Missing group workouts? We don’t blame you. While there have been plenty of ways to get your workout in solo, there’s something to be said about the motivation and energy that come with working out with friends. Whether it’s aerial yoga or a spin class you’re after, these eight San Diego businesses offer distanced outdoor group classes so you can safely break a sweat.
The North Park boxing gym has brought their jabs, hooks, and uppercuts to the Lafayette Hotel every Thursday night. Classes are an hour long and include a variety of mit work to strengthen your technique and let off a little steam, too. Bring your own gloves and wraps, and be sure to reserve your spot ahead of time!
If strength training is your focus, you’ll find plenty of opportunities at Double Barrel Fitness. The San Marcos gym moved their programs outside, with widely spaced markers and individual caddies, sanitizing spray, and a towel for each visitor. Join them for a Functional Fitness class, which includes skill progression and a workout routine that changes each day.
Elevate Training’s Solana Beach and downtown locations have both transitioned outdoors. With a special focus on the Lagree Method, a full-body conditioning technique, this 40-minute class takes place entirely on the resistance megaformer. It’s a low-impact workout that focuses on high-intensity moves in a format that’s safe for your body.
PB Fitness was already an outdoor gym before the pandemic guidelines went into place. With three rooftop decks to choose from, you’ll find plenty of space to get your workout in. They offer boot-camp training, which includes a mix of strength and cardio circuits and weekly challenges to stay motivated.
Salt’s popular Spicy Flows still pack a punch, even outside. Their 50-minute workouts are held each day at 12 and 5:30 p.m. in the park outside the Intercontinental hotel. You’ll catch a cool breeze from the bay while you’re breaking a sweat with mat Pilates toning. Salt also recently launched a streaming platform with nearly 100 workouts to choose from, ranging in level, duration, and training focus.
The Mission Hills branch of this local franchise partnered with Andaz San Diego to host their barre classes on the rooftop of the hotel every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With a sweeping view of the city, sweat your way through a 60-minute calorie-torching workout that focuses on small, isolated movements to lift, tone, and energize your body. No equipment necessary!
This vegan rooftop café doubles as a rooftop yoga space to stretch, relax, and reconnect with your mind. Soak up the ocean views and take your pick from a variety of classes, from vinyasa to aerial yoga. The latter combines traditional yoga poses with Pilates and dance in a suspended hammock.
Verve on the Lot offers the same high-intensity class of rhythm-based cycling and upper body strength training as their indoor classes, just with an extra breeze to help you out. Reserve your seat online, and be sure to grab a hat and sunscreen for the workouts later on in the day.
The small, coastal community of Solana Beach just north of Del Mar is best known for its arts scene with the Cedros Design District along with local boutiques, beautiful art galleries, and beachside restaurants all sitting along 1.7 miles of coastline. The walkable neighborhood is filled with plenty to do whether you’re interested in spending all day surfing at Fletcher Cove or are hitting up Pizza Port before a show at The Belly Up.
Here’s our guide to the best restaurants, shops, activities, and experiences in Solana Beach.
Once a chef to high-profile celebs, chef Jeffrey Strauss has been cooking up French-inspired meat and seafood dishes at Pamplemousse Grille for nearly 30 years. Located across from Del Mar Racetrack, its dining room is adorned with touches of the French countryside, where guests savor entrees like lobster ravioli and juicy steaks.
Address: 514 Via De La Valle, Suite 100 Hours: Closed Monday; Tuesday–Friday, 4:30 p.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, 5 p.m.–9 p.m Phone: (858) 792-9090
Ranch 45
Part butcher shop, part specialty grocery store, and part counter-service restaurant, Ranch 45 is the perfect spot to order a breakfast burrito and grab some steaks and wine to enjoy at home later that night. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this casual eatery is all about the meat, with specialties like burgers, steaks, hot dogs, pastrami, carne asada, and tri-tip on the menu.
Address: 512 Via De La Valle, Suite 102 Hours: Thursday–Saturday, 7 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sunday–Wednesday, 7 a.m.–7 p.m Phone: (858) 461-0092
Get your fix of California burritos, street tacos, and other Mexican staples at family-owned joint. Rudy’s Taco Shop also recently remodeled its dining area which includes a full bar for tequila and mezcal cocktails and a self-serve salsa bar.
