Eat & Drink

San Marcos has a variety of delectable dining options conveniently located downtown in Old California Restaurant Row. This Spanish-style plaza houses a dozen chain and regional restaurants, many of which are open for outdoor dining, including mainstay Fish House Vera Cruz, gold-rush-inspired Old California Mining Company, and North County’s first microbrewery, San Marcos Brewery & Grill. Just up the street you’ll find Mama Kat’s. This charming café named for the owner’s mother offers breakfast favorites, specialty coffees, pastries, and pies.

Fish House Vera Cruz

Justin Halbert

San Marcos has some tasty drink options, too. Meadiocrity’s sweet honey wine supports local beekeepers and helps hives thrive. Visitors to Sunshine Mountain Vineyard can enjoy its varietals on a patio overlooking the lush, rolling hillsides.

Antique Village

Justin Halbert

Shop

Tucked amid the warehouses and showrooms along Furniture Row is Antique Village, a one-stop shop for vintage jewelry, collectibles, coins, china, toys, memorabilia, and more from over 60 vendors. San Marcos also caters to crafters and creators with stores like Yarning for You, Grand Country Quilters, Quilt in a Day, and Discount Hobby.

Double Peak

Justin Halbert

Play

Affectionately known as “San Parkos,” this city is blanketed with green space and trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Double Peak, accessible via scenic Discovery Lake, is one of the most popular treks. At the top of this 1,000-foot climb in the San Elijo Hills, hikers are treated to views stretching from the mountains to the sea. Not a hiker? Not a problem. There are plenty of outdoor options for you, too. Head to Lake San Marcos for a day on the water. Lakehouse Hotel & Resort rents motorboats to cruise along the calm waters, and you can even explore the lake by gondola by booking an advance tour with The Black Swan Gondola Company. End the day with a cold one at Decoy Dockside, the resort’s restaurant, which has two spacious decks.

Discovery Lake

Bonus!

Nearby Elfin Forest is a hiker’s paradise and Halloween-lover’s delight. Legend has it that shadowy apparitions, a wicked witch, and a ghostly woman in white roam this rugged reserve after dark. However, after-hours visits are strictly off-limits for a dangerous practical reason: Mountain lions and the other wildlife who call the reserve home need to do what they do undisturbed.

Mama Kat’s

Justin Halbert

1949 Boat Houses San Diego Magazine

Consider it a glossy version of scrapbooking. We’re getting wistful over how many times North County has graced our pages over our 75-year tenure serving this city—and we should be.

In digging through the annals of SDM history, we’ve found that North County has been cropping up since the beginning. In 1949, we featured a couple who owned homes in Encinitas constructed to look like boats, but not seaworthy in the slightest. This was the first of many profiles that cemented North County as the county’s leader in design.

Through the ’50s, ads were placed beckoning our readers to dine with the likes of Bing Crosby in the racetrack- adjacent town of Del Mar. The ’70s saw North County open up as a leisure and entertainment destination, promoting townhome living and new restaurants, which parallels its current cultural climate. The issues of the ’80s and ’90s brought more of North County as the region itself grew in population and economic appeal.

As we wax this North County nostalgia on the page, take in these snippets of the past knowing that we are focused on including every inch of this county, which is why we dedicate an issue to this sprawling swath of culture—that just so happens to have a pretty amazing view.

Homes That Aren’t Houses, 1949

It must be the coastal breeze that makes every North County resident a little bit of a skipper. And in 1949, they might have worn those dapper nautical hats, too. But we’re not talking house boats bobbing along the bay. We’re talking a hull as a full-on house on dry, Encinitas land, as owned by the eccentric and aquatic Mr. & Mrs. Aden D. Gilder.

Cantina La Tienda, 1951

1951 Cantina La Tienda San Diego Magazine Ad

Thought Golden Hill was the destination for indoor BBQing and icy martinis? Think again. The original home of the Turf Club was, in fact, Del Mar. Catntina La Tienda, a Mexican Restaurant owned by Bing Crosby, was the first iteration of the space. But after a move across the highway, it was rebranded as the Turf Club. In 1982, we highlighted the rise of the dining scene in Del Mar, which included this much loved spot as a 24-hour eatery—where racetrack folk could still get an “eye-opener” from the bar at 6 a.m. if the mood, or need, should strike.

