Being sent to San Diego for work at the last minute. Leaving tomorrow. I’ll be there for 4 days/nights. Technically I’ll be in the Del Mar area, but I’ll have a car and my schedule is pretty flexible, especially in the evenings. Tell me the places I should try not to miss, particularly for breakfast, dinner, or to have drinks. I don’t mind getting up early to drive south for breakfast, and I can get to the office almost anytime I want.
ETA: I’m pretty familiar with Old Town for Mexican food, and I know about the Gaslamp district in general, but if you have specific places please let me know.
I lived in San Diego for a while and when people came to visit the one place that always went over well was Poseidon (right in Del Mar). The food is great, it’s reasonably priced and almost literally on the beach. It’s also right near the 101 where all the independent, somewhat funky shops are so you can go for a stroll around town and on the beach after you eat.
I agree with Crawlspace, go the Poseidon. Nice place and right on the beach. The other two places I eat at in Del Mar are The Brigantine and Bully’s. I hear The Kitchen is really good too.
You mentioned that you already know about Mexican food there, but i’ll add that any restaurant with the suffix “-Berto’s” on its name is pure GOLD. (Roberto’s, Alberto’s, Adalberto’s, etc.). Those places are the number-one thing I miss about San Diego.
If you make it down to Ocean Beach, there’s a hamburger place called Hodad’s that can’t be beat.
And if you find yourself in the need of fast food, there’s always In-n-Out.
Since you don’t mind driving south for breakfast, check out Kono’s in Pacific Beach at the very end of Garnet. They are friendly and have excellent food with a casual beach atmosphere.
It’s going to be pretty cold this week, but if you’d like to have a cool view while eating there is a deck for customers that overlooks the beach located directly across the boardwalk.