Three San Diego County Eateries Make Esquire’s ‘Best New Restaurants’ List

Esquire Magazine’s 2023 ranking of the “50 Best New Restaurants in America” includes three San Diego County establishments.

Among them are Hitokuchi in the Convoy District, Mabel’s Gone Fishing in North Park, which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the Michelin-starred Valle in Oceanside.

Here’s what the magazine said about these San Diego restaurants:

Hitokuchi

“Pass through the heavy door and you’ll find some of the most exquisite cooking in San Diego’s Convoy District. Chef John Hong does not hold back when it comes to premium ingredients, and the prices reflect that. But his uni-and-caviar dish is a local legend for a reason: imagine a tower of sushi rice in which each individual grain has been coated in oceanic luxury.”

Mabel’s Gone Fishing

“Take Iberian cuisine, give it a touch of the California coast, casually wrap it up in a neighborhood bar and restaurant, and you’ve got Mabel’s. There are surprises to the simplest things. The pan con tomate is made with a rustic grilled sourdough, with the option of boquerones: do it. The oysters (get the ones from Baja) come with a house-made hot sauce that you’ll want to use throughout the meal.”

Valle

“Being right across the border from Mexico means San Diego is rich in wonderful, traditional Mexican food. Which makes it all the more exciting that Valle is nothing like most Mexican restaurants you’ll find in this part of California. It takes a modernist yet still fun and soulful approach to the cuisine, specifically of the valle in its name, the Guadalupe Valley.”

Esquire’s culinary and lifestyle team visited 200 restaurants across the country in search of the nation’s 50 best new foodie destinations and 13 are in California.

See the full list here.