Each month brings a slate of exciting new restaurants to San Diego, whether it’s a splashy new restaurant helmed by an iconic chef, a low-key neighborhood spot, or a pop-up settling into a permanent location. Consider this monthly rundown a go-to guide for the newest and boldest debuts across San Diego.
San Diego, CA
Hot San Diego Restaurant Openings You May Have Missed, December 2025
Miramar— The second location of the Cakery has opened after the launch of the Carmel Valley storefront in early 2024. The Cakery got its start during the pandemic before selling at pop-ups around San Diego. The larger cafe in Miramar has an indoor seating area decorated in a soothing minimalist aesthetic. The expanded bakery menu features Basque cheesecakes, French tea cakes, hojicha and matcha drinks, along with a wide array of sandwiches and pastries. Highlights include the Cakery grilled chicken, which comes with melted cheese, homemade mustard, and barbecue sauce on a toasted ciabatta. The full kitchen in Miramar serves as the central production facility for the cafe and the original Carmel Valley location.
La Jolla— On December 10, the team behind Michelin-recognized restaurant Callie opened Fleurette, a French Mediterranean restaurant in La Jolla. Chef Travis Swikard focuses on “cuisine du soleil,” offering dishes like Hope Ranch mussels “vol au vent,” oeufs and eggs served in San Diego uni, egg yolk fettuccine studded with golden caviar and Meyer lemons from the on-site garden behind the 120-seat restaurant. Other menu highlights include Provencal lamb duo, San Diego bouillabaisse with spiny lobster and saffron bourride, and winter citrus vacherin with orange blossom meringue. Cocktails include the Nice, made with honey, lavender, and blue layers of mint, and the Eze, a blue cocktail made with tequila, lime juice, and foam.
Encinitas— Rosemarie’s Buns and Brews debuts its third outpost in beachy Encinitas, offering wagyu beef sliders, hot chicken miniature sandwiches, duck fat wings, and chili pork-loaded fries. Located in a former burger restaurant that catered to cars, the drive-thru area has been replaced with a family-friendly turfed patio area with outdoor seating, games, and a large outdoor television screen to broadcast sports and movies. The concept started as a food truck that parked at Harland Brewing in Bay Park before opening restaurants in Mission Beach in 2023 and Ocean Beach in 2024.
Coronado— After the successful launch of the first U.S. restaurant in La Jolla, the second U.S. location for La Corriente opened in the former museum cafe space in the Coronado Historical Association building. The Tijuana-based restaurant chain specializes in red snapper tostada, made with raw snapper fish, red onion, avocado, and aioli. Other menu highlights include Baja maki rolls (only available in Coronado), with options like bluefin or Pacific rim, made with soft shell crab tempura, and clamato-based cocktails.
La Jolla— The first West Coast outpost of PopUp Bagels opened on November 21 on Pearl Street in La Jolla, taking over the former Breakfast Republic corner spot. Founded in Connecticut, PopUp Bagels serves the bagels hot and whole, which are then meant to be ripped and dipped into the branded schmears. The bagels are sold in packs of three, six, and 12 with schmears. While the shmear options always include plain and scallion cream cheese, there will also be rotating cream cheese and butter flavors — the menu will change every week. PopUp Bagels plans to open nine more locations in San Diego, but hasn’t firmed up its next location yet.
Chula Vista— In mid-November, the twelfth and final dining venue at the Gaylord Pacific Resort Hotel opened. Modern Mexican restaurant Marzul Coastal Cuisine sits as a standalone restaurant on the resort property with a view of the boatyard and the bay. Menu highlights include oyster michelada, lamb shank birria, and fideuà studded with Pacific lobster, baby squid, and Spanish chorizo.
Downtown— Anchoring the historic Westgate Hotel, a new French restaurant has debuted in place of the former Westgate Room restaurant. Bonne Vie Brasserie and Bar showcases northern French bistro dishes such as the Burgundy escargot in garlicky parsley butter, French onion soup in beef broth, and Icelandic cod Meunière that swims in brown butter sauce. “Bonne Vie introduces a more refined yet still approachable French bistro–influenced menu, incorporating California ingredients,” says executive chef Fabrice Hardel.
Oceanside—The fourth San Diego location for hot chicken restaurant Main Chick opens in North County. After the first Main Chick restaurant opened in late 2019 in Santa Monica, the poultry-only restaurant eventually expanded to San Diego in 2020 with spots in Clairemont Mesa, Linda Vista, and Carlsbad. The popular battered bone-in leg and thigh gets sandwiched between Hawaiian sweet buns, then topped with cabbage slaw and a tangy “MC” sauce. Other options are chicken tenders, dark meat chicken sandwich, and ube cheesecake. The newest location includes 2,000 square feet of space with indoor and outdoor seating.
Mission Bay— On November 21, Black Rock Coffee opened a cafe in Mission Bay on Garnet Avenue. With a drive-through and patio seating, the Oregon-based coffee shop offers coffees such as Mexican mocha; a “caramel blondie”; and the Jackhammer, a vanilla mocha with an extra double shot of espresso. Also on the secret menu are Fuel energy drinks with more than 20 fruit flavors.
