Northeast San Diego Dining

 150 Grand Cafe
 150 Grand Cafe's use of local organic fruit and vegetables combined with the ability to mesh unusual flavors and ingredients has elevated this establishment to a new level of fine dining. 150 W. Grand Avenue Escondido, CA 92008 (760) 738-6868

 Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe
 Bakers of the original San Francisco sourdough French bread, delivery and quick pickup available, specialize in catering and home deliveries, credit cards accepted. 200 E. Via Rancho Pkwy. Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 747-1849, (760) 747-0819

 Castle Creek Country Club
 Overlooking golf course, Sun. champagne brunch, specializing in weddings, entertainment, banquets for 30-200, res. accepted. 8797 Circle R Dr. Escondido, CA 92026 (760) 749-2877

 Islands Restaurant
 Serving burgers, sandwiches and tacos. 240 South Melrose Drive Vista, CA 92083 760-631-1535

 Welk Resort Center Restaurant
 Features American-style cuisine, order from menu plus buffets served before live professional theatre, Sun. brunch, golf course view, res. accepted, banquets for 10-350. 8860 Lawrence Welk Dr. Escondido, CA 92026 (760) 749-3000 FAX (760) 749-6182

 Chin's Szechwan Restaurant
 Serves authentic Szechwan dishes. Reservations Accepted. Reservations Recommended. Full Bar on Site. 1506 Encinitas Boulevard Encinitas, CA 92024 Telephone: 760-753-3903 Fax: 760-434-0804

 Jade Tree Restaurant
 Serving traditional Chinese standards as well as several novelties, including fried cheese-stuffed wontons. 1854 Marron Road Suite 104 Carlsbad, CA 92008 Telephone: 760-729-2689

 Kim's Vietnamese & Chinese
 Specializing in Vietnamese fare, many of which are cooked at the table.Reservations Accepted. Reservations Recommended. 745 First Street Encinitas, CA 92024 Telephone: 760-942-4816

 Sushi Taisho Restaurant
 Intimate sushi bar offers the basics as well as a number of specialty rolls that incorporate cream cheese . 300 Carlsbad Village Drive Suite 214 Carlsbad, CA 92008 Telephone: 760-729-2437

 Tomiko's
 Tomiko's is an oceanview Japanese Restaurant with a full Sushi Bar and Sake City Bar.Take Out. Catering. Valet Parking. Reservations Accepted. Reservations Recommended. Water Views. Full Bar on Site. Children's Menu Available. Happy Hour. 85 Encinitas Boulevard Encinitas, CA 92024 Telephone: 760-633-3587
 

 Delicias
 6106 Paseo Delicias Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 858-756-8000 The country French decor, garden setting and beau monde crowd make this one of San Diego's most haute culinary scenes. Serving Beluga caviar, wood-fired oysters and lobster shiitake ravioli -- just part of the sumptuous selections. Sample the warm brie salad with watercress, red grapes, toasted walnuts, fresh dill and raspberry vinaigrette, or the chopped vegetable salad for starters. You can enjoy Provencal pizza, Alaskan halibut sauteed with pistachio crust, grilled swordfish with macadamia coconut crust, vela loin medallions with lemon beurre blanc, New York strip steak with portabello mushrooms and coriander crusted salmon. Reservations accepted. Exceptional domestic and international wine list. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily.

 Rancho Valencia Restaurant
 5921 Valencia Circle Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 858-759-6216 Doing its best to debunk the popular myth that hotel restaurants must merely be good enough to keep their guests happy, the Restaurant at Rancho Valencia harbors a fusion of California-Mediterranean creations that includes roasted veal chops, Blue Point oysters on ice and a bone-in filet mignon. Well worth the sensory sacrifice, the extensive wine list includes over 500 selections, and there's always a sage voice emanating from the kitchen recommending how diners mix and match. And don't worry when you see Technicolor hot air balloons floating over the horizon outside the restaurant windows, you're witnessing one of the many daily send-offs from nearby launching pads.
 

 Café Luna
 11040 Rancho Carmel Dr. San Diego, CA 92128 858-673-0077 Thank the restaurant gods for looking after Café Luna, a lovely little find in a suburban wilderness largely dominated by chain feederies. We usually start with salad and keep room for tiramisu or some similar dessert, but concentrate mostly on pastas like the lasagne. However, we generally order the "tris della casa," a plate that arranges three pastas on one plate. These are decreed by the kitchen on a daily basis, but generally include one baked item, one in a creamy sauce, and one anointed with pesto or tomato sauce.

