A casual guide to San Diego
This summer marks five years of living in San Diego! Although I wrote a post on a perfect weekend in San Diego right after we arrived, I’ve had some time to discover more of America’s finest city. There really is so much on offer here, and so: here is a list of all of my most recommended spots.
I actually put together this list when we house-swapped with our good friends, and I’ve just updated and forwarded it whenever other friends come into town. And so! It’s pretty casual, but if you are visiting San Diego and looking for some good things to eat and drink and do, I heartily recommend any and all of the below.
Cocktails
Polite Provisions: super cute interior, fantastic drinks–especially the cocktails on tap! My favorite is the Uncle Jalepeno–it’s not quite as photogenic as some others, but it’s super refreshing.
Kindred: decor is a somehow perfect combination of pink and skulls, and it features an incredible vegan cocktail and food menu.
You & Yours: female-owned distillery for vodka and gin, agorgeous interior and just such good cocktails–and I don’t even really like vodka or gin!
Wolfie’s Carousel Bar: very Instagrammable, make a reservation – a little overpriced IMO but a fun experience!
Beer & Wine
Modern Times: love all of their beers and tasting rooms, but especially a fan of the one in North Park! David is a big fan of the Fruitlands sour beer, but I always like to do a flight and try out some of the seasonal specials.
Stone Brewing: a classic San Diego brand, my fave is the Liberty Station location (it’s also all outside!).
Rose Wine Bar: super cute spot in South Park to have a glass of wine and a light Spanish-inspired tapas. Also one of my favorites for a non-reservation brunch!
Boutique Vino: a great wine shop and place to grab a glass and a charcuterie place in East Village, Justus does all of our Spotify virtual tastings and is a great resource. Very welcoming ambiance!
Juneshine: I love their hard kombucha (you can find it a lot of shops around here) and the tasting rooms on El Cajon and farther north are great.
Coffee/Breakfast
Communal Coffee: the location in South Park is al fresco and especially cute! If you get one of the flower lattes (like lavender), I always recommend asking for it half sweet.
Wayfarer Bread: obsessed with their bread products, and my favorite move is to get a fancy croissant thing from here and a coffee from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters up the street and then eat it by the water. You can also order ahead for pizza on certain nights–it’s incredible, and the perfect thing to eat during a sunset picnic at Calumet Park!
Morning Glory: this spot is peak Instagram, but delicious decadent food and a very cool vibe. The real downside is that the wait can be crazy–prepare yourself accordingly, and get there early! (If you are only in SD for a weekend, I do not recommend spending your limited time doing this.)
Better Buzz: it’s a local chain and there are a bunch of locations, but the coffee is great! The Best Drink Ever is legit. Breakfast options are also delicious with giant portions.
Dark Horse Coffee Roasters: one of my faves for whole beans at home as well as easy takeaway when bopping around North Park.
The Mission: my family discovered this spot when we came down for my soccer tournaments in high school, and it’s still one of our go-to’s. Those rosemary potatoes!
The Cottage: worth the wait for the lemon ricotta pancakes! The wait can be intense later on weekend mornings, but there are several coffee shops and juice shops nearby: we love to put our name in, and then go grab a coffee and walk around a bit.
Casual
Taco Stand: this is a local favorite for tacos and burritos, I’m also obsessed with their elote. Our apartment was right above the North Park location when we first moved here, and it was a DREAM. The burritos are excellent to grab for a picnic or to take to the beach.
Tacos El Gordo: the actual best adobada tacos you can get. A bit of a drive down to Chula Vista but 100% worth the miles and wait.
Las Cuatro Milpas: incredible shredded pork tacos, I also absolutely love the rice and beans. Cash only!
Mitch’s Seafood: fresh fish options on the water–all of it is super fresh and locally caught, but nothing is as good as the fish sandwich IMO! Especially good if you can time dinner with sunset. Club Marina across the street is also a solid dive bar if you’re looking for some extra after-dinner beers.
Big Front Door: inventive and delicious sandwiches.
Rubicon Deli: solid takeaway sandwiches, a favorite to grab to take to the beach. The India Street location is also right by the airport: we usually order ahead and pick up to take with us whenever we travel.
The Crack Shack: great chicken sandwiches and bowls, and a fun outdoor dining setup.
Poki One N Half: one of our go-to takeaway lunches.
Seaside Market: the home of the famed CARDIFF CRACK! They sell sandwiches outside on the weekends (perfect to pick up before or after a Torrey Pines hike), but it’s our favorite to buy it and take it home to grill. I almost never eat red meat, but this is my rare exceptoin! Buy more than you think you need :)
Fancy
Mister A’s: honestly the food is kind of overpriced, but you’re paying for the ambiance and the view. One of the only true “rooftop bars” in San Diego, and the cocktails are great! Also one of the rare places in San Diego that actually has a dress code: men need to wear collared shirts, and this is a spot where beach chic won’t quite fly.
Sushi Tadokoro: one of our long-time favorites for sushi. The restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star, so it’s trickier to get a reservation these days but it’s worth planning ahead!
Juniper & Ivy: a good splurge-y dinner.
Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar: great fancy-ish seafood and oysters. The happy hour is a great deal!
Callie: the tasting menu is incredible, and the whole experience is just A+: I love the interior, and the service is top-notch.
