21 Brunch Spots with a Patio in San Diego

Hospitality-centric businesses are starting to work smarter, not harder. Some are leaning into experiential concepts, like Harland Brewing’s golf course taproom. Some are joining up with other businesses to share space and costs, like Scoopy Scoopy. Then there’s the multi-hyphenate approach, using food and drink as a jumping-off point for bigger aspirations—like Infusion Lab, a specialty dessert and coffee shop opening in Pacific Beach this summer.

The name is strategically vague, explains co-founder and finance director Baran Aydin. Initially, the space will offer a menu of specialty coffee—traditional espresso-based drinks, plus matcha and signature ube beverages alongside breakfast, lunch sammies and desserts like cookies made in-house and European-inspired desserts.

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Aydin and co-founder/coffee director Aselin Bay plan to expand into a lifestyle brand with streetwear-inspired merch—shirts, hats, bags, socks, and more that are “designed to reflect the lifestyle and culture behind Infusion Lab,” he explains. 

“The goal is to create a space where people can work, socialize, create content, and become part of a growing community,” says Aydin. 

Pacific Beach is growing, with major residential expansions like AVA Pacific Beach adding units to a market that’s tightened nearly 30 percent over the last year, according to the Whissel Beer Group real estate team. Currently, there are fewer than 20 coffee shops in Pacific Beach for a population of around 41,000—plus 10,000 to 20,000 more people visiting during summer and weekends. 

Infusion Labs’ design is elemental white-and-maroon, with line drawing art. Their space, next to the now-closed Copper Top Coffee & Donuts, will feature some Chesterfield-style seating (deep button sofas) and a dedicated social media area. 

Holy Matcha may have helped start the “camera eats first” coffee shop experience with its explosive pink floral wall backdrop, but between Saya Brasserie’s entire social media-centric business strategy, S3 Coffee Bar’s over-the-top coffee concoctions, and Infusion Labs’ online oasis, it seems San Diego coffee shops are still making sure they feed your body and your follower count. 

Infusion Lab opens at 4638 Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach in late June or early July. 

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Sungold Point Family Diner Soft Opens in Bird Rock

The owners behind Hermosa Surf in Bird Rock soft-launched their new cafe, Sungold Point—right next door at 5632 La Jolla Blvd. It’s a modern take on an old-school diner, explains Stirling, with seating for around 35 people and lots of pink, burgundy, turquoise, checkerboard, and terrazzo to feast your eyes on. Owners Stirling and Benny Walter designed the breakfast and lunch menu to use organic ingredients whenever possible and make everything from scratch, including breakfast sandwiches, salads, bowls, and a full espresso menu. 

Beth’s Bites

• San Diego classic La Valencia Hotel is hitting 100 years. Dubbed the Pink Lady for her antacid-colored blush exterior, the hotel kicks off centennial celebrations on May 28 with the launch of 1926 Social Club, a Roaring Twenties-themed weekly event on the Med Patio each Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Expect Prohibition-era cocktails (always felt like an oxymoron to me, but I guess cocktails were being sipped behind well-placed walls), plus a limited-time Centennial prix-fixe menu for two by executive chef Ernest Lopez.
• When does Chef Aidan Owens sleep? On top of being the culinary director for Herb & Wood and Herb & Sea, he appears on the new Survivor-meets-Iron Chef series Chopped: Castaways, which premiered on the Food Network on May 12. Owens is competing for a $100,000 prize through physical and cooking challenges against 11 other chefs on a remote island, and with judges Marcus Samuelsson, Gabe Bertaccini, and Maneet Chauhan at the head of the table. This might be the show that actually gets me to watch reality TV. 
• Anyone of a certain age who grew up in San Diego has probably spent at least an afternoon or two in El Cajon’s Parkway Bowl, sucking down soda and crushing nachos between gutter balls. The dated destination finally got a long-overdue facelift and reopened earlier this week—with 68 redone bowling lanes and the new Parkway Social restaurant which boasts a full bar, axe throwing, and golf simulators. Twenty more refreshed bowling lanes are on the way, plus pool tables—but based on the first pictures, it’s about to regain its title as the de facto destination for kid’s birthdays and Friday night family fun.

