Summer in Sunny California

My Top Spots in San Diego & Surrounding Area

Ahhh California, you have my heart! Perfect weather, a beautiful coastline, gorgeous beaches, a chilled out vibe — California is my paradise. I’m convinced the people that live here are amongst the luckiest in the world. That or they must have done something pretty awesome in their past life to end up here! If I could move here, I totally would at the drop of a hat. If you haven’t been, you absolutely must visit, it’s literally the best. While it might not have the history that you would find in say, Europe, there is just something about it that is just so blissed out and wonderful.

Anyway, enough of my gushing over how amazing California is… Without further ado, here are my top spots: 

San Diego — North Park

North Park is a super chill little neighbourhood in San Diego and home to some great cafés, breweries and casual restaurants. It’s also very walkable and there are lots of neat little places to discover along University Avenue and 30th Street. Here are some of my favourite spots I stopped at:

Communal Coffee

This was the main reason I ventured down the I-5 from Solana Beach to North Park — a lavender latte at Communal Coffee. And it did not disappoint. Just perfection. I am a huge, I repeat HUGE lavender latte fan (ever since my first sip of one at Medina Café in Vancouver), so I have pretty high standards and this one made it in the top 5 for sure. Lavender lattes aside, Communal Coffee is a super cute café with lots of little gorgeous items for sale (of which I bought many!), as well as beautiful flowers by Native Poppy. 

Holy Matcha

If you like matcha you must go to Holy Matcha. If you don’t like matcha, you must go to Holy Matcha. This place is too cute to miss! It’s quite possibly the most instagrammable place in all of North Park. I had their matcha horchata (served over ice) and it was divine. It was also my very first horchata type bevvy on this trip and it was love at first sip.

Pigment

Absolutely stunning visual merchandising in every corner of this store! I honestly had to stop myself from wanting to buy everything in here. Filled with all the goodies you could possible want for your home, office and anything else in between. They also had an entire wall of baby stuff that was so damn adorable! Mike had to stop me several times from reaching for the next little pair of booties or cute teeny onesie. Note to men… DO NOT bring your pregnant wives in here — your credit card will thank me! Seriously. 

Aloha Beach Club

Very rad little store that sells everything you need to fully embrace your inner West Coast surfer. They were closed the day I went, but it just so happens as I was peaking in through the glass one of the owner’s, Kahana Kalama, showed up to get some work done in the back and he let me in to get a look at all of their merch. Really awesome selection of well-made goods. 

San Diego — Little Italy

Little Italy in San Diego is very hip and very trendy. The restaurants and bars in this part of town looked very cool. It’s also home to dozens of cafés, galleries, shops and hotels as well as some pretty sweet craft breweries. Unfortunately we were only passing through here, stopping for at most an hour to grab a bite and some coffee. Next time I visit however I will definitely be spending an entire day here. 

James Coffee

James Coffee was arguably one of the coolest places that we stopped for a coffee during our entire trip. It is housed in the “Space”, a building that resembles an old airplane hanger. To add to the experience, every few minutes we would hear the roar of a low-flying plane overhead that was ascending into the San Diego airport. The “Space” is also home to some really neat little curated boutique shops, my favourite of which was Home Ec, a supply store for the home hobbyist. I was definitely a big fan of this little creative community that they created, and also of their delicious coffee. 

Café Gratitude

I had been wanting to go to Café Gratitude since their cookbook, I Am Grateful, hit the shelves back in 2007 and I was so thrilled that this was the trip that I was finally going to get the experience.

The Little Italy location was absolutely beautiful — bright open space, gorgeous tiled floors, brick accent walls adorned with macrame wall hangings.

The menu at Café Gratitude is entirely plant-based and very delicious. Each menu item is also an affirmation, so when you order have the joy of saying “I am glorious” or “I am magical”. 

La Jolla

La Jolla is a beautiful stretch of coastline just north of downtown San Diego. It is home to some epic waves for those looking to hang ten, but also some pretty awesome bluffs and cliffs for any adventuring type to enjoy. If you aren’t so much the outdoorsy type, in town there is some incredible boutique shopping, cute cafés and trendy restaurants to take advantage of. We spent most of the day outside enjoying the views of the coast so we didn’t stop at too many places, but here are the ones we did enjoy:

Parakeet Café

This place was very cute. With its pink and green parakeet wallpaper and neon sign that reads “Birds of a Feather”, it’s very “Insagrammable” to say the least. They have an all-day breakfast menu filled with healthy options, and their drink menu has some pretty fun choices too, like the Flat Black (a charcoal latte that comes out jet black) and the gorgeous bright pink Beet Latte. The pastries served here are very delicious and not to be missed. 


Bobboi Gelato

I love a good scoop gelato on a hot day, but since I try to avoid dairy for the sake of my skin, I often miss out as most places only have dairy-based gelato. Not Bobboi! I am so glad we stumbled upon this little gelato shop because they had some very delicious dairy-free flavours. In fact six of their eighteen flavours are vegan, which I was pretty happy about. Their menu rotates constantly to reflect what is available and in season which is very cool, and their gelato uses ninety percent all-organic ingredients from California. 

Encinitas

Encinitas is my favourite place. Not only is it where some of my extended family lives, but it is also this sun-drenched, laid-back bohemian magical place that’s filled with great surf and good vibes. It’s also home to some sweet coffee spots, trendy and vintage shopping, and some wicked eats. 

Better Buzz Coffee

Better Buzz has a few locations throughout California, but the one we stopped at was located a few blocks from Moonlight Beach on Coast Highway 101.

A fantastic little spot to enjoy a delicious latte while getting some good blog/content work done.

My favourite drink was the rose water (oat milk) latte topped with dried rose petals and Mike’s was the cold brew on nitro.

The Taco Stand

Let’s taco bout The Taco Stand — delicious handmade tortillas, the freshest tasting guacamole and salsas, to-die-for fish tacos, and to top it all off Mexican flavoured popsicles and freshly prepared churros. You can’t go wrong here, and the massive line up outside is proof of its cult status by locals. Believe me, you won’t regret having waited in line once you take a bit out of these tacos — deeeeeelicious! 

You can’t go wrong here, and the massive line up outside is proof of its cult status by locals. Believe me, you won’t regret having waited in line once you take a bit out of these tacos — deeeeeelicious! 

Fish 101 

Great place for the freshest seafood around. The grilled fish plates, fresh oysters a fish tacos are all awesome. The fish selection changes depending on what’s available fresh, but there definitely seems to be some staples on the menu. I love their communal bench seating and super casual atmosphere. 

Bier Garden

A very chill gastropub with an outdoor patio that serves up California coastal, local cuisine. Truly just a great place to kick back, relax, and enjoy some delicious food. They also have a very retro cocktail menu and 25 beers on tap, almost all of which are local. I didn’t get to experience it for myself since I went for dinner only, but I was told its also a great spot for brunch. As an added bonus for dog lovers, they allow pets on the back patio. 

East Coast Pizza

Dare I say the best pizza I’ve ever had?! Maybe that’s a bold statement since I’ve been to Italy, but honestly this pizza is SO good.

We get it every time we go to Encinitas and on our most recent trip we had to get it twice, the day we landed and the day we left — excellent bookends to the trip. I’m a big fan of the classic pepperoni and cheese but the artichoke special is also fantastic if you are feeling fancy.

And there you have it, my little guide to some awesome spots worth checking out in San Diego and the surrounding area. If you happen to go to any of them on your next trip there, I would love to hear from you what you think. And if there are any killer spots that I missed, please share in the comments below!