The 101 runs through Encinitas for about six miles — Cardiff in the south, Leucadia in the north, downtown Encinitas somewhere in the middle. Along that stretch you’ll find some of the most interesting independent food on the California coast. These are the places where someone cares about what’s on your plate — a Michelin Bib Gourmand brunch counter in Leucadia, a wood-fired seafood restaurant steps from Moonlight Beach, a Spanish tapas room that feels like a neighborhood spot in a city twice this size. All of it within easy walking distance to the ocean.
Morning
Atelier Manna (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026)
Atelier Manna at 1076 North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia is the most quietly influential restaurant in Encinitas. Husband-and-wife Andrew and Larah Bachelier built it as a chef’s workshop — a covered outdoor patio with furniture made from recycled and upcycled materials, a menu that changes with what’s available locally, and a commitment to serving genuinely interesting food at brunch hours when most kitchens are running on autopilot.
The Michelin Bib Gourmand arrived in 2025 and returned in 2026. The inspectors noted locally caught halibut with sudachi and coconut leche de tigre, and a grilled Salmon Creek Farms pork rack with a tableside pour of pomegranate-infused jus. The Turkish poached eggs in garlicky yogurt with chili butter are the dish most people come back for.
No reservations. The menu runs out of things. Arrive early.
Open Wednesday through Friday 9am to 2pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 3pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Address: 1076 N Coast Hwy 101, Suite 101, Encinitas
Website: atelier-manna.com
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Lofty Coffee
Lofty Coffee at 90 North Coast Highway 101 is the specialty coffee stop in downtown Encinitas — a San Diego-rooted roaster with a serious approach to sourcing and a calm, focused café. Single origin, carefully made. The Roasting Works location across the street at 97 North Coast Highway is the production side if you’re curious about the process. Open daily from 7am.
Address: 90 N Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas
Lofty Coffee Cappuccino
Pannikin Coffee & Tea
Pannikin at 510 North Coast Highway 101 occupies the 1887 Encinitas train depot — the original California Southern Railroad station, now sitting on the 101 with a wrap-around Victorian porch. The tea selection is genuinely good. Open daily 6am to 5pm.
Address: 510 N Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas
Pannikin Coffee & Tea
Coffee Coffee
Coffee Coffee at 970 North Coast Highway 101 is the Leucadia staple — a third-wave coffee shop next to Bing Surfboards, with the area’s most recognizable “Welcome to Leucadia” mural covering the side of the building. Espresso dialed in carefully, outdoor seating open to the 101. The cardamom latte is great.
Open daily 6:30am to 3:30pm.
Address: 970 N Coast Hwy 101, Leucadia
Coffee Coffee in Leucadia on the 101
Haggo’s Organic Taco
Haggo’s at 1302 North Coast Highway 101 — featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives — uses grass-fed beef, organic free-range chicken, and wild-caught fish cooked in avocado oil. The Cousteau fish taco is the thing Guy Fieri came for. Eleven local craft beers on tap. The Veronica Corningstone burrito covered in salsa verde is the specific lunch order.
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am, Saturday and Sunday from 9am.
Address: 1302 N Coast Hwy 101, Leucadia
Haggos Organic Tacos and Bump Coffee
VG Donut & Bakery
VG Donut & Bakery at 106 Aberdeen Drive in Cardiff-by-the-Sea has been open since 1969. Third-generation family business. The maple bars and cinnamon sugar donuts are the specific things. Cash only. You can use a card, but must buy at least $10 worth of donuts to reach the minimum. Open Monday through Saturday 6am to 3pm.
Address: 106 Aberdeen Drive, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Dinner
Herb & Sea
Herb & Sea at 131 West D Street is the most important restaurant in Encinitas right now. Chef Aidan Owens leads a kitchen built around the Fresh Catch program — locally caught fish sourced directly from small boat fishermen, underutilized species the mainstream market ignores, whole-animal butchery, and produce from nearby farms. Everything is wood-fired.
The space is a restored 1920s building steps from Moonlight State Beach — original elements preserved, design-forward without being precious, open patio ideal for dinner in good weather. The oysters and crudo are where to start. The wood-roasted fish and housemade pastas are the main events. The menu changes with what the fishermen bring in.
Open Tuesday through Sunday 5pm to 9pm, Sunday to 8pm. Closed Monday. Reservations strongly recommended.
Website: herbandsea.com
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Waverly
Waverly in Cardiff-by-the-Sea is one of the more quietly impressive restaurants in the Encinitas corridor. Chef Brian Redzikowski — who trained at Le Cirque, Nobu Matsuhisa Aspen, and Joel Robuchon at the Mansion in Las Vegas — runs a kitchen serving Progressive American cuisine with a European influence in a chic, airy room designed by Encinitas-based sibling duo the Sisters of Design 4 Corners. Original artwork by Australian artist Jai Vasicek covers the walls. Dog-friendly patio with ocean views or sit at the bar, try all the starters, great drinks, and enjoy the breeze coming through the restaurant. Happy hour Tuesday through Sunday 3pm to 5pm, walk-in only.
Open for brunch, lunch, and dinner daily.