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Americans often have our own regional cuisine preferences—for instance, I tend to go for Carolina-style whole hog barbecue over Texas brisket (but certainly wouldn’t kick a Kansas City burnt end out of bed, either). So why is it when it comes to Mexican food, we’re occasionally guilty of lumping the entire country’s cuisine under one broad brush?

There’s far more to Mexican cuisine than tamales, pozole, and chilaquiles—Oaxaca is as famous for its seven moles as Baja California is for the Ensenada-style fish taco. And when it comes to Sonora, the northwestern Mexican state bordering Arizona and New Mexico features plenty of cattle ranches and wheat fields, giving the region its signature ranchero grilling culture and paper-thin flour tortillas. San Diego is about to get a taste of the fire-grilled flavors, when TacoNora opens in Pacific Beach on Saturday, March 7.

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Renata Vázquez, founder of Tyche Food & Beverage Consulting and cofounder of TacoNora, says it’s the first location for the family-owned brand (although the ownership group operates four other taquerías in Sonora under a different name), and they are already actively looking to open more locations in North County and Arizona. But Pacific Beach felt like a good place to start for the grill-forward, fast-casual concept. 

“Guests start by choosing their protein,” she explains, pointing to options like asada, pork belly, chicken made with a house seasoning mix, trompo-style ribeye or sirloin steak, or grilled Anaheim chiles. Then they can choose if they want it as a regular taco, lorenza (an open-faced, crispy taco), caramelo (a Sonoran specialty where carne asada and melted cheese are sandwiched between two crispy flour tortillas), costra (a “crust” of caramelized cheese wrapped around the chosen filling), a Sonoran-style burrito, or TacoNora’s signature taco pizza. 

“Each format highlights the tortilla and the grill differently, but the meat remains the focus,” Vázquez explains.

TacoNora will also offer housemade guacamole, beans slow-cooked with pork fat and red chile, and a salsa bar with 10 different housemade salsas. The entire experience is meant to be interactive, customizable, and something new, but still unfussy. “We wanted to create a concept where the quality of the meat speaks first, the tortilla supports it, and everything else enhances it—without overcomplicating the experience,” she says. “Sonoran food deserves a voice in San Diego.”

TacoNora opens Saturday, March 7 at 956 Garnet Avenue.

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Tip Top Meats Is Back In Biz

Tip Top Meats, the iconic European deli and market that closed in 2024, officially soft re-opened at 6118 Paseo Del Norte in Carlsbad, bringing back its famous meats and Old World sundries. While the team and family may have decades of experience under their belts, it’s still a new era, so give ‘em some grace during the soft opening as they get their feet (and meat) under them once more. Open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. 

Beth’s Bites

• ‘Tis the season for Irish whiskey. The Library at Fairmont Grand Del Mar is certainly one of the toniest spots in town to imbibe some high-end options. On March 10 at 6 p.m., the speakeasy will host a guided tasting of Jameson, Redbreast, and Midleton whiskeys, explaining the nuances and history of the spirit. (And yes, you should practice your pronunciation of “Sláinte!” ahead of time.)
• As far as chef collabs go, Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa’s Chef Series dinners are some of the best of the best. On Thursday, March 19, chef Roberto Alcocer of Michelin-starred Valle in Oceanside is heading to the culinary garden for a four-course prix fixe meal. Before dinner, guests will enjoy a welcome hour starting at 6 p.m., where they can sip on signature Valle cocktails and curated wine offerings. 
• Liberty Public Market is turning double-digits this March, and yes, that makes me feel a little old. But the Point Loma market has plenty of events for the young at heart lined up for the 10th anniversary weekend, including tons of live music, beer tastings, food specials, and more. It all takes off March 21 and 22, so strap on your party shoes and boogie on down to grab a bite or two for the big 1-0.

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Well, damn. Vulture and Dreamboat are calling it a day.

