San Diego Restaurant Guide: The Restaurants Worth Your Hard-Earned Money, Time & Appetite
đ˝ď¸ It's a big city with thousands of restaurants and I've picked my 35 favorites so that when you come to town, you know where to go, where not to go, and my favorite dishes that I order every time!
If you are not interested in my content, feel free to unsubscribe yourself by scrolling down and clicking the Unsubscribe link at the very bottom and youâll never hear from me again. If you follow me for recipes averiecooks.com is where I post just recipes. This is my other platform where I share a bit of everything!
The San Diego Restaurant Scene
If youâve never been to San Diego, weâre our own city and scene, we have our own deal, vibe, and our own restaurants. We are not LA which is a 2-3+ hours drive north, depending on traffic and where in San Diego youâre starting from. And weâre not Orange County although it could be argued that northern San Diego country and southern OC somewhat blur together.
There are over 3000 full-service restaurants in San Diego and 5000+ total restaurants. Thatâs a lot of food to choose from.
And Iâll let you in on a secretâŚFor a county with 3.34 million residents (and the 5th largest county in the entire US), our restaurant scene is very diverse BUT if youâre not careful, youâve just bought yourself a $400 dinner for two - not at all hard to do, I promise - thatâs mediocre at best, and this is sadly easy to do unless youâre in the know.
So Iâve taken the liberty to spend two decades of my life dining out and tens of thousands of dollars out of my own pocket in restaurant meals to tell you what I believe is the best food in San Diego. Not one meal has ever been comped.
As an asideâŚOne of the biggest misconceptions people have about food bloggers is that we go around and eat in 5-star restaurants for free and then write about it. That is a million percent NOT what food bloggers do. Thatâs what restaurant critics do although if theyâre accepting free meals in exchange for reviews thatâs a very slippery slope.
As a food blogger for 17 years at Averie Cooks, what I have done is write two cookbooks and personally develop and photograph 3000+ of my OWN recipes and have shared them on the internet, for free, with all of you. And because food is my job and I love trying new food, I go outâŚa lot. Likely a very disproportionate amount to ânormalâ people who donât work in the food space.
Also make sure to check out my fun Free Things To Do In San Diego post which is chock full of - you guessed it - fun free activities, sights, and recommended activities if youâre in San Diego. Photo below is at one of the restaurants on my favorites list.
Favorite Fun FREE Things To Do in San Diego post!
The Best San Diego Restaurants, Why & What to Order (and not to order)
Since itâs a big city and county, paying attention to where you're staying, or where you live in relation to where the restaurant is, it's a big deal. I don't care how good the food is, unless it's a Michelin star, I'm not spending more than 45 minutes in my car or Uber, one way, just to get there. Pay attention to areas: downtown, Little Italy, La Jolla, North County, East County, South Bay, and so forth. Most all restaurants I have selected are metro San Diego or slight north county.
The restaurants are grouped by category such as steak, sushi, Mexican, etc. and are in no particular order.
Unless I specifically mention that you donât need one, you NEED to make a reservation. I never call, itâs pointless most times. OpenTable or Resy (all of these restaurants use one or the other) is what you need to do. Click, click, done. Do not show up expecting to dine, even on a Tuesday, and especially if itâs more than just two of you, if you donât have a reservation.
So letâs get to my favorite 35 restaurants that you should try!