This LA-based sensation specializes in classic Texas-style breakfast tacos based on homemade flour tortillas and pastured eggs. Besides its bestselling tacos, HomeState is also getting high marks for its creamy queso dip and refreshing house cocktails like frozen spicy Palomas and tequila highballs.

Does San Diego need another ramen shop? Apparently yes, judging from the ever-present line outside this ramen-ya at Westfield UTC. Though Ramen Nagi is famous in Tokyo for its niboshi (dried fish) ramen, its stateside restaurants specialize in pork-based tonkotsu, with other broth options ranging from spicy miso to squid ink or pesto. Customers are also able to select the thickness and firmness of their noodles, as well as a preferred level of garlic or oil for their bowls Don’t miss the lacy-edged gyoza, too.

Elegant and breezy, the La Jolla restaurant interprets modern Italian cuisine with dishes that encapsulate what it is to cook seasonally in San Diego. Recently-installed executive chef Cameron Ingle (Bestia, Pico) is serving whole line-caught local fish as well as handmade pasta like brown butter raviolini filled with honey nut squash.

Finding its footing in Kearny Mesa is this family-owned Southeast Asian restaurant centered around Lao cuisine, with standouts that include lemongrass-studded Lao sausage, Lao-style papaya salad, a crispy rice dish called nam khao, and khao piek sen, a lesser-seen Lao noodle soup. A spice level of five is powerfully, properly Lao spicy but dishes can also be ordered with less heat.

Two highly-trained itamae, veterans of the Michelin-starred Soichi Sushi as well as downtown’s popular Taka Sushi, have paired up to open a sleek restaurant in Linda Vista that showcases their sushi skills through an eight-course omakase menu. With two seatings per night and just 10 seats, reservations are required for the seasonal seafood experience.

Two local chefs, alums of casual standouts like Tender Greens and LA’s Gjusta, are behind this daytime cafe with an ultra-seasonal menu whose dishes change on the regular. Tartines of local sourdough bread might be topped with ricotta and fresh fruit preserves or soft scrambled eggs and salmon roe, sandwiches could be filled with housemade porchetta or tuna conserva, and salads and soups rotate depending on prime produce. Keep an eye out for occasional dinner dates, too.

In a dark and moody church-like space within the newly-resurrected Lafayette Hotel, Quixote applies a modern outlook to Oaxacan cuisine with a compelling menu that includes tetela —triangle-shaped masa pockets filled with duck confit — grilled octopus with mole pipian, crab corn doughnuts with burnt chile emulsion, and Oaxacan cheese fondue. Overseeing the open-hearth kitchen is chef José Cepeda, who cooked at contemporary Mexican spots like Mirame in Beverly Hills.

The newest venture for the team behind Italian charmer Cesarina, this chic and casual Ocean Beach restaurant revolves around the food culture of Rome, with tables sharing carafes of wine and special dishes of the day, including the standout, only-available-on-Saturdays trippa alla romana. The menu extends to some of the city’s best-known classics, from cacio e pepe and pasta carbonara to a version of Roman-style pizza.

A former cottage business turned full-fledged bakery and cafe in North Park whose high-demand baked goods range from buttery viennoiseries like pistachio croissants and kouign-amann to delicate canneles and macarons. Its just-launched dinner service includes French bistro classics like coq au vin, boeuf Bourgignon, and île flottante. 

The Japanese tradition of kaiseki is on display at this intimate and special spot in Bankers Hill from the team behind Azuki Sushi. The 10-seat restaurant hosts two seatings per night for its 10-course seasonal tasting menus that combine sushi and sashimi with grilled and cooked dishes.

Books & Records breathes new life into a hallowed restaurant space in Bankers Hill where live music, including jazz, soul, and R&B, is offered several nights a week. Operated by the owners of Hillcrest’s popular Common Stock, the comfortable space serves a dinner menu from chef Sam Deckman highlighted by scallop and shrimp aguachile with tomatillo nước chấm and a shareable platter of Coca-Cola-braised duck carnitas paired with shiso pancakes, salsa macha, and salsa verde..

A fixture on Convoy, Common Theory’s second location in Chula Vista is a boost for the Otay Ranch neighborhood and an evolution for the popular gastropub. Still a treasure trove for craft beer, the new space is more modern and sophisticated, with additional wine options and refined versions of menu favorites like salt and pepper chicken wings.