Jake's Del Mar: Oceanfront Seafood, Hula Pie, and the 4 p.m. Menu Nobody Knows About

Overview

Jake's Del Mar is an oceanfront restaurant at 1660 Coast Blvd, serving chef-driven coastal fare and craft cocktails close enough to the water that the view does half the work. It's one of a handful of San Diego restaurants actually on the sand rather than near it, and the sunset seats are the most requested in Del Mar for a reason.

Here's the thing that makes Jake's more interesting than its address: it isn't a local one-off. Jake's belongs to T S Restaurants, a family that started at Kimo's on Maui and runs through Duke's, Hula Grill, Leilani's, and Keoki's Paradise. That Hawaiian lineage is not decoration. It shows up in the macadamia nut panko on the calamari, in the poke bowl, and most of all in the Hula Pie — a dessert invented at Kimo's and described in Lahaina as "what the sailors swam ashore for."

And here's the one thing to understand before you go, because it genuinely changes your visit: Jake's runs at least seven different menus depending on the hour and the day. Brunch on Sundays. Lunch. A separate late lunch in the bar. Dinner. A chef's tasting menu available only from 4 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Plus bar-only T S Tuesdays and Waikiki Wednesdays.

Show up at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday and you are in a different restaurant than the one you'd find at 7 p.m. on a Saturday. Pick your hour on purpose.

What to Order at Jake's Del Mar

The kitchen leans seafood, with the Hawaiian accent showing up in small, deliberate places. Worth knowing:

• Crispy Calamari ($19.50). Macadamia nut panko crust, sweet and sour sauce. This is the dish where the Maui DNA is most obvious, and it's the one to start with.
• Hamachi Sashimi ($23.00). Japanese hamachi with spring citrus ponzu, ninja radish, and charred serrano oil. Clean, sharp, and a good read on how seriously they take the raw side of the menu.
• Seafood Chowder ($15.00). Sweet corn, fresh fish, clams, bacon, potato, creamy fish broth, focaccia. The order for a gray morning when the marine layer hasn't burned off.
• Ahi Poke Bowl ($25.50). Sesame soy dressing, avocado, spicy sesame cucumber salad, kimchi, fresno chili, jasmine rice. The most direct expression of the Hawaiian side of the house.
• Roasted Local Fish ($31.00). Sesame chickpea crust, warm orzo salad with zucchini, corn and fennel, roasted red pepper cream, stone fruit guajillo vinaigrette. The most ambitious plate on the lunch menu and the one that justifies "chef-driven."
• Fish & Chips ($25.00). Beer-battered mahi mahi, crunchy cabbage slaw, tartar. Sometimes you're at the beach and this is the correct answer.
• Chef's Burger ($21.00). Sirloin and brisket blend, Tillamook smoked cheddar, grilled onions, special sauce, brioche.

And then there's the one everyone comes for.

Hula Pie ($15.00). Macadamia nut ice cream stacked on a chocolate cookie crust, a layer of cool fudge, whipped cream around the base, hot fudge poured over the top, toasted macadamia nuts clinging to all of it. It's portioned for sharing and, by the restaurant's own admission, rarely goes unfinished.

If you want to be the most popular person at a party: they sell a whole Hula Pie for $119, which arrives with a pint of hot fudge, a pound of whipped cream, toasted macadamia nuts, and — genuinely — instructions.

Prices above are from Jake's online lunch and takeout menu; dinner pricing differs.

How to Visit Jake's Del Mar

• Address: 1660 Coast Blvd, Del Mar, CA 92014
• Phone: (858) 755-2002
• Lunch & dinner: Monday–Thursday 11:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m. · Friday–Saturday 11:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
• Sunday: Brunch, lunch and dinner, 10:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.
• Chef's tasting menu: Monday–Friday, 4:00–5:00 p.m.
• In the bar: Late lunch daily 2:30–4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. Sundays) · T S Tuesdays and Waikiki Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. to close
• Reservations: OpenTable · Takeout: Toast
• Online: jakesdelmar.com · @jakesdelmar

Book ahead and ask for the window. This is one of the most reservation-dependent restaurants in North County, and the difference between a window table at sunset and an interior two-top is the difference between the experience people talk about and a perfectly nice lunch.

The 4 p.m. hour is the insider move. The chef's tasting menu runs only from 4 to 5 p.m. on weekdays — a single hour, five days a week. If you want the kitchen's best thinking without a dinner reservation fight, that's the window.

Parking is the Del Mar tax. Coast Boulevard is tight, metered, and busy in summer, and it gets considerably worse during fair and race season. Build in time or plan to walk a few blocks.

Jake's sits in the village end of Del Mar, a short walk from Powerhouse Park and 15th Street. If you're exploring the area — or thinking about living in it — our Del Mar neighborhood guide is a good place to start.

The Takeaway

Go for sunset, order the calamari and something out of the ocean, and split the Hula Pie. That's the Jake's experience and it's been the Jake's experience for a long time.

What keeps this from being just a view restaurant is that the kitchen clearly cares. A lot of places with this address would coast — serve a decent fish taco, charge for the sunset, and let the Pacific do the rest. Instead you get a stone fruit guajillo vinaigrette on the local fish and macadamia panko on the calamari, which are not the choices of a kitchen phoning it in.

Make a day of it: Del Mar's dog beach at the north end is among the best off-leash stretches in California, and there's more to eat in the village at Nick's Del Mar and Coya. More San Diego spots worth knowing are in our Local Picks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Jake's Del Mar? Jake's is at 1660 Coast Blvd, Del Mar, CA 92014, directly on the beach near the village and Powerhouse Park.

What are Jake's Del Mar's hours? Monday through Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with brunch service.

Does Jake's Del Mar take reservations? Yes, through OpenTable, and they're strongly recommended — especially for sunset and for window tables.

What is Hula Pie? Hula Pie is macadamia nut ice cream on a chocolate cookie crust with hot fudge, whipped cream, and toasted macadamia nuts. It was created at Kimo's on Maui, the first T S Restaurant, and it's the signature dessert across the group. A slice is $15; a whole pie to take home is $119.

Does Jake's Del Mar have a happy hour or tasting menu? There's a chef's tasting menu Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., plus a bar-only late lunch menu daily from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., T S Tuesdays, and Waikiki Wednesdays.

Is Jake's Del Mar on the beach? Yes. It's one of the few San Diego County restaurants genuinely on the sand rather than across a road from it.

Can you order takeout from Jake's Del Mar? Yes, through Toast. Note that online ordering is pickup only.