 DiCrescenzo's
 11627 Duenda Rd. San Diego, CA 92128 858-487-2776 DiCrescenzo's transports its many fans back to Chicago by serving them tender Italian beef sandwiches dripping with juices and flavor. The place is small, but not tiny, and guests can find seating both in a dining room decorated with Chicago memorabilia and at a few tables out front on the sidewalk. The price-to-portion ratio is excellent, and no one is likely to leave either hungry or much poorer. The beef sandwiches, garnished with "hot giardiniera" (spicy pickled vegetables) if you like, star on a menu that also offers good pizzas, a few simple pastas, and sandwiches stuffed with homemade sausage and meatballs.

 Dino & Luigi's Stuft Pizza Sports Bar & Brewery
 10155 Rancho Carmel Drive San Diego, CA 92128 858-592-7883 Looking for a great place to celebrate a birthday or office party? Sharing appetizers, salads and pizza is a glorious tradition and taste treat at Dino & Luigi's. Start with roast sausage and peppers, stuffed mozzarella cheese sticks, chopped or antipasto salad. You can create your own pizza or hit a home run with their sports- inspired concoctions, such as the Babe Ruth (zucchini, black olives, fresh mushrooms, bell pepper, red onion, sundried tomatos, artichoke hearts, pineapple, fresh parsley, Romano and Parmesan cheeses). Pasta lovers enjoy the shrimp tequila, homemade lasagna, and linguini pesto. Best of all is their wine list and handcrafted beer.

 Filippi's Pizza Grotto
 9969 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92131 858-586-0888 A San Diego tradition, this old-fashioned pizza parlor also specializes in salads, spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna, veal parmigiana, sandwiches and antipasto. Extra: Late-night dining Tue.-Sat. until 11PM. Reservations accepted. Takeout available. Good for large parties.

 Il Mulino
 12440 Poway Rd. Poway, CA 92064 858-748-2900 Is it romantic to dine on a hilltop terrace above the busy intersection of Poway and Pomerado roads? We think it is, now that we've learned to gaze out at the still undeveloped hills and mountains that surround this growing suburb. But what we really like is the comfortably paced service and authentic cuisine offered by an Italian staff that hasn't yet been spoiled by American ways. For starters, we love the bocconcini of mozzarella, tiny balls of cheese wrapped in prosciutto and set atop freshly sautéed spinach. Chicken and grilled zucchini create an unexpected filling for the lasagna, and a forest mushroom sauce brings a musky richness to the panzerotti, fat, homemade ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta. There are also stuffed "schiacciata" pizzas filled with vegetables and freshly made mozzarella.

 Italia Mia
 14771 Poway Rd. Poway, CA 92064 858-679-9300 Listen to the server recite the specials list at this wonderfully cozy, friendly restaurant in a suburban shopping center, especially if you're interested in seafood, since there usually are several excellent choices. But by no means ignore the standing menu, which offers everything from grandma-style spaghetti and meatballs to the Mexican-inspired linguine al pollo tequila, a minor triumph of pasta topped with a combo of chicken, bell peppers, cilantro and tequila-flavored cream sauce.

 Mona Lisa Italian Restaurant
 11655 Duenda Rd. SD-Rancho Bernardo, CA 92127 (619) 487-9030 One of San Diego's original family restaurants now has a second location and serves the tastiest marinara sauce and meatball subs in town. Add to that mouthwatering pizza (artichoke), sandwiches (Italian sausage), spaghetti, ravioli, linguine with homemade pesto, fettucine, eggplant parmigiana, veal scalloppini, chicken piccata and calamari. Catering and takeout. Great Italian deli. Party facilities. Reservations accepted.
 

 Anthony's Fish Grotto
 11666 Avena Place San Diego, CA 92128 858-451-2070 While each location varies, you'll find soothing seascapes, artwork reflecting underwater fantasies and the obligatory stuffed swordfish. The crowd is typically made up of families, though Anthony's tends to be a popular spot among large groups and tourists, as well as for celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries.

 Camelot Inn
 887 W. San Marcos Blvd. San Marcos, CA 92069 760-744-1332 Chamelot is like walking into one of those "mystery spot" locations where balls roll uphill and people don't cast shadows. Containing all odd angles and low ceilings. The small, winding bar is one you sit at like you sit at a dining table -- it's low and all the more fun for it. Since league steel-tip darts are played here, the step-down darts pit is serious and lit to specifications. The restaurant -- where fish and chips, ribs, Yorkshire pudding, corned beef and the like are served -- is pretty much just tables and chairs, but they all have that weathered, red gingham tablecloth feel. Live music is featured on Friday and Saturday nights, starting at 8:30PM. On the first weekend of each month, expect authentic Celtic music. After that, expect acoustic folksy rock.

