Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [278]
Jake’s Del Mar (Map; 858-755-2002; 1660 Coast Blvd; mains lunch $9-14, dinner $18-32; lunch Tue-Sun, dinner daily) Head to Jake’s for beachside drinks and half-price appetizers from 4pm to 6pm weekdays and 2:30pm to 4:30pm on Saturday. The view’s great, the atmosphere chic and the food imaginative, like heart of palm salad, poke rolls and lemongrass beef tenderloin.
Sbicca (Map; 858-481-1001; 215 15th St; most mains lunch $11-17, dinner $20-37; lunch & dinner) Multiple-award-winning, family-owned contemporary California bistro cooks up flavorful combinations, such as banana-leaf-wrapped salmon paella or maple-roasted pork prime rib. At lunch, inventive salads and sandwiches take center stage. Make reservations for the mod dining room or patio.
Head to Del Mar Plaza (Map; 1555 Camino Del Mar) to pick up groceries and sandwiches for the beach at Harvest Ranch Market ( 858-847-0555; 8am-9pm). Or check out the rooftop patio and its upscale restaurants for North County’s best vantage points, especially at sunset – Il Fornaio ( 858-755-8876; mains $11-20) for pizzas, pastas and salads; Epazote ( 858-259-9966; mains lunch $10-14, dinner $16-24) serving flavorful Southwestern-Asian fusion; Pacifica Del Mar ( 858-792-0476; mains lunch $10-18, dinner $23-34) with fresh seafood and inventive preparations (arrive by 6pm for two-course prix-fixe menu).
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SOLANA BEACH
pop 13,500
Solana Beach is the next town north from Del Mar – it’s not quite as posh, but it has good beaches and the Cedros Design District (Cedros Ave), which has unique home-furnishings stores, art and architecture studios, antiques shops and handcrafted-clothing boutiques. For camping and travel gear, stop by Adventure 16 (Map; 858-755-7662; 143 S Cedros Ave, Suite M).
The Belly Up Tavern (Map; 858-481-8140; www.bellyup.com; 143 S Cedros Ave; cover charge $5-40) is a converted warehouse and bar that consistently books good bands from jazz to funk. Its Wild Note Café (Map; 858-259-7310; 143 S Cedros Ave; mains lunch $6-12, dinner $12-20; lunch daily, dinner Tue-Sun) serves great pub food.
Order at the counter and sit outside at this all-veg Zinc Café (Map; 858-793-5436; 132 S Cedros Ave; mains $3-9; 7am-5pm; ), which serves breakfasts, salads, vegetarian chili and pizza good enough to satisfy all but the most hardcore carnivores. Daily cake selections too.
Tony’s Jacal (Map; 858-755-2274; 621 Valley Ave; mains $7-16; lunch Mon-Sat, dinner daily, closed Tue early Sep–mid-Jul) In business since 1946 (current building from the ’60s), Tony’s has rough-hewn wood beams, dark wood paneling, icy-delicious margaritas and some of North County’s best traditional Mexican. Make reservations for dinner. (Valley Ave goes north of Via de la Valle, just west of I-5.)
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CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA
pop 12,000
Shortened to ‘Cardiff’ by most, this stretch of restaurants, surf shops and new age–style businesses along the Pacific Coast Hwy is good for surfing and is popular with a laid-back crowd, though it’s losing ground to ever-growing shopping centers along the main drag, San Elijo Ave, one block east of the coast highway. The nearby San Elijo Lagoon (Map; 760-436-3944; www.sanelijo.org) is a 1000-acre ecological preserve popular with bird-watchers for its herons, coots, terns, ducks, egrets and more than 250 other species. A 7-mile network of trails leads through the area. At Cardiff State Beach (Map; www.parks.ca.gov; 7am-sunset; ), just south of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, the surf break on the reef is mostly popular with long boarders, but it gets very good at low tide with a big north swell. Parking costs $6. A little further north, San Elijo State Beach has good winter waves.
Sleeping & Eating
San Elijo State Beach Campground (Map; 760-753-5091, reservations 800-444-7275; tent/RV sites in summer from $25/35) Overlooks the surf at the end of Birmingham Dr.
Ki’s Restaurant (Map; 760-436-5236; 2591 S Coast Hwy 101; mains breakfast $5-8,