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    The Playground

    4.5 (13 reviews)

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    THE PLAYGROUND ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Good for groups
    Happy hour specials
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - The Playground

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    1 year ago

    Helpful 44
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    Love this 35
    Oh no 4

    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Helpful 2
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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    The food is great and the people are cool. I'm happy to have them here as new work neighbors and I'm sure I'll be coming back a lot.

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    food was great, beer and margs were awesome, and the music atmosphere and service were the icing on the cake

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    1 year ago

    cool new spot that just opened in pacific beach . amazing service! the food is delicious. the wings were ph and one of the best I've had!

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    Oceana Coastal Kitchen

    Oceana Coastal Kitchen

    3.9
    (747 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$$

    I'm rounding up to a 5. We had fathers day lunch here recently. The staff were all friendly. I'd…read morerate the service 4.5. I won't say the service was slow but it would have been a little quicker. The food I would also rate about 4.5. All our dishes were great portions and tasted great. Our table finished all their food. My burger could use a little more flavor but still worth it. Now location is what makes this great! A view of a nice lawn and the bay. The atmosphere was great! The weather perfect and the solo performer singing was also great! Worth coming back to. Parking is validated, but it was tough to get valet at the time and self parking did seem limited.

    If you told me the best hollandaise sauce in San Diego would be in a hotel restaurant that faces…read morethe beautiful bay, I would say you're dreaming. I guess dreams come true, because Oceana Coastal Kitchen has the best Eggs Benedict I've had in a while. The sauce has that perfect balance of lemon and cream, and I was so glad I ordered extra sauce. The service is solid. I was the first customer bright and early in the morning, and they gave me everything I asked for with a smile. I will be back, for sure. It's a dream set-up for a working parent looking for a delicious respite to catch up with their week and breath.

    Photos
    Oceana Coastal Kitchen... Join us for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
    Oceana Coastal Kitchen... Join us for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
    Oceana Coastal Kitchen, on the shores of Mission Bay!
    Oceana Coastal Kitchen, on the shores of Mission Bay!
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    Moray's

    Moray's

    3.4
    (90 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    Good food, but they should probably give you utensils and place settings when you order food just…read moresaying..

    Beautiful views and good service made this a 3.5 stars. Oddly, I wish I had ordered the $27 burger…read moreand fries. The Catamaran has two restaurants, Oceana and Moray's. As I understand it, Moray's is the outside/patio dining portion, while Oceana is the indoor fine-dining situation. I believe they pretty much have very similar menus, with Oceana having some additional high-end offerings. Came out to Moray's to visit my cousin who was in town for work. Since my cousin now has her most adorable infant, she wanted to keep it simple and dine at the hotel restaurant, which was fine by me. While I waited for them to come down from their room, I got us a patio table and ordered a delicious $10 draft. Mixed drinks were all hovering around $19 each. The server was friendly, welcoming, and helpful, which I greatly appreciated. I went with the reasonably priced Steak Frites, $36, which was to stated to come with Muenster cheese and caramelized onions on top, and served with a side chimichurri. While the steak was wonderfully cooked to a solid med. rare as requested, it seemingly had very little flavor. Perhaps had it not been covered with a wealth of some DEEPLY caramelized onions and an abundance of Muenster cheese, I might have been able to taste the seasonings and/or the beef. While I love some deeply caramelized onions on a salt-laden burger, the extent to which these were caramelized left them seeming soggy and too sweet for the steak pairing. Add in the several slices of melted Muenster cheese on top, and flavourwise I could hardly tell I was eating a steak. Ultimately, the abundance of toppings overwhelmed the steak. The accompanying chimichurri was also a little strange. While I appreciate that it was diced and not blended, it was very heavy on the oil, while very light on the herbs. The frites were nicely salted and good on their own, however a decent amount became soggy from being under the steak. The burger on the other hand looked excellent. My cousin devoured his in what seemed like a split second. I could have went for the burger, however at $27 I perceived the $36 steak frites to be of a better value. Again, shout out to our server. They were on-point! Thanks Moray's!

    Photos
    Charcuterie Board
    Charcuterie Board
    Moray's
    Chile Shrimp Flatbread

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    JRDN Restaurant

    JRDN Restaurant

    3.9
    (1.8k reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$$

    JRDN has been here for over two decades! It's our go to right on the beach and pier with awesome…read moreviews. No bad seats. Plenty of open space and great for large groups. Street parking only, many small paid lots and they valet for first two hours free since it's linked to the hotel Tower23. I had a work party of 20 during lunch that rolled over to happy hour past 3pm! It's basically tourist price in exchange for the local view. Food can be a hit or miss. They serve mainly seafood. Although you'll find short rib sliders or chicken sandwich. -Crispy calamari - delicious batter but weird that they threw in broccoli and peppers when it could have been all calamari -Steamed mussels - this was the best. Had two sourdough slices and the tomato purée had tons of flavor -Ceviche - the chips were stale -Ahi nachos - needed more sauce and filling. Not enough poke to chip ratio. I got mainly a blank chip. -Short rib sliders - many people ordered this and said it was very dry -Roulette roll - most popular roll. I fairly enjoyed the crunch in each bite. Got a Raspberry mojito. It was strong and refreshing but gave me a fat headache later. Must be the rum. We were limited to 8 credit cards but since it was down time, our server was willing to go around to allow us to pay our individual tabs. Thanks, Jaz!