 Fish House Vera Cruz
 360 Via Vera Cruz San Marcos, CA 92069 (760) 744-8000 One of San Diego's best fish restaurants is a bit of a drive for city-dwellers, but it's worth it. Outstanding chowders, oysters Rockefeller, crabmeat cocktail, Cajun catfish, shrimp and scallop combo and rainbow trout, as well as fresh fish right from the dock. Extras: Set in Old California Row in San Marcos. Party facilities. Can accommodate large groups. Fresh fish market. Takeout available. Reservations accepted.

 The Brigantine
 421 W. Felicita Ave. Escondido, CA 92025 760.743.4718 Brigantine, featuring fresh seafood of all types -- including their signature dish, grilled swordfish -- the Brigantine offers up delectable appetizers such as crab cakes and oysters as well as a wide selection of innovative fish dishes. Each of the restaurants has a distinct ambience, but most use a nautical motif. Patrons tend to be a mix of locals, tourists and families, though as the evening grows later the dating and bar crowd tends to edge out those looking for sustenance rather than romance. All of the restaurants have outdoor patios, and the attention to detail makes your lunch or evening out a

 The Brigantine
 421 W. Felicita Ave. Escondido, CA 92025 760.743.4718 Brigantine, featuring fresh seafood of all types -- including their signature dish, grilled swordfish -- the Brigantine offers up delectable appetizers such as crab cakes and oysters as well as a wide selection of innovative fish dishes. Each of the restaurants has a distinct ambience, but most use a nautical motif. Patrons tend to be a mix of locals, tourists and families, though as the evening grows later the dating and bar crowd tends to edge out those looking for sustenance rather than romance. All of the restaurants have outdoor patios, and the attention to detail makes your lunch or evening out amemorable experience.

 Acapulco Mexican Restaurant
 16785 Bernardo Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92128 (858) 487-6701 Classic fajitas, tamales, carne asada tacos, flautas and some of the best Mexican fare in town at affordable prices makes this chain a great place for birthday parties and entertaining friends and family. Extras: Sunday brunch. Great happy hour specials.

 Acapulco Mexican Restaurant
 8998 Miramar Rd. San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 578-6390 Classic fajitas, tamales, carne asada tacos, flautas and some of the best Mexican fare in town at affordable prices makes this chain a great place for birthday parties and entertaining friends and family.

 Fins
 9460 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126 619-549-3467 This is Parrothead heaven, where every Friday is Jimmy Buffet tune day; it's the perfect spot to wear your Hawaiian shirt and shorts. Look for Baja coastal cuisine, such as carnitas tacos, fish tacos, shrimp burritos and more, plus ice cold Mexican and handcrafted beers. Takeout available.

 Lienzo Charro
 12511 Poway Rd. Poway, CA 92064 858-486-4644 Aficionados of authentic Mexican cooking gladly overlook the unavailability of strawberry margaritas and sizzling fajitas at this downtown Poway eatery in favor of embroidered Mexican tableclothes, warm service, low prices-and amazing carnitas. Even the chips and spicy salsa are a cut above the norm, and-who knows?-such treats as a colorful dish of melon cubes may turn up as a complimentary starter. The kitchen pairs cheese enchiladas with spicier dishes-for example, the devilishly hot jumbo shrimp a la diablo-no doubt to temper their fire. Another fiery house specialty, the burro diablo, encloses strips of green chiles, pork chunks and tomatillo sauce in a flour tortilla. On the mild side are such well-made classics as the enchiladas suizas.

 Tony's Mexican Restaurant
 13715 Poway Rd. Poway, CA 92064 858-679-0287 Seafood is the theme of this inland eatery-say, sizeable shrimp burritos slathered with guacamole and sour cream, or Baja-style shrimp, octopus, or scallop cocktails marinated in lots of lime and cilantro. True, décor and atmosphere are not Tony's long suits but serving Mexican cuisine with authentic flavors is. Anyway, given our penchant of wearing a bit of everything we eat, why would we dress up for the fragrant Siete Mares-"Seven Seas"-soup, the spicy shrimp a la diablo, succulent carnitas or beef tamales? In the morning, Tony's scrambles up a mean chorizo and eggs.