Diners' Choice: Neighborhood gem restaurants in North San Diego

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for the best restaurants that are the best neighborhood gems in North San Diego? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Vittorio's Italian Restaurant- San Diego

4.9

4.9 (645)

$30 and under

Italian

Carmel Valley

About the restaurant

Italian trattoria and wine bar.
Favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant

Top review

SamVIP

Dined 5 days ago

Always the best experience. Vittorio’s is part of our annual holiday traditions but that doesn’t mean we don’t come year round. Always a welcoming and prompt service from everyone there that makes you feel like family. Some of the most authentic and homey Italian food you can find in town!

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Experience

Tuesday Date Night

Harney Sushi Poway

4.8

4.8 (49)

$30 and under

Sushi

Poway / Rancho Bernardo

About the restaurant

Experience the taste of high quality sushi with a trendy Neo-Asian inspired décor. Harney stands as the top sushi bar and dining destination in San Diego. It's as fresh and innovative as you desire. Here, the spirit of experimentation mingles with joyful revelry, where top-notch dining expertise meets vibrant charm and flair. Our establishment features a private VIP area and an array of over 30 specialty rolls crafted and named by devoted fans. It's a symphony for your taste buds, nourishment for your soul. Since 2001, we take pride in presenting our award-winning, sustainable sushi cuisine rooted in Southern California.

Top review

Suzanne

Dined on Dec 14, 2024

So yummy! I love that it wasn’t slammed & the servers weren’t hurried.

Dolce

4.7

4.7 (706)

$30 and under

Californian

Rancho Santa Fe

About the restaurant

Dolce is a high quality, inviting atmosphere and the perfect Ranch neighborhood hideaway. Intimate and lively, Dolce offers delicious local, rustic wine-country inspired cuisine, fine wine and occasions for joyful gatherings.

Top review

lisa VIP

Dined on Dec 10, 2024

Loved our dinner love the ambience and it was so great being there !!! The Christmas cheer was everywhere !! The food was delicious !!

Milton's Restaurant

4.7

4.7 (395)

$30 and under

American

Del Mar

About the restaurant

Your hosts, David Levy and Barry Robbins, welcome you to their version of a traditional deli! When we opened in 1995 our goal was to remind our customers what a deli experience is like. From crunchy kosher pickles to piled high pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, steaming bowls of matzo ball soup, traditional brisket dinners and a bakery boasting homemade recipes, we hope to please our customers from start to finish. We work hard to source the best meats, vegetables, and ingredients all while developing new items to keep up with current culinary trends!

Top review

Dan

Dined on Nov 28, 2024

Great food and great service, simply the best! We be back sooner than later...

Rancho Santa Fe Bistro

4.7

4.7 (337)

$30 and under

American

Rancho Santa Fe

About the restaurant

Welcome to The Rancho Santa Fe Bistro located in the heart of the beautiful downtown Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Our unique bistro offers an amazing menu and a superior wine selection for any lunch or dinner occasion. For lunch walk-ins are welcome.
Owner / Chef Mozy Jahanguiri, who has run restaurants in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Dallas, has opened The Rancho Santa Fe Bistro in the space formerly occupied by The Pantry on Paseo Delicias. Mozy has prepared a menu that offers a wide variety of healthy and stylish fresh grill and more offering a balanced approach to food and wine along with bistro favorites including Oysters Rockefeller, traditional escargots, baked brie with grapes and honey and more for starters. Entrees to satisfy any taste of carefully sourced meats, seafood and much more. Be sure to check out Bistro's beautiful wood wine cellar, housing an extensive collection that spans an impressive 100 years (1897-1997) at a variety of price points.

Top review

Jonathan

Dined on Dec 13, 2024

What a find in the middle of Rancho Santa Fe! All the decorative lights on, quaint wood framed windows, protected patio out front- we chose a corner table inside, cozy crates of wine and poinsettias piled around, soft conversations from the tables, the gentle maîtred, the comforting waitress. What an ambiance. The Norwegian salmon and New York steak were special. Extensive wine menu. We loved the experience !

