The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near The Grove Steakhouse
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Rank 2. Grand Ole BBQ
Central Texas Barbecue
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Barbecue · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best in City: El Cajon · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 3. Mal Al Sham
Syrian
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Rank 5. Restaurante Amores
Mexican
Chefs Marcelo Hisaki and Reyna Venegas compose prix-fixe meals that withhold their specifics until each course arrives at the table, allowing the day's catch and local lamb to announce themselves anew. The element of mystery—Dover sole dressed in herb pipián, barbacoa folded into a sope, warm lemon curd closing the arc—rewards diners willing to surrender to their vision.
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Rank 6. Casa Gabriela
Innovative Mexican
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Rank 7. Giardino
Italian
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Rank 8. AVANT Restaurant
French New American
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Rank 9. Alforon
Middle Eastern
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Rank 11. The Realm of the 52 Remedies
Cocktail Bar
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2026 · #93 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
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Rank 12. Monstra Coffee
Filipino
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Rank 13. Tribute Pizza
Neo-Neapolitan Pizza
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #34 · 50 Top Pizza USA
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Pizza in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 14. Tacos El Panson
Mexican
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Rank 15. Mabel’s Gone Fishing
Seafood
A dog's memory animates this seafood spot—its name, its warmth, its unstudied charm—where the kitchen treats local catch with California-Iberian clarity. The swordfish schnitzel, crispy and brined with salsa verde and tonnato, arrives alongside caper berries and fennel in a lesson on how restraint and brightness can be the same thing.
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Eater Best New Bar
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- Punch 2025 · Best New Bartenders · Dominique Muñoz
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Cocktail Bar in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 18. LEILA
Middle Eastern
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Top 5 Restaurants · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Design · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Middle Eastern Restaurant · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 19. Menya Ultra
Noodles
A ramen counter in a Clairemont strip mall that moves with purpose, serving a focused menu anchored by a rich, pork-forward tonkotsu miso and a Sichuan-inflected tantanmen spiked with ground meat and heat. The springy noodles and cured egg are the real story here.
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Ramen in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 20. Bica
Portuguese Coffee
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Rank 21. SOICHI
Sushi
Chef Soichi Kadoya works the counter with ease in this University Heights omakase spot, where casual conversation masks the precision underneath. Pike mackerel balanced with ginger, miso-marinated sea bass, and fatty tuna that melts confirm the seriousness of his craft.
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Rank 22. Blind Lady Ale House
Beer Bar
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Rank 23. Part Time Lover
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 26. Bosforo
Modern Turkish
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Rank 28. Yakitori Tsuta
Japanese
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Rank 29. Wormwood
French
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Rank 31. Kingfisher
Vietnamese
A striking bar anchors this Golden Hill spot, where inventive cocktails meet modern Vietnamese cooking. Dishes like raw scallops with tamarind and pineapple flavors, or mushroom congee, receive careful technique and a contemporary edge. The room has considerable charm, the drinks are thoughtfully made, and the food tastes like it knows what it's doing.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jonathan Bautista
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 32. Royal Mandarin
Chinese
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Rank 33. Shan’xi Magic Kitchen
Northwest Chinese
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Chinese Restaurant · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 34. Siamo Napoli
Neapolitan Pizza
Concrete floors and exposed pipes frame Flavio Piromallo's North Park trattoria, where industrial cool shelters serious Southern Italian cooking. Neapolitan pizza and housemade pastas—notably ravioli con manzana—carry genuine flavor; an almond cake layered with espresso custard and dual chocolates closes things well. Dinner brings the room alive.
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Rank 35. Awash Ethiopian Restaurant
Authentic Ethiopian
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Rank 36. El Tianguis
Mexican
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Rank 37. Trattoria Cori Pastificio
Sicilian Italian
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Rank 38. Poke Etc
Hawaiian
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Rank 40. Monstra Coffee
Filipino
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Rank 41. Yiko Yiko
Chinese/Japanese
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Rank 42. Monstra Coffee
Filipino
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Rank 43. Cowboy Star
Western
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Rank 44. Italianissimo Trattoria
Italian
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Rank 46. DJK Korean BBQ
Korean
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Rank 47. Kindred
Vegetarian
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Rank 48. Hidden Fish
Sushi
A ninety-minute omakase unfolds at this narrow counter where the pace is brisk but the eating unhurried. The chefs work with San Diego uni and imported Peruvian scallops alongside Japanese staples, each piece arriving on a chalkboard's rotating manifest. Reservations vanish weeks ahead, a small price for sushi this deliberate.
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- AAA Four Diamonds
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Restaurant View: Urban · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 51. Steamy Piggy
Contemporary Chinese
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Rank 53. Marigold Bagels
NY-Style Bakery
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Rank 54. ARTIFACT at Mingei
International
Tucked beside the gift shop at Mingei, this modest dining room matches its museum's appetite for global craft, moving from yuzu-kissed rock shrimp gyoza to lamb kibbeh with equal conviction. The kitchen treats vegetables and desserts with the same care—cardamom tapioca with saffron granita is no decoration—and monthly cuisine-specific dinners suggest a place that takes its eclecticism seriously.
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Rank 56. Plumeria Vegetarian Restaurant
Thai Vegetarian
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Rank 58. The Grant Grill
Pacific
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Rank 59. Addison
Contemporary
William Bradley's refined California cooking at Addison balances playful invention with technical precision, as seen in sesame rice crowned with caviar or chicken liver churros that feel both whimsical and elegant. Each course—from oysters with pickled strawberry to caviar-studded chawanmushi—demonstrates a kitchen in command of flavor, texture, and the pleasure of surprise.
