what i ate in san diego

The #hotforfoodbooktour was obviously the best time ever. But it was especially incredible because I was able to visit cities I otherwise wouldn’t necessarily go to! San Diego was one of those cases. I’m bummed that I couldn’t stay longer, because for my first time being here I was so impressed. All the food I ate BLEW MY DAMN MIND, and I’m counting the days until I can return! Read below about all the vegan food in San Diego that I ate.

Admittedly, I learned a lesson on this trip with ordering room service. We stayed at The Grand Hyatt and despite asking for vegan choices, we ended up with some pretty crappy dishes. Take this as a heads up when you travel that it’s usually hit or miss if you’re vegan, and your options might not be prioritized. The good news, though, is that everything else in this blog recap was a 10/10.

hot for food approved

If you're looking for the post where I outline what I ate in Los Angeles in this video, click here.

Donna Jean

PSA: if there’s ANY place in the world that you visit from my travel vlogs, it should be this place. Donna Jean is seriously ABOVE THE LAW. We had an incredibly creamy mushroom risotto with grilled maitake. You might recall an episode of RECIPE?! where I made fried buffalo oyster mushrooms. Well those were 100% inspired by the Nashville hot shrooms that Chef Roy makes at this spot. Mine are good but not quite as good as his, so I was tickled pink to be eating the real thing at the restaurant.

We also had the thunderkiss ‘65 pizza, cast iron mac & cheese, ravioli, thai brussels sprouts, strawberry rhubarb cobbler, chocolate passion fruit torte, and creme brulee. I realize that’s a whopping list, but seriously it’s worth it to spend your money on basically everything here! All of their dishes are made from scratch and you can seriously taste the love when you eat it. 

verdict: Go. There. Now. Not only was it the best vegan food in San Diego, it was the best vegan food I've ever had!

Plant Power Fast Food

This place was basically McDonald’s but ALL VEGAN. We were fangirling at the menu, and continued to fangirl as we ate everything. It seriously seemed too good to be true! We had the mini corn dogs, the big zac (vegan big mac), vegan fried egg, peanut butter milkshake, BBQ crispy chicken salad, and the wake and bacon burger. Do you see the marbling on those bacon slices?! I couldn’t believe it was made from plants. As you can see in the vlog, there were a lot of “omg’s” around the table while we dug into everything. 

verdict: the main highlight here was that vegan egg that I couldn’t keep my hands off. I don’t know what kind of sorcery goes on behind the scenes at Plant Power, but I want to know all of their secrets. Vegan food in San Diego is next level!

People's Organic Food Market in Ocean Beach

This is a cute food market we visited afterwards! As I’m sure you can imagine after that fast food feast, I couldn’t eat one more bite. Not even a half bite. I was STUFFED to the brim. If you’re staying longer in San Diego than I did, this would be an ideal spot to hit up! 

verdict: this place had a ton of fresh and shelf items that were vegan! Definitely worth checking out or getting groceries at.

Yup, it’s official... San Diego is one of the BEST VEGAN CITIES I’VE BEEN TO. If you watch the vlog, you’ll see how many f-bombs and shocked faces we dropped after eating these meals. These restaurants have some next level ‘ish going on in their kitchens, and other cities need to step their game up. Let me know if you have more recommendations in San Diego so I can freak out even more next time I go!