Best Neighborhood Gem Restaurants in Solana Beach

We had a lovely anniversary lunch at Jake's, sitting at an ocean front window table. Fabulous view, great service. We shared the fish tacos and the seafood chowder. The kitchen was nice enough to split the orders into two for no extra charge. Our server also gave us the choice of a complimentary dessert for our anniversary. We chose chocolate peanut butter torte to share. It was delicious, but we couldn’t finish it. We had the Hula Pie at Duke’s in Maui, so we chose to try something else. We did have a taste of Hawaii with a very good Duke’s Mai Tai. Will be back if we visit Del Mar again! Also, use Jake's valet parking, which was $8 at lunch. We used the public parking across the street, which was a minimum of $25 for two hours.

Visiting Rancho Valencia is a treat in itself. I believe they care about the quality of their food and it shows. Everything was delicious, fresh and seasoned well. Don’t skip the chance to taste their homemade focaccia bread! Everything we ordered was a ten out of a ten.

This years annual birthday dinner for our friend took place on the west coast for 2025–and after a great stay in Temecula we opted for The Pacific Grill. It did not disappoint! From its gorgeous beach location in Cardiff to the excellent and unhurried service we were thrilled to have such a perfect evening to cap off a “girls weekend”. Starting with specialty cocktails and an excellent premium wine list we enjoyed the heat lamp warmed beach patio for our meal. The shrimp dumplings in a port wine sauce were amazing to start with—I want to come back and try the chilled appetizers with my husband and family. We enjoyed coconut crab crusted mahi mahi and the seafood pasta dish—the smoky tomato sauce with Thai basil was very flavorful on the pasta and the seafood cooked to perfection. A beautiful birthday dessert of house bread pudding and vanilla bean ice cream and specialty cappuccino and teas capped off the night.

Cold and was told we had to share a heater Didn’t get one of items I ordered as server forgot Long wait time to get checked on once meal served

Amazing food, first of all. The service was good, the staff was very attentive to all patrons and it wasn't one individual person, the entire staff is there to help. The menu is a great assortment of various breakfast items with many of them being signature dishes. My table ordered the Chicken Marsala, the Reuben sandwich, Loaded Fries, Short Rib Hash and a single pancake. The Chicken Marsala was juicy and the marsala sauce and mushrooms were just so tasty and perfect and it was paired with some DELICIOUS potatoes and asparagus. If you are a Chicken Marsala fan, I would highly recommend this!! The Reuben sandwich was just delicious. The amount of Corned Beef in the sandwich was enormous and the servings size is HUGE, paired with some of the best crispy fries I've had, next to of course their LOADED Fries! The same crispy fries but now just with their white cheddar sauce and chunks of bacon, that was the HIT at our table!! Lastly was the Short Rib Hash, the potatoes again were amazing and the tender juicy chunks of Beef Short Rib were just everywhere in that bowl, and all topped off with a fried egg!! This place is great, the vibe is calming and not loud, perfect breakfast spot to just meet up, enjoy a meal and have a great conversation without having to battle all the other conversations that other restaurants deal with. This is just a great place!!