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📍 Cardiff-by-the-Sea, San Diego

5 restaurants · 2026

🍽️ 5 Restaurants

A handful of rooms on San Elijo Lagoon and Coast Highway — ocean-view American grills, fish tacos, and a dive bar that's been here longer than the surf shops

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Top 5 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea

1
Pacific Coast Grill
American / Seafood
The Cardiff-by-the-Sea room that has been holding down the same stretch of Coast Highway 101 since long before this section of North County got fashionable. Patio drops straight in...
85
2
Las Olas Mexican Food
Mexican
Cardiff-by-the-Sea's surf-culture Mexican since 1981 — fish tacos and carnitas across from the Cardiff Reef surf break, a 101-corridor patio, and a North County anchor that generat...
85
3
Ki's Restaurant
American / Californian / Vegetarian
Cardiff-by-the-Sea's surf-culture café on the 101 — ocean-view patio across from the break, a vegetarian-friendly breakfast menu, and the kind of Cardiff morning constant that made...
84
4
The Shanty
Dive Bar
Cardiff-by-the-Sea's oldest bar, open on Chesterfield Dr since 1964 — a low-key cocktail lounge near the beach where the regulars have been coming longer than most neighborhoods ha...
71
5
The Kraken
Dive Bar
Flip-flops-only dive right on Coast Highway 101 in Cardiff, where the Pacific is a short stumble away and live music is the main event. No dress code, no trouble -- just cold drink...
70
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Casual (5) Patio (3) Local Favorites (3) Iconic (3) American (2) Date Night (2) Scenic Views (2) Dive (2) Beach (2) Live Music (2) Late Night (2) Seafood (1)

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