Leucadia Highway 101 Restaurants: What's New for Fall 2026

In February, Leucadia Cyclery owner Jeff Schade hung a six-foot sign as a joke over a piece of construction equipment outside his shop. He told The Coast News the tractor had sat near Avocado Street for three weeks without starting its engine. Over the same months, a Lao-Thai restaurant moved into the corner at Daphne Street, a sushi and robata concept took over the former MRKT SPACE, a bagel shop finished building out its kitchen, and a coffee roaster took over a beloved deli.

New businesses kept opening in a year that was hard on the street. North Coast Highway 101 is getting new places to eat while the Leucadia Streetscape project is still underway, and most of those places are already serving. When Segment C wraps up, the corridor will mostly be catching up to a dining scene that has already changed.

A hard year to open a restaurant

The numbers show why every opening here took some nerve. The Coast News reports that the Streetscape project broke ground in January 2021. It covers a 2.5-mile corridor and has cost more than $65 million in total. Segment C runs from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue and carries an estimated $32 million price tag. When it began in 2024, it was supposed to be done by summer 2025. After the City Council approved additional drainage work, including a new storm drain system, Director of Engineering Dan Nutter said the timeline grew by about a year and a half.

Stacy Reddell is executive director of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association. In July she told The Coast News that the 20 businesses she surveyed saw sales fall an average of 25% to 40% over the past year. Leucadia Donut Shoppe owner Tom Chu said many northbound customers drive on to La Costa Avenue to make a U-turn before they can reach his shop. David Shapiro, co-owner of The Leucadian, said losing street parking has made customers less likely to book events there.

The new openings below all happened under those conditions.

Who opened, expanded or changed hands

Coast Thai-Way, at the corner of Coast Highway and Daphne

This is the biggest arrival of the year. Coast Thai-Way comes from Stella Bayphouthongkham and Bee Sukcharoen, who also co-own Mekong Cuisine Lao & Thai on Convoy Street. In his September 22 review, The Coast News columnist David Boylan noted that the corner has hosted well-known tenants over the years, Mozy Café among them. The menu isn't a copy of Mekong. It adds seafood, seasonal produce and Southern California influences to Lao and Thai dishes from Bayphouthongkham's family, who emigrated from Laos in 1990 and settled in San Diego. Boylan singled out the grilled pork collar with tiger tamarind sauce.

The restaurant's Toast ordering page lists lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m., every day except Tuesday. Those hours differ a little from what WhatNow reported in an April preview, so the Toast page is the one to check.

Oto Sushi, a few doors north

In June, WhatNow San Diego reported that owner Ash Cintas planned to open Oto Sushi at 782 N. Coast Hwy 101, in the former MRKT SPACE, by the end of July. The planned menu included sushi, robatayaki, sake, cocktails and Wagyu burgers. No source we found gives the exact opening day. Its Toast page now takes orders for the Encinitas address. Oto's own website still lists only its Laguna Beach location, so Toast is the more reliable reference for the Leucadia location for now.

New Wave Bagel's kitchen comes online

New Wave Bagel at 312 N. Coast Hwy 101 has had an upgrade. According to The Coast News in late July, its on-site kitchen is now fully running. That means toasted bagels and a wider menu of sandwiches and toasts.

Moto Deli keeps its name

Cartel Roasting Co. is taking over ownership of Moto Deli at 190 N. Coast Hwy 101. Earlier reports suggested the deli would turn into a Cartel café. On September 16, a company representative told WhatNow that Moto Deli will stay where it is, and that no closure, relocation or new Cartel café has been announced.

Marbella Oyster Bar, still coming

In May, San Diego Magazine reported that Marbella Oyster Bar would open at 133 Daphne Street, just behind Coast Thai-Way, in August or September 2026. That window has passed, and we haven't found any update confirming an opening or a new date. If it opens, the corner of Coast Highway and Daphne would have two new restaurants.

Where the cones are right now

The City of Encinitas updated its North Highway 101 project page on September 17. It expects Segment C West and the related drainage work between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue to finish in late fall 2026. That replaces the "by October" target Nutter gave in July.

The City lists this work as done or in progress:

• Done: all of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch underground storm drain pipe
• In progress: cleanout boxes, storm drain laterals and inlets, water service laterals and the water main between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue
• In progress: new curb, gutter, sidewalk, bus pad, bus shelter pad and driveways on the west side of the highway just south of La Costa Avenue

The City says to expect intermittent lane shifts, noise, dust, lighting and large construction vehicles. It also says driveway and business access will be maintained. The finished segment will have wider sidewalks, marked bike lanes, roundabouts at Jupiter and Moorgate, streetlights, crosswalks, benches and bike racks.

Segment C is just one piece of the project. Segment A2 North, from Marcheta Street to Basil Street, was finished in 2022. The 2023 work added striping, a bike lane and median changes between Basil Street and La Costa Avenue, plus flashing crosswalks at Diana Street and North Court. Preliminary designs are complete for Segment B, from Basil Street to Jupiter Street, and for Segment A1 South, from A Street to Marcheta Street. Construction money for those two has not been secured. Finishing Segment C will end the current round of construction, but it won't finish the whole corridor.

The fall calendar, close to home

Leucadia 101's online calendar shows no association events scheduled for the rest of the year, and the page was in preview mode when we checked. The recurring events and the nearby downtown Encinitas events still make for a full few months.

1. Leucadia Farmers Market, every Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive.
2. Encinitas Safe Trick-or-Treat, Saturday, October 31, 5 to 8 p.m., with trick-or-treating at local shops, live music in the Lumberyard Courtyard and kids' games.
3. Holiday Street Fair, Sunday, November 22, along South Coast Highway in downtown Encinitas. The 2026 event page says 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the association's general FAQ says the fair runs until 5.
4. Shop Small Saturday, November 28, noon to 3 p.m., with live music, sidewalk sales and limited-edition prints.
5. Deck the Windows: Downtown Encinitas Holiday Art Week, from November 29 through December 6.

The businesses that stayed open through it

The new arrivals are the visible change. The businesses that stayed open through years of construction are a big part of why the street can draw new tenants in the first place. Leucadia Cyclery, Leucadia Donut Shoppe and The Leucadian all spoke to The Coast News about lost foot traffic. Shapiro said he understands why the road and drainage work is needed. The paper reported that the City and Leucadia 101 plan to hold community meetings until construction ends. Schade, who also sits on the Leucadia 101 board, said he hopes the City will hold a community celebration when the work is done. No date has been announced. The City's own update asks the public to support local Leucadia businesses while construction continues.

At Wisdom Properties, we follow the 101 corridor the way our neighbors do: by eating there, shopping there and watching when the cones move. If you'd like to talk through how the finished Streetscape and the new restaurants on Leucadia's main street fit into your own plans, we're happy to share what we're seeing. Contact Us.