No-frills homestyle restaurant T’s Cafe has been a Solana Beach fixture since 1978, known for its many egg benedict options and housemade bloody mary’s. Occasional live music draws a crowd in the evenings, where dinner is served in the form of patty melts, Reubens, and chicken & waffles.
The newest addition to Solana Beach’s dining scene, Lana has a neighborhood restaurant feel with upscale California cuisine. The region’s bounty is on full display here with locally sourced produce and proteins found in dishes like its seabass agua chile, blue mussels, and wild mushroom pasta and pizza (cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven). Lana’s recently launched brunch service has favorites like huevos rancheros, steak & eggs, and French toast.
Choose healthy California cuisine for breakfast and lunch at The Naked Cafe, where coconut French toast and breakfast burritos star alongside draft kombucha and turmeric lattes. Salads, bowls, tacos, and wraps dominate the lunch menu, and vegetarian options are always plentiful.
Address: 106 S. Sierra Ave. Hours: Daily, 7:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Phone: (858) 259-7866
The Fish Market
Seafood restaurant The Fish Market offers sandwiches, pasta dishes, fish & chips, chilled seafood, and seasonal fresh catch plates. The menu changes according to availability, but its clam chowders—both Manhattan (red) and New England (white) styles—remain best-sellers year-round. Stop by the retail counter to buy fresh seafood to go.
Address: 640 Via De La Valle Hours: Monday–Thursday & Sunday, 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Friday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Phone: (858) 755-2277
Rare Society
Helmed by chef Brad Wise, modern steakhouse Rare Society’s menu features shareable meat boards with a selection of cuts like Wagyu and dry-aged steaks that are cooked on a wood-fired grill. Other specialties include oysters Rockefeller, seafood towers, and parker house rolls.
Kai Oliver-Kurtin is a San Diego-based writer who covers travel, dining, events, and culture. Her writing has been published in USA Today, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor's Travel, Marie Claire, and HuffPost, among others.
It’s an unlikely location for one of the best music venues in America: a converted quonset hut in the middle of a design district populated largely by high-end furniture stores, beauty salons, and art galleries. But Solana Beach nightclub Belly Up Tavern has proven its value simply through longevity: This September, the 600-capacity room celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The list of acts who’ve played the Belly Up is impressive—everyone from rock icons the Rolling Stones to blues legends such as Etta James and hometown stars like Blink-182. But while secret shows and high-dollar fundraisers by the Killers, Jimmy Buffett, and others have drawn headlines, what makes the Belly Up work is consistently strong bookings of mid-level touring and local acts across a broad spectrum of musical genres.
That’s exactly what you’ll find among the 50 shows planned for the club’s summerlong anniversary series. From hip-hop adventurists Michael Franti & Spearhead (July 24) and indie-rock heroes Spoon (Aug. 4–5) to reggae masters Steel Pulse (Aug. 31) and “ethnotronica” outfit Beats Antique (Sept. 14), there’s something for just about everyone in this three-month run.
“The Belly Up is a little engine that could,” says Chris Goldsmith, who’s been overseeing music at the club since 2006 and was named its president in 2017. Across five decades, Goldsmith estimates that “there’s half a million people who have been to the club, and many of them have had very special memories there. So we really wanted to be as inclusive as possible.”
Courtesy of Belly Up Tavern
Founder Dave Hodges, who still owns the building, had much more modest goals when he and Greg Gilholm opened the Belly Up on September 28, 1974. A historical timeline recently added to its website covers lots of details about the early days, including the first live-music event (Feb. 18, 1976, with bluegrassers Squatters Last Rights) and the 1977 addition of a papier-mâché shark that still hangs over the bar.
Goldsmith cites the late Mac Falk, who began as the club’s sound engineer before becoming its talent buyer, for helping the Belly Up expand beyond Hodges’ beloved blues artists to reggae, soul, and other genres in the 1980s. Not long after Steve Goldberg and Phil Berkovitz bought the club from Hodges in 2003, they brought in Goldsmith, a renowned producer who’s won Grammys for his work with Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite (who plays the anniversary series on Aug. 22), and Blind Boys of Alabama.
