Over 17 years of eating through the city, I’ve kept a list of the dishes and drinks and places that floored me—the ones I yammer on about to strangers. For Comic-Con, I thought I’d share nearly 50 of my favorites within striking distance of the comic core: Gaslamp, Barrio Logan, Little Italy, Mission Hills, and one wild place in North Park. Remember, even if you just ate and you’re a little full, the week is about role playing. Here are the best restaurants near downtown San Diego.
Callie
What to Order: Aleppo Chicken
Callie will bring home San Diego’s next Michelin star, or I will lose all faith in the system. The fermented and pickled carrots with dukkah. The Aleppo chicken. The everything. Chef Travis Swikard is on another level.
1195 Island Ave, East Village
Wolf in the Woods
What to Order: Sweet Corn & Piñon Soup
So charming it hurts. If an alpaca were a restaurant. Like you’re dining in an ADU built for someone who is loved. Wolf in the Woods is a passion project for Johnny Rivera (Hash House A Go Go) and chef Carmine Lopez, and you can feel that passion. It snuggles you with Spanish wine. The sweet corn and piñon soup might be the best bowl of hot liquid in the city.
1920 Fort Stockton Dr Suite C, Mission Hills
Kingfisher
What to Order: Wild Mushrooms and Chino Farms Corn Congee
This is where you want to go for a Vietnamese-centric but pan-Asian exploration of fish sauce. Get the beef tartare, the whole fried rockfish in ginger sweet-and-sour sauce, and the congee with wild mushrooms.
2469 Broadway, Golden Hill
Top of the Hyatt
What to Order: Cocktails
It’s the view from the top and edge of our world—a glass box of emotion, 40 floors up, looking down on all that water and sunset. Pick a cocktail, any cocktail.
1 Market Pl, Embarcadero
Mister A’s
What to Order: Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast
Mister A’s started as a Scorsese-type place where people enjoyed the fruits of some gray-area capitalism with a holy **** view of the entire urban core. Wave at planes as they land at eye-level and the sun sets over the watery cliff in the distance. Two years ago, longtime owner Bertrand Hug handed the reins to longtime GM (and damn good human) Ryan Thorsen. He’s breathed new life into the place with some key renovations. It’s a bucket worthy of the list. The duck with huckleberry gastrique is chef Stephane Voitzwinkler’s specialty.
2550 Fifth Ave 12th floor, Bankers Hill
Born + Raised
What to Order: Burgundy Snails
An F.-Scott-Fitzgerald-meets-Busta-Rhymes steakhouse from the weirdos of CH Projects. A magic room that feels both alive and haunted. Bone marrow’s a pretty fantastic fat, but it needs flavor. B&R serves it with Burgundy escargot on toasted bread, and the garlic is fantastic.
1909 India St, Little Italy
El Sueño
What to Order: Elote & Cocktails
A hell of a patio in Old Town, run by Pietro Busalacchi, one of the better drinks people in San Diego. The elote is fantastic—half a corn cob grilled; soaked in veggie broth; and seasoned with mayo, melted butter, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, a touch of sugar, garlic and onion powder, Cotija cheese, and chives. Every drink here is good.
2836 Juan St, Old Town
Cowboy Star
What to Order: A5 Japanese Omi Gyu
There are three main names when it comes to the best Japanese Wagyu. Most people who love the melting beef know two of them (Kobe and Matsusaka). The third type is omi gyu, the original Wagyu that was served to shoguns 400-plus years ago. Compared to the other two, it’s still got that high fat content that makes the Wagyu magic, but it’s lighter, more delicate, cleaner tasting. And Cowboy Star—the beloved local steakhouse run by chef/partner Victor Jimenez—is the only place I know of in San Diego that serves it. You’re not coming to Comic-Con looking for small experiences.
640 Tenth Ave, East Village
Las Cuatros Milpas
What to Order: Tacos
Yes, there are designer-ier tacos. But this family’s been serving homemade tacos with fried-before-your-eyes tortillas since the dawn of time. It is the best taco. Cash only.
