Welcome to a coastal California gem that’s making waves as a thriving plant-based journey vacation spot. Oceanside, as soon as thought-about merely a cease en path to San Diego, has blossomed right into a bona fide hotspot for aware vacationers searching for extra than simply pristine seashores. With an explosion of hip espresso outlets, a vibrant arts and tradition scene, and a burgeoning vegan eating scene that has SoCal locals buzzing, Oceanside is a paradise for plant-based adventurers.
Israel Palacio
1 The Plot Thickens
The Plot has shortly turn out to be one of the vital adored vegan eating places in California. Should you’re fixing for brunch, the Sausage & Biscuits is a scrumptious shock with its enormous slab of succulent breakfast sausage atop a tacky nation gravy-slathered biscuit—particularly when paired with a hen nugget-topped Bloody Mary. For dinner, don’t miss the tempura-fried Continual sushi roll made with lion’s mane crab and spicy tuna … and revel in it exterior! Outside eating is plentiful with tables set round vegetable beds.
California Surf Museum
2 Arts abound
As one in every of California’s 14 designated Cultural Districts, Oceanside’s burgeoning arts and tradition scene deserves as a lot shine as its delicacies. For museum hoppers, the California Surf Museum affords a deep dive into SoCal surf tradition, whereas the Oceanside Museum of Artwork hosts worldwide displays and low and dialog occasions with native artists. Wind down by catching a neighborhood manufacturing at Star Theatre or Sunshine Brooks Theater—or each, they’re solely a block aside.
Leo CabalLeo Cabal
3 Within the arms of the chef
The vegan tasting menu at fine-dining Japanese restaurant Matsu is in contrast to something you’ve ever skilled. Esteemed Chef William Eick transforms seemingly easy greens into plant-based masterpieces in Matsu’s omakase (roughly translating to “I go away it as much as you”) fashion of eating. The ten-course meal of chef-selected bites—which might vary from tempura carrot with Dynamite sauce to the signature charred cabbage-skin dumpling stuffed with cabbage pulp in a cabbage dashi—is a dedication, but it surely’s value each chunk for these with an appreciation for the artwork of eating.
Eris Vegan Meals Co.
4 Free foodie spirit
For a no-frills, informal vegan eatery with top-notch native kombucha on faucet, pop into Eris Vegan Meals Co. Should you can’t select between lighter fare or a extra indulgent dish, strive the Triple Taco Combo, that includes adobada seitan, candy potato-pepper jack, and coconut fish tacos. After you nosh, take the brief stroll west to walk alongside the oceanfront boardwalk. Or hit up the sunshine and brilliant Communal Espresso for an iced blueberry-Earl Gray oat milk latte earlier than you head to the seashore.
The Privateer Coal Hearth Pizza
5 Slices & smiles
For a hyper-local and energetic ambiance, The Privateer Coal Hearth Pizza ought to high your eating listing with its giant menu chock-full of vegan choices (the OKC Pie with inexperienced romesco sauce, cashew mozzarella, sunflower sausage, roasted shallot French dressing, and Brazil nut parmesan is a winner). Should you occur to be in Oceanside on Tuesday, try the free comedy night time which has a rotating roster of comics doing brief units within the night. Go early to get a seat, order a few vegan potato tacos and a drink, and put together to be entertained.
Dija Mara
6 Boost your life
For Balinese-inspired fare, Dija Mara will spin your style buds right into a tizzy. Don’t let its laid-back vibe and industrial setting idiot you—the quite a few vegan choices and drinks are first-rate and filled with taste. The Charred Eggplant is definitely veganized and accompanied by a smoked tomato sambal and fried shallots, whereas the tofu-and-tempeh rendang served with pickles, peanut sauce, and aromatic coconut rice completely balances savory, tangy, candy, and salty flavors. And don’t neglect to ask for the proper pairing with a variety from the pure wine listing.
Valle
7 Flying excessive
The beachfront Mission Pacific Resort has a number of enticing choices on your itinerary. Your first cease ought to be The Rooftop Bar, boasting one of many metropolis’s finest ocean views. By sundown, it evolves into an attractive and complex lounge replete with dwell DJs, cocktails, and poolside lounging. Subsequent, head to your particular vegan reservation at Michelin guide-honored, fine-dining sizzling spot Valle, which transforms its normal Baja California-inspired meals right into a next-level plant-based night time of consuming that’s fully well worth the splurge for an important day.
Rafikiz Foodz
8 Sundown frame of mind
Don your strolling sneakers, as a result of downtown’s Thursday night time, year-round meals and music road honest, Mainstreet Oceanside Sundown Market, sprawls alongside a number of fun-filled blocks. Cease by vegan-friendly Rafikiz Foodz for healthful, flavorful Kenyan dishes, like black-eyed peas, coconut rice, and collard greens with a do-it-yourself kachumbari sauce. Or strive Pacific Island fare carried out vegan-style from Teif’s Pacific Island Grill. Artisanal items and crafts distributors will fulfill your buying repair whereas a dwell band gives the soundtrack on your excellent night time out.
Selection Superfood Bar & Juicery
9 Greens of goodness
Trek down Coast Freeway from Oceanside into the neighboring metropolis of Carlsbad to go to one of many area’s hottest wholesome joints, all-vegan Selection Superfood Bar & Juicery. The recent juices and smoothies are plentiful (and various, starting from an ultra-green spinach-broccoli-ginger juice to a PB&J smoothie with raspberry-chia jam), however that’s solely the start—the entire grab-and-go salads, artisanal toasts, and superfood banana bread muffins are delectable. Hunker down within the kid- and dog-friendly courtyard with a coconut bacon cobb salad to gas a day of boutique exploration in close by Carlsbad Village.
Bliss Tea & Treats
10 Pinkies up
Again in Oceanside, it’s possible you’ll not look forward to finding a high-tea parlor on this laid-back seashore city, however Bliss Tea & Treats is a welcome shock with its brilliant and joyful teatime expertise. On the primary downtown stretch of Mission Avenue, this Black-owned tea parlor has a vegan tasting that pairs tea with goodies like cream cheese-and-cucumber sandwiches on housemade focaccia, together with a severely pleasant apple and cookie butter finger sandwich.
