Diners' Choice: Great for outdoor dining restaurants in San Diego

OpenTable

Updated January 05, 2025

Looking for the best restaurants that are great for outdoor dining in 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!

Pali Wine Co. Little Italy Tasting Room

4.9

4.9 (143)

$30 and under

Wine Bar

Little Italy

About the restaurant

Pali Wine Co. is located in famous Little Italy, San Diego, steps from the main strip. The family-owned winery highlights the diversity and nuanced qualities of the California Central Coast wine-growing area. From our Pali Pinot Noirs & Chardonnays, to our Tower 15 bold, nuanced wines, and Neighborhood zippy, natural cuvées, our three wine labels are sure to please any pallet.

Stop in for a tasting flight where you can sample wines from our portfolio, step up to the bar for a customized guided tasting or grab a bottle to-go. Our menu features small and sharable plates with locally sourced ingredients ideal for sharing and sipping, including our best-selling burger, charcuterie boards, and seasonal specials.

Join our wine club to enjoy complimentary tastings, receive 20% off all wine, & more exciting benefits!

Weekly events include Comedy Night on Wednesdays, Trivia on Thursdays, as well as live music Friday and Saturday nights. Plus, happy hour deals weekdays 4-6pm!

Top review

Kimberly

Dined on Jan 4, 2025

I love Pali! The wine is also so yummy and the flight is a great way to figure out what you want to drink or just try fun wines! The charcuterie board was really good too, a fun little appetizer. I’ve never had a bad experience here!

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Winter Wine Club Pick Up Party

Topsail at Portside Pier

4.9

4.9 (147)

$31 to $50

Seafood

Downtown

About the restaurant

San Diego's most iconic waterfront property features Topsail, a luxury lounge on the rooftop at Portside Pier! Indulge in fresh seafood, craft cocktails, and small plates while relaxing fireside above the water!

Top review

JillVIP

Dined on Nov 27, 2024

Popped in for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We sat outside with a great view and had the charcuterie board which did not disappoint.

Enoteca Adriano

4.9

4.9 (42)

$30 and under

Italian

Pacific Beach

About the restaurant

Welcome to Enoteca Adriano where Roman born chef, Giuseppe Ciuffa, brings the essence of Italy to the shores of North Pacific Beach. Immerse yourself in a culinary journey that blends modern creativity with traditional Italian flavors. Our eclectic menu showcases the best of Italian, "Roman forward" cuisine, using locally sourced produce and ingredients to create dishes that are both comforting and innovative. Dine while enjoying vintage movies shown on our outdoor big screen.

At Enoteca Adriano, we celebrate the rich heritage of Italy, offering a diverse selection of wines to complement your dining experience in our main dining room or outdoor heated patio. Our passion for food and hospitality shines through in every dish we serve, as we strive to share the love of Italian cuisine with our guests.

Join us at Enoteca Adriano and experience the true taste of Italy, where every meal is prepared with authenticity, passion, and a touch of Italian hospitality. Viva e Forza Italia!

Top review

AimeeVIP

Dined 1 day ago

We started with the burrata special. The pork chop was amazing. Service was amazing. Overall, it was a great dinner!

Queenstown Bistro - UTC

4.8

4.8 (187)

$30 and under

New Zealand

University City/Golden Triangle

About the restaurant

We are the lil sis of Queenstown Public House located in the Little Italy district of San Diego. Slightly smaller, but with the same basic ingredients.

A beautiful, comfortable, unique, fun setting. A friendly, smiling, courteous staff we hope you get to know. Guests enjoying the moment, sharing a laugh, whom we hope we get to know. Freshly made dishes; locally sourced, passionately created, many unique…and all delicious. A beer list changing daily, proudly from our award winning local craft SD brewers, and a wine list chosen with care from select vineyards and varietals.

With a kiwi inspired lineage, and the spirit, love and good nature from the land of the Maori, we hope you will join us. And if we are so fortunate, then, we hope you will have a little too much of a good time, have a few too many laughs, stay a while, and return again soon to see us.

Top review

RebeccaVIP

Dined on Dec 20, 2024

Always a great experience at Queenstown! Great burgers, friendly service and a lovely indoor/outdoor environment, all in the middle of beautiful UTC. We look forward to next time!

Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel

4.8

4.8 (124)

$30 and under

International

Jacumba

About the restaurant

Nestled in bouldery mountains along historic Old Highway 80, in a magical high desert community lies the Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel. The hotel has been designed with a sense of place, with natural materials, textures, & objects from ancient & primitive cultures from around the world. Our restaurant offers indoor dining under vintage ceramic lights and desert landscapes or our large outdoor shaded patios under a canopy of old-world lanterns and pine trees with a live music stage.