Partners Kory Stetina and CH Projects have announced what feels like a too-soon curtain call for their plant-based odyssey in University Heights. Dreamboat, arguably the best name of a restaurant in decades, is the tiny, white, ’50s-style diner up front, and through a hallway and a velvet curtain is Vulture—a moody, stately continental restaurant with gothic-O’Keeffe wallpaper and giant plaster busts of indeterminate renaissance heroes.

The team is inviting guests in to fête the last three weeks of service, and the restaurants will shutter February 8.

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“Right now, what matters most is taking care of our people and closing this chapter with integrity,” Stetina says. “These final weeks are important to us, and we want the final chapter of Vulture and Dreamboat to feel really celebratory. We are intensely proud of what was built here and deeply grateful to the teams and community who brought these spaces to life, especially our extraordinary crew.”

Vulture was Stetina and CH’s biggest plant-based swing yet. The ambition was driven at least partially by the success of their previous two collaborations: Kindred (SDM’s “Best Vegetarian” many years running) and the alien cantina Mothership (named one of Esquire’s “Best Bars in America”).

It was the first high-end, fully plant-based restaurant in the city. Both were nominated for an Orchid design award by the San Diego Architectural Foundation, and Vulture was nominated by VegNews as the best new vegan restaurant in the country (Dreamboat got the nomination for the best vegan diner). Vulture’s potato pave was incredible; so were the martinis and the French onion soup. It had the group’s trademark magic and felt like a Cowboy Star or Albie’s Beef Inn for the cellulose crowd. 

By most restaurant operators’ metrics, the crowds both spots were drawing would have been considered a major success. But most operators don’t build restaurants like Stetina and CH do; they obsess over design, turning blank buildings into art projects. That costs quite a bit more, demanding more martinis and tableside Ceasar salads be sold.

“We had very strong support and real momentum,” Stetina says. “High opening and operating costs, combined with the economic realities of today, ultimately made it unsustainable.”

The dream also took too long to manifest: They took ownership of the building (and its accompanying bills) before the pandemic. In the long stretch from there to opening last spring (five years), the industry shifted in massive structural ways. Food costs are up. Labor costs are up. Mortgage costs are up. Drinking is down (the bar has historically floated most ambitious restaurants—and a less boozy generation and Ozempic are really sinking bar tabs).

Even plant-based food, which has been rising for decades and still is (it’s currently worth around $8 billion in the US and projected to be $19 to $30 billion by 2030) has ceded a bit of the moment to the animal-protein mania and “eat like a predator” diet-sabre rattling.

“The project took years to bring to life, and during that time the climate of our industry changed underneath our feet,” Stetina says. “Decisions that felt ambitious but workable when we committed to them ultimately revealed themselves to be far more leveraged and risky than we had counted on.”

Stetina’s one of the more respected, likable operators who gives a damn about his people. With each project, he’s emphasized the party of plant-based culture and avoided the polemic of it. It’s not a small loss for him. This one hurts—for him and his team. But he has the healthy and incredibly hard perspective needed when a big dream doesn’t quite get there.

“I called friends of mine who own multiple restaurants and they said, ‘Welcome to the club–the first one hurts.’ But this is part of it,” he says. “Kindred will be celebrating its 10th year throughout 2026, and we have a lot planned there for the year ahead. Some of what we loved most about the Vulture and Dreamboat magic will also likely carry forward into Kindred in ways that feel thoughtful and true to its spirit.”

He urges everyone to come in for the last few weeks of Vulture and Dreamboat, party it up, and use any gift cards (needless to say, they can’t be redeemed after close).

What do UNESCO and Michaelagelo (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, not the artist) have in common?

Answer: They both know that pizza is pretty special.

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So does James “Jimmy” Terwilliger. He’s been slinging wood-fired, scratch-made pizzas as Pizza Cassette since 2022. But his pizza life started during his teenage years in upstate New York, where he delivered pies until working his way up to actually making them. I could name every stop on the long, long pizza-making journey that led him to opening a permanent pop-up at The Gärten in Bay Park in 2022, but here are some highlights: Ciro’s Pizzeria & Beerhouse in Pacific Beach, Catania and Wheat & Water in La Jolla, Biga in Downtown, and as a pizza consultant at Buona Forchetta. 

So, yeah. This guy knows how to make really good pizza. 