Neighborhoods to explore
South Park: one of the most charming neighborhoods, IMO! My favorite is to browse the front window and buy a book at The Book Catapult, grab a coffee at Communal or a glass of wine at Rose, and just wander by all of the big beautiful houses and along the south end of Balboa Park. Don’t miss the poetry tree!
North Park: this is where we lived when we first moved to San Diego and I’m forever biased! The corner of 30th and Upas has some great restaurants and bars, and the whole stretch of 30th up to and then along University is also packed with good spots. It’s also home to some of my favorite shops: Verbatim Books (the coolest book art inside and book mural outside), Pigment (all of the plants and cards and cute things you want but don’t need), Artlexia (colorful Mexican home goods and gifts), Shop Good (the best natural beauty resource, also a great spot for facials).
Coronado: the sandy beach is huge with plenty of room to spread out, hop in for a drink at the iconic Del, the ice skating rink might be set up on the beach in the winter! Also just a fun little Pleasantville island to walk around and check out the fun houses.
Kate Sessions Park: a dog-friendly park with lovely sunset views and a loose policy on alcohol–a favorite for a DIY outdoor happy hour.
Calumet Park: another great spot for a sunset DIY outdoor happy hour.
Balboa Park: home to the zoo and all of the beautiful Spanish architecture! Bird Park is another spot that we like to hang for picnics with friends at the north end of the park — if you play tennis, the courts here are great!
Sunset Cliffs: a lovely spot for a walk at–you guessed it–sunset.
Scripps Beach: one of our go-to beach spots–it’s a little less crowded than PB and the waves are good. There is a little stretch of restaurants in La Jolla Shores–we love to spend the afternoon at the beach here and then walk down to Avenida de la Playa for dinner or beers!
Farmers’ Markets: San Diego’s farmers’ markets are absolutely fantastic, full of fresh-grown produce year-round and delicious ready-to-eat options. I love the Hillcrest and La Jolla markets on Sunday mornings, the Little Italy market on Saturday mornings and the Pacific Beach market on Tuesday afternoons.
Beaches
Frankly, you can’t go wrong. I love Scripps Pier Beach/North La Jolla Shores for laying out and going for a swim (and because it’s pretty easy to find parking), but just about every beach in San Diego and North County is beautiful.
Another great way to get on the water is to take a city cruise of the bay (Hornblower has good options!) or rent a duffy to go around Mission Bay (go with friends, and BYOB!).
Culture
Let’s be real–you come to San Diego for the beaches. Alas! A few things to check out if you *must* go inside–or in true San Diego fashion, if you’d like to experience some culture al fresco.
Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla: if you go to one museum in San Diego, I recommend this one. It has some of the best ocean views I’ve ever seen in a museum, but it also has a surprisingly good collection of modern art and some top-notch exhibits.
Mingei Musem: recently renovated in the middle of Balboa Park. An interesting collection of folk art.
Rady Shell: open-air music venue on the waterfront. I especially love when the San Diego symphony does a live score for a movie!
Rooftop Cinema Club: a very fun way to see some cult classics and enjoy the perfect San Diego evening weather.
Hiking & Workouts
Torrey Pines Nature Reserve: a very scenic, pretty kid-friendly hike — one of my favorite spots for a nature walk with gorgeous beach views. If you’re going to do one hike that is quintessentially San Diego, I recommend this one: the view-to-work ratio is very good, and there are multiple options to make it longer or shorter or more challenging.
Iron Mountain: one of my favorites for a sunrise hike. A six-mile out and back with a decent elevation gain and some gorgeous views. It always surprises me how it feels like such a different terrain just a 20- to 30-minute drive inland!
Cowles Mountain: A very popular three-mile out and back: a great way to wake up on a weekend morning with a bit of activity.
Mission Trails: Cowles Mountain is technically in Mission Trails Regional Park, but it’s not the only hike! There are a ton of different routes through here, and some are pretty challenging.
Trilogy Sanctuary: rooftop aerial (and regular) yoga with a bonus vegan cafe and ocean views.
Riffs Yoga Bird Rock: this outdoor deck is surrounded by plants, and just a few blocks from the ocean. It always feels like I’ve been transported to a tropical yoga retreat! I especially love the weekend morning vinyasa classes that are accompanied by a live guitarist.
Pilates Plus La Jolla: not necessarily quintessentially San Diego, but this is my go-to workout studio. 40-minute Megaformer/Lagree classes that are super challenging in a short amount of time! I like to take a walk down to the ocean afterwards.
Kid-Friendly Ideas
San Diego Zoo: free parking, honestly a fantastic zoo that is really fun to walk around–and it’s right in Balboa Park so you can also walk around Balboa Park and those fun buildings afterwards. A little farther afield is the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which is basically the zoo but even bigger and better. I’m not a big zoo person, but as far as zoos go: this is a non-profit that doesn’t make you feel *too* depressed afterwards.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps: great aquarium and not huge aka not too overwhelming.
Belmont Park: our version of Coney Island, some of the rides are probably too big but it’s right next to the beach AND it’s right across the street from a really fun playground (all pink, very 90s Miami design vibe) at Bonita Cove.
New Children’s Museum: I haven’t been yet, but my friends with toddlers rave!
Torrey Pines Nature Reserve: a very scenic, pretty kid-friendly hike — one of my favorite spots for a nature walk with gorgeous beach views.
This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of things to do in San Diego, but I hope it’s a good start for a trip here! Enjoy America’s finest city, and don’t forget to wear !!!