Rancho California, 1966

1966 Land Barons San Diego Magazine Ad

Let’s face it—some of our archival ads celebrate societal shortcomings rather than countering them. “Land baron” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it these days, but, in 1966, Rancho California promoted the chance to start your North County inland dynasty.

County Road, North County, 1968

1968 2 Kids Country Road San Diego Magazine

This isn’t the first time we’ve looked back. For SDM’s 20th anniversary, the editors ran a selection of archival pics, including this charming shot of NoCo tots.

Del Mar Restaurants, 1972

1972 Del Mar San Diego Magazine

In 1972, Del Mar had a restaurant boom with five new eateries along its coast. Highlighted in this issue were The Turf Club, a Catholic- church-turned-restaurant called Albatross, GRB (The Golden Rollin Belly, of course), Firepit, and the recently shuttered Bully’s North.

Pacific Villas at Rancho La Costa, 1976

1976 Pacific Villas San Diego Magazine Ad

Not a quite condo, not yet a mansion. This dream of middle-class living was alive and well in 1976. The groovy thing? They’re still around and in demand. Have your own 1,442-square-foot slice of the ’70s for just shy of an estimated $800K.

San Diego in The Xtreme, 1997

1997 X-games San Diego Magazine

If our embedded skateboarding culture wasn’t a big enough draw, maybe the backdrop of Oceanside sealed the deal. Back in 1997, we chronicled the athletes and North County spectators who flocked to see the extreme in action at the third annual X Games, where last month’s cover star and North County resident, Tony Hawk, took home the gold for a “perfect run” in the Skateboard Vert with a score of 97.5.

KKOS 96 FM Radio, 1981

1981 KKOS 96FM San Diego Magazine Ad

In its ’80s heyday, this Carlsbad airwaver played the pop gamut, from Adult Contemporary to Top 40, on its 95.9 dial. They were also, apparently, pretty cozy with easy listening’s adult beverage of choice. We can imagine it now: Slathering on Zinka and cracking a brew on South Ponto Beach with our transistor on in the background. This J. Geils Band anthem’s for you, North County.

There’s A Lot of Theres There, 1997

1997 North County San Diego Magazine

Tell us something we don’t know. Deep diving into the upper regions of our county, writer Tom Blair extolled the virtues of each little pocket, from Del Martians and their cigarette smoke ban (progress for the era) to the leisure of frou- frou blended libations and polo in Rancho Santa Fe and the migrant workers living in nearby Escondido. Shoutout Gertrude Stein.

Rhino Boom, 1997

1997 Baby Rhino San Diego Magazine

Forget Romper Room—in 1997 it was “Rhino Boom” in Escondido with four newborn Indian rhinoceroses arriving at the San Diego Wild Animal Park that November. Much like the recent condor birth at the park, this was a big deal. Constantly upholding zoological excellence, the Wild Animal Safari Park is a long-standing staple of North County education and culture.

Legomania, 1999

1999 Legoland San Diego Magazine

The Danish seem to do everything right. Between pastries, their status as one of the top three happiest countries in the world, and the Lego (Danish for “play well”) company selecting Carlsbad as their third theme park location, they are slowly winning our allegiance. Writer Rob Akins hyped up this great plastic hope as a way to bring jobs and tourism to this agrarian enclave of San Diego.

One of the great joys of San Diego is the way its culture shifts between neighborhoods. We all contain multitudes—and there’s a SD borough for every self. We can unleash our inner Carrie Bradshaw amid the high rises of downtown. Relive our halcyon college days in hard-partying PB. Cultivate the cocktail taste of a film noir detective at a North Park whiskey bar.Sometimes, though, we want to leave city life behind for the slower pace of smaller coastal ’burbs, where we can wake to the sound of crashing waves and make leisurely plans over diner coffee. Of course, in SD county, things can slow down, but they’re never boring.Just north of downtown San Diego is a collection of towns that are rich in history and full of unique attractions. From surf museums to three-star Michelin restaurants and family-friendly activities, North County celebrates Southern California’s creativity and sense of community.Here are the top must-visit spots to eat, adventure, shop, and stay in North County San Diego, California:

Courtesy of 101 Cafe

Eat & Drink

101 Cafe

Oceanside, CA

An Oceanside staple, the 101 Cafe has been serving diner-style food since 1928. The retro, easygoing eatery is a local-favorite spot to enjoy a hearty omelet, stack of pancakes, and a good ‘ole cup of joe.

