The beef tartare dish at Kingfisher Cocktail Bar & Eatery in Golden Hill.
(Kimberly Motos)
10 of our critic’s favorite San Diego restaurants to visit during Comic-Con and beyond
SAN DIEGO — As Comic-Con attendees arrive in San Diego this week, plenty of restaurants in the city’s touristy Gaslamp Quarter will have dreamed up themed enticements — cocktail flourishes resembling Spider-Man’s web, say, or sushi in the shape of Yoda.
With the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, numerous Comic-Con panels have been canceled this year, so convention-goers might have more free time to dine through America’s Finest City than they originally anticipated. This is a concise list of personal favorites for tacos, burgers, seafood, coffee and finer-dining options — the places I’d send friends if they asked me for recommendations in San Diego, where I’ve traveled frequently over the last decade.
I’m so tempted to send comic fans who also happen to love food on journeys further afield; I want to urge you to the original location of TJ Oyster Bar in Bonita for aguachile and garlic shrimp tacos, and up the coast for Eric Bost’s French-Californian cuisine at Jeune et Jolie in Carlsbad. But I’m being realistic: Most of these restaurants are a few miles from the San Diego Convention Center. The one exception? A fantastic bakery in La Jolla that’s worth the trip for breakfast pastries before the festivities begin each day.
This guide was originally published July 15, 2022.
Showing Places
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Callie
East Village Mediterranean
Travis Swikard embarks on a broad survey of culinary touchstones on or not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Pastas such as pappardelle tangled in sausage ragu are a highlight. Otherwise, go heavy on inspirations from the sun-drenched Southwest Asian/North African region: dips like hummus with the added depth of roasted garlic and smoky baba ghanouj dusted with za’atar, and a spectacular charred “Aleppo chicken” jolted with sumac-brined pickles and smoothed with yogurt and coriander honey. Swikard embraces the Southern California ethos of ingredient worship; look for seasonal salads and the freshest local uni on tomato toast with Iberico ham. Cocktails built on seasonal fruits, great wine service and an airy, glamorous room help make Callie the hottest restaurant in San Diego.
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(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Hayes Burger
Burgers
What would a list of restaurants anywhere in Southern California be without at least one recommendation for a smashburger? Your choices at Hayes Burger are refreshingly sparse: a burger, a cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger, fresh-cut fries and “Jimi fries” made in the spirit of In-N-Out’s “animal style” with a melted slice of American cheese, ketchup-tinged mayo sauce and griddled chopped onions. Simplicity wins out. A double cheeseburger hits all the fundamental pleasures, with craggy, homey edges to the patties and the seasonings of salt and pepper pronounced. Take your order to go and stroll one block to enjoy your meal among the incredible murals in Chicano Park under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.
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(Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times)
James Coffee
Coffeehouse
This is for the travelers who will go slightly out of their way for a cup of coffee far superior to the acrid fuel served in most hotel lobbies. Several locations of James Coffee operate around San Diego; the Little Italy outpost is two miles from the convention center. It has excellent espresso drinks, and even better cold brew. A latte sweetened with condensed milk and nutmeg is about as crazy as the concoctions get, which I respect. It sits in the back of a small market that also houses a gift store and a barber shop. There is limited seating that is often crowded; I’m happy to stand by the counter, down my macchiato and keep the day moving.
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The day’s local catch at Juniper & Ivy in San Diego.
(Juniper & Ivy)
Juniper and Ivy
New American
A refined Cal-Ital restaurant that doesn’t resort to stereotypes, Juniper and Ivy has become a modern institution for reliably beautiful cooking. There will be creative salads — the moment’s tomatoes with dots of lemon curd, pistachios and pink peppercorn vinaigrette, for example, or sliced peaches offset with lardo, brown butter and hazelnuts. One large ravioli will burst its egg yolk across English peas and smoked mushrooms; linguine will tempt with its unorthodox mix of local see urchin, chorizo and cotija. Resisting devil’s food cake with fluffy ganache and ripe berries is futile. Given the food descriptions, you might well guess the matching decor: wood beams, white tiles, leather-bound chairs, a few sprawling booths. It all feels right.