Still, Goldsmith is hardly the longest-tenured employee at the club. Bar manager Claudia Garrity has been there 40 years, and at least a half-dozen others have cleared three decades.
Courtesy of Belly Up Tavern
Many musicians say that one reason for the club’s success is how well the staff treats performers. “They just took such good care of us,” Encinitas resident Cindy Lee Berryhill recalls of the first time she played the club 30 years ago. When, a few weeks ago, folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott had to cancel a show that Berryhill was scheduled to open, talent buyer Chad Waldorf allowed her to host a songwriters circle in its place.
Singer-songwriters Molly Jenson and Rheanna Downey, who recently formed duo Shhhhh played the Belly Up in May as part of an all-local triple bill, both say they were inspired by seeing some of their favorite artists play the club. Jenson recalls watching the Mother Hips there a few decades ago and thinking, “If I were to ever make music, I want to play here.”
Courtesy of Belly Up Tavern
“It was the same thing for me,” Downey says. “As I was developing as a musician, I was like, ‘That’s where I want to play. That’s the goal.’”
Jenson appeared with Poway country upstart Sam Outlaw in a 2018 performance that was filmed for Live at the Belly Up, an hour-long music program that begins its eighth season on local public-TV station KPBS this fall. Then there’s Belly Up Live, a digital-only record label that began as a download outlet for live recordings from the club and has since transitioned to streaming.
But it’s the concerts themselves that remain the Belly Up’s focus. As the 50th anniversary series got rolling in mid-July, locals packed the place for the 13th annual Beat Farmers Hootenanny, followed by a transcendent performance the next night from Texas musician Alejandro Escovedo. After playing the Belly Up in the 1980s with cowpunk pioneers Rank and File and roots-rock band True Believers, Escovedo returned for his own shows in the 1990s and beyond.
“I’ve always said clubs are just buildings until someone inhabits them and makes them warm and welcoming,” Escovido said after his July 14 performance. “Musicians travel all over the country to play, often not making a whole lot of money. But the beauty of a night like tonight carries you through all kinds of stuff. And that’s all because of what they’ve done to support this kind of music.”
Paradisaea is one of those restaurants that’s so beautiful you feel a reptile-brain rush of envy and lust, but also a touch of anger and maybe a brief mental slideshow of your own failings as a person of design. You look at this place and remember you nailed a dream catcher to your wall at home and called it a day six years ago. From the tiles to the furniture to the large format art, it all seems custom-made, and it works. (Except maybe the neon logo that looks caught somewhere between tiki font and the Def Leppard emblem.)
The caesar salad they serve here comes with jalapeños and an Al-Pacino-doing-coke-in-Scarface amount of Parmesan. It is glorious.
But back to the room. It is the friend whose shirt never has lint. Lint wouldn’t dare. Lint leaves the shirt of this place and jumps onto your shirt. The chairs are army green or martini olive green, warm yet also nontraditional—interesting enough to practice polyamory. Or maybe the color was invented specifically for this room because none of the rest of us could be trusted with this color. In our hands, it would’ve looked like an army surplus store.
The market oysters, meaning whichever are particularly thriving at that moment, are also very good. The accompanying yuzu kosho granité is the killer here. Yuzu is a tart Asian lemon, and yuzu kosho is a godly paste made from fermented chiles, salt, and yuzu zest. Mignonette, Tabasco, and grocery store lemons do fine, workmanlike work. This is the spiritual enlightenment of that idea.
“This restaurant is the friend whose shirt never has lint. Lint wouldn’t dare. Lint leaves the shirt of this place and jumps onto your shirt.”
This place used to be a piano showroom. Before Americans started buying our pianos and consumer thrills from Jeff Bezos, each American city had a glossy little piano farm. You walked in and someone was tickling the ivories beautifully, filling you with the spirit that you, too, might fancy a tickle. You sat down on one of those pianos and played the first few bars of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and stopped after a few seconds because you never learned the rest of the song (that fact has led to more than one romantic breakup in your life).
Large humans would deliver the piano to your house, where you played it furiously for six or seven days until you could do crimes because your fingerprints were rubbed fresh off. Then, for the next six or seven years, the piano would just kinda sit there, taking up an immodest amount of space (but looking really shiny and projecting your family’s false-front of artsiness) until you eventually forced it on some gullible relative who also enjoys musical delusions of grandeur.