1857 Logan Ave, Barrio Logan
J & Tony’s Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse
What to Order: Negroni
There’s a massive Godzilla made of sticky notes (that doesn’t sound very impressive written out, but it’s kind of dazzling). There’s Ronald McDonald, arm outstretched, inviting friends and lawsuits. And J + Tony’s has the best damn Negronis and streetside Adirondack sunbathing area. This is where CH Projects dreams.
631 Ninth Ave, East Village
Kindred
What to Order: Vegan Snacks
While everyone was trying to cast vegan food in ultra-pure white halos and rooms with hemp furniture and virtue signals, longtime vegan and metal fan Kory Stetina went and built a vegan restaurant that felt like sin. The absolute best spot.
1503 30th St, South Park
Lia’s Lumpia
What to Order: Ribeye Bistec
Of course, you should get the lumpia—the traditional one, and then whatever creative concoction they’re filling it with that day. But the humble mother-and-son Filipino restaurant in an old house (the duo are pure joy, and they finished second on The Great Food Truck Race) serves a 12-ounce boneless ribeye with caramelized onions in calamansi soy for dinner that knocks socks.
2219 Logan Ave, Barrio Logan
Fort Oak
What to Order: Hearth Roasted Carrots
Fort Oak turned an old Ford dealership into one of the best restaurants in SD, piling firewood where the old Furlaines used to be. Brad Wise and his team sit over the burning embers and smoke and char various things into submission. Get the roasted carrots with smoked yogurt.
1011 Fort Stockton Dr, Mission Hills
Puesto
What to Order: Filet Mignon Taco
Group restaurants don’t often get better as they grow—scaling an operation usually means quality dips or even tanks. Not so with San Diego’s family-run Mexican empire Puesto. The last time I had this taco, I had to recognize that it’s one of the best in the city. It’s made with an organic corn tortilla, crispy melted cheese, slices of filet, avocado, and spicy pistachio-serrano salsa.
789 W Harbor Dr Unit 155, Seaport Village
Kinme/Azuki Sushi
What to Order: Omakase
Kinme is my sushi restaurant of the year. A 10-seat omakase-only spot in Bankers Hill from the people who’ve long run one of the most beloved (and high-quality) sushi spots (Azuki Sushi). Kinme’s gonna be booked, but Azuki’s a couple doors down.
Kinme – 2505 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill | Azuki Sushi – 2321 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill
Fish Guts
What to Order: De Espada
Pablo Becker’s fish shop. Pablo was born and raised here, and he traveled across the world opening restaurants for his cousin, famed Mexican chef Richard Sandoval. He opened his own in San Diego, and lost it about six years ago. Lowest point of his life. So he went to Chicago and spent five years as a line cook, then came back to open this. They’ve got tacos, yeah, but it’s 90 percent sustainable seafood from fishermen down the street, cooked to order. Get the De Espada, blackened swordfish with jalapeño slaw and spicy aioli.
2222 Logan Ave, Barrio Logan
The Lion’s Share
What to Order: Salt & Pepper Frog Legs + Federal Buffalo Stamp
There’s an instinct to call it a hidden gem because it’s tucked behind a railroad on a little condo street. But The Lion’s Share is a local legend. A dark hobbit hole of world-class cocktails and a hell of a chef in Dante Romero (ex-Wormwood) for a menu that revolves around indie food animals (frog, bison, venison, liver, elk, boar). The tempura-battered frog legs with fried garlic in a chili sauce are yes.
629 Kettner Blvd, Embarcadero
Juniper & Ivy
What to Order: Gnocco Frito
All due respect for Italian tradition and the entire Emilia-Romagna people, but this is the best damn chef version of two latchkey kid classics: Tostino’s pizza rolls and Hot Pockets. Go to Juniper & Ivy (one of the city’s best). Sit at the bar at exactly 5 p.m. This is its new concept—a bar lounge area called Juni with five-star chef snacks, priced like inflation hasn’t been invented yet. The gnocco frito is the famed Italian puffed fry bread that chef Alex Penkin stuffs with a mousse of goat cheese-ricotta-nduja (Calabria’s addictive, spreadable pork sausage), tops with a paper-thin, spicy Calabrese salami, adds a little lemon zest, light Parmesan snow, and then the kicker–EVOO spiced with oregano and peppers for that pizza-joint perfume.
