Serra Mesa & Tierrasanta
Mission Trails at the end of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, with plaza counters worth planning around on both sides of the 15.
Start here
4 in total
Every list that covers Serra Mesa & Tierrasanta
Updated as places change
10 rankedNeighborhood Guides10 Places Worth Your Time in Serra Mesa and TierrasantaUpdated Aug 2
12 rankedSushi & JapaneseThe 12 Best Sushi Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Aug 2
12 rankedPizza, Burgers & SandwichesThe 12 Best Pizzas in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 27
11 rankedGlobal KitchensThe 11 Best Middle Eastern Restaurants in San Diego, RankedUpdated Jul 23
The neighborhood itself
10 verified places · 3 eat & drink and 1 things-to-do listsThe road-to-trail transition is the draw: follow Clairemont Mesa Boulevard east until Tierrasanta ends at the Mission Trails gate. Start with coffee or a sticky bun at Bear Buns Bakery, walk from the gate, then choose lunch by plaza: Peruvian sandwiches at Sangucheria PSF, congee and dan dan noodles at Soup Du Jour, or an 18-inch pie from The Pizza Standard. Serra Mesa adds a second outdoor option at Ruffin Canyon Trail, which runs from Gramercy Drive toward Mission Valley. These are two mesas, not one walkable strip, so plan the route before choosing dinner.
If you only do 6 things
Know before you go
Parking: shared plaza lots. At Soup Du Jour on Aero Drive, use the Olympus Corsair garage in any slot marked Retail/Visitor — no time limit
Getting here: drive: the 15 runs between the two mesas, and Friars Road runs the canyon below Serra Mesa
Don’t miss: the 8 a.m. gate at the east end of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard — it locks again at 7 p.m. through October
Where they are — 10 verified places
The index
Ranked places pulled from all 4 listsBraised pork, fried sweet potato and red onion in a roll, with a green sauce and an orange sauce on the side.
Chicken congee with a Chinese donut is the order people bring up most at Soup Du Jour, a from-scratch Taiwanese comfort kitchen on Aero Drive in Serra Mesa.
The Pizza Standard started with a simple discovery.
A good pho broth should taste like something before any sauce goes in, and that's exactly the praise that follows Mom's Pho & Grill in Tierrasanta Town Center.
Maggie's Cafe on Greyling Drive is half breakfast cafe, half bar, and that combination is why a table of ten can often land here without much planning.
Kokoro Restaurant has eight seats at its sushi bar, in a Greyling Drive strip mall next to a Subway, and it serves the most distinctive meal on this list.
BoujieMana is the Serra Mesa dinner that feels like an occasion.
California Burritos opens at 6 a.m., two hours before the Mission Trails lot, and stays open until 11 p.m., every day.