Now that the place is Paradisaea, there’s still a piano in the room, and every Wednesday the principal of Rancho Bernardo High School comes down to play for everyone. After long days of contouring the brilliant and terrifying minds of teenagers, I bet playing here is therapy.
But, on most nights, the music you hear in this room is the ice being rhythmically thrashed about in the bartender’s shakers—that rocky-wet siren song of loose lips. The music is the sizzle and sear of hot pans in the open kitchen. The music is the muffled cultural discussions and gentle insider trading of Bird Rock regulars.
The bartenders make a damn good martini. Drink it while eating the carrots in smoked yogurt—a dish made well in many places around town (Fort Oak famously does a great one), simultaneously smoky and tangy and creamy and carrot-sweet. It’s a dish that makes us moan, tottering on that thin threshold between eating dinner and soundtracking smut.
Courtesy of Paradisaea
Dry-aging fish is a fringe kitchen art that’s catching on (it’s honestly an ancient thing—sushi only gets its trademark silkiness by aging a bit). When you age it, it doesn’t get “fishier” in that moldy-dock sort of way; it’s just more rich and luscious. Paradisaea’s amberjack crudo comes with oro blanco (grapefruit-adjacent), shaved fennel, charred avocado, and burnt citrus oil. Fresh, bright, and burnt. That’s a good thing.
I didn’t much care for the Ora King salmon. That was a tad fishy. But the 28-day ribeye with potato pave and morel mushrooms is an old song played well.
The steak knives are engraved with their island–Def Leppard logo on the side of the blade. That couldn’t have been cheap. You should probably just order the chefs’ tasting menu (at $105 for five courses, it has to be one of the best deals in the city)—each bite seems to come with its own custom utensil.
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
Stake Chophouse & Bar isn’t your average steakhouse. Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Coronado outpost is a modern interpretation of a big-city steakhouse nestled in the heart of the small coastal community. The team at Stake has reimagined the whole steakhouse experience. By prioritizing a seasonal farm-to-table sourcing philosophy, a personalized guest experience, and unique service touches, like a formal steak presentation and a bespoke knife selection process, Stake distinguishes itself in a sea of steakhouses.
Exceptional steaks, including Wagyu from Japan, Australia, and the U.S., and fresh seafood flown in daily form the core of Stake’s culinary identity. The menu features a five-course omakase-style steak experience highlighting house favorites, plus an array of cuts, and classic steakhouse staples—think a wedge salad, baked potato, or pasta carbonara—refined for a contemporary palate without losing their traditional appeal. Stake focuses on seasonal sourcing from the region’s best family farms and specialty purveyors, and incorporates intentionally unexpected touches to create something truly unique.
“I challenge our chefs and myself to take it a step further in sourcing,” says Chef Ronnie Schwandt. “It’s important to us to highlight different farms, unique one-off farms—whether it’s cattle, strawberries, a local fisherman or from anywhere in the United States, we’re always trying to find that niche.”
Beyond the menu, Stake emphasizes outstanding service, says Vinny Spatafore, Director of Hospitality Operations. Staff maintains detailed notes, allowing them to remember guests by name, recall previous orders such as a favorite martini (also memorable for the customer since it’s served in an extra tall, distinctly-shaped glass), and celebrate special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
“When you have those points of topic that you remember about a guest, they appreciate that,” he says. “Our servers are really good with that—we have a couple servers who have been here since the beginning and they’ll remember somebody from years ago, their name, their kids’ names, where they live. I’m really thankful to have a great front of house staff.”
Award-winning wines, rare whiskeys, special events, and a complementary black car service that provides transportation for guests throughout Coronado add to Stake’s appeal.
Schwandt stresses that Stake offers more than a meal; they aim to give patrons something unforgettable.
“It starts when you walk up the stairs and are greeted by the hostess—that sets the tone for the night. Then you’re greeted by a server, who may know you by name, and can guide you through the menu and curate as they get to know you,” says Schwandt. “Most people leave kind of blown away; they leave feeling like they just had an experience. That’s the goal, right? Whether you’re serving smash burgers or high-end steak, you want somebody to leave thinking, Wow, that was awesome.”