As the only permanent food vendor at The Gärten for the past three years, Terwilliger’s unique New York-meets-Italian-style pizza has gained a bit of a cult following.

“Things have gone in an amazingly positive direction here,” he says. “We’ve been busier than I ever could have imagined.” So busy, in fact, that he’s been searching for a brick-and-mortar space to open a second location. But it needed to meet some specific criteria: it had to be both bigger than a tent and (crucially) have walls and a roof. 

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After nearly two years of searching, he found it. Pizza Cassette will open at 1459 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach sometime in the first few months of 2026. Terwilliger’s approach will remain much the same, incorporating his fine-dining experience with a commitment to scratch cooking.

“We make every single thing, besides the salami and the cheese, from scratch,” he says. “We’re grinding our own sausage. We’re grinding our own meat for meatballs. We’re butchering and brining and roasting the pastrami ourselves.”

The biggest difference in PB (besides having walls and a roof) will be using a very fancy electric Italian oven (rather than the wood-burning stove at Gärten) due to the difficulty of getting a permit for open flames. If he’s not 100 percent happy with the initial results, he’s open to filing for the permit. 

Pizza Cassette PB will have around 60 to 80 seats inside, with the potential to add even more in a back parking lot-turned-patio. Guests will order at a counter, then have their food brought to their table by food runners for a more upscale experience than a typical slice shop, Terwilliger says.

He calls his dough “Neopolitan-inspired,” made with half traditional double zero flour and half Type 1 flour (“plus a few secret ingredients,” he says), with a shorter fermentation time than many other Neapolitan-style pizza makers. The result is a fluffy, airy crust with a nice crunch and soft interior.

He’s confident in his model—after all, The Gärten was his proof of concept, and it’s been gangbusters. So if (probably when) things go really well with this next venture, Terwilliger is open to anything. “I would love to open a full-service fine dining restaurant that serves pizza… maybe something where we’re growing our own ingredients too,” he says. “That’s every chef’s goal.”

Pizza Cassette opens at 1459 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach in early 2026. Initial operating hours will likely be Tuesday through Thursday, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Tea With The Grinch? Only At The Westgate.

For my ninth birthday (never mind how long ago that was), I hosted all my girlfriends for a fancy afternoon tea party, complete with lacy gloves, finger sandwiches, and dainty cups that, in retrospect, I’m astonished we didn’t break. But why dust off your own china set when The Westgate Hotel probably puts out a much prettier spread than anything us mere mortals could put together? This December, they’re mixing up their seasonal afternoon teas with themes like Winter Wonderland (Dec 17–21; Dec 26–28; and Dec. 31–Jan 4 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.), Santa’s Teddy Bear (20–21 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.), and Grinch’s Tea (Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.). I have a very hilarious mental image of the Grinch sipping tea in the new Bonne Vie Brasserie & Bar, so I may have to check it out for myself. 

Beth’s Bites

• If hanging with the Grinch isn’t your vibe, you can chill with the Big Man himself on one of the Jingle Belle Family Cruises that depart from the Bahia Resort Hotel at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. a couple more times this holiday season. Since San Diego doesn’t do the whole white Christmas thing, why not lean into the whole fun on the bay thing? Plus, a portion of the proceeds go to Mama’s Kitchen, which is always a festival philanthropic touch.
• I’m not Italian, and I deeply envy those who celebrate the Feast of Seven Fishes. But there’s really nothing stopping me (or anyone, for that matter) from heading to Cellar Hand on Saturday, December 20 for their take on the annual celebration. The hyper-local restaurant will be serving a prix-fixe menu with items like grilled oysters, mackerel tartare, housemade budino for dessert, and a whole bunch more. (It’s called a feast for a reason.)
• For those who find it difficult to stay awake until the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, there are plenty of places who mark the occasion in accordance with different time zones around the world. Blind Lady Ale House gets the celebration going on Belgium time with a 3 p.m. toast on Wednesday, December 31—giving you plenty of time to have a drink, some pizza, and probably a restorative nap before heading to your next soirée. 

Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene

Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].