2228 Kettner Blvd, Little Italy
Roma Norte
What to Order: Tamarind Old Fashioned
This year’s “Bar of the Year” for our 2025 Best Restaurants issue. Two of the city’s top drinksmen got a dark, cozy room of their own: the former beverage director for three-star Michelin The Restaurant at Meadowood (Beau DuBois) and a guy (Derek Cram) whose track record went from NYC’s famed Momofuku and PDT (Please Don’t Tell). The Tamarind Old Fashioned show off how extreme they calibrate what goes into your mouth: Buffalo Trace bourbon, Mars Iwai Japanese whisky, tamarind justino (tamarind blended with Buffalo Trace, then centrifuged to clarify), touch of cane sugar, two types of bitters, and exactly six drops of Lagavulin 16-Year Single Malt Scotch.
789 W Harbor Dr Unit 155, Seaport Village
Ciccia Osteria
What to Order: Mushroom Flan
This dish is why I could go vegetarian, but never vegan. Because cheese and cream are capable of unsurmountable joys. Chef Mario Cassineri soaks porcini mushrooms in milk for 24 hours to make the base for a mornay sauce. It’s solidified into a custard-like texture, given a pecorino butter crust, baked to order, and then—delicious, in a nihilistic way—placed in a small pool of gorgonzola cheese fonduta with a single mint leaf up top (which makes it a salad in creative circles).
2233 Logan Ave, Barrio Logan
The LaFayette Hotel
What to Order: The Teeming Humanity + Patty Melt
You gotta see it—if you can get in, that is. It’s one of the greatest hotels in the country, an orgy of designs and patterns and vignettes with a bowling alley, a pool, a ridiculously dark gothic restaurant, and a 24-hour diner that sells a billion patty melts every week.
2223 El Cajon Blvd, North Park
Lionfish
What to Order: “Angry” Whole Grilled Fish
San Diego chef JoJo Ruiz got a James Beard nod for being one of the most sustainable seafood chefs in the country. There are two things you should get here: The king salmon sashimi with white truffle honey ponzu, chili garlic, and Japanese rice crackers, and the whole grilled snapper with Thai Basil, fermented chili, garlic butter sauce, and bread.
435 Fifth Ave, Gaslamp Quarter
The Kebab Shop
What to Order: Lamb and Rice Plate
A grab-and-go spot for those who’re tired of pizza, burgers, and fried chicken sammies. The döner (lathered in all the sauces) is great for a walk-and-chew. But I’m starting to prefer just ordering the lamb kebab meat with saffron rice and then mixing all the sauces in there. You won’t smell right for days, but happiness has a cost.
630 Ninth Ave, East Village
Civico 1845
What to Order: Vegan Italian
Italian brothers moved here a decade ago and opened this little trattoria. The brown butter ravioli are always dangerous, but it was one of the first Italian restaurants in California to have an all-vegan menu.
1845 India St, Little Italy
Animae
What to Order: Shrimp Toast
Chef Tara Monsod and her staff are apexing Filipino food right now (it’s her roots, but not the only part of Asia she explores here). A heavy-curtained, big-dollar spot with soft surfaces that make insider trading secrets disappear. Order pretty much anything, but especially the Baja Asian street corn with kimchee aioli, cotija, and togarashi.
969 Pacific Hwy, Embarcadero
Herb & Wood
What to Order: Gnocchi
Gnocchi has been on the menu here since day one, because if you took it off, the people would revolt. Oxtail is the MSG of the butcher shop.
2210 Kettner Blvd, Little Italy
Pali Wine Co.
