Jake’s Del Mar

On our list of the best restaurants with a view in San Diego.

The building dates to 1910, built as the garage for the Stratford Inn (later the Hotel Del Mar), and has since served as a sheriff's substation, Coast Guard barracks during World War II and an artist's studio before becoming a restaurant in the late 1970s. Its rough-hewn roof trusses are still exposed inside. Jake's, branded here since 1981, serves seafood and steaks a few steps from the sand: crab cakes, ahi sashimi, a mixed seafood pot and a double lobster tail alongside filet mignon and a burger. OpenTable handles reservations, with a phone line for times that aren't listed online.