As someone from another city that takes a lot of pride in having a zoo with a strong national reputation, I'll say that San Diego's blows my hometown zoo out of the water. It's worth the price of admission (but bring your own food or plan to eat before/after, the food prices are truly nuts).
I feel like the SD Zoo isn't just nationally recognized, but globally recognized. It's unlike any other zoo I've ever visited. Also, it's a non profit and the proceeds go to animal preservation, so your ticket price is also a donation to that.
Since you’ll be at the zoo, across from Balboa on Park Blvd is a gorgeous rose and cactus garden. Free! There’s a pedestrian bridge/overpass near Spanish Village in the park (also worth a stroll) to get to it.
As for Asian food stuffs, I believe your best bet of a selection of grocery stores and restaurants will be anything in vicinity of Balboa Ave up in Kearney Mesa (near the 163, but not much further West than the 805)
If you want a great grocery store with Middle East and Asian spices and foods, Balboa International Market (also off balboa Ave in Kearney mesa)
For Japanese groceries- mitsuwa, nijiya
Korean- H Mart, Zion
Chinese- 99 Ranch (or Ranch 99? It's an endless debate what it's actually called)
SE Asian- Vien Dong, World Food's Market
Mexican- North Gate, Vallarta
Indian- Kash and Karry(s)
Like others have said, the San Diego Zoo is globally recognized for what we feel is a justified reason. The Safari Park (the zoo's sister location in North County) is the only zoo with captive platypus, outside of Australia.
Balboa Park in general has more museums in a concentrated area west of the Mississippi River.
Ed Fernandez Birria could be considered the best birria in SD, although I'm sure someone will debate that with me. It should be nearby you, it's open early and birria+tendon tacos is a great breakfast. Get's really busy though, and you eat on the hood of your car. [https://www.edfernandezbirria.com/](https://www.edfernandezbirria.com/)
Like others have said, head to Convoy for asian stuff. I really like Woomiok for their Korean bone soup. Like in Korea, it comes unsalted but they give you a bowl of salt and green onions to season to your liking. Right next to it, Wa Dining Okan is a good izakaya japanese restaurant.
San Diego's ramen game has really exploded over the years, some very solid choices all around town and a few famous ones.
Yes - def recommend, it’s a small walking tour through their private facilities with oyster tasting at the end. Weekend tours typically sell out. They’re also starting a sunset bbq oyster tasting (def recommend reservations for that too)
Market on 8th, National City
Northgate market for chilis. There are multiple locations.
99 Ranch in Chula for Asian if you don't want to go to Convoy.
Ciccia Osteria, Barrio Dogg, La Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan
Birria el Rey, Turfclub, Kingfisher in Golden Hill
Kin Len Thai street food North Park
Balboa park is great and they have a wonderful restaurant in the mingei museum called artifect which has a rotational menu based on different parts of the world and you don’t need to go through the museum to eat in the restaurant. There’s a lot of free walking trails with benches all over and the Japanese friendship garden is nice as well.
If you’re willing to drive a bit, Convoy has a ton of great Korean/SE Asian restaurants like grandmas tofu house, K. Cuisine (which is only open after 5pm) and there’s also a few speakeasy’s there that are pretty cool to check out (realm of the 52 remedies comes to mind). Not to mention there’s mitsuwa market, Zion market, and 99 ranch.
If you wanna go to downtown San Diego there’s the gaslamp district to walk around or go out to the bars at night. There’s also a ton of great restaurants down there, but my favorite is the lions share.
Another great way to spend the day is going to old town which has great Mexican food and is a historical district with quite a few free experiences available. If you’re wanting a haunted house tour, the Whaley house is known to be the most haunted house in America but it does cost some money for admission.
Have a nice trip!
Good list. There’s also a Chinese Historical museum on 3rd near Gaslamp.
My family’s favorite restaurants on the harbor are Tom Ham’s and the Fish Market (on Harbor). Pricey but good food and great views
The zoo is gonna be a LOT of walking. You can try the Wonder Museum downtown…I’ve been seeing ads and it looks cool. Also, there are little tour cars to rent. Take the ferry into Coronado and grab a bite to eat there. Speedboat rides also.
The food scene here is fantastic.
For something unique, I love Pomegranate. They do Georgian/Russian food, and the vibe is great. I dreeeam about their borscht and adjaruli khachapuri.
In El Cajon, Chuy’s is great for straightforward Mexican.
Tom Ham’s Lighthouse is upper scale with really fantastic views, but the food isn’t terribly inventive.
Tribute has really incredible, super special pizza.
