Been spending considerable time in san diego recently, and used that to expand my taco quest lol. Oscars, on turquoise in PB is one favorite. City Tacos in OB. Blue Water Seafood in OB has a really nice (small) fresh fish counter, and makes some excellent fish tacos.
Update:
Still in S.D. and will hit Azuki for sushi tonight.
So far:
The Taco Stand (30th Street) in North Park is good. Ate there twice as it was within walking distance.
Good tacos al pastor and the Mer y Tierra burrito was excellent.
Highlight was the churros made to order. I want the churro machine that pushes out the dough. (I’d end up >300 lbs within a week if I had one, however.)
Served with sweetened condensed milk.
Oscars in PB rocked. Fish tacos were excellent. Had a clean, bright and fast-food SoCal burger vibe. Prices were welcomed especially after eating in $outh Park.
Tacos al Gordo in the Gaslamp District was the real deal.
Loved it. Worth the wait in line on a Friday around lunch. So good.
Taka - sushi - on 5th Avenue in Gaslamp was quite good. Omakase was $130. Went for a variety of sashimi and sushi instead. Very simple and straigtforward sushi. Recommend the sushi bar for better service, atmosphere and attention from Taka himself.
Got pizza from Tribute for takeout. Had to go to Trivia night at Falls Brewery. (Our team won!) Very good pizza. Did not fully satisfy my NYC pizza craving but it was still excellent pizza.
Ate dinner at Barbusa in Little Italy. Sicilian influenced Italian food. The restaurant has a slight club/bar vibe with the hightop tables, loud music, and TVs. But good mix of patrons of all ages and all styles of dress. Food was well prepared - gnocchi were light and delicate with a pistacchio pesto, pasta al Norma used ravioli as the pasta, and the fiore di zucca (stuffed zucchini flowers) had a nice honey-hot pepper drizzle.
Corkage was $30. I brought a 2021 Lucia Gary’s Vineyard Pinot that I “won” at the Falltacular silent auction. Very good wine and paired well with our food. The bouquet alone was worth the corkage.
Appreicate all the comments and suggestions. I hooe future visitors find this useful.
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Thomas, how long are you staying? I’m driving down Sunday.
Glad you enjoyed Oscars!
Gordo is worth going, maybe fits your NY style better than my California lol.
Glad you tried Tribute, I suspect dining in would be a better overall experience. No pizza survives takeout very well lol. I think my call on the NY comparison was about right 
Taking note of your other experiences, thanks for the report.
Not in little Italy but Italian joint a little north called Baci has been an awesome stop for me.
Extended family did my fil’s 80th bday there, 15 years ago. Yikes, time flies!
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We ate there…food was excellent…but it was the LOUDEST restaurant I’ve even been to and will never go back!
Our fav of the trip was Coasterra! Food was outstanding, views amazing, great atmosphere, just not a good wine restaurant…so beer it is!
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Views from Coasterra are awesome and food very good. Glad you enjoyed Gordo its an authentic experience. Not surprised tribute pizza was just ok. Unless you grew up on a regular diet of real New York Pizza, you don’t appreciate the difference between the real deal and the recreation. The real deal has no problem with takeout and I grew up on a steady diet picking up pizzas. I only found one place close in my 30+ years out here and the owner died a couple years ago. It hasn’t been the same since. New York pizza is just a tough category the properly satisfy out here
I prefer the Tacos El Gordo off Broadway in Chula Vista. Whenever I crave adobada and smoky asada I always make the half an hour trip there and has always been since my freshman year. Line is hella long and chaotic, especially from 10pm onwards.
For omakase, you need to get out of city center for high quality omakase. Getting counter-sitting reservations at 1 Michelin Star Soichi is a must if you love omakase. Matoi and Hidden Fish in Convoy, Himitsu in La Jolla, and Tadokoro are pretty nice if you can’t score a reservation at Soichi, although I have a slight preference for Matoi.
I find the italian offerings in Little Italy is lackluster and caters more for tourists. There are only 2 italian restaurants I bring my friends to when they visit San Diego: Ciccia and Cucina Urbana. Ciccia has lovely homecook food and the owner was super personable. Cucina Urbana has an extensive wine list with VERY reasonable price. The benchmark I use to judge an italian restaurant is to order tiramisu. Both offer authentic and fresh tiramisu flavor: only mascarpone, raw eggs, strong espresso and ladyfingers. Many restaurants substitute raw eggs for whipped cream and that’s my experience dining in many cities.
+1 for cucina Urbana especially for us berserkers
How good can it be, I can easily get a table there tonight (which I might do!)
Besides, why would I eat Italian when I can eat Mexican
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Azuki Sushi was quite good. But not spectacular.
I will back in April and will try to get in at Soichi or Hidden Fish.
Funny to hear Cucina Urbana as a top Italian spot in San Diego. Don’t get me wrong I like it. It’s inexpensive and consistent, but it’s also a perfect example of formulaic milk toast food. There’s nothing about it that screams authentic Italian and it’s a primary reason why I wouldn’t bother with Italian food as a visitor instead of going with Mexican food either street food or elevated. I will give credit for a Hella thrown in a review. What a quintessential Californian slang term.
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The thing to remember about “Little Italy” is that it’s there because of the tuna fleet that used to be based in the harbor - 50, 60 years ago. But fishing has been gone for decades now. Italian food in San Diego was always tons of “red sauce”. You didn’t find any more interesting northern Italian preps. I’d go to little italy for the energy, the vibe, the hipster, but not necessarily Italian. You can still find the old school red sauce italian, like Filippi’s, Pernicano’s, Nicolosi’s, but I honestly don’t know where to find more interesting italian.
Not food but I’ll drop Vino Carta in Little Italy if you are looking to stop in and drink or grab some bottles for those staying in the area.
Go to Solare at liberty station. Randy the owner is great. We’ve had many an offline there in the private room that seats about 16 at a big table. He’s done some white truffle dinners for us in the past also. Always enjoy eating there and it’s more than just red sauce Italian
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I haven’t been, but wife says she has, years ago. Right under the take off path for Lindbergh.
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In Little Italy, Mona Lisa - Italian food shop and restaurant - has a good selection of Amari at decent prices.
I found The Bottle House (3012 Grape Street, San Diego) to have an excellent selection of Amari (and tequila too) but prices were high.
Looks like you got around! That’s a little section of town I’ve never spent any time (except to get to Balboa Park golf course). Might check it out next time.