What to Order: Natty Wines & Smoked Jr. Farms Squash
Sit in the back—it’s a massive shaded patio with more laidback barnyard chill than the average Little Italy spot. Pali’s a family-run winery out of Lompoc (Pinot land) specializing in low-intervention and natural wines. Chef Logan Kendall is a farms-spices-fat whiz. Case in point is the smoked burrata with sun gold vinegar, sorrel, and salsa macha.
2130 India St, Little Italy
Morning Glory
What to Order: Souffle Pancakes
The epicenter of all things brunch in Little Italy. Yes, they’re worth the wait. Ask your server if the bartender has any special syrups to put on ’em (the team has been known to send out a ramekin of coconut syrup that is incredible).
550 W Date St Suite #C, Little Italy
Ironside
What to Order: Lobster Roll
Gloopy lobster rolls are a leading cause of not liking lobster rolls. Ironside treats its knuckle meat with respect, lightly tossing in brown butter mayo, crispy shallots, and chives. One of the best in the city.
1654 India St, Little Italy
Craft & Commerce
What to Order: Fried Chicken in a Bucket
In all of us, there is a part that loves fried chicken in a bucket and there is a part that loves caviar. Old jeans and silk. United these warring factions of yourself with this platter at the place that kicked off Little Italy’s craft cocktail scene. A Champagne bucket is brimmed with craggy fried poultry, served with pickled beech mushrooms, fermented cucumbers, broccoli slaw, sauces, and trout roe, creme fraiche. Upgrade to caviar. It’s like KFC of the Colonel had some silver polish and Negronis on his breath.
675 W Beech St, Little Italy
Sushi Gaga
What to Order: Hot-Cold Omakase
Beshock Ramen owner Ayaka Ito has three sister concepts a block away: Asa, an Asian bakery, Bar Kamon, and Sushi Gaga, an omakase-only sushi experience hidden behind a clandestine door among the breads. Gaga’s the real deal, with chef Shinnosuke Otsuka having worked at Michelins in Osaka. Ten seats only. 2-3 hours, twelve or so courses, starting with zensai (apps), warm dishes like sukiyaki (hot pot) and chuwanmashi (mind blowing egg custard), nigiri, sushi, maybe some ramen. Changes all the time. Find the door and trust.
634 14th St #110, East Village
Cafe Sevilla
What to Order: Spicy Octopus + Sangria Royal
Few things on the planet get you even the most dance-averse ass moving as live Latin music. Almost 40 years now, Cafe Sevilla has been the open-late spot for it in San Diego with tapas and sangrias. When a restaurant that long, you get a great mix of musicians, longtime regulars, newbies, rituals, traditions. Order the Sangria Royal (traditional red sangria with Licor 43 and orange brandy) and get the spicy octopus ceviche with mango and habañero. Let loose.
353 Fifth Ave, Gaslamp Quarter
Cocina 35
What to Order: La Bomba Chilaquiles
Welcome to San Diego, where chilaquiles are our “all-American breakfast” (due respect to the burrito). The reigning champs of chilaquiles (call them “breakfast nachos” if you’d like to have a strongly-worded internet exchange with purists) are the brother and sister Paulia and Cesar Chaidez who own Cocina 35. Close your eyes and point, they’re all pretty great, though the La Bomba especially with creamy habañero salsa, cochinita pibil and pickled onions. There are few locations near city center, but take the ferry over to its Coronado location, rent some bikes, and toodle around our idyllic Smallville beach island with its wide, smooth streets and the smell of successful IPOs.
1201 1st St, Coronado
Choi’s
What to Order: Octopus + Hotteak
This is what happens when a kid grows up on home-cooked Korean food from his parents and San Diego’s taco shop culture in the streets. Chef-owner Jiwoo Choi’s octopus is a perfect expression of that hybrid—charred-and-tender, over a pretty killer gochujang crema. The dessert here is a rare taste of a South Korean street-food staple, hotteak—a dead-delicious sweet pancake made with wheat flour, makgeolli (Korean rice wine), brown sugar, demerara, and cinnamon. It’s a warm, gooey-centered cake with vanilla ice cream and berry compote.
