Restaurant Online Ordering in San Diego

Eating out in San Diego

Where the fish taco was born and Baja California's influence creates America's best Mexican-inspired cuisine. The mix spans Mexican, Baja-Med and Seafood, with Fish Tacos and California Burrito among the dishes that define eating in San Diego. San Diego popularized the fish taco in America when Ralph Rubio brought it from Baja in 1983. The California burrito (with french fries) was invented here. The city has the strongest Baja influence of any US city.

What that means for your kitchen

Rubio's Coastal Grill — Popularized fish taco in America since 1983 — is not the same kind of operation as a counter-service kitchen, and it does not have the same technology needs. Formats that different — Mexican/Seafood, then Mexican at El Indio — put very different demands on a menu, a ticket rail and a delivery hand-off. Running Mexican, Baja-Med and Seafood off one system means modifier groups and kitchen routing have to be genuinely flexible. That is the case for owning your own ordering channel in San Diego: the menu, the customer list and the margin stay with the restaurant instead of a marketplace.

Delivery and pickup zones in San Diego tend to be drawn around areas like Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy and North Park, plus 2 more across the city. Zones, fees and prep times are set per area, so a San Diego restaurant can price a short hop differently from a run across town.