Dining in San Diego

San Diego's status as a vacationer's paradise and its growth into the eighth-largest city in the United States have made it a magnet for restaurateurs and chefs from around the globe. A good deal of the new talent also is homegrown, and it's not unusual for local youths to attend leading culinary academies and return home fired by the desire to remake San Diego cuisine. The city's growing corps of innovative and cutting-edge chefs includes Jason Shaeffer of 1500 Ocean, Brian Malarkey at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, Jeff Jackson at A. R. Valentien, and Carl Schroeder at Market Restaurant + Bar. The new point of view is that a region this blessed with gorgeous vegetables, fruits, herbs, and seafood should make a culinary statement.

Few other American cities yield so many dining options, indoors and out. Although the town as yet fails to offer a Tibetan eatery, it now takes for granted cuisines such as Cambodian, Ethiopian, Afghan, and Laotian. Many of these far-flung cuisines are served outside the center in the city's ever more diverse neighborhoods. Downtown, the dramatically restored Gaslamp Quarter offers vigorous nightlife and some 100 restaurants, ranging from a few down-at-heel holdouts from the days when this historic area had declined to Skid Row status, to stylish establishments priced for those doing business at the nearby San Diego Convention Center. In truth, Gaslamp is something of a victim of its own success, with difficult parking (valet parking is quite expensive) and more and more national chain feederies. But both locals and visitors identify it as San Diego's "party central," and the crowds come for lively fun. Definitely a family-friendly district, it has options for every group, and the sizeable number of nightclubs attract a clientele that steadily grows younger as the night wears on.