By Kevin Wilkerson, San Diego Blogger
Welcome to sunny and scenic La Jolla, CA!
This is a place where bluffs lead to beauty, where tourists gawk at sea lions as snorkelers and divers encounter them in the water and where you can experience beauty that seems out of this world. This article is an all-you-need-to-know guide to La Jolla from a local with recommended bars, restaurants and things to do here.
Editor’s note: This article was most recently updated in 2026.
Best Bars In La Jolla
There’s a decades-old joke that says “they roll up the sidewalks in La Jolla at 9 o’clock” and while that’s not quite the truth, it’s a sign that if you want nightlife then head south a few miles to Pacific Beach. Still, there are some good places to go for food and drink. Here are PubClub.com’s recommendations.
In La Jolla Village (the one by the La Jolla Cove, not the massive shopping area miles inland), PubClub.com recommends the following places for cocktails: Hennessey’s Tavern (where you can find best Happy Hour in La Jolla; you can get a beer & shot or a large beer for $10 and it it goes until 7), The Spot (the French Onion soup and pizza are two great menu items), Jose’s Mexican restaurant and bar, the small Birdseye Restaurant and Bar on the tooftop at the Cormorant Hotel, the Cove House (which actually used to be someone’s house) and Beeside Balcony with live music and a speakeasy in the back.
In La Jolla Shores, PubClub.com recommends the following places for cocktails: Shore Rider is a cool beach bar that I like a lot. The beer and pizza is really good at House of Pizza, but it’s too small to really be called a bar. Both are in a little one-street, small-block area blocked off to traffic with a lot of locals’ restaurant/bars with surf shop and kayak rental places that give the place a super-small beach town vibe. The beach, which is only about a mile wide, is really the only significant beach in La Jolla and it’s one of the most popular surfing spots in San Diego.
In Bird Rock, a community between La Jolla Village and PB named because a large rock used to look like a bird, a popular place for food, drinks and conversation is Beaumont’s (look for the yellow table umbrellas). A little to the north is The Shack, a thatched-roof dive bar of sorts with a nice patio and a pool table that’s right up PubClub’s alley.
Best Restaurants In La Jolla
I could go on and on and on here, but if someone else is buying then George’s at the Cove is one of the best restaurants in San Diego and the view overlooking the cove is one of the reasons why that is the case. It does have a bar on it’s balcony if you just want to pop up there for drinks…Another splurge spot is the Marine Room in La Jola Shores. The big attraction here is the huge window looking out to the Pacific Ocean; when the waves are big they crash into that window, making for a spectacular experience…Back in the Village, I like the aforementioned Beeside Balcony and La Dolce Vita, a small Italian restaurant in a little courtyard off Prospect Street; this place has basic Italian food done very well and the wine pours are very generous to say the least.
Best Sightseeing Things To Do In La Jolla
The natural beauty of La Jolla is enough to take up several hours of your day. Most people go to La Jolla Cove to see hundreds of sea lions lounge on the rocks. Note: these are wild animals and do not approach or try to pet them. They do bite…The little curved area is also a very popular place for swimming and snorkeling...For something complete different, go to Sunny Jim’s Cave and walk down steps thorugh a carved-out cave to the ocean ($13 for adults, daily, 9 a.m.-4 p.m) and also take a scenic stroll on the Coast Walk next to it. Note: do not get close to the edge of any bluff in La Jolla as they can be unstable…Walk on the curved sea wall, where you may get wet from crashing waves, at Children’s Pool, just south of the Cove (10-minute walk). There, you can see California Harbor Seals…Walk through the nation’s oldest family-run bookstore, Warwick’s, in La Jolla Village (on Gerard Street which is known to some as the Rodeo Drive of San Diego, at Silverado)…Lay on the beach, go surfing or swim with leopard sharks at La Jolla Shores. Kayak tours, which sometimes go into La Jolla’s sea caves, are out of several outfitters in La Jolla Shores…Take a scenic e-bike ride along the coast or even up 800+ feet to Mt. Soledad with Another Side Tours.…Hang out at La Jolla Glider Port; the Cliffhanger Cafe & Bar is pretty good for food and drinks…You have probably head of the nude beach, Black’s Beach, and you can go there tho know it’s a steep hike down from the gliderport area with hazards such as unstable cliffs and riptides,and there are no facilities…Visit Mt. Soledad, a veteran’s memorial with plaques honoring military veterans plus since it’s so high up it has spectaular 360-degree views of the coast to the north and Mission Bay all the way to downtown and even Mexico to the south.
Parking In La Jolla
Street parking in La Jolla is free. That sounds wonderful and it is, tho the way it’s done can be as confusing as figuring out the U.S. tax code. Most spots are two hours but down by the cove and Children’s Pool it’s three hours (good luck finding a spot there, tho; a local tour guide says La Jolla stands for “city of no parking”).
However, some spots are three hours and others have no time limit. This can change by block and even within a block; one side of the street might be two hours while the other is three. My advice is thoroughly check the street signs.
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