San Diego is touted as “America’s Finest City.” I don’t know when, or how, or why the city earned that title, but it’s true. San Diego is fine indeed, and actually, it’s better than “fine.” The weather is near-year-round perfection. There is a balanced mix of city action and laid-back beach vibe. There are people, literally, from everywhere, whether active military, students or tourists. And there are plenty of opportunities for those who stay and choose to make it their home.

It’s also a transient place; people often move to San Diego to fulfill a life-long dream, and then pack up to raise their families elsewhere or to check off their next bucket list spot. A few of my first, and dearest, San Diego girl-friends have since moved away and made other parts of the country their home. So when they all said they wanted to come back for a visit, we picked up right where we left off, in San Diego. Most of our time was spent eating or laughing, and occasionally crying from laughing so hard. But we really did do some serious eating (ok, ok, we had a few adult beverages too).

I was intent on showing these fine ladies a good time in the finest city’s hottest spots. Some stops were classic must-sees that they knew well, many were newer additions. These were the highlights.

La Jolla

  • Leña Craft Mexican – featuring truly authentic Mexican dishes with Yucatecan influences, this family restaurant is destined for greatness! We tried the Tlayuda (think Mexican pizza), the pulpo (octopus), Jardin (veggie) taco, Camaron Royale (shrimp) taco, the panucho and the carnitas.*
  • Trilogy Sanctuary – a zen spot in the village of La Jolla. With an upstairs patio and prolific vegan options, this is one of my local favorites. We shared spring rolls, a bountiful bowl, and kombucha.
  • Jose’s Courtroom – a classic La Jolla staple. The drinks are strong, and the complementary salty chips and spicy salsa will make you thirsty! It’s a vicious cycle, but totally worth it.

Pacific Beach (PB)

  • Lahaina Beach House – a PB establishment, best known for the sunsets and the people watching. Others go because it is the closest they will get to having a drink on the beach in San Diego. It used to be a regular stop on our legendary bike-pub-crawls, so we went to reminisce over beers and tater tots.
  • World Famous – another PB establishment, right on the boardwalk. Sometimes there is a wait, but we scored a table in the bar with an excellent beach view, and we dug in to the world famous fish tacos.
  • PB Ale House – sports bar by day, dance party by night. Pick any bar in PB on a weekend night, and the scene will be similar – beer buckets, a DJ, a line out the door, and lots and lots of college kids. We’re far from college-age, but we didn’t have a care in the world, and we danced the night away.

Little Italy

  • Herb & Wood – there is so much to take in at this restaurant, every decorative detail, the open kitchen, the casual yet intimate layout. Make a reservation, and take your sweet time. We sampled the avocado toast, the beet and walnut pesto salad, the scallops (two orders because we loved them that much!), and the off-menu bread rolls to soak up all the sauce.
  • Juniper and Ivy and Kettner Exchange – two separate restaurants that have both made names for themselves in hip food circles. Because we could only eat so many meals, we enjoyed craft cocktails at these stops along our walking tour of the neighborhood.

Encinitas

  • The Bier Garden – a reunion visit to San Diego would not be complete without a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway (the PCH or Highway 101) to North County for Sunday brunch. This restaurant is well-known and loved for their epic Bloody Mary’s (with a beer chaser). We sampled the herbal infused Bloody Mary, along with the lump crab benedict, the chicken chilaquiles, and the classic burgers. The servings are generous, so go hungry!
  • Seaside Market – the meat counter in this specialty market sells a legendary burgundy pepper tri-tip (affectionately known by locals as”Cardiff Crack”). We brought it home and Mr. Vacay grilled it up with a side of fresh veggies. Because… you can only eat out so much.

Mid-Town

  • Fireside – a welcome addition to Liberty Station, it is a beautifully designed restaurant that lets no space go to waste. We shared the papas, brussels sprouts, bacon wrapped asparagus, and a bottle of wine. But the star of the night was the trip-tip, and I’m not even much of a meat eater!*
  • Coasterra – conveniently located across from the airport, this was our final stop before putting the ladies on their flights back home. The girls wanted Mexican food as their parting meal, and the views here are “to-die-for” (as my mother-in-law would say, and in this case she would be right). We filled up on chips and guacamole, sampled the enchiladas, tostadas, and the wet pambazo sandwich. Somehow, remarkably, after all that, we still had room for the divine butter cake dessert. Go for the view, and the cake too.

Thankfully, we laughed so hard, I felt like I exercised my abs and hopefully burned off some of the calories I consumed. If not, no sweat, because it was all totally worth it.

*2021 update – some spots have closed (either permanently or temporarily).