Website: thewaverly.com
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Valentina
Valentina at 810 North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia is a small family-operated Spanish restaurant named after the owner’s daughter. Black and white interior, dim lighting, music, wine, tapas and shareable plates inspired by travel to Spain and the Mediterranean. The gambas al ajillo, the Basque cake, the paella. A wine list that goes beyond the obvious Spanish selections.
Reviewers use the word “favorite” more than any other word to describe Valentina.
Open daily 5pm to 9pm, Friday and Saturday to 10pm.
Address: 810 N Coast Hwy 101, Leucadia
Valentina Restaurant
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Birdseye Kitchen
Birdseye Kitchen at 540 North Coast Highway 101 is the Southeast Asian restaurant on the 101 that regulars come back to weekly. Quality ingredients, bold flavors — Vietnamese and Thai executed with real care. The wok noodles, the pho, the mussamun curry, the mango sticky rice. A neighborhood restaurant in the best sense: unpretentious & consistent. Open for lunch and dinner daily.
Address: 540 N Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas
Website: birdseyekitchen.com
Birdseye Thai Kitchen on the 101
Chick & Hawk
Chick & Hawk at 145 Leucadia Boulevard is the collaboration between Chef Andrew Bachelier — who also runs Atelier Manna up the road — and skateboarding icon Tony Hawk. The format is fast-fine: counter service, pasture-raised fried chicken cooked in non-GMO rice bran oil, duck fat fries, a fish sandwich, sparkling wine, natural wine by the glass, and creative cocktails. The Cheep Skate Lager is brewed for the restaurant. The neon-lit space has a retro Leucadia looseness to it that makes the whole thing feel right for the neighborhood.
Open Wednesday through Monday 11:30am to 9pm. Closed Tuesday.
Reserve: chickandhawk.com
Address: 145 Leucadia Blvd, Encinitas
Cocina de Barrio
Cocina de Barrio at 967 South Coast Highway 101 brings Oaxacan flavors and other Mexican regional cooking to downtown Encinitas. Chef Jose J. Flores leads a kitchen where the tlayuda — a large thin crunchy tortilla topped with refried beans, chorizo, and cheese — and the lamb birria braised for ten hours are the dishes to order. The bar carries a serious tequila and mezcal selection alongside wines from Valle de Guadalupe. Brunch runs all day, every day. Happy hour Monday through Friday 3pm to 5pm.
Open Monday through Saturday 10am to 9:30pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.
Address: 967 S Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas
Corner Pizza
Corner Pizza has two locations on the 101 — Leucadia at 1246 North Coast Highway and downtown at 628 South Coast Highway. Neapolitan-style thin crust, a focused menu, a solid wine list. The Killer Bee — tomato, mozzarella, gorgonzola, soppressata, pepperoni, rosemary, chili honey — is the pie to order. The Mushroom Queen with truffle oil, seasonal mushrooms, and lemon-tossed arugula is the alternative. Counter service, fast, reliably good.
Open daily 11:30am to 9pm.
Leucadia: 1246 N Coast Hwy 101 · Downtown: 628 S Coast Hwy 101
Website: cornerpizza.com
Corner Pizza in Leucadia
Drinks
Leu Leu
Leu Leu at 466 North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia is the most atmospheric bar on the 101. The menu moves between the Mediterranean, the markets of Morocco, and points further east — bold flavors, natural wines, cocktails with genuine character. The garden patio has a quality that’s hard to describe without sounding like you’re overselling it, but people keep going back, which is the more useful signal. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 5pm.
Reservations: reservations@leuleuleucadia.com
Address: 466 N Coast Hwy 101, Leucadia
Duck Foot Brewing — Leucadia Tasting Room
Duck Foot Brewing has a tasting room on the 101 in Leucadia — 20 taps of house-brewed beer, one block from the beach, with Haggo’s Tacos running food next door. The brewery runs community beach cleanups alongside local nonprofits. Trivia nights, bingo, a genuinely local crowd.
Open Monday 2pm to 9pm, Tuesday 1pm to 9pm, Wednesday through Saturday noon to 10pm, Sunday noon to 9pm.
Website: duckfootbeer.com/leucadia
Sago
Sago is a supper club and late-night lounge in downtown Encinitas from Chef Frank Fleisher, formerly of Juniper & Ivy. The interior is designed around a central bar with a jungle-esque aesthetic — dramatically different from anything else on the 101. Elevated shareable plates, a considered cocktail program, Valle de Guadalupe wines. The atmosphere shifts from dinner-focused to late-night lounge as the evening progresses. A newer addition to the Encinitas scene and one that fills a real gap — there hasn’t been a genuine late-night option here in a while.
Website: sagoencinitas.com
On the Go
Seaside Market
Seaside Market at 2087 San Elijo Avenue in Cardiff isn’t a bar — but it’s the right place to stock up before an evening on the bluffs. The Burgundy Pepper Tri-Tip from the butcher counter, a bottle from the wine section, the walk down to Cardiff State Beach. One of the better ways to spend a North County evening.
Open daily 7am to 10pm.
Address: 2087 San Elijo Ave, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
Seaside Market
Strawberries at Seaside Market
More from the Leucadia Mercantile Journal
A Weekend in Encinitas → · Hiking Trails on the North County Coast → · Highway 101 from San Diego to Santa Cruz →