One beautiful Wednesday morning just before 11 a.m., I found myself faced with a mountainous pile of thinly sliced, slow-roasted, tender roast beef generously slathered with James River BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, and white American cheese (the traditional “three-way”), sandwiched between a buttered and grilled caramelized onion bun. 

Looking at the towering challenge before me, I thought, “Surely I won’t be able to finish all of this right now.”

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Approximately three minutes later, as I wiped the remnants of the now completely vanquished Super Beef from Big Jim’s Roast Beef from my hands, table, shirt, pants—and yes, a bit out of my hair—I realized there was no chance of any part of that sandwich going home with me. Not only was it ridiculously, awesomely delicious, chef/owner James “Big Jim” Jones had just explained that these types of sandwiches are best eaten immediately, as per Massachusetts’ North Shore Beef Code.

“These are the beef guidelines,” he explains, pointing to a list of rules lorded over by a very angry looking anthropomorphic roast beef sandwich that I would venture to guess at least a few hundred people in Massachusetts have tattooed on them. He runs through each rule, ranging from acronyms for efficient ordering (COTB: Cheese on the Bottom vs. COTT: Cheese on the Top) to review criteria for comparing notes with other aficionados (B2B: Beef to Bun ratio or NGB: Nicely Griddled Bun).

He stopped at TIB: Time in Bag. Ideally, the time your sandwich spends in a to-go bag should be as close to zero as possible—every second the medium-rare beef sits on a bun and not on your tongue, it goes from pink to gray. “You want to have no time in bag,” he says. “As soon as you get it, eat it.” 

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There aren’t a ton of places in Southern California to get a legit New England–style North Shore roast beef sandwich, and Big Jim’s feels like a teleporter to Massachusetts, where Jones originally hails from. When he moved to San Diego in 2016, he worked in a few kitchens around town like Ono Grinds, Wicked Maine Lobster, and Cloak & Petal for a couple of years. Cue the pandemic, and the at-home boredom.

He picked up a deli slicer from OfferUp and started roasting and slicing roast beef like he used to get back home. Making sandwiches for himself turned into making sandwiches for friends. That turned into making an Instagram page for deliveries and then a pop-up at Poor House Brewing Company in North Park. Finally, it became a booth at a couple of farmers markets. 

Three years later, he got the chance to lease a small storefront in Pacific Beach, and celebrated the restaurant’s two-year anniversary this September.

Like the roast beef, Jones’ business plan takes time. “[I] let the universe work pretty naturally and organically,” he says in terms of his expansion plans. He’s in no rush to open a second storefront, but would be open to it once he feels the Pacific Beach location gets fully dialed in. There’s still a bit of customer education to do, because a North Shore-style roast beef sandwich shouldn’t be messed with, and the customer isn’t always right (at first). 

“If people come in and they get a roast beef sandwich and ask me for ketchup, I say, ‘What are you using your ketchup for?’ And depending on what their answer is, you might not get the condiment that you want to go with your sandwich,” he says with a smile. “It’s beautifully perfect the way it is. Try it! And if you still want some condiments to go with it, come back. Let me know. I’ll take care of you.”

His signature sandwich is unquestionably the Super Beef, the New England regional classic that’s really not for the faint of heart. For a more diminutive approach, the Junior Beef is the same thing, but with slightly less roast beef on a plain bun rather than an onion bun. There’s also a French dip (which he admits isn’t a Massachusetts staple, but still beloved); a steak & cheese on a hoagie roll; and the homemade, hand-cut onion rings that have a cult following. (Warning: a large order of onion rings is bigger than you think.)

Despite making it to #33 on Yelp’s top 100 restaurants for 2025, a lot of Big Jim’s business comes from word of mouth and the small, but strong contingent of “Massholes” (he said it, not me!) in PB. “We’re the nicest jerks you’ve ever met,” Jones jokes. 

But the San Diego sun must melt the grumpiness out of the East Coast transplants, because from what I can see, everyone leaving Big Jim’s is in a great mood, despite bulging bellies and barbecue-sauce smeared fingers. And now we can get real roast beef sandwiches and not have to deal with the East Coast’s nasty weather, San Diegans really do have the best of both worlds.