A Snob’s Guide to San Diego

6 min read

On a recent Sunday night, the massive lawn of the Hotel del Coronado resembled a scene in a Richard Linklater production. Generations of families were out enjoying the last gasps of summer vacation. There were kids biting into bright popsicles and weaving soccer balls around their grandparents, their chambray-clad dads casually tossing around footballs, as teenage girls did cartwheels against the setting sun.

San Diego has always been famous for this sense of old-time magic, which can be found beyond the Del, too, whether you’re placing bets at Bing Crosby’s Del Mar Racetrack, where Seabiscuit became a legend in 1938, or experiencing the “High Tide Dinner” at the 1941 Marine Room, where waves crash against the windows, or perfecting your serve at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, famously photographed by Slim Aarons in the 1950s.

But some might argue San Diego was overdue for a little zhuzhing up. Cue the recent flurry of newcomers—from Michelin-starred tasting menus and impossible-to-book speakeasies to stunning design-forward boutique hotels—that are making it hard to believe anyone ever called this coastal city “Bland-iego.” Let’s get you up to speed.

Where to StayEthan Jones

The Baby Grand Coronado fully commits to the over-the-top extravagance.

With belle-of-the-ball Hotel del Coronado fresh off its seven-year, $550 million facelift, two challengers now lap at its pristine shore. One is the brand-new Baby Grand Coronado, a former 1950s travelodge dazzlingly transformed into a maximalist fantasia. “Stay here for vibrant, thoughtfully curated rooms and have dinner at Night Hawk, with classic hip-hop playing in the background and a Lucid Dreams cocktail in hand,” says Mashonda Tifrere, a curator and founder of ArtLeadHer, a platform dedicated to championing female artists, who moved to San Diego in 2020.

Matt Kisiday

For excellent people-watching, park yourself by the Lafayette’s retro-chic pool bar.

The other is BG’s sister property, the Lafayette Hotel, which was renovated in 2023 with a vintage Hollywood panache worthy of a slick Paul Thomas Anderson film. Located in North Park, a hip neighborhood often referred to as the “Brooklyn or Silver Lake of San Diego,” the Lafayette is sort of its own “city within a city,” with its 1940s-era Worcester lunch car and bowling alley, as well as a vibrant pool scene that will transport you “to a retro soirée from the ’70s,” Tifrere says.

Contrarian Wisdom: Sure, hotel spas are great. But you can get a heavenly deep tissue massage and support a small business at Orchid Day Spa Coronado. Pro-tip: add the walnut body scrub.

The downtown Guild Hotel is another polychromatic and design-driven reverie, dreamed up by designer Sormeh Rienne and occupying a 1924 former Armed Services YMCA building. It’s become especially buzzy lately thanks to the opening of Zuma. Our advice? You can get Zuma practically anywhere so skip it and explore Little Italy, which is just steps away.

Hotel Del Coronado

If your vibe is more beachfront elegance than animal-print opulence, the Hotel del Coronado is better than ever.

If you’re in town with kids, the Del is still the top choice, not least because that aforementioned top-dollar renovation has added new residential-style villas and an interactive kids club (plus a Nobu, to really impress your most jaded tween)—all while preserving the Victorian charm and Gilded Age glamour of this 1888 National Historical Landmark.

Where to EatTrust Restaurant Group

À L’ouest’s verdant dining room.

San Diego’s culinary scene spreads out like a treasure map. For the fibermaxxing set, start at Trilogy Sanctuary, a vegan, organic, and gluten-free cafe in La Jolla that also has an outdoor yoga space. Tifrere often gets a mushroom-infused coffee before taking an aerial yoga class: “The silk ropes are the perfect muscle decompressor,” she says. “You’ll feel like a new person.”

If you’re doing a beach day at, say, local favorite Windansea, jewelry designer Lisette Polny, founder of Zofia Day (a by-appointment atelier in Rancho Santa Fe), suggests you crib her favorite plan: “I love stopping into Jaybird Superette, grabbing a natural wine, a baguette, some cheese, and some good fresh fruit from Chino Farms, and picnicking on the beach—around 4 p.m., not earlier.”

Stay in La Jolla for dinner, too, at Paradisaea, a riot of neon inside the historic 1940s Piano Building. Fans return for popular dishes like the jalapeño Caesar and the cheeseburger with duck fat fries. Across town, Juniper & Ivy put the northern edge of Little Italy on the culinary map with its local farm-sourced ingredients, creative dishes, and a lauded wine list, served inside a former warehouse that dates back to the 1920s.

