Best Local Places to Eat in San Diego While on Vacation

One of the best aspects of any vacation is experiencing new local foods and restaurants, and San Diego, California has no lack of great dining establishments. But if you want to get a truly local dining experience, there are few places you should visit next time you're in San Diego on vacation that are a bit off the beaten tourist path. I'm assuming that you're already going to eat plenty of local specialties like Mexican food and seafood, so as a 25 year resident of San Diego, here are three other great local restaurants to visit.

Filippi's Pizza Grotto

Filippi's is technically a chain (they have a dozen restaurants in the San Diego area), and I can personally attest to the great food at the Mira Mesa and Mission Valley locations. But you need to visit the downtown location on India Street, it's Italian food at its finest and most authentic. The ambiance is fantastic, you enter through a tiny Italian market and deli where smells of cured meats and aged cheeses tantalize your senses, and the dining rooms are a maze of dimly lit tables with wine bottles hanging from the rafters. The portions are huge, the food delicious, and the pizza is piled higher with cheese than any pizza I've seen. Bring your appetite.

The downside to the original location on India Street is that it gets really busy. I'd strongly recommend getting there either before the lunch rush (before 11 :30 am) or before the dinner rush (5:00 pm), even on weekdays. Late lunches or early dinners are your best bet. They don't take reservations and wait times for dinner regularly get to an hour and beyond. The food is good enough to warrant the wait, but if you go at off hours, you can minimize your time spent standing in line.

Phil's BBQ

I can't claim that Phil's BBQ is the best bar-b-que in the country, but it is the best in San Diego, and a favorite of locals and visitors alike. Phil's started as a tiny hole-in-the-wall joint in Hillcrest, but opened up a sparkling new location near the San Diego Sports Arena (in the Point Loma area) a few years ago and recently opened a North County location as well. Everything on the menu is fantastic, but I would strongly recommend the Rib Tickler, you get three/four pork ribs, fries, coleslaw, and two of their famous giant onion rings for about $8. You can't beat it.

The only downside to Phil's is that much like Filippi's, it gets very, very busy. They open at 11:00 am and there is almost always a line at the door waiting for them to open, 6 days a week (they're closed Mondays). They don't take reservations, so if you go at the height of lunch or dinner, be prepared to stand in line, again for up to an hour or more. I'd strongly recommend getting there right at 11:00 am when they open or between lunch and dinner time during the week.

Pizza Port

Pizza Port is also a San Diego institution, and they have four locations in the San Diego area. I'd highly recommend either the original Solana Beach location or the new facility in Ocean Beach. Their fare is traditional pizza parlor fare and is pretty good, but the true beauty of Pizza Port is their extensive beer selection. Along with a handful of their homemade Pizza Port brews they feature an impressive selection of local San Diego beers, microbrews and other hard to find beverages. If you're looking for an authentic San Diego pizza place to watch the locals, and sample some fantastic local beers, this is your place.

There's no real downside to Pizza Port, other than to slightly scale back your expectations. This is not fine dining, this is pizza and great beer with suntanned folks in shorts and flip flops. The décor is significantly understated and seating is on long wooden benches, so as the number of diners increases, you're likely to find yourself rubbing elbows with some new friends. What better way to learn the local customs and find out about which beers you should sample?

These are but three restaurants out of the thousands in San Diego, but each is great in their own right. If you're taking a trip to San Diego and want to eat at some truly local institutions, you should consider stopping by Filippi's, Phil's BBQ, or Pizza Port. You won't be disappointed.