Photo Credit: Eric Wolfinger

Addison

San Diego, CA

There’s no menu at Southern California’s first and only three-star Michelin restaurant, Addison. Instead, diners place their palates in the capable hands of chef William Bradley and explore a seasonal, nine-course tasting that celebrates California ingredients and cuisine.

 

 

 

 

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Cali Cream

Encinitas, CA

Satisfy your sweet tooth at Cali Cream. The Encinitas ice cream shop is known for their vast selection (50-plus flavors!) and generous scoops. With a second shop located in the Gaslamp Quarter, Cali Cream is a must-visit for a sunny day treat.

Courtesy of Campfire

Campfire

Carlsbad, CA

Inspired by the California landscape and its produce-forward flavors, Campfire is a rustic spot built on the spirit of bringing people together. The Carlsbad eatery lives up to their name, preparing meals on a custom 12-foot hearth. Led by chef Eric Bost, Campfire offers fun cocktails, vegan options, and s’mores for dessert.

Claire’s on Cedros

Solana Beach, CA

If you’re looking for a cozy breakfast and lunch joint, then Claire’s on Cedros is the place to go. Try meals like the brioche breakfast grilled cheese sandwich, blackberry-stuffed french toast, and salted caramel waffles, all made with locally sourced ingredients. Claire’s Too, the restaurant’s coffee shop and bakery, is a great quick stop for grab-and-go goodies.

Courtesy of Golden Coast Mead

Golden Coast Mead

Oceanside, CA

Golden Coast Mead sells delicious, preservative-free sips made from fermented honey. Serving dry, sour, sweet, and spiced versions of mead, the Oceanside shop prides itself on innovative flavors—and its commitment to saving the bees.

Courtesy of Encinitas Visitors Center

Ironsmith Coffee Roasters

Encinitas, CA

Bringing coffee shop cuteness to Encinitas is Ironsmith Coffee Roasters. The team focuses on sourcing high-quality coffee beans and providing rejuvenating drinks. Need a little treat? Ironsmith serves Wayfarer Bread pastries and sourdough loaves on Sundays.

Courtesy of Pizza Port

Pizza Port

Solana Beach, CA

While Pizza Port has made its mark in San Diego with multiple spots, the original location is nestled in Solana Beach. Siblings Gina and Vince Marsaglia opened the restaurant in 1987, launching their line of craft brews five years later.

 

 

 

 

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Rouleur Brewing Company

Carlsbad, CA

Carlsbad watering hole Rouleur Brewing Company is a local, cycling-inspired craft brewery that keeps charity and philanthropy top of mind. They’ve collaborated with orgs such as Curebound, a local nonprofit striving to raise money for cancer research.

Tony’s Jacal

Solana Beach, CA

In 1946, Tony and Catalina Gonzales transformed their family home into a cozy Mexican restaurant called Tony’s Jacal. Today, their daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren run the business, cooking up the couple’s original recipes for turkey tacos and chile rellenos.

 

 

 

 

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Explore

Belly Up Tavern

Solana Beach, CA

A San Diego legend, the Belly Up Tavern has been North County’s hottest venue for live music since the 1970s. Located in Solana Beach, the venue has hosted a laundry list of talented artists and bands, including Etta James, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Rolling Stones.

Courtesy of the California Surf Museum

California Surf Museum

Oceanside, CA

Hot Topic, daycare for hardcores.

My daughter and her preteen friends hang out at Target. Not to go shopping; they just walk its aisles in herds, cruise the place, look for other groups of preteens. Maybe get trinkets. The big red bullseye has become their social space. They will come of age right next to the shampoo and the affordable clothes and the TP.

I can’t tell you how sad this makes me. These kids have tech that makes Atari game systems look like cave paintings from the Mr. Belvedere era. Plenty of diseases have been eradicated or tamed for them. But their third places really, really suck.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a third place—coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg—means a separate space just to be other than home and work or, in the case of these kids, school. Good hangout spots, Oldenburg wrote in 1989, are “the people’s own remedy for stress, loneliness, and alienation.” They’re “gathering places where community is most alive and people are most themselves.”

Target, while a quality retailer, is not much of a third place. It’s a place you go to get the cream that will undo the rash, the place for bed sheets and starter electronics and birthday toys for kids you don’t really know.