Our menu features an International High Desert menu that showcases the farms and ranches of Imperial Valley, the fresh seafood of Baja, and specialty regional purveyors. Make sure to save time to enjoy high desert elixirs, herbal tinctures, cold-pressed juices, tonics, and cocktails, handcrafted in our exotic desert hideaway bar.

Once you are here, nothing else matters.

Top review

barbaraVIP

Dined on Jan 5, 2025

This was our 3rd time dining here. The food is top notch, paired with creative drinks and an outdoor rustic dining area made for an excellent experience.

The Farmer and The Seahorse - La Jolla

4.8

4.8 (115)

$30 and under

American

Torrey Pines

About the restaurant

Nestled in the heart of Torrey Pines, Farmer & The Seahorse brings a casually sophisticated approach to farm-table dining. Chef Sam Deckman leverages local ingredients in his reimagining of American classics.

Top review

Leticia

Dined 3 days ago

Great food! Really enjoy the grounds and would definitely eat there again.

Puesto La Jolla

4.7

4.7 (2136)

$30 and under

Mexican

La Jolla

About the restaurant

Owned and operated by a Mexican American family whose best memories all include tacos. Puesto is an award-winning Mexican Artisan Kitchen & Bar providing an innovative approach to authentic Mexican flavors. Puesto has garnered national acclaim for its Mexico City-style crispy melted cheese tacos, served on handmade non-GMO, organic, maíz azul stone-ground tortillas.

In addition to tacos, offerings include a selection of fresh catch ceviches, guacamoles, starters and ensaladas, courtesy of Chef/Partner Luisteen Gonzales. The bar program showcases the best of Mexico City through the use of fresh ingredients in our hand crafted cocktails and housemade Micheladas, tequilas, mezcals, Baja craft beers, and Valle de Guadalupe wines you can’t find elsewhere.

We’re honored to have been featured by media outlets nationally and internationally, some of which include National Geographic, Huffington Post, Insider, Zagat, Eater, Food and Wine, LA Times and the Michelin Guide.

Top review

Alessandra

Dined 4 days ago

Yummmy. The food was delicious. Margarita was solid. We sat outside so it was lovely - there was music inside so it wasn’t too loud outside. A perfect sunset taco meal and thankfully it was pretty causal because I had my kids with me (their kids tacos were delicious).

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Experience

Taco Tuesday!

Miss B's Coconut Club

4.7

4.7 (122)

$30 and under

Caribbean

Mission Beach

About the restaurant

What you’ll find here is classic, Caribbean-inspired American food with tiki flair. Cubano Roasted Pork, Jerk Chicken and Coconut Shrimp are in synch with the mambo rhythm of your appetite, and our house-ground burger is one like you won’t find anywhere in town. Jumbo Coconut Shrimp and a list of Street Cart items will have you coming back to try them all, whether you order something “to go” from our walk-up counter, stay to eat on our spacious outdoor patio, or take a seat inside.

Coconut Club’s décor evokes a celebration of Mission Beach’s nautical and maritime past, which takes form as an inspired interpretation of a 30’s-style sailor tiki club. Rum is the star here, and has a leading role in our creative list of grownup cocktails, which includes shareable, tiki-inspired punches and bowls to drum up conversations and generate a buzz. Coconut Club is also a purveyor of fuel that fires the craft beer frenzy, with 20 local and microbrew tap handles.

Top review

MikeVIP

Dined 4 days ago

Amazing food and service - amazing walk on the beach before or after! Had the chicken wrap and shrimp salad, both amazing dishes! Yep - Miss B!!!

Miguel's Cocina - 4S Ranch

4.6

4.6 (19)

$30 and under

Mexican

Chula Vista / Bonita

About the restaurant

Coming Soon!

Top review

ElaineVIP

Dined on Jan 7, 2025

Taco Tuesday happy hour was fabulous for the food and value.

Fisher's

4.2

4.2 (136)

$31 to $50

Mexican

Little Italy

About the restaurant

With only four tables back in 1989 "Don Simon" and his family; Jazmin his wife, and their three children; Charles, Simon and Gabriel opened the first Fisher's in Mexico City. With only 12 items on its menu, Fisher's became a destination in the northern area of Mexico City.

Since its founding in 1989, Grupo Fisher's has developed seven brands in more than 30 locations, one of them in Madrid Spain. Al of them family style restaurants with the freshest and most innovative way to prepare sea food products. Grupo Fisher's has become the most successful sea food restaurant chain in Mexico with more than 2500 associates and capable of hosting more than 200,000 guests per month.

We are pleased to welcome you to the second international location of Grupo Fisher's right here in San Diego's Little Italy.

Top review

ElizabethVIP

Dined on Dec 7, 2024

Very nice fish broth as a complementary appetizer. Then we shared the table side Caesar salad and the molcahete hot appetizer with chicken, shrimp, beef, asparagus etc. Plenty for a light dinner for two. Excellent lime margaritas, too.

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