100 Park Plz #161, East Village
STK
What to Order: Spicy Yellowtail Crispy Rice Cakes
STK is the steakhouse that slid into America’s DMs 21 years ago and took its sweet-ass time to make it here but that’s OK. It’s here now and brought its DJs and nightlife feels to the big-night-out carnivore experience. Obviously get the prime cuts (order all the sauces), but also the spicy yellowtail crispy rice is a fantastic riff on the raw-and-fried standard, served with unagi sauce.
600 F St, Gaslamp Quarter
Sushi Maru
What to Order: Omakase
Sushi Maru is my “Sushi of the Year.” For years, Tsuyoshi “Maru” Maruyama was the chef behind the counter at the top sushi spot in downtown (Taka). After leaving to take care of family in Japan for a while, he returned to open this 20-seat, 20-course, omakase-only experience last year. Fantastic, tiny, Jiro Dreams-minimalist, the fish on the plate, the chef, and the company you brought the only place you need to put your attention.
1345 Third Ave, Downtown
Meze Greek Fusion
What to Order: Lamb Chops
Meze is what happens when Greek food meets the well-lit sins of nightclub life. If you’re choosing Greek food and you don’t choose lamb, grandmas in Crete weep. Don’t make grandmas cry. Chef Aleko Achtipes’ chops are a star here, mostly because they obey all the spiritual laws of chops and lean heavy on the lemon sauce. While you’re there, keep in mind a watermelon feta salad never ruined a summer, either.
345 Sixth Ave, Gaslamp Quarter
BeShock Ramen
What to Order: Spicy Miso Ramen
Unless you’re one of those weirdos who only eat gazpachos and smoothies in the summer, BeShock is one of the best ramen shops in the city. Its spicy miso, especially. Sad that the U.S. market first experienced miso as the watery commercial afterthoughts in sushi soups; but now the good miso has arrived at places like BeShock. Also be sure to try its sake—owner Ayaka Ito is a sake master (essentially a top sommelier, but of sake) and her junmais are unmatched.
1288 Market St, Gaslamp Quarter
Nason’s Beer Hall
What to Order: Birria Grilled Cheese
Didn’t expect this one. Nason’s Beer Hall is a sports bar with roll-up walls to watch the Gaslamp’s uniquely human parade strut and fumble. But it just went under the hood of its food menu and it paid off, in a real sinful way. My wife’ll tell you the star is the Wagyu beef corn dog with miso mustard. Wives are often correct. But the birria grilled cheese really picks the lock on the storage closet of endorphins inside of me: a layer of cheese griddled brown and crispy on the outside of the bread, gooey layer inside, tufts of birria, pickled onions, and a pepper-heavy consommé to dunk. Due respect to the French Dip. This is the San Diego Dip. And it’s better.
570 J St, Gaslamp Quarter
Hotel Del
What to Order: Miso Black Cod
The Del is our Statue of Liberty, our Hearst Castle. The iconic, historic thing. And with the original blueprints and an in-house historian, it just finished one of the largest restoration projects of a hotel ever done in the U.S. Six years, $550 million. Gotta see it. The hotel sanded the ornate wood down to the studs, restained it the same deep hue it was when it opened in 1888. Among its renovations are its famed porch, a new lobby, stained glass that was there when it opened, and recovered art that had been lost along the way. And, Nobu just opened overlooking the lawn which overlooks the sand which overlooks the water which overlooks thoughts of Hawaii out there somewhere. Sure, most of the food world has been there, eaten that. But at a recent tasting, dear god, that miso black cod still tastes like it could start the legend of chef Nobu Matsuhisa all over again. Get the spicy tuna crispy rice and the Matsuhisa Martini (vodka, sake, ginger).
1500 Orange Ave, Coronado
Little Frenchie
What to Order: Cassoulet w/ Duck Confit
Little Frenchie is a charming as heck sidewalk French bistro. For the cassoulet, exec chef Matt Sramek cures duck legs overnight, slow cooks it in its own fat, and sears it for a crispy bite. The restaurant makes stock from the leftover bones, then uses that to simmer the white beans with pork belly, Toulouse sausage, thyme, and citrus. Its topped with breadcrumbs (made from leftover baguettes) and persillade (an herby-acid legend with garlic and cornichons and parsley).
