key:

• ✨: instagram-worthy
• ❤️: must go

food:

• vallarta express | mira mesa
  • fish taco: best one i've had in my life
  • christian fries: basically carne asada fries but with more stuff. the egg yolk we got was hard though so you might wanna ask for a runnier egg instead
  • i got the orange creamy sauce and it had a nice kick
• shan xi magic kitchen | convoy
  • biang biang noodles: sooooooooo good
  • the appetizers we got weren't that great in our opinions (a burger and some wings) but i was told to get the cauliflower and the fish fillets next time!
• panama 66 | balboa park ✨
  • kid's meal grilled cheese (lol): best grilled cheese i ever had ngl
  • kid's meal banana and nutella sandwich (also lol): solid
  • endless sunshine: i almost died trying to drink this... needless to say the sunshine was definitely not endless
  • pretty expensive outdoor cafe, but the view and ambiance is great
• lolita's taco shop | clairemont
  • fish taco: i've had better
  • carne asada fries: great, as expected
• gaslamp pizza | gaslamp quarter
  • the gaslamp equivalent to 6th's roppolo's pizza
  • my crust was burnt lol
• zarlitos family restaurant | national city ❤️
  • hashbrown ting: only available before 2pm, but one of the top best things i had this entire trip. i would seriously come back to cali just for this if i could
  • tocino taco: so good
  • i love this place, i def would come back. it's a filipino-fusion restaurant that has both authentic filipino food and also fusion food that works out and tastes great
• tofu house | mira mesa
  • g2 (kalbi and chef's special): i ate this uuup it was very good
  • the wait was pretty long bc it was poppin
• crab hut | mira mesa
  • going tonight

dessert:

• square bar cafe | convoy ✨
  • ube ice cream: no complaints, it was good
  • perfect place for those ig pics
  • they have actual glass bottles and camera lens cups
  • the inside is nice, minimal, and has some wall art
  • but the worker was so mean omg she left after her shift so quick
• tapioca express | convoy
  • vanilla chai milk tea: this was delicious omg
  • didn't try their boba so i can't say much
• angels & hearts harajuku creperie | convoy ✨
  • crepe with strawberries, bananas, and charcoal caramel soft serve: looks good and tastes good
  • this place actually has really bad reviews on yelp but we didn't check before we came. it turned out to be a good experience for us though and it didn't taste weird or look ugly so maybe it just depended on the worker? not a must-have though if you wanna play it safe
• extraordinary desserts | little italy ❤️✨
  • flourless chocolate cake: beautiful and rich... how i'm tryna be (jk)
  • blueberry coffee: honestly one of the best cakes i've ever tasted
  • you must go here!!! an iconic place. all the desserts are sooo extra... there are gold flakes and flower petals on everything. they taste just as good as they look
• up2you cafe | clairemont ❤️✨
  • honey toast with condensed milk, strawberries, and mochi: probably my favorite dessert from the entire trip... so good and looks good for ig
  • the interior is nice too
• carnita's snack shack | north park
  • the soft serve cone was huge
  • this is more of a food place but i just came for the soft serve
• ic monster | mira mesa
  • open sesame: rly good
  • interior is super cute: light-colored wood, pastel blue, and white
  • free glass bottles on tuesdays with a drink purchase

bars:

• rustic root | gaslamp quarter
  • good vibes good drinks
  • they rimmed a lot of salt on my teq shot... and for that, i was thankful
  • nice view of the street + night life
• altitude | gaslamp quarter
  • jager bomb: too much jager, not enough bomb
  • rooftop of a marriott
  • beauuuutiful view (its' pretty high up) of the city and the ball park

places:

• balboa park | balboa park ✨
  • a lot of museums (they close at 5pm)
  • nice to walk around and take pics
• maritime museum of san diego | north park ✨
  • cool ships
  • the uss midway is here and the tour is cool but we didn't get to go
  • that iconic victory-over-japan day statue with the marine kissing a girl is here