San Diego’s 70-Plus Most Anticipated Restaurants For 2023

Common Stock’s Bankers Hill Project – The team behind Common Stock bar & restaurant in San Diego’s Hillcrest has plans to open two new restaurant concepts in 2023, including one at the former Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant space and another in North Park. The Common Stock crew recently leased the former Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant, which announced last fall plans to relocate. In the former Bankers Hill space, expect a new bar & restaurant concept centered around house-made, locally-sourced, farm-fresh California cuisine with a full bar. The Common Stock team is also opening a new eatery in North Park near Communal Coffee, expected to open later in 2023. 

LOLA 55 Carlsbad – East Village’s Michelin-recognized LOLA 55 Tacos + Cocktails is gearing up for a local expansion that includes a new outpost in San Diego’s North County within The Beacon La Costa shopping center in Carlsbad. Like the original branch, expect a menu of Oaxacan-style cuisine with most of its meats and vegetables grilled on a custom, Santa Maria grill. The menu offers “inspired food at affordable prices”, with the majority of the items priced between $3-7. Tacos are made with housemade tortillas and ingredients sourced from area farms and purveyors. The menu also includes a large list of vegan options, including numerous plant-based tacos. The restaurant also serves a full list of craft cocktails, local & Mexican craft beer, an array of side dishes like elote and aguachile, market-driven entrees and soft beverages like agua frescas and horchatas.

Mission & Garnet – From the founder of SoCal-born burger & beer chain Slater’s 50/50, Mission + Garnet will be a 24-hour, multi-concept restaurant set to open in early 2023 in the building that housed a Denny’s diner for more than 50 years in San Diego’s Pacific Beach. The 4,000 square-foot building will house at least six separate eateries, including versions of his Spitfire Tacos, Head Lettuce, and Earlybird Breakfast Burritos eateries, as well as Scotty Dogs hot dog stand out front, the Checkered Churro desserts, Harvey Carver sandwich shop and possibly other, new take-out friendly concepts.

Alcatraz Bar & Grill – The experienced San Diego restaurateur behind such concepts as Farmer’s Table and Farmer’s Bottega is gearing up to launch a new bar & restaurant inspired by Mexico’s famed Valle De Guadalupe wine region. Located in the 3,741 square-foot unit on the corner of La Mesa Boulevard and Palm Avenue, Alcatraz will be an upscale Mexican restaurant and wine bar with an extensive bar selection of drinks and bourbon and a menu of modern Mexican cuisine. 

HomeState – A Texas-inspired breakfast taco chain based out of Los Angeles, HomeState will open a 2,900 square-foot location in San Diego’s North County within Freeman Collective in South Oceanside. Expect a menu of Lone Star State breakfast tacos made with pasture-raised, Vital Farms eggs, buttery flour tortillas, compassionately and humanely-raised meats from Creekstone Farms, organic chicken, and the brand’s signature queso cheese sauce – all named after Texas rivers. HomeState also offers tacos made in collaboration with bands, including The Ft. Worth by Leon Bridges, which has spicy achiote chicken, Beeler’s bacon, lettuce, pico de gallo, tomatillo ranch, pickled jalapeños, on a flour tortilla. The menu also features non-breakfast tacos on flour or corn tortillas, egg scrambled “Migas”, Frito pie, Texas toast sandwiches, quesadillas, a salad, sides, and chips and dips, as well as a full bar with cocktails, wine, beer, coffee and soft drinks. Based upon the success of the first San Diego branch, more area locations are expected to open around the county in the future.

Gravity Heights Mission Valley – San Diego’s three-year-old Gravity Heights brewery and restaurant is planning to open a new location in Mission Valley. From the team behind now-defunct Whisknladle, Catania Coastal Italian, Milagro Farm Winery, and Park Commons Food Hall, the second location of Gravity Heights will open next year in Mission Valley near Metro Mission Valley apartment complex and serve a full food menu with appetizers, soups, salads, wood-fired pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, brunch items, entrees and desserts, as well as cocktails, Gravity Heights lineup of craft beers and Milagro Farm wines.

Starlite Reboot – As of this past October, Starlite is owned by ever-expanding San Diego restaurant collective Consortium Holdings, which operates many area bars & restaurants including Born & Raised, Ironside Fish & Oyster, and Craft & Commerce, all sited in Little Italy. Consortium Holdings will continue Starlite as-is until next March, and at that time will close the establishment for an interior refresh and a complete kitchen renovation spearheaded by Starlite’s original designers, Los Angeles-based firm Bells & Whistles (Animae, Campfire, Jeune et Jolie). In addition to a renovation, the menu will be overhauled by Chef Ted Smith, who previously worked at CH’s Craft & Commerce and Born & Raised. Expect an old-school steakhouse menu centered around dry-aged meat and a continued focus on craft cocktails. 

