Trying to narrow down the best restaurants in San Diego can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re visiting for a birthday, celebration, or special weekend and don’t want to waste a meal on something forgettable.
When JP and I lived in Anaheim, we spent years taking weekend trips down to San Diego for celebrations and time with friends, and food was always a huge part of those trips.
Over time, we found ourselves returning to the same spots again and again.
This list is a roundup of our favorite San Diego restaurants we’ve personally eaten at over the years, from casual stops to special-occasion dinners, that we genuinely recommend checking out if you’re planning a visit.
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Best Restaurants In San Diego
This list is in no particular order and it includes quick service restaurants, regular table service restaurants, a bakery, and even fine dining.
So hopefully, since there’s a little bit of everything, you’ll find a place to check out next time you’re in San Diego!
1. Casa de Reyes Restaurant in Old Town San Diego
This Mexican restaurant in the middle of Old Town always has something going on.
They regularly have live entertainment like mariachi bands and being in the center of the courtyard, you’ll always be in the center of the action.
They make their tortillas from scratch daily and are open for lunch and dinner.
2. Rose’s Tasting Room
Rose’s Tasting Room is also in the same courtyard as Casa de Reyes.
Our go-to drink is the Blue Sangria.
We love this sangria so much we actually took a trip to Turtle Rock Ridge Winery in Ramona, California one time just to bring home some of their sangria.
3. Casa de Fred’s
Another great restaurant here is Casa De Fred’s.
It’s just outside of the main section of Old Town, but still walkable.
I recommend their fajitas and their enchiladas.
4. Frost Me Cupcakes
On one of our trips to San Diego, we were celebrating my birthday, so we stopped into Frost Me Cupcakes for a birthday cupcake.
They were actually on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars show, so we knew they were good.
They’ve since moved over to Little Italy and re-opened as a cafe and bakery.
5. The Whiskey House
When we went to The Whiskey House we were actually just passing time until our dinner reservation down the street was ready, which is how we found this place.
I don’t remember what we had there, but I know JP’s go-to drink is always an Old Fashioned.
I had whatever the red fruity cocktail is pictured below!
6. Morton’s Steakhouse
Even though Morton’s is a chain, they’re not everywhere.
So if you’ve never been, this is a great location to go to!
We love to go to Morton’s for special occasions because they almost always have those 3 course menu deals for $40-$45 a person.
We usually get a Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail entree to share and I usually add on some Lobster Mac n Cheese.
Then for dessert, I love their Lava Cake!
7. Social Tap
We went to Social Tap with JP’s fraternity brothers when UCLA was supposed to play in a bowl game in San Diego, but the game got cancelled just hours before kick-off.
So, since everyone was already there, we spent the day bar hopping instead!
Social Tap has a little more of a sports bar feel, but slightly more upscale.
It’s located just across from the outfield of Petco Park.
They have really great street tacos that I recommend and cocktails.
We had an Ahi Tuna appetizer for the table, but I don’t personally eat that, but everyone else loved it.
8. Cerveza Jacks
After we left Social Tap, we went to Cerveza Jacks.
Cerveza Jacks serves Southern comfort food with a California flair.
I tried looking up their menu to confirm what all these snacks were that we had below, but it appears they’ve had a pretty recent menu change.
But, if you go and they have it, I highly recommend their hummus and pita bread appetizer.
9. Alberto’s
There are many Alberto’s fast food locations all over Southern California, even some knock-offs.
We always like to get California Burritos and rolled tacos (basically taquitos).
California Burritos are something they are known for and essentially what makes something a California Burrito is adding French fries in it!
Fun Things To Do In San Diego
Here are some of the itineraries from our San Diego trips where we tried all of the restaurants listed above.
San Diego Zoo And La Jolla Day Trip
The San Diego Zoo and La Jolla combination is a great day trip from the resort.
La Jolla is where you can see all of these sea lions out in the wild, so it makes sense to pair this excursion with a trip to the San Diego Zoo.
San Diego Weekend Itinerary
There’s plenty of world class attractions all over San Diego that you can spend a weekend exploring quite a few of the top spots like the USS Midway Museum, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, and more.
Hidden Gems In Oceanside
Oceanside has a variety of activities from whale watching, to a historic California mission, and wine tasting rooms downtown.
Oceanside is just north of San Diego and is right on the ocean.
Where To Stay In San Diego
On our last visit to San Diego, we stayed 2 nights at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, which has the best location in San Diego for anything you could want to do with your time there.
On more recent visits we’ve stayed there again because it’s really just the perfect location.
You can see a full walk-through of our room here in this video on our YouTube Channel!
Conclusion: Best Restaurants In San Diego
San Diego has so many great seafood restaurants, Mexican restaurants, bars, bakeries, and fine dining options.
Many of the best restaurants are centrally located in the Gaslamp Quarter, Old Town, and even Little Italy.
Honestly as someone that has a Masters Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, as well as Destination Marketing and Management, San Diego is one of the best designed cities for tourism, which makes it so enjoyable to visit every single time!
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