Herb & Sea: 100% Local Seafood and a One-Hour Happy Hour Worth Planning Around

Overview

Herb & Sea is a seafood restaurant on D Street in downtown Encinitas, and it runs on a commitment most restaurants only gesture at: 100% locally sourced seafood, bought through direct relationships with independent San Diego fishermen.

The kitchen belongs to Aidan Owens, culinary director for both Herb & Sea and its older sibling Herb & Wood, and part of the Puffer Malarkey Collective. He grew up on a small farm outside Byron Bay, Australia, where he learned to grow, raise and butcher his own food, and came up through Kettner Exchange, Fort Oak and Trust before taking this over. His cooking runs on whole-animal butchery and fermentation, and his team is taught proper butchery specifically to cut waste. San Diego Magazine has called him a rising star; Food & Wine, Forbes and Business Insider have all put him on the record about sustainable seafood.

Here's the one thing to understand before you go, because it has three parts and most people only know one of them: the happy hour is the best value in North County coastal dining, it runs exactly one hour, and you can only order it if you're sitting in the right part of the room.

Specifically: 5 to 6 p.m., Sunday and Tuesday through Friday — not Saturday — and only in the bar area or at the high-tops. Parties seated in the dining room are offered the regular dinner menu and nothing else.

Get those three right and it's one of the best hours of eating in San Diego County.

What to Order at Herb & Sea

At happy hour — "sip it, shuck it, smash it," as they put it:

• The $20 Happy Meal. A beef-and-pork smash burger, three West Coast oysters, frites, and a glass of bubbles. For twenty dollars. This is the single best-value order on this coastline and it is not close.
• Oysters — $12 for six, $24 for a dozen. West Coast, with their house hot sauce. Two dollars an oyster at a restaurant that buys 100% local seafood.
• The Smash Burger ($12). Beef and pork, mustard, mayo, grilled onions, pickles, American cheese. Not a seafood order, and arguably the sleeper of the menu.
• Frites ($6). Yukon gold, fried in hot oil.

At dinner, the raw bar is the reason to be here:

• "Ode to Swan" ($33.53). Tuna, scallop, salmon and black cod with shallot, chive, caper, lemon, olive oil and black pepper. The house's statement plate and the thing to order if you only order one.
• Yellowtail Crudo ($23.95). Pineapple shoyu, strawberry, green almond, mizuna.
• Scallop Aguachile ($25.69). Poached scallop in aguachile verde with crispy shallot.
• Ceviche ($23.21). Tangerine, tomato, black lime, charred green onion oil, taro chips.
• Oysters ($26.89 / $52.77). East and West Coast, cocktail sauce, mignonette, house hot sauce.
• Roasted Oysters & Bone Marrow ($29.01). With Pernod. The one that sounds like a dare and isn't.

Two dishes are named for the farm that grew them, which tells you where the kitchen's head is: the Caesar Salad – Ecology Center ($17.74), with cured egg yolk jam, crispy chicken skin and boquerones, and the Sumac Tomatoes – Dassi Farms ($18.22) with muhammara and sesame crunch.

How to Visit Herb & Sea in Encinitas

• Address: 131 W D Street, Encinitas, CA 92024
• Phone: (760) 704-8300
• Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 5–9 p.m. · Sunday 5–8 p.m. · Closed Monday
• Happy hour: Sunday and Tuesday–Friday, 5–6 p.m. only. Not Saturday.
• Happy hour seating: Bar area and high-tops only. Not the dining room.
• Online: herbandsea.com · @herbandsea

You can reserve a happy hour seat — but only a specific kind. High-top tables in the bar area can be booked for 5:00–5:30 p.m. Bar and counter seats are first come, first served, so if that's what you want, arrive early.

It's dinner only. No lunch, no brunch, and closed Mondays entirely. For a downtown Encinitas restaurant, that's a narrower window than most people assume.

Saturday has no happy hour. It's the one night of the week it doesn't run, and it's also the busiest — book a proper dinner table instead of turning up at 5 expecting $2 oysters.

Downtown Encinitas parking applies. D Street is a block off Coast Highway 101 in the walkable core, which is lovely and means street parking is competitive on a weekend evening.

Herb & Sea sits in the middle of downtown Encinitas, one of the best walking neighborhoods on the North County coast. If you're exploring — or thinking about living there — our Encinitas neighborhood guide is a good place to start.

The Takeaway

Go at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, sit at the bar, order the $20 Happy Meal and a dozen oysters, and you will spend under fifty dollars for two people at a restaurant with a Food & Wine–quoted chef.

What makes Herb & Sea worth writing about isn't the happy hour math, though. It's that the sourcing claim is unusually specific. Plenty of restaurants say "sustainable." This one says 100% local, names the farms on the menu, and has a chef who learned to butcher on a farm in New South Wales and now teaches his line cooks to do it so less of the animal gets thrown away. That's a harder thing to do than to say, and you can taste the difference in a two-dollar oyster.

For more North County spots worth knowing, browse our Local Picks — including Little Oaks Bakehouse a short walk away — or see Encinitas vs. Carlsbad if you're weighing the two beach towns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Herb & Sea? At 131 W D Street in downtown Encinitas, CA 92024, a block off Coast Highway 101.

What are Herb & Sea's hours? Tuesday through Saturday 5–9 p.m., Sunday 5–8 p.m. Closed Monday. It's dinner only — no lunch or brunch.

When is Herb & Sea's happy hour? Sunday and Tuesday through Friday, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. There is no happy hour on Saturday or Monday.

Can I sit anywhere for Herb & Sea's happy hour? No. Happy hour is only offered in the bar area and at the high-top tables. Parties seated in the dining room receive the regular dinner menu only.

Can you make reservations for happy hour? Yes, for high-top tables in the bar area from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. Bar and counter seats are first come, first served.

How much are oysters at Herb & Sea happy hour? $12 for six or $24 for a dozen — two dollars each. There's also a $20 combination with a smash burger, three oysters, frites and a glass of sparkling wine.

Who is the chef at Herb & Sea? Aidan Owens, culinary director for Herb & Sea and Herb & Wood. He was raised on a farm outside Byron Bay, Australia, and previously cooked at Kettner Exchange, Fort Oak and Trust.

Is Herb & Sea's seafood really local? The restaurant states its seafood is 100% locally sourced, bought through direct relationships with independent San Diego fishermen.