Urbana Del Mar

4.6

4.6 (152)

$30 and under

Contemporary Mexican

Carmel Valley

About the restaurant

Its ‘Dia de los Muertos’ every day at URBANA, the Skydeck's most colorful restaurant. Farm Fresh Mexican Chef inspired plates. Complementing the menu, URBANA’S sexy departure on craft cocktails featuring Tequila and Mezcal favorites as well as top shelf agave spirits. Massive smiling murals a tribute to owner Javier Cuadra's Michoacán upbringing where ‘Dia de los Muertos’ is celebrated to define URBANA.

Top review

Jaynee

Dined on Dec 7, 2024

We Love everything!!!! One of our favorite places!

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Experience

URBANA hora feliz

Coya Peruvian Secret

4.4

4.4 (651)

$30 and under

Peruvian

Del Mar

About the restaurant

Located next to Del Mar beach on 11th street, Coya Peruvian Secret Restaurant offers award winning gourmet Peruvian- Cali fusion Peruvian cuisine in charming cottage house under a tree. All seats are outside tucked in greenery so its in all casual seating. Voted best Seafood by locals and best Latin American in SD we are primally seafood place but we also proudly serve great meat choices, like our surf and turf with Rib Eye, traditional Lomo with Filet mignon, lamb stew with New Zealand lamb, excellent short rib with sweet potatoes and Peruvian half roasted chicken. If you seeking cozy color full vibe full of magic for a date or family reunion we are perfect choice. You will astonish your party with unforgettable flavors. Take them of a gourmet trip to Peru and back tonight.

Top review

Jay

Dined on Dec 11, 2024

It can get busy, best way to make sure you get a table is to make a reservation. Ordered a few things to try, Lomo Saltado, Macho, Beet Salad and a Ceviche Mixto. The ceviche was great probably a tad bit more salt and it would've been perfect Beet salad... Beets.. The Lomo was a tad salty for me but the meat was very tender and a good size portion of food. Macho was my favorite a good variety of seafood and lots of flavor.

Tommy V's Carlsbad

4.3

4.3 (156)

$30 and under

Italian

Carlsbad

About the restaurant

Tommy V's Urban Kitchen located in Carlsbad offers an eclectic menu showcasing Californian, New American, and Contemporary Italian dishes. From Stone Fired Gourmet Pizzas, handcrafted burgers, house-made pastas, to tantalizing seafood, Tommy V's Urban Kitchen has something for everyone.

Top review

Armineh

Dined on Dec 14, 2024

My husband and I go to Tommy V’s whenever we visit San Diego. Their food is always great, and we feel welcomed by the staff every time we walk in.

En Fuego Cantina and Grill

4.1

4.1 (281)

$30 and under

Mexican

Del Mar

About the restaurant

En Fuego Cantina & Grill in Del Mar is one of the original restaurants in the Village. It was established in 1995 and has been serving delicious Mexican cuisine and amazing margarita's ever since. Open daily for lunch and dinner, serving Happy Hour 7 days a week from 4pm to 6pm and Taco Tuesday every week from 4:30 till close.

En Fuego Cantina and Grill has an expansive menu with classic favorites like fresh guacamole and chips, carnitas, fajitas and enchiladas. Try one of the house specials like the Chile rellenos, a traditional recipe, with battered and stuffed Anaheim chilis topped with tomatillo sauce and a three-cheese blend.

Top review

Joey

Dined on Dec 14, 2024

Service was exceptional, but the food terrible. Seafood enchilada was plain, flavorless. Swordfish burrito was dry, uneventful. Small portions!

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - Carlsbad

3.6

3.6 (134)

$30 and under

American

Carlsbad

About the restaurant

Time counts at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. Since our humble beginnings back in 1978, we’ve continued to refine our brewhouse experience to make BJ’s a place where you can make the most of any meal. We want BJ’s to be a place where the moment you leave is the moment you plan on coming back.

We pride ourselves in our craft and attention to detail. Our guests come here for our award-winning handcrafted beer. They come here for the Southern California twist we’ve put on the Chicago-style deep dish pizza. And they come here for our Pizookies®, our world-renowned dessert. But above all we know people come here to make their good times better.

So in many ways we haven’t just crafted a brand, but a mindset. And our guests are the reason for this. And it’s because of them we’re continually striving to make sure every moment they choose to spend with us counts.

Welcome to BJ’s, a restaurant with a Brewhouse soul.

Top review

Claire

Dined on Nov 30, 2024

I love coming there with mý friends. The atmosphere is very nice and we love the pizookies!!!!

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