City Series: San Diego
Ready for the best of San Diego? Check out our recommendations below for everything from the best sushi to the best place for a Ryan Gosling sighting (sort of).
Best Place to Grab a Beer and People Watch
What better way to start out an evening than finding a comfortable perch to sip a cold one while people watching? Stop by the Jsix Restaurant and bar at the Kimpton Solamar in the Gaslamp District. Aptly named, this watering hole is located at J Street and Sixth Ave. If you're a guest of the hotel, you'll have access to the complimentary social hour at Jsix every day from 5-6 p.m. You'll be treated to light appetizers and your choice of local craft brews on tap or a glass of red or white wine. Staff are friendly, attentive and are dangerously good at making their rounds to refill your glass as you enjoy the social atmosphere. If you get there early you can snag a couple of bar stools by the corner window and watch passersby and the sun set between buildings.
Jsix Restaurant
435 6th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
Best Place to Find the Golden Monkey on Tap
The Golden Monkey at The Werewolf.
Whether you were Team Edward, Team Jacob or have no idea what any of that means, The Werewolf pub in the Gaslamp District is well worth a visit. The Werewolf serves one of our favorite beers, the Belgian-style tripel Golden Monkey by Pennsylvania-based Victory Brewing. Any West Coast fan of Victory Brewing knows how hard it is to find the Golden Monkey in stores, let alone on draft. For that, The Werewolf will always be on our must-visit list whenever we're in town.
The Werewolf
627 Fourth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Best Tapas
Tapas in San Diego? Yes, please and gracias to Café Sevilla in the Gaslamp district. If you stop in for lunch try the super fresh shrimp and red snapper ceviche ($8.95) and tortilla Espanola ($6.75). We hear there's also some pretty good live music and Flamenco dancing in the evenings.
Café Sevilla
353 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Best Sushi
My sister is the Yelp queen of San Diego and swears Sushi Deli 3 is the place for sushi in town. If you don't take her word for it, take one look at wait list for this place and decide for yourself. Our party of three arrived during prime time, 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night. We made our way to the check-in desk and wrote our names down. The wait was one hour, but well worth it. If you only order two things off the menu, make sure they're the California egg roll (a deep fried California roll that comes with a creamy dipping sauce for only $3.99!!!) and the Hot Hot Pearl (a salmon, avocado and cream cheese roll topped with scallops and green onions for $7.25). I'm getting hungry just writing about it.
Sushi Deli 3
7986 Armour St
San Diego, CA 92111
Best Cupcake
Chocolate dulce de leche habanero cupcake from Frost Me Gourmet.
Frost Me Gourmet at Seaport Village takes the cake for best cupcakes. If the name sounds familiar, it could be because Frost Me was a winner on the Food Network's Cupcake wars. In case you're wondering, the winning cupcake from Season 7 is the chocolate dulce de leche habanero, a rich but not-too-sweet chocolate cupcake with a dulce de leche center and chocolate buttercream frosting, topped with a drizzle of dulce de leche and habanero sea salt. For me, the habanero sea salt was the game changer. It offers a perfect unexpected kick at the end.
Frost Me Gourmet
859 W Harbor Drive Suite B
San Diego, CA 92101
Best Place to See Ryan Gosling
Hey, girl. You might want to visit the bathroom at Bang Bang sushi restaurant. There's an entire stall wallpapered with Ryan Gosling's handsome face. Sorry, fellas who are Ryan Gosling fans too (and who isn't?). The stall is in the ladies' room.
The Ryan Gosling bathroom stall at Bang Bang.
