Amazing hair with equally amazing Mezcal at the Del Mar Food and Wine Festival
NEWS FLASH: DISCOUNT TICKETS FOR THE 2026 DEL MAR FOOD AND WINE FEST JUST RELEASED. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS. NEXT EVENT IS OCT 3RD AND 4TH, 2026
DEL MAR FOOD + WINE FEST 2025 REVIEW: WORTH IT?
There are two main food and wine festivals in San Diego. The OG is the San Diego Food + Wine Festival which has been held on the San Diego Bay every November for the past 21 years. The second is the Del Mar Food + Wine Festival, a newcomer to the scene over the past three years and a worthy contender.
Both are awesome events with a few key differences. For the “scene” to being seen, I would give the nod to the San Diego event. The location on the bay is pretty impressive and it feels very San Diego. But the Del Mar event, oh boy, there is so much top notch food and wine and spirits, and so much space, that it’s really giving the San Diego event a run for their money.
But is it worth it? At approximately $200 per person it’s not cheap, but just go to dinner at any random nice restaurant in San Diego and all of a sudden it’s a good value. Have you seen your grocery bill lately? I mean, I’m writing this in Sept 2025 and everything is really expensive. But the Del Mar Food + Wine Fest delivers, making it not just worth it, but well worth it!
Brant Beef Burger
First stop, Brandt Beef. Brandt Beef is always the draw at these sort of events with their top notch, high end beef. At some festivals you can’t even get into the Brandt Beef area but at the Del Mar Food + Wine Fest it’s as easy as grabbing what you want, like this insane burger with beef tallow fries from Tanner’s Prime Burgers. Smash burgers are all the rage and this must be the best smash burger of all time. Their store location is in Oceanside - go visit and let me know if you don’t agree, this is a killer burger and equally insane fries. And notice how BIG this “sample” is - no tiny little Costco sample bites here, portions are large and plentiful.
Serea Coastal Cuisine and Lionfish handing out freshly shucked oysters, all you can eat!
So many oysters…… from lionfish and serea Coastal Cuisine
Back on the “is it worth it” question, what I like about the Del Mar Food + Wine Festival is that even the standard ticket holder gets access to exceptional food, like these freshly shucked oysters from Lionfish and Serea Coastal Cuisine. Topped with a chile verde sauce made from tomatillo, agave pickled seranos and grilled spring onions, they were fresh and delightful. They also would top it with a splash of tequila upon request but to my palate they were better without - save your love for tequila for another booth and just enjoy oyster after oyster. And yes, there’s a booth serving up high end tequila and mezcal.
So all the food was goo but what was the best thing we ate at the del mar food + wine fest?
Not so fast! I think you deserve a few more food photos before I tell you what I thought was the best bite. And I totally forgot, one of the cool things about this event is when celebrity chefs show up and in 2025 they had Guy Fieri in the VIP tent. That’s pretty cool and while you really don’t need to upgrade to the tent to get the good stuff it would have been cool to meet Guy. Maybe next year I’ll be a VIP, but for now let’s get back to some of my favorite bites.
So many good things to eat but one really stood out - and unbelievably it was one of the least showy items, just a delicious snap and crunch with satisfying flavor and that was the tiny little yellowtail tostada from El Pez Kitchen Sushi. Is this sushi? Is this Mexican food? Why yes, it is. And yes, I am guessing that it was a yellowtail tostada because they had no signage and I was so excited once I had one I forgot to ask but I’m pretty sure, pretty sure.
I want more of these and I had plenty. The funny thing about food festivals is that there’s always one dish that clearly resonates on the palate and for me - and for the other three in our party - El Pez was it. I think it’s worth a trip to South Bay to check out the rest of their menu. In fact, I loved this so much I’m going to give you their address so you can try it for yourself:
El Pez, 3404 Palm Ave, San Diego, CA 92154, (619) 600-3161. MENU
pro-tips from someone who has been for the past three years:
Take a RideShare but give yourself plenty of time and make sure you communicate with your driver because the GPS wants to drop you off in the street but you cannot get into the event from the street. They must make the long loop into the park as if they were going to park. Every time I’ve Uber’d they tried to drop me off outside which would have left me with a half mile or more hike to get in. This also means that it’s really slow to get in even though you are being dropped off. And when you leave its best to walk OUT of the parking lot area (the gates will now be open) and walk over to MARKET restaurant to call an Uber so they don’t have to loop all the way in only to be stuck in traffic to get you out.
The most popular food stand has always been the burger at Brandt Beef. It’s one of the few booths with a long line and many assume you must stand in this line to get into the Brandt Beef area. But NO - I suggest you bypass the burger as your first bite and sample other food first. The line for the burger never really lets up so you can come back later.
The VIP tent has been cool in the past but it can get busy. If you have the bucks go for it but it you don’t then don’t worry about it. At some food festivals they keep all the good stuff in the VIP area but at the Del Mar event the good food is everywhere. We could have even done bone marrow vodka shooters with the regular ticket but I was pretty sure I would have bone marrow all over my shirt so skipped it.
Three hours is plenty of time to try it all and unlike some food events they don’’t run out before the end. But I do prefer the early entry, an extra hour that lets you enjoy the event before the rest of the hungry people arrive.