1166 Orange Ave, Coronado
Provisional Kitchen
What to Order: Hamachi Crudo
Pendry is one of the most solid restaurant options in downtown hotel/resort world. Provisional is its all-day joint with huge, airy, central train station vibes and chef Brandon Sloan. His team’s squid ink fettuccini with sungold sauce is excellent, as is the yellowtail crudo with pickled fennel, sungolds, citrus vinaigrette, green onion, and chile oil.
425 Fifth Ave, Gaslamp Quarter
Crack Shack
What to Order: Señor Croque
The fried chicken sandwich wars in San Diego were hard-fought. Everyone with access to a sack of flour and an Instgram account was scrapping for some of that fried chicken power. Crack Shack won—no surprise. It’s in the parking lot of one of the top restaurants in the city (Juniper & Ivy), designed by its exec chef Jon Sloan. It serves Jidori chicken, properly brined with sauces scratch-made daily (sriracha thousand island, ranch, kimchi bbq, Baja hot sauce, etc.). The Croque is fried Jidori breast, bacon, fried egg, cheddar, miso-maple butter and brioche. Breakfast is served all day.
2266 Kettner Blvd, Little Italy
The Henry
What to Order: Short Rib Potstickers
Sam Fox is the Danny Meyer of the West, or maybe at this point, Danny Meyer is the Sam Fox of the East. Either way, both have been wildly successful because no matter how many restaurants they build (and it’s a shit ton), they’re consistently good. At The Henry in Coronado, the dish is those potstickers. Dumplings made fresh daily, stuffed with braised short rib, swimming in aged soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic, ginger, scallions.
1031 Orange Ave, Coronado
Grant Grill
What to Order: La Traviata Cocktail
The classic hotel, stately and grand. Ghosts of mock turtle soup and diamond heists. The bar has always been a star, where some of the city’s top drinks people have started citywide trends (the first barrel-aged cocktail) and taken on wildly ambitious projects (making its own chartreuse, etc.). So it makes sense that head drinksman Rex Yuasa’s favorite creation is a glass-based adaptation of Verdi’s most famous opera. The spirit is Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto (bergamot liqueur), with chianti (Verdi’s favorite drink) and hard apple cider. He even drowns a flower to represent the opera’s tragic lead, Violetta. Get front row seats.
326 Broadway, Gaslamp Quarter
Lola 55
What to Order: Fish Taco
Coming to San Diego and not getting a fish taco is some real disrespecting-ancestors behavior. You wouldn’t go pizza-sober in the Bronx. And Lola55 is the place for them downtown. A Michelin Bib joint. Its crispy Baja-style battered fish taco gets a remoulade, a killer chorizo vinaigrette, and pickled serranos.
1290 F St, East Village
TNT Pizza
What to Order: House Classic Detroit-Style
TNT’s the call for pizza in downtown. It does just about everything right. TNT uses the sauce made by famed James Beard pizzaiola Chris Bianco (who uses organic California tomatoes) and ferments its dough for four-ish days. The restaurant can also make anything vegan, veg, gluten-free, or create around whatever food thing haunts or hurts. The Detroit style—rectangle-thick, crispy frico of cheese on the outside and chewy dough on the inside, a real loaf of pizza—has pinched fennel sausage, roasted peppers, onion, and pepperoncinis. It’s fantastic. (People also adore the pickle pizza; I’m just not those people and I feel somehow culturally less relevant due to this).
550 14th St #116, Gaslamp Quarter
PARTNER CONTENT
Parfait Paris
What to Order: Macarons
A husband and wife from Paris run this real-deal French bakery with a fantastic almond croissant. Parfait Paris made its name with macarons, and it hasn’t crimped ingredients or quality (in fact, it went the opposite way and signed a pastry chef who worked at a Michelin star place and baked for the royal family).
555 G St, Gaslamp Quarter