Luce Bar & Kitchen Pacific Beach – One of the founding members of San Diego’s Verant Group of bars & restaurants has taken over the former The Patio on Lamont building in Pacific Beach for the opening of a second location of Bay Park’s Luce Bar & Kitchen. Last Year, Verant Group co-founder Joe Vaught purchased the 3,854 square-foot building that houses several condos and was previously occupied by The Patio on Lamont restaurant for approximately $3million. The Patio was forced to shutter in late September 2019 following an SEC complaint alleging $300 million fraud against the company’s founder Gina Champion-Cain, who was ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison. Vaught is partnering with Tony Damato to open a second branch of Luce Kitchen & Bar in the expansive East Pacific Beach restaurant space. Like the original location, the new Luce will offer a casual yet sophisticated ambiance and a menu of approachable California cuisine complimented by a full bar with cocktails, spirits, wine and local beer. 

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai – A decades-old ramen chain based out of Japan, Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai will finally open its first San Diego location later this year in a newly-built building between Costco and Target in Kearny Mesa. Expect a concise menu of several ramen types, including the signature Kitakata ramen, chashu ramen, miso ramen, spicy miso ramen, and Tsukemen dipping ramen, as well as several bowls and appetizers like gyoza, fried chicken karaage, and ban nai buns.  

Da Primo – One of Mexico City’s most prolific restaurant groups, Grupo Hunan has taken over the 7,500 square-foot, ground level space that last housed Larsen’s Steakhouse in San Diego’s Westfield UTC mall for the opening of a new, upscale Italian restaurant and bar. After an interior renovation, Grupo Hunan will open a new concept dubbed Da Primo. The new Italian restaurant will be different than the company’s three other Italian concepts – Prosecco Tavola Rustica, Negroni Trattoria Italiana, and Trastevere Ristorante Italiano. Expect a luxurious and trendy design with a menu of Italian and fusion dishes, as well as a full bar. 

Galpão Gaucho – Texas-born, all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse chain Galpão Gaucho will open a new location in the 9,900 square-foot space last occupied by Seasons 52 in downtown San Diego’s The Headquarters at Seaport Village. Inspired by the gaucho, or South American cowboy, expect waiters dressed in gaucho-style attire slicing 17 different types of marinated meats tableside, as well as a seemingly endless salad bar filled with cured meats, cheeses, salads and marinated vegetable. There will also be a full bar with cocktails, beer, and an impressive wine list.

Death By Tequila North Park – Encinitas-based Death by Tequila Mexican bar & restaurant will soon bring its third and most ambitious San Diego location to the heart of North Park. Taking over a 5,400 square-foot, long-vacant space that previously housed a discount store and Hawaiian restaurant, expect a total renovation of the unit to add lots of glass, high ceilings, a mezzanine dining area and an outdoor patio taking up the entire corner. The 175-seat restaurant will serve a menu of modern Mexican dishes inspired by Baja, including Picadillo empanadas with soyrizo picadillo, corn, Oaxaca cheese, crema salada, citrus slaw and cilantro; tuna aguachile with passionfruit, avocado, radish, hoja santa, lime, and tostadas; short rib asada taco with salsa verde, guacamole, red onion, radish and cilantro; and grilled Spanish octopus with racada negro, fideo seco, avocado crema, mizuna and shishito peppers. There will also be a full liquor license with an ability for the lounge and 75-seat bar to stay open until 2am as a DJ-fueled late night destination.

Nolita Hall Team’s Bankers Hill Project – Nolita Hall’s parent company Creative House has leased the 7,000 square-foot unit that housed the PR-fueled Il Dandy/Civico By The Park restaurants for a few years before the Italian eatery permanently closed this past January. After a substantial remodel, the company plans to launch a new restaurant concept with a full bar in the Bankers Hill unit, which sits on the base floor the Manchester Financial Centre building that also houses San Diego’s iconic French-hued American fusion restaurant Mister A’s. The Bankers Hill concept is still in the conceptual phase but expect there to be a vastly different approach to the space’s design from the previous tenant, which will result an entirely new experience for guests who have been to the unit.

South of Nick’s – An offshoot of neighboring Nick’s Del Mar, South of Nick’s Mexican Kitchen + Bar will soon replace celebrity-driven International Smoke within One Paseo in Del Mar. Expect a menu of Mexican favorites, prime steaks and seafood with a So Cal twist, as well as a full bar with sipping tequilas, margaritas, cocktails, beer and wine. 

