5 Hidden FOOD Gems in San Diego, California 🇺🇸

San Diego, California - If you're looking for new things to do in San Diego, try out these delicious hidden gems. From breakfast and pies to ramen and ice cream, I travel around for the day to try some of the best places to eat in San Diego.

We start off the day in Ocean Beach near Sunset Cliffs to try one of the best breakfast places in San Diego, The Little Lion Cafe. Serving up Belgium-inspired breakfast dishes, The Little Lion Cafe is ran by two sisters in a small little restaurant hidden away in Ocean Beach.

Next, it's a 25 minute drive on the 8 to La Mesa for deli sandwiches and baked goods at D.Z. Akin's, one of San Diego's favorite delis. D.Z. Akin's is a true New York Deli experience and the main attraction here is definitely the Ruben sandwich. Come for breakfast, stay for lunch, and leave with a few boxes of baked goods.

One of my favorite things to do in San Diego is hangout in the North Park neighborhood, and the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop has been serving up comfort food since 1938. Straight forward American classics that will warm your soul and make you want to watch Christmas movies for the rest of the day. If you have the chance, you have to add the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop to your "best places to eat in San Diego" list.

For a completely different dining experience, head over to Hillcrest for one of the best bowls of Ramen in San Diego, California. Izakaya Masa is hidden towards the back of a shopping plaza, and they serve traditional Japanese dishes like Ramen, Sushi and Takoyaki. If you're craving Ramen or Sushi in San Diego, give Izakaya Masa a shot.

Last but certainly not least, An's Dry Cleaning in Normal Heights / North Park is perhaps the greatest hidden gem on the list. It actually looks like a Dry Cleaners from the outside, but inside, it's an artisan ice cream shop. Probably the best Ice Cream I've had in San Diego. Try their bold flavors which rotate every two weeks!

These are 5 Must-Try Hidden Food Gems in San Diego that I would highly recommend. If you have any other fun things to do in San Diego, California tips for me, be sure to leave them in the comments.

Thanks for watching!

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WHO AM I?

Hi! My name is Gareth Leonard, an American Travel YouTuber with a passion for slow, meaningful Travel. I have spent the past 12+ years traveling around the world while creating travel vlogs to help inspire and educate people to “Travel Deeper.”

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[GarethLeonard]

Thank you all so much for watching (and commenting)! 🙏NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE: A Solo Trip to Yosemite, ⛰ THEN: Filipino Food Festival in San Diego 🇵🇭
AFTER: Exploring Mexico's Quintana Roo Region! 🇲🇽
p.s. New videos are now scheduled EVERY WEEK for the rest of the year, so please subscribe and hit that notifications bell for updates! 🔔❤

[isone]

DZ has the best Matza Ball soup in the universe. It's my cure every time I get cold.

[johnwhitehead]

I am the grandson of Mr Whitehead the original chicken pie shop owner your interview was spot on and brought up a lot of childhood memories thank you

[hannahkoppers]

What I love about the Pie Shop besides the food is they employ mostly older folk who have worked there for EVER. It’s a real family over there

[ebbycheri]

San Diego born and raised!! I smiled the whole time watching this. You hit some great spots!

[sumwonkool]

Next u gotta add “Bbq Pit” in La Mesa to the list! And of course some tacos at Tacos El Gordo!

[malcorub]

I'm Mexican and people always rave about SD's Mexican food and that is all well and BUT what I appreciate even more is SD's Asian cuisine, it is some of the best in the US apart from SF and LA.

[garyleibitzke]

I lived in the San Diego area from 1975 until 2021. San Diego regularly got disrespected for it's food. The whole food scene in San Diego is a wonderful mix of just about any type of cuisine you can imagine.

[ArmandGilbert]

DZ Akins and the CHICKEN PIE SHOP! Classics...

[jenniferalvarado]

Gotta love SD. We are very proud of our VERY diverse food culture! You can find everything here. Thumbs up on all these selections.

[shelbymartin]

First of all, you are adorable! Secondly, I cant believe I watched you cruising around eating for 25 mins on this video. And finally, awesome recommendations! Supporting small businesses is SO important. Thanks for encouraging us to discover these little family labors of love. Good stuff!!

[chriskelly]

Native San Diegan here. Showed my granddaughter the Japanese restaurant you found and now she wants to go. She was in Japan with her mom in 2017 and loves the food. Little Lion is also new to me. Thanks.

[Oksana-]

Thank you so much for letting us know about this unique and charming places. We're going to SD soon for a family vacation and I'm so happy I found this video. Special thanks for listing info about all the restaurants in the Description, so we don't have to pause the video and right everything down🙂

[kirkfleming]

Excellent food tour video! It's so refreshing to see a tour of unique family-owned restaurants instead of the same chain restaurants that are featured on so many other food tour videos. Thanks so much!

[heka]

Born and raised here and literally such a hub for food
It doesn’t matter what culture you want so much food in north park and gaslamp and north county and literally everywhere
For ramen you gotta go to underbelly or harrumama

[arielruting]

YouTube algorithm did me good tonight! Love the content!

[lancelessard]

My grandma, her sister and her friend moved to San Diego in 1940 to find work. They used to go to the Chicken Pie shop and have the chicken pie dinner for 35 cents. It was good food at a low price, which they needed since they were house maids back in those days. It's still the same recipes as back then and still a great value, but the prices have gone up some.

[elizabethherrera]

loved this episode, cant wait to try some of these joints, Im a San Diego native and learned about a few new spots!

[kaceeloo]

Okay, Gareth--Here's the deal. You have to keep doing these videos because they are awesome, in-your-face, spontaneous and upbeat; every one of your videos that I've seen so far. I just discovered your vids a few weeks ago but I'm catching up on all of them. I am a native SD since '73 and moved away in 2012. I soooo miss everything SD has to offer in the way of foodie joints and hidden gems! Even though I can't smell or taste your visits, I can still enjoy the places you visit! Some of the places you showcase its nice to take a trip down memory lane. Keep on doing these vids! And for all of the decadent foods you eat I'm sure you have a mean workout to match as you are looking fit and trim in San Diego! Thanks for the YT food shows!

[jodischnoebelen]

I love that you do the happy mouth dance when you try things.