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Rank 60. Mothership
Tropical
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Rank 61. Ciccia Osteria
Italian
In a repurposed Barrio Logan home, Chef Mario Cassineri's osteria arranges tables under trees while a deli counter rings the till, all warmth and modest ambition. The handmade pastas and complimentary focaccia hint at a kitchen that doesn't need much space to turn out something worth tasting.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Romantic Restaurant · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 62. Cellar Hand
Californian
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Rank 63. Callie
Mediterranean
Chef Travis Swikard channels his Daniel Boulud training into sharply composed Mediterranean plates that pivot on California's vegetables and seafood, with spice as a quiet equalizer. The kampachi crudo with black lime and herbaceous heat, the carrot dish studded with cashew dukkah—these are meals that taste like argument and resolution at once.
- Wine Enthusiast 2024 · Forward 50 Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Top 5 Restaurants · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 65. Fish Guts
Seafood
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Fish Tacos in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 68. Trust
American
Friends gather on the patio or in the concrete-and-steel dining room to share Chef Brad Wise's small plates: hush puppies with whipped honey butter and house-made ham, braised oxtail raviolini, milk and cookies pie with salted cookie dough ice cream. The wood-fired grill anchors both seasons, warming the industrial space when San Diego's weather shifts cool.
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Rank 69. Ichifuji
Sushi
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Rank 72. Great Maple
American
A retrofitted diner with contemporary ambitions, Great Maple serves Fruity Pebbles pancakes and maple-bacon donuts at brunch, then pivots to smoked brisket popovers and seasonal pies—Valencia orange cream with pistachio shortbread among them—when night falls. The room hums with the energy of a place that knows how to balance nostalgia with craft, though parking requires strategy.
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Rank 73. Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara
Guadalajara-Style Mexican
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Rank 74. Aqui es Texcoco
Mexican
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Rank 75. Turf Supper Club
American
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Rank 76. Aruba Day Drink
Tropical
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Latin America & Caribbean
- 50 Best 2026 · #51 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Latin America & Caribbean
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Rank 77. Mision 19
Mexican
Mision 19 champions Baja California's bounty through hyper-local cooking, sourcing ingredients within 200 kilometers and plating them with restless precision. Aguachile and lechon prensado arrive as edible arguments for terroir, each dish insisting the region's food deserves the same reverence as its wine.
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Rank 78. Animae
Filipino Steakhouse
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Tara Monsod
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Tara Monsod
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Tara Monsod
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Rank 79. Monstra Coffee
Filipino
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Rank 80. Herb & Wood
Wood-fired New American
A converted warehouse with barrel-vaulted ceilings and eclectic art radiates unhurried Parisian warmth, its staff as genuinely invested as the crowd filling every corner. Wood-fired mushrooms and pizza sit beside venison over buttermilk polenta, each plate suggesting a kitchen unafraid of range.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Top 5 Restaurants · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in San Diego
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- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Coffee Beans/Roaster in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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Rank 82. Fort Oak
Steakhouse
A former car dealership in Mission Hills now gleams as a mid-century horseshoe bar framing Chef Brad Wise's shareable menu, where a wood-fired lamb merguez meets pistachio muhammara and heritage pork finds its match in flame-charred Brussels sprouts. The apple crisp arrives sizzling in cast iron—comfort food with the precision of a chef who knows exactly what fire should do.
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Rank 83. LOLA 55
Mexican
In a converted East Village warehouse with soaring ceilings and concrete floors, the kitchen turns out hand-rolled tortillas that cradle everything from pork belly adobada to grilled steak with the casual precision of a place that has earned its reputation. The posole verde warms like it knows what it's doing, and the churros snap between your teeth with a satisfying finality.
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Rank 84. Cucina Urbana
California Italian
A convivial California-Italian kitchen where brick oven pizzas arrive with unexpected flourishes—pepperoni studded with Calabrian chili and honey, fresh pastas wound with eggplant and ricotta salata. The room fills with locals on weekday afternoons, buoyed by seasonal raw preparations and a wine program priced at retail with corkage.
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Rank 85. Roma Norte
Mexico City
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 86. Las Cuatro Milpas
Mexican
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Rank 87. Juniper & Ivy
California New American
A 1920s warehouse with redwood beams houses this San Diego kitchen, where a curved bar overlooks the sunken dining room and open flames. The menu moves fluidly through grilled swordfish with peanut crunch, bluefin crudo studded with pickled jalapeños, pastas finished with uni or charred squash—California ingredients filtered through Latin and Asian sensibilities, never precious.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Wine List in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Anthony Wells
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An East Village dining room where siblings Uthan Dejcomrunkul and Jumi Pitiwartarlai channel the assertive flavors of Isaan cooking with unforced authority. Fermented pork sausage arrives alongside purple sticky rice; the khao soi trades its expected chicken for duck confit that adds body to the coconut broth. Each dish bears the mark of cooks who know exactly what they're after.
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Rank 94. WetStone Winebar
Wine Bar
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Rank 95. The Taco Stand
Tijuana-style Mexican
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Rank 96. Parfait Paris
French Bakery
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Rank 97. The Rose
Wine Bar
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Rank 98. The Kebab Shop
New-School Mediterranean
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Rank 99. Puesto
Mexico City-Style Mexican
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Bar · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
- San Diego Magazine 2025 · Best Chips & Salsa in San Diego · The Best Restaurants in San Diego
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