Sushi Gaga – The team behind San Diego’s BeShock Ramen & Sake Bar has taken over the neighboring space that last housed Melvin Brewing in the East Village for a new Japanese restaurant concept currently called Sushi Gaga. Located less than 400 feet from BeShock Ramen, the new concept will offer a full bar with cocktails and spirits, an expansive cocktail list, and an upscale Japanese izakaya menu with a strong focus on sushi. 

Fisher’s Seafood – A decades-old Mexico City-based seafood chain with over two dozen locations, Fisher’s Seafood House will soon open its first United States location in San Diego. Fisher’s has taken over the 8,700 square-foot space that last housed the short-lived Roma Urban Market on the outskirts of San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood. The first U.S. Fisher’s is part of an aggressive global expansion plan that includes a European branch that opened this year in Madrid, Spain. For the first San Diego location, expect a full raw bar and a menu centered around Mexican mariscos, including ceviches and aquachiles, tacos, seafood pasta, entrees and more. The restaurant will also serve beer and wine. 

Choi’s Korean – Opening within a 4,321 square-foot space with a 1,000 square-foot al fresco patio within the Petco Park-adjacent Park 12 complex, Choi’s will offer a menu featuring authentic Korean dishes like fried chicken, bibimbap rice bowls, and jeon fried fritters. From the bar, the restaurant will have a dedication to Korean beer and rice wines cocktails featuring soju and makgeolli, a milky, off-white Korean wine that has a sweet and bitter taste.

Ramen Nagi – Tokyo’s famed Ramen Nagi will soon open its first San Diego within Westfield UTC mall. Known for customizable bowls with vibrantly colored broths (like black squid ink and spicy red), Ramen Nagi offers an interactive ordering system. Customers fill out an order form choosing from a list of broths, including original, black king squid ink & black garlic, red king spicy broth, veggie kind, green king basil broth, or a special “limited king” broth, which has been served as over 1,000 varieties. Patrons then choose either the chef’s recommendation for ingredients or customize their bowls with strength of flavor or the broth, richness of oil, thickness of noodles, cut of pork, and choice of vegetables, as well as their desired spiciness level. Ramen Nagi also offers a range of Japanese appetizers like gyoza, chicken karaage, edamame and more.

The Red Chickz – Los Angeles’ TikTok-famous The Red Chickz is in the process of an aggressive expansion that includes multiple locations of the Nashville hot chicken chain opening in San Diego. Although the company is still looking for the right spaces, The Red Chickz has plans to open at least three branches in San Diego under the leadership of franchisee Mattie Shlemon. Like other Nashville hot chicken chains, expect a menu of fried chicken tenders and sandwiches at varying spice levels, as well as fried shrimp, tacos, bone-in chicken and waffles, chicken & French Toast, and even vegetarian dishes with cauliflower.

Limoncello Cucina – The experienced San Diego restaurateur behind such concepts as Farmer’s Table and Farmer’s Bottega is gearing up to launch a new Italian bar & restaurant dubbed Limoncello Cucina in the La Mesa space that housed Tiramisu Trattoria for nearly two decades. The space will receive an interior renovation and offer a menu of classic Italian dishes and a bar serving local and Italian beers and a curated wine list.

Bafang Dumpling – A Taiwanese restaurant chain with over 1,000 locations, Bafang Dumpling will soon open its first San Diego branch in a 3,000 square-foot space within the Village at Mira Mesa Shopping Center. Like other branches, expect fast-casual service with a menu of Taiwanese comfort foods like potstickers, dumplings, “QQ” noodles, small plates, combo meals, tea lattes, matcha & boba drinks, and other soy milk-based beverages. 

Steak & Bones Tacos – Taking over the space that last housed Cocina Calavera on 4th Avenue in Hillcrest, Steak & Bones will offer a modern-industrial feel with touches of Mexican art, rustic brick walls, wood accents, warm lighting, newly added garage door windows to open up the space, and outdoor seating. The menu will include ribeye steak tacos, beef back ribs bone-in tacos, brisket tacos, birria tacos, lime marinated shrimp tacos, and bowls with an optional base of citrus rice, cauliflower rice, salad and all of the veggies and proteins available on the menu. Tortillas will be made to order and there will also be a selection of beer and wine with paring suggestions. 

Pitfire Pizza – An artisan pizza chain started in Los Angeles that currently has several locations around Southern California, Pitfire Pizza will open its first bar & restaurant in San Diego within Carlsbad’s The Beacon La Costa plaza. Like other branches, the San Diego Pitfire Pizza will be pet-friendly and offer a seasonal menu centered around specialty wood-fired pizzas and pasta. There will also be options like wings, salads, shareable plates and gluten-free dishes. The San Diego location will also have a full bar with cocktails, beer and wine.   

