have to have meat to be a bomb breakfast sando. Just ask the folks at Ben & Esther’s Vegan Delicatessen in Rolando, which serves vegan takes on Jewish deli classics like reubens, lox, and egg salad. When it comes to breakfast, I like to spice it up a little with The RZA, made with vegan eggs, bacon, and bacon-scallion schmear on a jalapeno bagel. I promise, you won’t miss the animal products.
6663 El Cajon Blvd. Suite Q, College Area
Bonus: Kono’s Cafe
You didn’t think I was going to leave off Kono’s Cafe, did you? This beachside eatery serves breakfast all day, so you can snag a breakfast sandwich until 3 p.m. daily. Grab the chorizo breakfast sandwich before (or after) a surf sesh for a seriously satisfying classic sando served on an English muffin with egg, cheese, tomato, mayo, and chorizo. And if the long wait’s got you down, sneak over to their sister restaurant Konito’s for the same great bites and (usually) a bit less of a line.
704 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach
