I planned on doing my usual 3 day itinerary for San Diego, but I’ll be honest…I didn’t actually do much other than eat, work, and just enjoy time with a friend I haven’t seen in about 6 years. So instead of a San Diego 3 day itinerary, I give you:
The Foodie’s Weekend Guide to San Diego!
San Diego is known for a bunch of things, but two of the biggest are its food and craft beer scenes! When I was planning my trip, my friend asked me what I wanted to do while I was there and I told her that all I wanted was TACOS! It’s hard to get authentic, Mexican tacos in Massachusetts so I planned on eating my weight in them while I was there. Let that be a warning: the majority of this list includes places with incredible tacos.
All places with an asterisk next to the name are places that I personally ate at and can vouch for.
Basic Information About San Diego
Where to Stay in San Diego
If it is your first time visiting San Diego and you want the full tourist experience, I would recommend staying in the Gaslamp Quarter. It can definitely be pricy since it is easily San Diego’s most famous neighborhood, but when you’re short on time sometimes the splurge is worth it. I spent my first night at the Hotel Indigo – Gaslamp Quarter, an eco friendly hotel that has views of Petco Park, and it was great! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to experience their rooftop while I was there due to COVID restrictions, but from what I could tell it was incredible!
You really can’t go wrong with any of the main areas downtown (like Little Italy and Seaport Village), but if you’re looking for a more beachy vibe, consider staying in Coronado. A bucket list item for me is to stay in the historic Hotel del Coronado!
Getting Around San Diego
Unless you plan on only staying downtown, it probably makes sense to just rent a car if you don’t want to spend some serious dough on ubers. But a word of caution to drivers: a lot of streets are one way and a lot of street parking has a time limit. Neither of these should really cause too much of a problem, but it’s just something to keep in mind.
Downtown San Diego is definitely walkable, but if you’re not up for a walk I highly recommend downloading an app called Circuit. Circuit, also known as FRED, is a free rideshare app! FREDs are like the stretch limo of golf carts and they drive all around the city. Just download the app, enter your destination and amount of people, and wait for them to show up! I don’t know why this isn’t a thing in more cities.
If you’re not comfortable taking a FRED and you don’t want to rent a car, there are always Ubers and Lyfts around as well.
Quick Questions About COVID Regulations & Solo Female Travel in San Diego
- Do you think it’s safe to travel to during the pandemic?
- Absolutely! However, be cautious. I had really wanted to do a beach day while I was there, but every time I walked by one they were absolutely slammed! So safe to say I did not do a beach day. Other than that though, masks were worn everywhere and it seemed like the city was taking the pandemic just as seriously as Massachusetts had been.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the COVID regulations can change in an instant. Just days before I got a lot of places were forced to re-close even though they had just re-opened about a week prior. Have backup plans in mind if you plan on doing anything specific.
- Absolutely! However, be cautious. I had really wanted to do a beach day while I was there, but every time I walked by one they were absolutely slammed! So safe to say I did not do a beach day. Other than that though, masks were worn everywhere and it seemed like the city was taking the pandemic just as seriously as Massachusetts had been.
- Can I eat inside?
- This is a bit of a trick question…I’m definitely not the expert on all things San Diego, but the mayor has been a bit sketchy over the past few months. One day you can eat inside, but the next day it’s outdoor dining only only to be changed again a few days later. The best answer I can give you is to obsessively check what the current situation is in the days leading up to your visit.
- Do I need to order food to get a drink?
- Yes. While I was there, it was taken to an extra level and it had to be prepared food, so a bag of chips at a brewery wouldn’t count as food. Super annoying, but a lot of breweries and such have started serving french fries for less than $5. You don’t even need to eat them, there just needs to be a food item on your tab. But, instead of throwing it away, consider giving it to one of the homeless people!
- Do I need to wear a mask on the beach?
- Yes and no. Technically you should be wearing them if you are not actively moving (swimming, running, riding a bike), but as long as you are not within 6 feet of another party you should be okay taking it off as long as you have it close by.
- Is San Diego safe for solo female travel?
- Yes…BUT…
I don’t think I would recommend San Diego for first time solo female travelers, especially if you’re not used to big city life. San Diego has a pretty massive homeless population, and this population is like nothing I’ve ever witnessed before. They have no problem coming right up to you and can get pretty aggressive. They also have no problem shooting up in the middle of the sidewalk or walking around pantless. I’ll save you the horror stories my friend has after living there for the past six years, but as long as you have a fully charged phone and hairspray at the ready you should be fine. (You can’t fly with pepper spray so I always make sure I bring a small bottle of hairspray with me as a TSA-approved alternative.) It’s also not as bad in Coronado, Escondido, and La Jolla (although that’s not technically San Diego), so if you want to try San Diego out as your first solo adventure I would probably try stick to those areas or just take a rideshare everywhere.
- Yes…BUT…
Food
Breakfast
-Breakfast Bitch
Breakfast Bitch is a Black female-owned breakfast joint that now also has a location in Phoenix! You can expect their sassy Rosie the Riveter-esque logo to greet you at the door as you embark on a journey of bottomless mimosas and soul food. The team over at Breakfast Bitch also does great work helping their community, so add that to the neverending list of of reasons to give ‘em a try!
-Nomad Donuts*
This is hard to believe, but I think Nomad Donuts is the only place I actually ate breakfast at while I was in San Diego! Nomad Donuts is another Black-owned business, and the shop is located right in the heart of North Park. They serve incredibly unique and delicious artisanal donuts that they make from scratch every day! Their flavors are inspired from places around the world and they’re all incredible! I went in the hopes of trying one of their famous ube tarot coconut donuts, but sadly missed them because their menu changes monthly. Just another reason for me to go back!
-Hash House a Go Go
Okay, okay, I know…Hash House a Go Go is technically a chain, but hear me out! They were actually founded in San Diego! Does it really count as a basic restaurant if you eat in the places they were founded? I think not! I’ll also be honest about the biased reason I have for including them on this list…they had a Fall special on the menu that was loaded mashed potato eggs benedict. A few things you should know about me:
1.) I really like eggs benedict.
2.) I loveeee mashed potatoes!!!!!!! I had a mashed potato bar at my wedding, that’s how much I love them.
3.) I get superrrr angry when I find out about incredible things like a loaded mashed potato eggs benedict after I’ve already left the place where it is. So this is me being passive aggressive (yet also oddly supportive?) to all of San Diego for being able to enjoy that deliciousness without me.
Lunch
-Not Not Tacos*
Not Not Tacos is a crazy ingenious concept for a taco shop, and it is located right by the Little Italy Farmers Market. In the Little Italy Food Hall you will find a plethora of places to eat at; you’ve got your “New England Seafood” place, your pasta place, your Asian food selection…but then you see Not Not Tacos, with a menu that bends your mind in ways you never dreamed of. Instead of your traditional tacos, you get things like a burger taco, a mac and cheese taco, a loaded mashed potato taco (are we seeing a trend here?)… the possibilities seem to be endless.
Not Not Tacos is the reason I have had to cut off some friends of mine. This ingenious idea for a shop totally changed the way I view handhelds. Take a hot dog, for example. Not Not Tacos had a “hot dog taco”, which was your basic hot dog served in a tortilla. But that got me to thinking…people are always arguing over whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich, but both sides of that argument are wrong. Why? Because hot dogs are actually tacos!
Think about it: A sandwich is two slices of bread with the filling in between them. They are two, totally individual slices of bread. But a hot dog is one continuous thing that wraps up and hugs the delicious filling inside…just like the tortilla does to the taco!!!
Are you pickin’ up what I’m throwin’ down?
Let me know in the comments whether or not you agree with this friend-losing, family-estranging argument.
-The Little Italy Farmers Market
Okay, I need to give like half an asterisk here because I guess I did technically eat from here, but it wasn’t a full meal.
I love farmers markets; you just never know what you’re going to find! I had been hoping to get some kind of unique, probably hand held lunch from this farmers market but I ended up at Not Not Tacos instead. But I did walk up and down to see all that the vendors were selling and there were some pretty incredible offerings! Fresh produce, homemade jerky made with locally brewed craft beer, fresh baked bread, and the one thing I did eat: dips! There was this one vendor that made these absolutely divine dips in all different flavors, and I would have brought some home with me…but that needed to be refrigerated. And the company is so small and so new that they haven’t started shipping at all. UGH! Oh well. Next time. But if you see a female-run vendor with a giant cooler of dips, buy them all and send me pictures.
-Lucha Libre Taco Shop*
Lucha Libre is a San Diego staple, and one I’m not sure enough people know about. A friend of mine went to school in San Diego and told me that I absolutely needed to get the Surfin’ California Burrito from Lucha Libre. It was my first meal after I left the airport and let me tell ya, it set the bar incredibly high! The Surfin’ California isn’t like any other burrito you’ve had before. It has steak, chicken, shrimp, french fries, cheese, avocado, pico de gallo, and their secret sauce. This burrito sounds like a clusterf**k, but it is truly out of this world! I also love their creamy cilantro sauce; it’s great as a dipping sauce for french fries!
-In n Out*
Full review coming when I post Austin content…but Whataburger is significantly better than In n Out. I tried both for the first time within 6 months of each other and am therefore the self-declared expert. But, regardless of the mediocrity, you can’t go to California without at least trying an animal-style burger.
But I repeat: Whataburger is superior.
Don’t @ me.
Dinner
-Amplified Ale Works*
Amplified Ale Works is the only lucky business that will appear on both this San Diego itinerary and my guide to craft beer in San Diego!
Amplified Ale Works actually has two locations, but their Pacific Beach location is hands down the best one. You can sit outside and have perfect views of people surfing on the beach, and it’s beyond stunning as the sun sets!
I believe I learned about Amplified Ale Works from a post on The Blonde Abroad, and she specifically mentioned something AAW is known for, which is something called Doner Fries. The best way I can describe doner fries is that it’s kind of like a gyro and California-style Mexican cuisine had a baby and that baby came out in the form of poutine. They’re crispy french fries basically topped with everything you would get in a gyro, plus some California salsa, avocado, and other stuff.(Picture included below because that wouldn’t make sense to me if I hadn’t eaten them either.) All I can tell you is that you definitely need to try them, because they’re truly incredible, and bring a friend or three. This serving size is insane!
-Paesto*
Puesto is kind of like an upscale California-only chain (they have seven locations at the time of writing this post), but they’re really good! They have a great selection of tacos that you order a la carte and some delicious (and pretty strong) margaritas. My friend and her husband took me here and when they ordered the waiter said that we wouldn’t get all our tacos at once, because each kind is made to order, but there wouldn’t be much of a wait in between because they’re pretty quick.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when he said that, but I learned pretty damn quick. The tacos are brought out one type at a time, so if 3 out of 4 people at your table ordered a quesabirria taco and 2 out of 4 ordered a mushroom taco, you would have 3 quesabirria tacos delivered then you would have two mushroom tacos delivered. When you’re the only person that didn’t order the first kind of taco to come out and you’re starving, it can be pretty disheartening. But have no fear, yours will be out soon! I don’t think we waited longer than 60 seconds for the next type of taco to reach our table. I’ve never experienced a restaurant with this model before, but it was definitely interesting! I felt like it made me eat a little bit slower and enjoy the overall experience more than I would have otherwise.
-Time Out Sports Tavern
Another half asterisk spot, because I technically had a beer here but I didn’t eat here. Not only is Time Out a sports lovers’ paradise, with various sports memorabilia adorning the walls and a TV with a game on everywhere you look, they have the craziest craft beer selection I’ve seen in a long time and I’ve heard that their tacos and wings are out of this world! (Disclaimer: My friend’s husband owns this place, but just look at their instagram; their food is drool-worthy!)
Time Out has over 29 craft beers on tap that rotate regularly and they have over 40 craft beers in bottles! My favorite thing about the beer selection is that the owner really tries to showcase a variety of beers, but especially local beers. (But how could you not when you’re based in one of the craft beer capitals of the country???) The selection at Time Out also often includes uber limited batch beers that are nearly impossible to find elsewhere, like Fort Night of the Monsters by Modern Times.
Another totally unrelated thing I love about Time Out, at least during the pandemic, is their signage. It was designed by my friend and it says, “IF YOU’RE NOT ON YOUR A$$, YOU MUST WEAR A MASK!” I thought it was clever!
-El Paisa*
El Paisa was my final and most interesting meal in San Diego. After taking me to a 24 hour tortilleria so I could get some freshly made corn tortillas to bring home, my friend and her husband brought me to El Paisa. El Paisa is a family-owned restaurant that serves up fresh, traditional Mexican tacos (and other Mexican dishes). I tried a beef tongue taco for the first time, which I was super nervous about. I was convinced it would make me gag, and actually regretted my decision almost as soon as the waiter walked away. But I was steadfast in my belief that you should try any and everything once. Believe it or not, it was my favorite of the tacos I ordered! It was tender, but not slimy like you would imagine a tongue to be. It was also incredibly flavorful and a real delight!
Beer
I’ll have an entire post dedicated to craft beer in San Diego later this week, but for now, here are the breweries I visited that were open during my visit:
- Amplified Ale Works
- Stone Brewery (specifically the one in Escondido because it is the original and a truly memorable experience!)
- Modern Times
- Coronado Brewing Company
- Duck Foot Brewing Company
Little Things to Do Around San Diego
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I didn’t do much in San Diego other than eat. But I did manage to do a little sightseeing! Below is a list of all the things I did in San Diego:
- Visit the kissing statue.
- Do a mural tour in North Park.
- Go paddle boarding or kayaking in Coronado Harbor. This is the company I rented from and they were pretty inexpensive!
- Go to Moo Time in Coronado and have ice cream by the water. (Okay, okay…this is still eating, but it’s a different kind of eating!)
- Do a tour of the historic Hotel del Coronado. (I didn’t actually get to do this because the tours were cancelled due to the pandemic, but I did drive by it!)