Ramen King Keisuke – Fresh off its U.S. debut in Los Angeles earlier this year, Singapore-based Ramen King Keisuke has announced three locations set to open around San Diego, specifically in Del Mar’s One Paseo (replacing Le Macaron), Carlsbad and Mission Valley. Expect a menu centered around Japanese ramen noodle soups, including a traditional 10-hour simmered Tonkotsu broth, the popular lobster broth ramen, and a new vegan ramen made with potato and mushroom broth. Some locations will also have a machine-operated maki-maker that pumps out California rolls or spicy tuna maki in less than a minute.

Randy’s Donuts – Los Angeles’ iconic Randy’s Donuts will open within Stonecrest Plaza in Kearny Mesa for its first of nearly a dozen San Diego locations set to open in the coming years. At all Randy’s Donuts locations, customers can find over 60 different varieties of donuts along with Randy’s Rounds (Randy’s Donuts much larger version of a donut hole) and more, as well as a large variety of coffee drinks.

Jimmy John’s Sandwiches – The franchisee behind the expansion of Dunkin’ Donuts into San Diego has signed an agreement to bring more than 20 branches of Jimmy John’s sandwich shop to America’s Finest City. Founded by Jimmy John Liautaud in Charleston, IL, in 1983, Jimmy John’s Sandwiches now has over 2,700 locations in 43 states around the U.S., with 98% of them being franchises. Jimmy John’s menu of signature and customizable sandwiches are made with homemade bread that is freshly baked every four hours and locally purchased veggies and all-natural meats that are hand-sliced daily.

TopGolf – This popular driving range and entertainment venue is opening not one but two locations in San Diego County. In addition to a $40 million, 68,000 square-foot facility planned for San Diego’s bayfront in the 8.5-acre site where the rental car companies were sited before relocating to their new headquarters, Topgolf International has plans for a second area outpost to open in Sorrento Valley. Current plans for Topgolf in Sorrento Valley are focused on Topgolf redeveloping the Carroll Canyon Golf Center, replacing it with a three-level venue equipped with the company’s latest technology throughout its 80+ bays. The plans for the downtown San Diego location of Topgolf call for a three-level indoor/outdoor building to be constructed with 102 hitting bays in addition to gaming areas, an all-day restaurant, multiple bars, event spaces, parking for 450, and a public deck with prime views of downtown San Diego’s skyline. Topgolf has been trying to negotiate a location to open a San Diego branch since 2015. The earliest either San Diego Topgolf would open would be in late 2023. 

Cocina 35 Liberty Station – Known for having some of the best chilaquiles in town, Cocina 35 will soon bring its Mexican brunch options to San Diego’s Liberty Station, taking over the 4,700 square-foot space previously occupied by Soda & Swine. Like other outposts of Cocina 35, expect a menu of “Comida Corrida” build your own brunch plate with a variety of chilaquiles options and toppings, as well as egg scrambles, Cajeta toasts, pancakes, tortas, burritos, tacos, and more. The new location may extend hours beyond breakfast and will also have a full bar with cocktails, beer and wine.

Mamá Por Dios – The Los Angeles-based restaurant group behind the Culichitown chain of Mexican-Japanese restaurants has taken over the enormous space in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter that last housed BiCE for the opening of Mamá Por Dios, an upscale Mexican restaurant and bar. Earlier this year, the company opened La Conde, an elegant, Latin-American fusion eatery in the former Donovan’s space in downtown San Diego. At Mamá Por Dios, expect an extensive menu of modernized Mexican dishes, including seafood appetizers, salads, prime steaks and wagyu beef, side dishes, and house specialties like camarones Costa Azul shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. There will also be a full bar with cocktails, beer and wine, as well as liquor lockers stocked with high-end bottles which come at a cost of over $1,500 to rent. 

Little Italy Fish Shop – The team behind The Fish Shop restaurants, which has three locations around San Diego County, has plans to open a branch in the Little Italy neighborhood. Little Italy Fish Shop is being constructed on State Street in the lot behind Pappalecco where a small standalone home previously sat. Like other Fish Shops, the incoming Little Italy location will be a counter-service restaurant centered around fresh seafood available for onsite dining or take-away from a glass seafood case, offered to be customized with a bunch of seasonings and sauces and served as a taco, sandwich, salad or plate. Behind the bar, expect a dedication to local craft beer, as well as a value-oriented $5 corkage fee so that customers can bring in their own wine. The restaurant will also offer a small dog-friendly patio.