College Area & SDSU
El Cajon Boulevard near SDSU packs Lebanese flatbread, vegan deli food, taco-shop staples, pizza, and study-friendly coffee into one mile.
Start here
9 in total
Cheap EatsThe 7 Best Cheap Eats Around SDSU and the College Area7
Pizza, Burgers & SandwichesThe 12 Best Burgers in San Diego, Ranked12
RestaurantsThe 15 Best Restaurants in San Diego Right Now15
Breakfast, Bakeries & SweetsThe 11 Best Bagels in San Diego, Ranked11
Cheap EatsThe 10 Best Cheap Eats in San Diego, Ranked10
CoffeeThe 8 Best Coffee Shops to Work From8
Every list that covers College Area & SDSU
Updated as places change
7 rankedCheap EatsThe 7 Best Cheap Eats Around SDSU and the College AreaUpdated Aug 2
12 rankedPizza, Burgers & SandwichesThe 12 Best Burgers in San Diego, RankedUpdated Aug 2
15 rankedRestaurantsThe 15 Best Restaurants in San Diego Right NowUpdated Jul 31
11 rankedBreakfast, Bakeries & SweetsThe 11 Best Bagels in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 27
10 rankedCheap EatsThe 10 Best Cheap Eats in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 27
8 rankedCoffeeThe 8 Best Coffee Shops to Work FromUpdated Jul 27
11 rankedGlobal KitchensThe 11 Best Middle Eastern Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 23
9 rankedMexicanThe 9 Best Burritos in San DiegoUpdated Jul 19
8 rankedGlobal KitchensThe 8 Best Dim Sum Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 18
The neighborhood itself
11 verified places · 9 eat & drink and 0 things-to-do listsThe College Area's useful food run follows El Cajon Boulevard, not the SDSU campus. Start at Alforon for zaatar flatbread or ouzi lamb, then head east for a vegan bagel or Reuben at Ben & Esther's and carne asada fries at Chuy's. The walk from Alforon to Chuy's takes about twenty minutes end to end.
Need a longer pause? Living Room Coffeehouse has couches and outlets. For a later plan, choose pizza at Woodstock's or drinks at Majorette. Check the stop you care about before leaving: several counters keep short days or close early in the week.
If you only do 6 things
1Alforoneat2Ben & Esther's Vegan Delicatesseneat3Living Room Coffeehousedrink4Majorettedrink5Chuy's Taco Shopeat6Woodstock's Pizza SDSUeatKnow before you go
Parking: the streets around campus fall inside the city's Area B SDSU/College permit district, where curb parking is permit-only Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm — read the sign on the block before you walk away
Getting here: the Green Line runs to SDSU Transit Center on campus, about a mile north of the food; Rapid 215 runs the Boulevard itself, downtown to SDSU
Timing: Rise stops serving at 2pm and Alforon is closed Monday and Tuesday, so check the counter you came for before you drive over
Where they are — 11 verified places
The index
Ranked places pulled from all 9 listsAlforon, on El Cajon Boulevard in El Cerrito, is built around its oven.
Ben and Esther were real people. Justin King named Ben & Esther's Vegan Delicatessen, on El Cajon Boulevard in Rolando, after his Jewish grandparents, second-ge…
Chuy's is a mom-and-pop shop on El Cajon Boulevard, where, as Food Network puts it, two brothers are cooking up memories from their childhood in Mexico.
Halal Burger Co. picked its opening day with care.
Milo's Pizzeria has been baking New York-style pizza on El Cajon Boulevard in Rolando since 1996, which means it has been feeding SDSU students for three decade…
On El Cajon Boulevard in Rolando, right next to Cheba Hut, Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken covers the College Area's biscuit breakfast.
Every college neighborhood needs a place where one coffee turns into a whole study session, and in the College Area that's Living Room Coffeehouse, on El Cajon Boulevard in El Cerrito.
San Diego Magazine's pick for Best Bar Burger is at Majorette, a Rolando bar on El Cajon Boulevard.
Garden Fresh Grill & Smoothie is the family-owned Mediterranean and Middle Eastern counter that has been feeding the College Area for more than a decade.
Woodstock's Pizza SDSU is the College Area's big pizza hangout, and it comes from a family of college-town pizzerias.
The big building on 54th Street has a restaurant history.