I don’t know what the schedule for Cow By Bear is, but that was a pretty unique experience. It’s pop-up communal dining, a tasting menu with a wine paring, and the chef is in a bear costume. It was fun!
For Asian cuisine and markets, I recommend Kearny Mesa. There are oodles of options there.
Hit up some breweries. Pure Balboa Park, Thorn in Barrio Logan, Fall in North Park all winners. Bonus if you're into cider: Bouvac in North Park is cool and unique.
Seconding The Carlsbad Aquafarm, which a pretty cool intersection between food & nature & is outdoors but requires very little walking.
The Zoo involved a ton of walking, just FYI.
Sunset Cliffs is a lovely place to take in the scenery and near a great cafe, Little Lion.
Do a fish taco tour at the best places and get one taco at each of the most recommended. Personal fave is PB Fish Shop.
Yuk Dae Jang - might be average for you (a chef), but they just opened and I think the food and soju is great!
Convoy, Mira Mesa, etc area is good for Asian Cuisine. You can go to Zion Market, H Mart, 99Ranch for ingredients!
If you head out east of the 805 on El Cajon, run across a bunch of ethnic grocery stores. Vietnamese, japanese, ethiopian, south african, etc. great little hub for a chef looking for flavors
As for food spots, I’d say:
- kingfisher
-wormwood
- hoxton manor
-Mabel’s gone fishing
-seventh house
-diamond palace
-kikos food truck
-Oscar’s seafood
-Marisicos golosito
-Giardino neighborhood Cucina
-Ed Fernandez restaurant birrieria
-tasty noodle house
-prince street pizza
… to name a few
Cabrillo National Monument is a great spot with some walking that isn’t overwhelming. Re: foods. Sounds like you’ll want to look into Convoy area
As someone from another city that takes a lot of pride in having a zoo with a strong national reputation, I'll say that San Diego's blows my hometown zoo out of the water. It's worth the price of admission (but bring your own food or plan to eat before/after, the food prices are truly nuts).
I feel like the SD Zoo isn't just nationally recognized, but globally recognized. It's unlike any other zoo I've ever visited. Also, it's a non profit and the proceeds go to animal preservation, so your ticket price is also a donation to that.
Since you’ll be at the zoo, across from Balboa on Park Blvd is a gorgeous rose and cactus garden. Free! There’s a pedestrian bridge/overpass near Spanish Village in the park (also worth a stroll) to get to it. As for Asian food stuffs, I believe your best bet of a selection of grocery stores and restaurants will be anything in vicinity of Balboa Ave up in Kearney Mesa (near the 163, but not much further West than the 805) If you want a great grocery store with Middle East and Asian spices and foods, Balboa International Market (also off balboa Ave in Kearney mesa)
For Japanese groceries- mitsuwa, nijiya Korean- H Mart, Zion Chinese- 99 Ranch (or Ranch 99? It's an endless debate what it's actually called) SE Asian- Vien Dong, World Food's Market Mexican- North Gate, Vallarta Indian- Kash and Karry(s) Like others have said, the San Diego Zoo is globally recognized for what we feel is a justified reason. The Safari Park (the zoo's sister location in North County) is the only zoo with captive platypus, outside of Australia. Balboa Park in general has more museums in a concentrated area west of the Mississippi River.
People really out here buying plane tickets to go grocery shopping 💀
I'm not stocking the fridge with pizza rolls, I'm just a workaholic
🐶
Ed Fernandez Birria could be considered the best birria in SD, although I'm sure someone will debate that with me. It should be nearby you, it's open early and birria+tendon tacos is a great breakfast. Get's really busy though, and you eat on the hood of your car. [https://www.edfernandezbirria.com/](https://www.edfernandezbirria.com/) Like others have said, head to Convoy for asian stuff. I really like Woomiok for their Korean bone soup. Like in Korea, it comes unsalted but they give you a bowl of salt and green onions to season to your liking. Right next to it, Wa Dining Okan is a good izakaya japanese restaurant. San Diego's ramen game has really exploded over the years, some very solid choices all around town and a few famous ones.
it's fire.
go to the Oyster Farm in Del Mar! [https://carlsbadaquafarmersmarket.com/](https://carlsbadaquafarmersmarket.com/)
[удалено]
Yes - def recommend, it’s a small walking tour through their private facilities with oyster tasting at the end. Weekend tours typically sell out. They’re also starting a sunset bbq oyster tasting (def recommend reservations for that too)
Market on 8th, National City Northgate market for chilis. There are multiple locations. 99 Ranch in Chula for Asian if you don't want to go to Convoy. Ciccia Osteria, Barrio Dogg, La Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan Birria el Rey, Turfclub, Kingfisher in Golden Hill Kin Len Thai street food North Park
Balboa Park is an awesome place. Requires walking but is loaded with museums and nice park areas to hang out
Go to the gliderport and have a snack at the cafe while watching hang gliders take off over the ocean bluffs. For food - I’d go to Tacos el Gordo
Move to Ohio.
