Best Restaurants for Special Occasions in Cardiff By The Sea

We had a lovely anniversary lunch at Jake's, sitting at an ocean front window table. Fabulous view, great service. We shared the fish tacos and the seafood chowder. The kitchen was nice enough to split the orders into two for no extra charge. Our server also gave us the choice of a complimentary dessert for our anniversary. We chose chocolate peanut butter torte to share. It was delicious, but we couldn’t finish it. We had the Hula Pie at Duke’s in Maui, so we chose to try something else. We did have a taste of Hawaii with a very good Duke’s Mai Tai. Will be back if we visit Del Mar again! Also, use Jake's valet parking, which was $8 at lunch. We used the public parking across the street, which was a minimum of $25 for two hours.

This years annual birthday dinner for our friend took place on the west coast for 2025–and after a great stay in Temecula we opted for The Pacific Grill. It did not disappoint! From its gorgeous beach location in Cardiff to the excellent and unhurried service we were thrilled to have such a perfect evening to cap off a “girls weekend”. Starting with specialty cocktails and an excellent premium wine list we enjoyed the heat lamp warmed beach patio for our meal. The shrimp dumplings in a port wine sauce were amazing to start with—I want to come back and try the chilled appetizers with my husband and family. We enjoyed coconut crab crusted mahi mahi and the seafood pasta dish—the smoky tomato sauce with Thai basil was very flavorful on the pasta and the seafood cooked to perfection. A beautiful birthday dessert of house bread pudding and vanilla bean ice cream and specialty cappuccino and teas capped off the night.

Always great food and amazing oceanfront view! The food is consistently great and the seasonal additions to the menu are fabulous!

This place truly rocks! It’s one of my favorite places to go to when in San Diego. The staff is amazing. Food is spectacular and the ambience is really great. It’s a very sexy place.  Great for a date you want to impress.  they even went so far as to give my mom a chefs coat when she went back into the kitchen area. Wonderful experience, 

Their sunset special is not to be missed. Isn't always available so check the website first