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(Kimberly Motos / Kingfisher)
Kingfisher
Vietnamese
Kim Phan, Ky Phan, and Quan Le — the owners behind the local Viet-Cajun Crab Hut restaurants — have opened San Diego’s most exciting restaurant of the year. A dramatic black-and-gold bar anchors the dining room, its walls covered with a sweeping lotus print in shades of green and pink. A soursop and coconut milk cocktail called Jungle Fang sets the mood for Jonathan Bautista‘s exuberant cooking, which melds Southeast Asian flavors with Californian creativity. He surrounds poached shrimp with green papaya, banana blossoms, ribbons of kohlrabi and citrus; halibut seasoned with turmeric and dill over rice noodles riffs on famed Hanoi dish cha ca la vong. Come with a group to devour the smoked dry-aged duck platter, and then save room for flan doused in coffee syrup with salty-sweet miso cream.
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(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Mitch's Seafood
Seafood
A destination for casual seafood on the waterfront where locals and visitors converge? That’s Mitch’s, a counter-service operation located at a picturesque angle of Point Loma Marina from which the downtown skyline is visible beyond the crowded rows of boat slips. It’s easy to disappear into poutine covered in Monterey Jack gravy, balls of fried queso fresco and drifts of Dungeness crab meat, but focus mostly on basics: grilled fish sandwiches made from the day’s catch; seafood cocktails, including a generous campechana; limey ceviches and beer-battered fish tacos. Speaking of beer: Note the oft-changing selection of drafts on tap from some of San Diego’s best craft breweries. There is usually a fast-moving line out the door to order, followed by a race to secure outdoor seating facing the view.
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(¡Salud!)
¡Salud! Tacos
Tacos
Fifth-generation San Diegan Ernie Becerra opened his first taqueria in 2015 in the historic Barrio Logan district, looking to the murals of nearby Chicano Park as inspiration for the restaurant’s art-filled walls. The menu covers both classic and modern taco options, riding the wave of the red-stained quesabirria’s popularity with skill while also serving unfussy varieties with fried fish or shrimp and a classic carne asada taco wrapped in a thick, guac-smeared corn tortilla. If you show up early on weekends, the cheesy, porky breakfast taco hits the right notes, as does the “sangre de Maria” spiked with tequila.
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(Sushi Tadokoro)
Sushi Tadokoro
San Diego Sushi
The excellence of the Japanese restaurants in San Diego merits further discussion in general, but if you’re seeking an antidote to a hectic day of crowds and appreciate outstanding sushi, consider making a reservation at Sushi Tadokoro. Like so many great sushiyas in Southern California, it hides in a low strip mall and the space is tiny: 10 seats at the bar, seven additional tables. Takeaki Tadokoro and his chefs prepare dishes either a la carte or as part of a $160 omakase meal. Whichever route you choose, expect impeccable fish and seafood (mostly from Japan) and nigiri crafted with the telltale signs of a master — precisely warmed, perfectly vinegared rice.
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(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Tuetano Taquería
Tacos
Chef-owner Priscilla Curiel relocated her operations from nearby San Ysidro to a stand that’s the marquee draw among Old Town Urban Market’s food vendors. Per the name — “tuétano” is Spanish for “bone marrow” — the standout menu item is a taco of Flinstonian proportions. A server directed me to the ideal taco order: Curiel’s long-simmered, richly spiced beef birria over a handmade tortilla with cheese, crowned with a hunk of roasted bone out of which the marrow is spooned and dolloped over top. It is unwieldy and amazing. If you want to forgo the marrow, the birria is equally delicious folded into a quesadilla or stuffed inside a torta with avocado and salsa.
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(Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times)
Wayfarer Bread & Pastry
Bakery
Since most of Comic-Con’s scheduled programming begins about 10 a.m., I’m sending early risers on a 30-minute journey north of the convention center to the San Diego area’s promised land for pastries. Wayfarer opens at 8:30 a.m., and there will be a line that looks daunting but usually moves steadily. The rewards for your patience begin with billowing croissants; strawberry-pistachio is a favorite but even standard variations like chocolate, almond or ham and cheese are exemplary. Grab a sugar-coated cinnamon bun and a flaky blueberry scone as well, and save a savory, summery tomato-cheddar pastry and a chocolate chip cookie for lunch; they’ll make the trek seem doubly worth the effort.
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Eat your way across L.A.
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