And these 11-year-old girls choose to go hang there. They do laps, gossiping and pointing and laughing and exploring the world through the lens of a highly successful and functional mass-market retailer. Granted, it has a Starbucks. (My daughter has made it clear that this Starbucks is not the real thing, that the drinks taste watered down or like an off-brand extension.) But still, I can’t help but feel that this really blows.

This is all due to the death of the American mall and other factors that could take up another essay in a different issue. Because up until the 2000s, we had the whole Fast Times at Ridgemont High experience in suburban San Diego thanks to the indoor wonderland known as North County Fair.

Our buddy Oldenburg argued that true third places exist “outside the cash nexus.” But for junior highers with about 10 dollars of babysitting money to our names, the mall was exactly that—just a self-contained, relatively safe place where we could all stumble through puberty as a publicly shared spectacle.

Where we could learn the ropes of group socialization outside of a school setting. School socializations is not like after-school socializations. In school, you’re allotted specific times and breaks and sent to a single uninspired area with a little free time between snacks and lunch to contemplate preteen-ness with cohorts in that terrifying journey.

In malls, there is no preordained order to things, just a bunch of wild lights and a multitude of new impulses and stimuli you must learn to navigate together on the fly. (Also, maybe an arcade.)

We’d wander its long, highly illuminated gallery of shops and learn about what adults like, what we might like as we got older and aged and weird shit started happening to our bodies and brains and souls. We’d walk through Nordstrom to find out what rich people wore. We’d giggle at the Victoria’s Secret store. We’d get exposed to kicks culture at the shoe store. The food court was where we’d get our first taste of multicultural cuisine—Belgian fries, almost-Chinese fast food, you name it. At the nauseatingly odorous store, we’d wonder what kind of extra-dry humans need all this lotion.

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

The mall was like a massive, incredibly diverse, neon curio of capitalism. Even if capitalism is late-stage and all the cool kids are leaning toward socialism these days, the old market-driven society still governs. The mall was bumper bowling for adolescence. We could observe herd mentality; peruse the current desirable objects of life in capitalistic culture; and discuss, gawk, commune, and learn to navigate the sociological milieu that, within seven years or so, we’d be forced to contend with on our own.

And because it was so massive, the mall gave us SPACE to get lost, wander, make mistakes, tell secrets, harmlessly make out, or get rejected in somewhat private… It was the magical third place for American preteens and teens.

And now that’s been reduced to a single, big-box retailer best known for cleaning supplies and blenders. Jeff Bezos failed my daughter and a hundred million American teens, and he should feel compelled to write a formal apology on Medium.

But! This is all changing. The American mall is coming back! UTC Westfield has become its own city, many of its retailers giving way to restaurants, bars, activity spaces (like bowling and go-karts), and places that offer sociability, group activities, and interactive humaning—something we’re all missing.

You go there on the weekends now and it’s packed again, thriving. And to my point, its public relations team asked that we refer to it as a “center,” rather than a “mall,” because Westfield sees itself as more of a “lifestyle destination.”

And they’re not alone. One Paseo is like its own Cape Cod-ian village; across the street, Del Mar Highlands is like Fast Times for the breathwork crowd; Westfield Mission Valley is the pre-movie social race track.

And now, they’re remaking North County Mall in Escondido, formerly known as my beloved North County Fair. Allegedly, and keeping with this nouveau mall formula, it’ll have stronger retailers and more entertainment options, like new restaurants and possibly a movie theater.

I realize they can’t make it exclusively for preteens and teenagers, because those kinds of humans are broke, and that’s a terrible business model. But they really should consider the preteen and teen, and make it a safe, invigorating place for them—a well-designed bazaar of essential and discretionary choices for their future income. A glimpse into the desires of the fully formed, capitalist adult citizen.

A place better than Target. No disrespect to Tarzjhaay. I quite honestly doubt the benevolent overlords common daily needs even wanted this. They’re just serving as an involuntary nanny for our kids because Bezos killed the mall.

Well, now, you son of a bitch, the mall is back. You can gobble up all the retail sales, you can own three-quarters of the world, but you underestimated our innate need to walk around in a group and awkwardly become human together.

The Plot

North County is leaning hard into its potential as San Diego’s “second city.” From casual to fancy kitchens, its dining scene is pushing boundaries—all north of the 56.

