San Diego’s restaurant industry continues to show remarkable momentum, with six notable openings and one closure reported this week across the county — from a Spanish tapas chain at Westfield UTC to a vegan burger spot in Hillcrest and a new ice cream shop in Leucadia.
Telefèric Barcelona, a family-owned Spanish restaurant company founded in 1992 in Sant Cugat, Spain, opened its eighth U.S. location on July 10 at Westfield UTC. Known for cooked-to-order paellas, pintxos, and tapas including patatas bravas, jamón ibérico de bellota, and Wagyu empanadas, the restaurant also offers a wine list with more than 100 Spanish selections. The Palo Alto-based chain operates hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 11 p.m. on weekends, as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Mr.Charlie’s TMS, a Los Angeles-based vegan “anti fast-food” burger chain backed by blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, opened its second San Diego County location on July 11 in Hillcrest, following its Pacific Beach debut in January. The chain features the Mr.Chuck plant-protein burger and has a hiring program offering second chances and runs a hiring program offering second chances to formerly incarcerated workers.
La Corriente Cocina del Pacifico, a Baja California-born Mexican seafood restaurant chain, is set to open its third San Diego County location later this month in Oceanside, taking over the space formerly occupied by HomeState, the Tex-Mex restaurant that closed in February. La Corriente joins existing locations in La Jolla and Coronado, specializing in raw bar offerings, seafood tacos, and grilled fish.
In Encinitas, two new dining options have emerged. Isola Pizza Bar, founded in 2012 by Italian chef Massimo Tenino, opened its third location — joining Little Italy and La Jolla — serving Neapolitan-style pizzas with an Italian wine program. Scoopy Scoopy, a pop-up turned permanent storefront, opened July 11 inside Moto Deli in Leucadia, serving super-premium ice cream from Chocolate Shoppe of Madison, Wisconsin.
Rancho Santa Fe welcomed the opening of Rancho Sandwich & Creamery, offering 14 signature sandwiches, breakfast items, pastries, and soft-serve ice cream in the village center.
The week also brought a closure: Cellar Hand, a 120-seat Mediterranean restaurant in Hillcrest that opened in spring 2024, will close its doors on Sunday. However, the founders — Nick and Carmen Perr of Pali Wine Co. — will remodel the space to relocate their Pali Winery tasting room from Little Italy, where a proposed rent increase made it too expensive to stay. The Pali Winery location is expected to open in Hillcrest in August.
The restaurant activity reflects broader trends in San Diego’s food and beverage sector. Despite inflation and labor challenges, the local dining scene continues to attract both national chains and independent operators, drawn by the county’s tourism economy, growing population, and diverse culinary culture.
The mix of openings — Spanish, vegan, Mexican seafood, Italian, ice cream, and sandwiches — also signals the breadth of consumer demand in San Diego County, from casual quick-service to full-service dining. For commercial real estate landlords, the sustained restaurant demand is a positive sign for retail vacancy rates, particularly in high-traffic neighborhoods like Hillcrest, UTC, and coastal North County.