If you’re staying at the Baby Grand (and even if you aren’t), take advantage of its two culinary venues, Fallen Empire and Night Hawk; the former is intimate, heavily mirrored, and is perfect for a raw bar and champagne aperitif; the latter situates you on a buzzy patio with sharable mezze and a Greek-inflected wine list.

Contrarian Wisdom: A dinner reservation may be most coveted at À L’ouest but weekend brunch is better. The same highlights are on the menu—plus that dining room photographs better in daylight anyway.

Advance reservations (and a hearty appetite) will be required for the 10-course tasting menu at La Jolla’s Michelin-starred Lucien, as well as for Pacific Beach’s Sushi Ota, where the fish is so fresh its well-traveled diners compare it to eating at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji market.

Bookings also go fast for the hot, new À L’ouest—same goes for Georgette’s, its speakeasy upstairs. Here’s a hack: go for brunch. It’s less crowded, and you can still enjoy chef Brad Wise’s French brasserie highlights (steak frites, the grilled beets with black garlic marmalade, the tuna crudo sprinkled with pistachios) as sunlight pours into the pretty, plant-filled dining room.

James Tran

Chef Elijah Arizmendi’s innovative take on fine California cuisine earned Lucien a Michelin star earlier this year.

Where to Shop

Chic San Diego denizens love the Tucci boutiques (in Del Mar and Solana Beach) for owner Lizzy Carter’s deep-rooted authority on local and European labels and her excellent selection of California-made wardrobe staples from the likes of SPRWMN, Jamie Haller, and Xirena.

Jessica Lewis

Locals rely on Tucci for Lizzy Carter’s smart edit of California-perfect pieces.

Tucci’s Solana Beach outpost is located in the Cedros Design District, which is also home to Pink Lagoon, where you can find elevated basics by Anine Bing and Citizens of Humanity, along with with Tom Ford sunglasses and a great selection of fine jewelry. While you’re in the neighborhood, also check out Gerhard, which Polny describes as “a really cool boutique that’s a little avant-garde and couture-ish,” carrying brands like Louiza Babouryan, The Row, and Peter Cohen.

Carolina Herrera has recently moved into the Westfield mall with a stunning 3,000-square-foot boutique decorated in sweeping arches, pink hexagonal tile, and lipstick red sofas. And over at Del Mar Plaza, stop by Sea Biscuit, which is owned by longtime fashion and retail maven Kelly Wells and sells elevated essentials by the likes of perfectwhitetee and the Great.

What to Dodreamyscapes / 500px//Getty Images

The Salk Institute’s primary mission is to cure disease, but it is also generous with its striking Louis Kahn architecture and opens for public tours and events.

Apart from classics like the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, whose $105 million expansion by Annabelle Selldorf turned one of the West Coast’s oldest institutions into one of its most beautiful (it practically hangs over the Pacific, with the views to match), and Balboa Park’s San Diego Museum of Art (go on a Sunday afternoon so you can catch the weekly 2 p.m. performance at Spreckels Organ, the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ), the city is also home to two architectural masterpieces. First, the travertine-clad Salk Institute, designed by the legendary Louis Kahn as the home of the renowned scientific research facility founded by Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine. It’s open for tours and hosts events, most notably the beloved Symphony at Salk, an alfresco concert that takes place each August featuring the San Diego Symphony and a famous musical guest (the Bacon Brothers headlined this year’s performance). Fashion observers might also recognize Salk as the backdrop of Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2023 show.

Breadtruck Films

The view from the MCA San Diego, which was renovated in 2022.

And second, the Geisel Library. The spaceship-like building, designed in the ’60s by William Pereira in his signature futuristic style, is UC San Diego’s main library—and part of the network of 22 site-specific public art installations scattered across campus that are collectively known as the Stuart Collection. Think of it like a grand scavenger hunt of works by the likes of Barbara Kruger, Mark Bradford, Jenny Holzer, Niki de Saint Phalle, and John Baldessari. Baldessari’s READ/WRITE/THINK/DREAM is on the Geisel Library entrance, while Alexis Smith’s Snake Path leads the way in. To get a better sense of the incredible array—and for an enhanced viewing experience—listen to the spoken word audio tour produced by Tifrere.

Contrarian Wisdom: The city is laidback, but if you’re here for a serious arts immersion, plan ahead. The docent-led Salk Institute tour, as well as some installations of the Stuart Collection, are only available on certain days—and require advance reservations.

By night, San Diego vibrates with live music. “I’ll either go to Rady’s Shell or Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay—both are on the water and they can get good artists,” says Polny, who recommends checking the lineup at the Observatory North Park, too. “And Belly Up tavern in Solana Beach is legendary.”