From the hubbub of Gaslamp to beachside serenity—Rustic Root is growing up and out of its original downtown location. Coming this July, Rustic Root will open their second restaurant at 343 S. Highway 101, Suite 100 in Solana Beach as part of the new mixed-use Sand Box development that will include retail, restaurants, and apartments. The new eatery will span 3,273 square feet of indoor space, plus a 923-square-foot patio instead of a have a rooftop patio. The design team Davis Ink and architect Arch5 Design Studio worked together to create the signature Rustic Root vibe with a Solana Beach spin—think more crashing waves than honking cars.
The original location opened in the Gaslamp in 2015, featuring elevated comfort food fare like their Texas-style smoked ribeye, firecracker shrimp, and homestyle butter biscuits with maple pecan and charred jalapeño butter. The downtown culinary team will help bring the same regional and local cuisine to the new location, as well as an elevated cocktail program with classics like margaritas as well as signature cocktails like A Lover’s Flannel with cucumber and mint-infused Absolut, strawberry syrup, lemon, and egg white.
Finding a new location took a while, says RMD Group partner Mike Georgopoulos. “We’ve been looking in this area for some time, hoping the perfect place would open up, so once we found an opportunity, we jumped on it,” says Georgopoulos. “The small-town feel and tight-knit community make it the perfect spot for our restaurant… We know Solana Beach locals will love the casual yet energetic feel of the atmosphere, as well as the classic yet creative take on comfort food and cocktails.”
He adds they hope to offer live music at the Solana Beach location if permits allow, and promises to bring the same Rustic Root experience to a brand new neighborhood. “I know this town well after living in North County and spending time in the area with my family,” he says. “Solana Beach is the perfect spot.”
Once open this summer, the Solana Beach location will be open for dinner seven days a week from 4 p.m. to close, and open for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
I’m nothing if not a total dumpling fiend, so news of a new dumpling restaurant always piques my interest. The Orange County favorite Bafang Dumpling opened this weekend at 9690 Reagan Road in Mira Mesa, bringing Taiwanese favorites like potstickers, spicy noodles, Taiwanese soup, and much more to San Diego for the first time. You can even pick up frozen dumplings to make at home (with or without meat). Bafang is in the midst of an aggressive expansion across Southern California, so are more locations on the horizon? My stomach prays it is so.
I may or may not have hungrily DM’ed the Shawarma Guys‘ Instagram account in November 2022 for an update on their first brick-and-mortar location that they announced in May of that year. Finally, that update and that restaurant are finally here at 5525 Jackson Drive, Suite B in La Mesa. Long operating out of a truck in a parking lot in South Park, Shawarma Guys earned national recognition on Guy Fieri’s show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives after being named #1 on Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. in 2020. Their menu of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired dishes includes favorites like their Wagyu beef shawarma, lemon cream chop fries, California shawarma wrap (yes, it’s like a California burrito, but better), fattoush salad, and even vegan shawarma and falafel. Run, don’t walk, and get a side of garlic paste.
Beth’s Bites
Better late than never—I finally got to check out the crab corn doughnut at Quixote, the Oaxacan-inspired mezcalería inside the old Red Fox Room location attached to the LaFayette Hotel. What can I say? It was worth the wait and $21.
Lion dancing, duck fat fries, and perhaps a visit to the apothecary—everything I love is happening at Common Theory this Friday starting at 8:30 pm. Won’t you come feed the lions with me to celebrate Lunar New Year?
I have it on good authority that the fish tacos at Mariscos Mar Y Tierra in Chula Vista are massive, both in size and deliciousness. Can someone please confirm/deny?
Have you planned your Super Bowl menu yet? There’s still time to order what I consider to be some of the best party wings in town—Wei Wei Asian Express’ salt and pepper wings. $66 gets you 50 pieces of the savory, garlicky, lip-smackingly crispy wings that will definitely make you the hero of the party. Honestly, they didn’t pay me for this. The wings are just that legit.
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
Enjoy your beer with live music and a heated outdoor patio at San Diego’s first and only all-in-one restaurant, winery, and brewery. Abnormal Beer Company has various beers and wines and wine on tap, offering their own alongside many guest beers from around the world. Their tasting room is attached to their restaurant, The Cork and Craft, which offers a variety of comfort food with a twist in a classy, pub-like setting.