Most notably, the region is officially the land of three Michelin stars (an elusive feat, and Addison did it). It’s also a nucleus of zero-waste, plant-forward dining thanks to The Plot in Oceanside, which is expanding to the city’s pier, Carlsbad, and Orange County.

Addison

Photo Credit: Eric Wolfinger

O’side’s casual eats scene is heating up, too, from Allmine’s San Marzano tomato–based pizzas, shared plates, and natural wine; to Mak Mak Organic’s Southeast Asian street food like Filipino lumpia and fresh fruit–puree seltzers in flavors such as lychee-guava; to Ryes and Grind’s babka French toast and pastrami-loaded latkes.

Allmine

Photo Credit: Becka Vance Photography

Oceanside is also home to Michelin star–chasing contenders tweezing up some of the county’s finest dining. We highlighted them in last year’s North County issue, and chef William Eick’s Matsu and chef Roberto Alcocer’s Valle are still hot reservations.

Matsu

One burrough south, in Carlsbad, Park Hyatt Aviara Resort’s $50 million renovation includes the debut of Ponto Lago, a white tablecloth experience featuring red oak–grilled dishes and specials like whole grilled lobsters. Before the pandemic, heavy metal–loving top chef Christopher Carriker won an episode of Chopped. Also in Carlsbad, Same Same offers jungle vibes and smoked brisket banh mi on Prager Bros. baguettes, and Yelp crowned the ramen restaurant Gonzo! a top place to eat in the country.

Ponto Lago

Chefs and restaurateurs are also considering the value of relocating, opening, or expanding to the suburbs. In San Marcos, Buona Forchetta and Maya’s Cookies’ chewy vegan treats opened locations in the growing North City development. On San Marcos Boulevard, Inland Tavern’s new executive chef Corey Muirhead, who has cheffed in Dija Mara’s and Hoxton Manor’s kitchens, recently introduced new lunch and dinner menus. Temaki in Encinitas is a sleek hand roll sushi bar. It’s wedged itself between lively watering holes, coffee shops, taco joints, and a new wine shop (Little Victory) on South Coast Highway.

Maya’s Cookies

In Solana Beach, Vino Carta wine shop hosts two culinary couples doing sweet justice to local produce and ingredients. Early in the week, have a mostly plant-forward dinner by chef Juan González and partner Megan Strom of Mesa Agrícola. They initially offered outdoor pop-up dinners around North County, including Encinitas’ Coastal Roots Farm. Try the cubed patatas bravas with roasted garlic aioli and salsa brava and the tuna tlayuda with yellowtail and crispy leeks.

Other days, Elliott and Kelly Townsend of Long Story Short cook up whatever earthy gems they find on weekly visits to Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe, which recently introduced Aisu Creamery, ice cream pints featuring the farm’s famous produce. Occasionally, Long Story Short does themed dinner menus, including an izakaya (Japanese pub) inspired night featuring items like a fluffy pancake with shredded cabbage and octopus, a riff on an Osaka specialty, okonomiyaki.

Long Story Short

A handful of North County’s newest restaurants have also set up shop within the region’s newest or heavily renovated hotels. Packed into the ten-room Brick Hotel in downtown Oceanside, Q&A restaurant on the ground floor draws from chef Quintonn Austin’s New Orleans background, including a seafood crepe and gumbo. At its rooftop (one of only a few in the area, the other is atop Mission Pacific Hotel), Cococabana serves Scotch bonnet pepper bloody marys during weekend brunch with ocean views.

In Rancho Bernardo, Burma Place makes a tasty lunch stop after hiking Iron Mountain or Potato Chip Rock. Order traditional Burmese dishes like lahpet thoke (tea leaf salad) made crunchy with a smattering of sunflower and sesame seeds, peanuts, fried beans, and garlic; and nan gyi thoke, a round rice noodle salad with tender chicken cooked in brothy curry. Avant, Rancho Bernardo Inn’s Baja-French restaurant, welcomes back Sergio Jimenez, this time as chef de cuisine.

Avant

Looping back toward the coast again, Del Mar Highlands Town Center and One Paseo’s dining options seem to have outpaced the number of retail shops, while Market Restaurant and Bar recently debuted a remodeled dining room, with stone and walnut tabletops and velvet chairs and drapery.