    We were here for a celebration because the view is always amazing. The menu looks great and that's…read moreprobably where I say it ends. I always have such high hopes, but tonight proved again why it's only mediocre and overpriced. I got the short ribs. There was no flavor to it. The meat was cooked amazing but there was just not enough flavor like a little bit more flavor to the sauce and a little bit more sauce , even the carrots were raw I couldn't even get a knife through them. To Russell sprouts one came and again, just not enough to them. They fell flat. The second order came an hour after we had finished our meal then the check was received. With said, returned product on our check. Our server never check back in on us. We had to ask other servers to assist us and bring us additional items lackluster

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Wagyu burger at locally owned restaurant
    Wagyu burger at locally owned restaurant
    JRDN is one of San Diego's Top Place to Eat. Enjoy an eclectic menu with coastal influence.

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    JRDN is one of San Diego's Top Place to Eat. Enjoy an eclectic menu with coastal influence.
    The Crack Shack - Pacific Beach

    The Crack Shack - Pacific Beach

    4.1
    (108 reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$
    Locally owned & operated
    Outdoor seating

    The Crack Shack in Pacific Beach is one of my favorite spots when I'm craving a fried chicken…read moresandwich. It's also super close to the beach, which makes it an easy place to stop before or after spending some time by the water. I almost always get the Firebird. The chicken is consistently juicy, crispy, flavorful, and has a really good amount of heat. It's definitely my go-to here. I also love that they have such a big selection of condiments and sauces, so you can try different combinations with your meal. The open patio is another big plus and fits the casual PB vibe really well. The employees have also always been nice and helpful whenever I've visited. The only area I think could use a little improvement is the cocktails. The ones I've tried have been okay, but I'd love a little more flavor and a stronger pour, especially compared to how bold the food is.

    I arrived just after they opened. The outdoor seating area looked very nice and clean. I ordered…read moretwo orders of chicken oysters. You get about five pieces in each order along with a lemon slice and tartar sauce. They also have ranch, pineapple mustard, Sriracha thousand island and Sweet Baby G's BBQ sauces available. I love that they cook your food to order. You have to wait a little bit but when they deliver your food it will be fresh and piping hot. The soft drinks and dipping sauces are self serve. It was very unsettling watching the homeless come in the patio to fill various vessels which looked disgusting and dirty with ice, help themselves to the various soft drink options and the additional dipping sauces. I had three different people approach me for money. I offered to buy each of them something to eat but they didn't want that. They just wanted some cash. One got pretty aggressive with me, started yelling and started swinging his arms. I really don't have an issue with people helping themselves to ice, soft drinks, water or the dipping sauces if The Crack Shack doesn't care. What bothered me was the dirty cup, blender container, coffee can and empty aluminum cans they were shoving under the machine, on the buttons, etc. It was very unsanitary. They did seem to have an employee assigned to the patio but he would disappear for quite some time and that's when the people off the street took advantage of the drink station, ice and dipping sauces. Next time I will get my food to go and ask the employees to get me sauces from their supply in the kitchen. I really enjoyed the Chicken Oysters - they were piping hot, the breading was light and very nicely season and they were juicy and packed full of flavor.

    Photos
    The Crack Shack - Pacific Beach
    Jidori Chicken Wings
    Jidori Chicken Wings
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    Second Nature

    Second Nature

    4.1
    (574 reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $$

    I am a sucker for Breakfast Burritos so I wanted something that was fulfilling, but flavorful and I…read morefound just that. I ordered this burrito to go after I saw this description...Scrambled Eggs, Fajita Veggies, Roasted Onion, Breakfast Potatoes, Cheddar Cheese, Guacamole, Cilantro Aioli and Roasted Salsa. It is called, "South La Jolla Burrito". It goes for $18 which may be pricey, but I honestly think it's worth the money. It was so delicious and even had a bit of leftovers which was still good. It's a nice restaurant, but I didn't stay to dine in. The service was very good. Friendly and had my order made quickly. My burrito was still hot by the time I got home which was nice. I definitely recommend checking out this restaurant if you have not yet. I will be back for this burrito again!

    came here again to see if i've just had some unlucky off experiences and maybe this time would…read morewould be different, but sadly i was still left disappointed. first off, the service was a bit odd- there seemed to only be a bartender and one server for the whole restaurant. the server was a bit short with me, i didn't get a friendly greeting she just came over to my table (it's self seating) and shortly said "for one?". she also wasn't helpful when i asked for a wine pairing with the curry i ordered, she looked like she knew nothing about their wine menu and straight up told me "i don't know". her energy was kind of off. the curry itself was a bit disappointing. it had an ok flavor but i really didn't like that there were crunchy chickpeas, it disrupted the dish and didn't go well with it in my opinion. i also wish they wouldn't have used quinoa, and included rice instead, as the quinoa absorbed most of the curry and kind of took over the dish. for the price i didn't feel it was worth it, and hot or not thai down the street would have been much better. this place has so much potential, but every time i come here i feel like it's been a miss sadly!

    Photos
    July 31, 2023
    July 31, 2023
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    The Playground - newamerican - Updated August 2026

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