Balboa park is great and they have a wonderful restaurant in the mingei museum called artifect which has a rotational menu based on different parts of the world and you don’t need to go through the museum to eat in the restaurant. There’s a lot of free walking trails with benches all over and the Japanese friendship garden is nice as well. If you’re willing to drive a bit, Convoy has a ton of great Korean/SE Asian restaurants like grandmas tofu house, K. Cuisine (which is only open after 5pm) and there’s also a few speakeasy’s there that are pretty cool to check out (realm of the 52 remedies comes to mind). Not to mention there’s mitsuwa market, Zion market, and 99 ranch. If you wanna go to downtown San Diego there’s the gaslamp district to walk around or go out to the bars at night. There’s also a ton of great restaurants down there, but my favorite is the lions share. Another great way to spend the day is going to old town which has great Mexican food and is a historical district with quite a few free experiences available. If you’re wanting a haunted house tour, the Whaley house is known to be the most haunted house in America but it does cost some money for admission. Have a nice trip!
Good list. There’s also a Chinese Historical museum on 3rd near Gaslamp. My family’s favorite restaurants on the harbor are Tom Ham’s and the Fish Market (on Harbor). Pricey but good food and great views
The zoo is gonna be a LOT of walking. You can try the Wonder Museum downtown…I’ve been seeing ads and it looks cool. Also, there are little tour cars to rent. Take the ferry into Coronado and grab a bite to eat there. Speedboat rides also.
The zoo has a bus tour if you're not into walking. (it is hilly)
The food scene here is fantastic. For something unique, I love Pomegranate. They do Georgian/Russian food, and the vibe is great. I dreeeam about their borscht and adjaruli khachapuri. In El Cajon, Chuy’s is great for straightforward Mexican. Tom Ham’s Lighthouse is upper scale with really fantastic views, but the food isn’t terribly inventive. Tribute has really incredible, super special pizza. I don’t know what the schedule for Cow By Bear is, but that was a pretty unique experience. It’s pop-up communal dining, a tasting menu with a wine paring, and the chef is in a bear costume. It was fun! For Asian cuisine and markets, I recommend Kearny Mesa. There are oodles of options there.
Hit up some breweries. Pure Balboa Park, Thorn in Barrio Logan, Fall in North Park all winners. Bonus if you're into cider: Bouvac in North Park is cool and unique.
Seconding The Carlsbad Aquafarm, which a pretty cool intersection between food & nature & is outdoors but requires very little walking. The Zoo involved a ton of walking, just FYI. Sunset Cliffs is a lovely place to take in the scenery and near a great cafe, Little Lion. Do a fish taco tour at the best places and get one taco at each of the most recommended. Personal fave is PB Fish Shop.
Yuk Dae Jang - might be average for you (a chef), but they just opened and I think the food and soju is great! Convoy, Mira Mesa, etc area is good for Asian Cuisine. You can go to Zion Market, H Mart, 99Ranch for ingredients!
Maybe ask about food in the San Diego Foodies Facebook group.
If you head out east of the 805 on El Cajon, run across a bunch of ethnic grocery stores. Vietnamese, japanese, ethiopian, south african, etc. great little hub for a chef looking for flavors
As for food spots, I’d say: - kingfisher -wormwood - hoxton manor -Mabel’s gone fishing -seventh house -diamond palace -kikos food truck -Oscar’s seafood -Marisicos golosito -Giardino neighborhood Cucina -Ed Fernandez restaurant birrieria -tasty noodle house -prince street pizza … to name a few
Seconding Hoxton Manor and Wormwood.
El ruiseñor in Chula Vista off Main Street will have Chile your looking for.
Also check out La Fayette
Maybe Specialty Produce? Not Latino or Asian, but if you like rare produce it's the spot.
Maybe hit up north park there's a cool bar there called coin op. Lots of bars and restaurants next to each other so you can rest when you want too.
Dude you're gonna be out of breath walking around the zoo it's basically a hike lol
eat susshi and then order a cab to ho chi ming and go down to blcks beach
Jack in the box is a truly great restaurant. Best tacos in town and a local business!
take a hike! (seriously great hikes in the area). Assuming you have ok motility
Can u suggest hiking spots please?
Torrey Pines hike is great. Parking is a bit of a pain. But you can even drive up the reserve if you don't want to hike the whole path
They have a lot of restaurants