2 Best Restaurants in Solana Beach, North County and Around

One of North County's best restaurants, across the street from the Del Mar Fairgrounds and racetrack, offers French cuisine with California flare. Chef-proprietor Jeffrey Strauss brings a caterer's sensibilities to the details, like a mix-or-match selection of sauces—such as wild mushroom, béarnaise, au jus, grain mustard, or peppercorn—to complement the simple but absolutely top-quality grilled meats and seafood. Appetizers can be very clever, like the Kim Chee seafood martini. Whatever you do, save room for dessert; you can watch the pastry chef build it for you at the demonstration area in the dining room. Popular sweet endings include seasonal fruit tart tatin and chocolate peanut-butter bombe. The comfortable rooms are painted with murals of bucolic country scenes, and the service is quiet and professional.

Across the street from the Del Mar racetrack, this classic old-fashioned, family-owned, steak and seafood house is a high-roller's heaven and a perennial favorite with jockeys celebrating their wins. The food is simple but good, and the menu highlights roasted prime rib in addition to filet mignon, pan-fried scallops, and such starters as lobster bisque and jumbo shrimp on ice. Everyone from the pianist to the waitresses is well aware that smiles and prompt service can result in tips as generously sized as the gigantic Australian lobster tails that the menu demurely lists at "market price."