Family owned and community focused, AleSmith has garnered a host of awards at prestigious local, national, and international competitions. At its new location, AleSmith is showcasing a custom Steinecker 80-barrel brew system, San Diego’s largest tasting room, and its famous Tony Gwynn Museum. Their outdoor beer garden now offers dine-in service.
Whether you prefer coastal breezes and patio pints in Little Italy or an outdoor patio in Miramar at Ballast Point’s largest West Coast brewery, you can count on casual dining ambience and both award-winning and experimental brews.
2215 India Street, Little Italy | 9045 Carroll Way, Miramar
From its inception in 2016, Burgeon’s mission has been to give back to their local community and promote environmentally sustainable practices, all while crafting unique, high-quality craft beer made available to everyone. You can sip a Treevana, their West Coast IPA with mosaic and amarillo hops, as you relax in their outdoor beer garden
6350 Yarrow Drive, Suite C, Carlsbad | 649 Rock Springs Road, Escondido | 501 S Santa Fe Avenue, Vista | 1326 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy
Not only is this brewery veteran-owned, but it’s also one of the only Black-owned breweries in all of San Diego. Chula Vista Brewery opened in response to the lack of breweries in the neighborhood and focuses on creating a comfortable and inviting setting for enjoying their quality craft beers. They also team up with local restaurants and food vendors.
294 Third Avenue, Chula Vista | 871 Showroom, Chula Vista
This family-owned brewery opened its doors in 1996 and gained popularity over the years for its abundantly hoppy West Coast–style ales. You can enjoy their bright, Orange Ave. Wit or Weekend Vibes IPA fresh from the taps as you take in their coastal ambience. And don’t forget to check out their food truck lineup for the week.
1205 Knoxville Street, Bay Park | 170 Orange Avenue, Coronado
Situated right on the harbor, Eppig’s Waterfront Biergarten patio in Point Loma lets you enjoy your beer with a view of the water, boats, and an occasional sea lion, if you’re lucky. Eppig primarily brews German styles, like the Meister Northern German wheat ale, their most award-winning beer. Their German-style Helles Lager is another must-try.
2817 Dickens Street, Point Loma | 1347 Keystone Way, Vista
Grab a pint of Plenty for All Pilsner and some bites from local food trucks and enjoy them on the “punk rock patio” at this North Park brewery, which is open with limited seating every day until 9 p.m.
4542 30th Street, North Park | 3010 Juniper Street., Suite A., South Park | 9550 Distribution Ave, Sorrento Valley
Karl Strauss was established in 1989, before the term “craft beer” even made its way to San Diego. Known as the catalyst for San Diego’s now huge craft brewing culture, this company continues to pioneer the independent brewing scene as one of the oldest craft breweries in the county. With a wide range of styles, Karl Strauss features brews like Aurora Hoppyalis IPA, Wreck Alley Imperial Stout, and Boat Shoes Hazy IPA, as well as beers such as their famous multi-award winning Red Trolley Ale, which has a distinct toffee flavor with hints of raisins and currants. Outdoor seating is available at their five brewpubs.
This brewery and tasting room focuses on sessionable hybrid beer styles, with 32 taps at its “Lomaland Fermentorium” and 20 taps at the “North Park Flavordome.” Their blog has a breakdown of the beers up for grabs in part one of their September special release sale, which features some old-school favorites, new concoctions, and a couple of remixes.
3725 Greenwood Street, Point Loma | 3000 Upas Street, North Park | 470 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas
While their name may not sound like they’re known for beer, after the owners decided to go into the brewpub business in 1992, Pizza Port quickly gained a reputation in San Diego’s growing craft beer scene. They’ve won over 91 medals and awards from the Great American Beer Festival so far, so you can’t go wrong with whatever they’ve got brewing next. And of course, you can enjoy your beer with great pizza.
1956 Bacon Street, Ocean Beach |571 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad | 204 Palm Ave, Imperial Beach | 2730 Gateway Road, Carlsbad | 135 N. Highway 101, Solana Beach | 155 Mata Way Ste. #104, San Marcos
Originally based in Costa Rica, this brewery is committed to more than just making good beer, by focusing on incorporating sustainability into their mission. They use local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and present their environmentally conscious story along with their product. They have a new taproom in Bankers Hill, along with an expansive beer garden serving pizza catered by Urbn.
