"Since opening in 1989, Pacifica Del Mar has been more than just a restaurant — it has been a gathering place, a tradition, and a part of the fabric of Del Mar and North County for nearly four decades," the restaurant wrote on May 15, as The Coast News reported in June. "While saying goodbye is incredibly difficult, we hope you will visit us one last time before we close our doors."
That last visit has a deadline now. Pacifica opened as one of the first businesses in the newly built Del Mar Plaza at Camino Del Mar and 15th Street, and it closes in December. Its closing month falls in the middle of the Village's holiday season. Over the same year, nearly every name around it at the Plaza has changed.
Four Plaza spaces, four changes in one year
Pacifica's departure follows several other changes at the Plaza this year.
| Space at Del Mar Plaza | Before 2026 | Now or next |
|---|---|---|
| Suite 304 | Paris en Rose | Desserts By Clément, open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. since June |
| Southwest corner of the mezzanine terrace | Pacifica Breeze Café, closed in late April | La La Land Café, lease signed; opening date not yet set |
| Urban Girl's Plaza store, open for 15 years | Urban Girl | Beachcity, since May |
| Pacifica Del Mar | Pacifica Del Mar, since 1989 | New operator to be announced by the Plaza |
Desserts By Clément is the second San Diego location for chef Clément Le Déoré, whose flagship is in Pacific Beach. The Plaza's June announcement says a third location in Vista is in the works. La La Land Café will be the brand's first San Diego café. It is taking 1,168 square feet in the former Pacifica Breeze space, with extra seating and room for a line on the terrace deck. Per the Plaza's August lease announcement, construction start and opening dates had not been set. The Plaza's directory still lists it as coming soon.
Pacifica Breeze Café, a separate sibling business that served casual breakfast and coffee, closed a couple of weeks before Pacifica Del Mar announced its own closing, The Coast News reported. The Plaza confirmed it chose not to renew Pacifica's lease. Property manager Tamara Failla told the paper the Plaza has "chosen to move forward with a new restaurant operator whose concept aligns with our goals for the future of Del Mar Plaza." The Plaza said it would name that operator in the coming months. Its current directory still lists Pacifica.
Some familiar names moved down Camino Del Mar
Not everything that left the Plaza left Del Mar. Urban Girl, the gift shop owned by Annie and Chris Glenn, opened this spring at 1210 Camino Del Mar, on the corner of 12th Street. The Del Mar Village Association held its ribbon-cutting on Aug. 20, the Del Mar Times reported. The shop takes two of the three street-front retail spaces at The Torrey at 12th. That's the remodeled building with white board-and-batten siding that also houses Brown Advisory, The Tox Spot and Del Mar Tailor. In August, the paper reported that Lilli Bakery, which also has a café in La Jolla, was set to open next door. The shop sells tabletop and décor pieces, women's, kids' and baby items, Jellycat plush toys, jewelry and Del Mar-themed apparel.
The Glenns now run Beachcity in their old Plaza space at 15th Street and Urban Girl at 12th. "I feel like we're anchoring the street," Annie Glenn told the Del Mar Times. That puts retail along the whole stretch of Camino Del Mar from the Plaza south to 12th.
Between those two corners is the year's other big opening. In early August, Hillstone Restaurant Group opened Honor Bar at 1404 Camino Del Mar, its first restaurant in San Diego County, Axios San Diego reported. The project had been delayed for years. It took over the former Bully's North property, and the menu includes sushi, burgers, martinis and Hillstone's French dip. Bully's North is now Honor Bar, Urban Girl moved out of the Plaza, and the Plaza's café corner is being rebuilt for a new tenant. By the time the Village tree is lit in December, the stretch from 12th to 15th will look different from the one Pacifica opened onto.
The Bing Crosby meet, for the last time with Pacifica
On top of weeknight dinners, bar regulars, birthdays, anniversaries and wedding receptions, Pacifica has long been a stop for people coming to the Del Mar Racetrack. Its menu still carries dishes from opening day, including the sugar-spiced salmon. That makes this fall's racing season the last one Pacifica will serve.
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club runs the Bing Crosby Season, named for the track's founder, from Nov. 6 through Nov. 29, according to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. A few other dates on the Fairgrounds calendar fall around the meet:
- Through Saturday, Oct. 31: Pumpkin Station's last days of the season
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: Lyle Lovett and his Small Large Band, two days before opening day
- Friday, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Nov. 22: SnowJam, the weekend before Thanksgiving
The meet ends the Sunday after Thanksgiving. After that, December has one restaurant month left at the Plaza's 15th Street corner and one big Sunday in the Village.
Sunday, Dec. 6, in the Village
The Del Mar Village Association puts its two holiday events on the same afternoon. The Winter Taste & Sip runs from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6. Ticket holders walk the decorated streets tasting dishes from Village restaurants, with drinks from local beverage partners at "Sip Stops" inside downtown businesses and live music. North Pole by the Sea runs 1 to 5 p.m. the same day. It's the family-oriented side of the afternoon, with Santa letters and children's activities.
How the afternoon is laid out, according to the Village Association's schedule:
- 1 to 4 p.m.: St. Peter's Episcopal Church brings in real snow for kids. It's free and open to the public.
- 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Michael Tiernan plays the Jim Watkins Amphitheater.
- 5 p.m.: The annual holiday tree lighting at the Jim Watkins Amphitheater at L'Auberge Del Mar, with hot chocolate for kids, adult beverages for sale and holiday characters.
This year, the tasting route runs past a Plaza with a new French bakery in Suite 304, a café corner waiting for its next tenant, Beachcity where Urban Girl used to be, and a restaurant in its final month. It ends three blocks south at a gift shop that was in the Plaza a year ago.
The Fairgrounds through Dec. 26
After the Village tree is lit, the season moves to the Fairgrounds. The calendar lists Young the Giant on Tuesday, Dec. 8, Cannons on Wednesday, Dec. 9, and The String Cheese Incident on Friday, Dec. 11.
Coastal Christmas also opens on Dec. 11. The site's group-event form takes dates from Dec. 11 to Dec. 26. It runs 4 to 9 p.m. at the Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. General admission covers the Holiday Light Trail, photos with Santa, and live music. Skating on the eco-friendly Glice rink costs extra, as do food and drinks.
The bluffs, done for now
SANDAG reports that it and the North County Transit District finished the fifth phase of Del Mar Bluffs stabilization in fall 2026. That phase ran from 2024 to 2026 and added support columns, drainage improvements, new retaining walls, erosion controls and native plants. Since 2003, the five phases have installed more than 380 support columns between Coast Boulevard and Torrey Pines State Beach. The bigger question of moving the tracks off the bluffs entirely is still being studied. SANDAG's project page describes it as a separate, longer-term effort.
On the Plaza side, the next news to watch for is the name of the restaurant moving into Pacifica's space after December.
When the Plaza names Pacifica's successor or La La Land opens its doors, the team at Wisdom Properties will be among the first to stop by. If you'd like to talk about how changes like these are shaping life along Camino Del Mar, we're always glad to share what we're seeing in the Village. Contact Us.
