Dining

If you’re looking for a beachy, kitschy, local eatery and gathering place with rubber duckies floating in craft cocktails, French fries delightfully dredged in duck fat, seafood freshly caught from local waters, plenty of sports hoopla on plenty of big screen TVs, dining under the stars and moon, and eye-popping 3D artwork covering the walls then The Duck Dive is for you.

Situated on the bustling Pacific Beach boardwalk for over 50 years, World Famous is an old-timey eatery that has become the favorite fixture of college students, young families, seniors, singles and seasonal tourists.

I recall my mother quite emphatically reciting a wise proverb to her kids in the mornings before we headed off to school: “You should eat breakfast like a king or queen, lunch like a prince or princess, and dinner like a pauper.”

In the heart of Pacific Beach on Garnet Avenue, Costa Brava, a time-honored Spanish treasure sits tucked behind an arched terracotta canvas awning and lush sprawling vines.

When you walk through the soothing entranceway of Lanna Thai Cuisine, a long-standing fixture of the Pacific Beach ethnic dining scene, you are welcomed by a rustic, iridescent sandstone etching of a pair of bejeweled Thai princesses bowing in gratitude.