2865 Fifth Avenue, Bankers Hill | 2825 State Street, Carlsbad | 9030 Kenamar Drive, Miramar | 2867 El Cajon Blvd, North Park | 1305 Hot Springs Way, Vista
Now the twelfth-largest craft brewer in the US, Stone is known for their bold, hop-centric beers. Their IPAs are a must-try, and they are also known for their barrel-aged creations. If you want good eats with your beer, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, their on-site restaurant, sits adjacent to each brewery.
1999 Citracado Parkway, Escondido | 2816 Historic Decatur Road, Liberty Station | 310 N. Tremont St., Oceanside | 1202 Kettner Blvd, Suite 101, Little Italy
Thorn Brewing began in North Park, made their way to Barrio Logan, and most recently opened up in Mission Hills. At the North Park location, their back room has an open-air roof and is large enough to accommodate 30 to 60 guests. Try their classic Baja-style Barrio Lager or their refreshing Tepache pineapple sour.
3176 Thorn Street, North Park | 1745 National Ave, Barrio Logan
Del Mar’s first and only brewery and restaurant, Viewpoint Brewing sits on the banks of the San Dieguito Lagoon and River Park, where you can enjoy your beer from the deck and take in the river views. Although their initial philosophy was “drinkability,” the brewery is looking to be more aggressive with hops and bitterness as they tweak their beer recipes, in addition to their more approachable flavor profiles. They also have a seasonal food menu specifically designed to pair with the house beer, so keep an eye out for that.
SeaWorld dazzles with a drone show, big-name entertainers, new animal adventures and more
By Partner Content
Nights are heating up at SeaWorld San Diego. The quintessential summertime staple on Mission Bay is transforming into a destination for unforgettable day-to-night adventures, bringing back some of its most popular Summer Nights programming and introducing exciting new experiences sure to delight both kids and adults alike.
The 2026 Summer Day to Night at SeaWorld San Diego is the park’s most ambitious season yet. SeaWorld has planned a highly anticipated entertainment lineup that features nine weeks of throwback concerts featuring R&B and hip‑hop favorites from the ‘90s and early 2000s, including Jordin Sparks, Too $hort and Warren G, Ashanti, and an array of boy band heartthrobs performing together as part of the Pop 2000 Tour.
New this season is perhaps the park’s most visible update: a nightly drone show, Ocean of Dreams, which illuminates the sky with hundreds of synchronized sparklers. Drones form sea otters, sharks, dolphins, and a majestic orca that tell a breathtaking 12-minute story of marine life and underwater ecosystems. The show culminates with a spectacular electric neon finale celebrating hope, wonder, and ocean stewardship.
Nighttime visitors are also in store for animal adventures that fuse education with high-energy fun and the dreamy ambiance of nighttime. The park has launched two all-new animal presentations: Shamu’s Celebration:Light Up the Night and Dolphins: Touch the Sky. Shamu’s Celebration:Light Up the Night features vibrant lighting, music, and dynamic choreography that celebrates the power and beauty of killer whales. Dolphins: Touch the Sky showcases playful bottlenose dolphins and the special connection between humans and the natural world. And back by popular demand is fan-favorite Sea Lions Tonite. See the charming pinnipeds splash, play, and parody pop culture in this refreshed crowd-pleaser.
More must-sees: a newly reimagined Shark Encounter, one of the country’s more immersive exhibits highlighting 11 different species up close, SeaWorld’s beloved BMX Blast! stunt show, and high-seas escapade, Pirates Ahoy! The Battle for Mermaid Cove. And don’t miss the park’s all-new Deep Sea Disco, which encourages guests to dance the night away under the glow of the SkyTower, and vibrant closing time laser light display Laser Reef Summer Spectacular.
Amp up the nighttime vibe with local craft beers, curated cocktails, and nostalgic theme park treats with $1 beer all summer long. SeaWorld is the place for day to night summer fun. When the sun goes down, SeaWorld lights up, and inspires guests of all ages to embrace their inner whimsy and see why generations of San Diegans head to SeaWorld to make memories they’ll never forget.