La Jolla— The first San Diego location for a Brazilian gelato chain opened in the Shops at La Jolla Village. With more than a dozen outposts in Los Angeles and Orange County, Bacio di Latte was originally launched by Milanese brothers in 2011, who immigrated to Brazil and opened more than 200 locations in South America. The California gelato stores use organic milk from a family farm in Sonoma County. Every three weeks, there are new flavors, but popular ones include the signature sweet cream, pistachio, and Giandujotto.
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The menu features starters like bay scallop crudo, calamari fritti and octopus, as well as fresh salads and hearty vegetable dishes like beet, broccolini and carrots. The menu offers a variety of pastas, including lamb cavatelli and linguine and clams, as well as mains like grilled branzino, a grilled half chicken and a dry-aged ribeye. Desserts include vanilla soft serve, Amalfi lemon sorbetto and crème fraîche panna cotta.
The restaurant’s beverage program includes seasonal cocktails, fresh-squeezed juices and a wine list featuring sparkling, white, red and rosé wines. Champagne offerings include Dom Pérignon and Ruinart.
Casey Mize rebounded, and Jackson Merrill kept hitting.
A night that was slowly rolling toward a lost game in the standings changed with a bang — another one off the bat of Merrill, whose two-run homer in the seventh inning flipped the lead and decided the Padres’ 3-2 victory over the Brewers.
Merrill’s major league-leading ninth home run since July 19 followed Ty France’s one-out single, which ended a run of 13 consecutive batters retired by Brewers starting pitcher Logan Henderson.
The splendid night of pitching seemed for a time as if it would be the only good news for the Padres against the team with the major leagues’ best record.
And that would have been no small thing, as one of the starters they traded for last week pitching in the manner they expected will matter as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.
Mize allowed two runs in six innings, both on Christian Yelich’s home run in the second inning.
But Henderson was, in turn, dominating the Padres with efficiency.
He had made it through six innings on 77 pitches, and when Manny Machado led off the seventh with a pop fly out, Monday became the longest of Henderson’s 16 career starts.
The 24-year-old right-hander yielded Ty France’s leadoff homer in the second inning, a leadoff double to Freddy Fermin in the third and then didn’t allow a baserunner until France’s grounder through the left side in the seventh.
Merrill then launched a 1-1 changeup Henderson left a little too high 431 feet.
Yuki Matsui, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh innings just before Merrill’s blast, got the win. Adrian Morejón pitched the eighth, and Mason Miller earned his National League-leading 30th save when Fermin threw out Brandon Lockridge trying to steal second base for the final out.
The victory kept the Padres a game out of playoff position when a loss almost certainly would have drop them two games back in the race for one of the final two National League playoff spots, as the Phillies won and the Diamondbacks were leading the Rockies 7-0 in the eighth inning in Phoenix.
The comeback could not have been possible if Mize had not shut down the Brewers over his final four innings.
The eight runs he allowed (in 3⅓ innings) last Wednesday were the most he had ever surrendered in 104 major league starts.
His only blemishes Monday were the one-out walk he issued to William Contreras in the second inning and the fastball he laid in the heart of the plate on his next pitch that Yellich hit beyond the wall in left field.
France led off the bottom of the inning with a line drive just over the wall in left field.
The Padres squandered a chance to tie the game in the third inning when Fermin lined a double to left field and Sung-Mun Song sacrificed him to third before Tatis hit a hard groundout to shortstop and Jake Cronenworth struck out.
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The California Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that a San Diego County resident has Clade I mpox. County health officials say the patient likely contracted the virus while traveling internationally to an area where Clade I mpox is circulating.
The County is monitoring all identified contacts, and no one has reported symptoms.
What This Means for You
- Risk to the general public remains very low.
- If you develop mpox-like symptoms—such as rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes—especially after travel or potential exposure, contact your healthcare provider.
- The two dose JYNNEOS vaccine provides the strongest protection against both Clade I and II mpox. It is recommended for people at higher risk, those with potential exposure, and travelers who anticipate close or intimate contact while abroad. The JYNNEOS vaccine is available through healthcare providers and County Sexual Health Clinics.
“It is really important for anyone at risk of contracting mpox complete both doses of the vaccine,” County Public Health Officer Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan said. “Completing the series offers the best protection against severe illness, including painful blisters that take a month to heal, and in some cases lead to hospitalization.”
Mpox spreads through close physical contact or sharing personal items with someone who is infected. Symptoms can include a painful rash, sores and sometimes flu-like illness. Avoiding contact with people who have rashes or scabs, not sharing personal items and frequent handwashing help reduce risk.
Clade I mpox, linked to Central Africa, has become more common in Eastern Africa and other parts of the world in recent years. Most Clade I cases outside of Africa are associated with travel, though some areas have reported local spread. Clade I may be more severe than Clade II, which has been present in San Diego County since 2022.
San Diego County has reported 27 cases this year, mostly among people who were not fully vaccinated. All cases involve men between 17 and 53-years-old.
For mpox updates, text COSD MPOX to 98256. More information is available on the County’s mpox webpage.
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