Five San Diego County restaurants and one of its cocktail bars were named to OpenTable’s annual list of the Top 100 restaurants in America on Thursday.
Two of the winners are Michelin-star honorees Addison by William Bradley and Jeune et Jolie, and one is the Michelin Bib Gourmand-honored Cesarina. The others are two spots in East Village — Cowboy Star steakhouse and the hidden cocktail bar Youngblood — and Hillcrest’s insideOUT restaurant-bar.
The top 100, which were listed alphabetically by state, rather than in ranked order, were selected based on the reviews of diners who have posted their experiences on OpenTable after booking a table through the website. Restaurants can earn up to five stars based on four equally weighted criteria: food, service, ambience and value.
First on the list was Southern California’s only Michelin three-star restaurant, Addison by William Bradley, which has recently been renamed to include its founding chef-director’s name. Addison serves a 10-course, $375 tasting menu, which was much lauded by OpenTable voters for both food and service. This is the latest honor for Bradley, who earlier this month was named among Robb Report’s 50 Most Powerful Americans in Fine Dining, and he earned the top-tier Three Knives in the international Best Chefs awards.
Cesarina is an Italian restaurant in Point Loma opened in 2019 by the husband-and-wife duo of Niccolò Angius and chef Cesarina Mezzoni and their business partner Giuseppe Cao. Known for its house-made pasta, it’s one of San Diego’s most-booked restaurants on the OpenTable platform.
Cowboy Star, a 16-year-old steakhouse and butcher shop in East Village, was ranked high among OpenTable voters in the food, service and ambience categories.
InsideOUT is an LGBTQ-owned restaurant-bar that opened in 2018 in Hillcrest’s Eitol Towers building. Its highest reviews were in the service and ambience categories and is recognized for its California cuisine.
Jeune et Jolie in Carlsbad, which has held one Michelin star since 2022, is a contemporary French indoor-outdoor restaurant led by chef Eric Bost. OpenTable s ranked it high for best overall experience for food, service and ambience.
Youngblood, an immersive East Village speakeasy-style bar offering a 90-minute cocktail drink experience, earned very high scores for its ambience and service. Owned by CH Projects, the 30-seat bar is hidden behind a faux refrigerator door inside Neighborhood restaurant. Last year, it ed the list of the World’s 50 Best Bars.
