Has anybody been to Campfire? The menu looks pretty good.
Headed down to Legoland this weekend. Only there for a night + 2 days. Plan on checking out The Crack Shack in Encinitas for 1 dinner. Copa Vida for coffee and pastries.
Is Tip Top good for breakfast or should we just stick to sandwiches and German fare?
Never been for breakfast, but Tip Top has always felt heavy and unrefined. Maybe that’s what they’re striving for, but it really wasn’t my cup of tea.
If you are heading south of the 5 to Legoland (from LA) and are looking for a breakfast spot, consider Beach Break Cafe (in Carlsbad, off Cassidy from the 5). Corned beef hash and chicken fried steak are both worthy gets.
Thanks Ipse. I figured as much. Will try Beach Break Cafe - you had me at corned beef hash.
I would skip Tip Top for the restaurant part but they are nice for some German/European stuff and have a very good butcher
It’s what a lot of Americans think German food is, so they are just fulfilling their role. 
Great recommendation. We haven’t Peruvian this good since the old days of Balcones del Peru in Hollywood. All of the sauces for every dish were fresh and vibrant. I would have loved to try the anticuchos but nobody else would eat them at the table.
Somehow we ended up eating a whole bird, a plate of lomo saltado and the tiradito. This place is on our list anytime we’re back in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area.
[quote=“js76wisco, post:26, topic:5053, full:true”]
Next time try the Chicharron sandwich. Make sure to order an extra roti chicken, so you don’t have to share the sandwich.
Also, if you’re interested, a little further south in Encinitas is another fine Peruvian restaurant, Q’ero. The tacu tacu, pappas rellenos are very good, and make sure to grab a bottle of their housemade aji panca sauce. It’s fantastic on eggs, as well as hot dogs. Or in a shot glass.
Is there a large Peruvian community down in this area? I’ll give this a try and definitely want that chicharron sandwich from Panca as well.
Long, but adding on since we just visited:
Pizza Port - great beers and most seem to fall around 6% ABV which is nice because you can try a couple without feeling over the top tipsy. Pizza was good, but as mentioned elsewhere probably not the best in town? We went simple and ordered a medium with signature crust, regular sauce, pepperoni and sausage. Unfortunately we got Canadian bacon instead of pepperoni. Really think crust so if you like it bready it’s great. Sauce was tasty.
Spiritos - Family of Four we ordered cheese ravioli with tomato gravy, meatball a la cart, chicken Parmesan with sautéed garlic broccoli on side instead of pasta and cheese pizza. The tomato gravy on everything is fantastic. Rich flavor and just savory and delicious. Ravioli and meatball were both great, but the chicken Parmesan had a permeating fried flavor to it, and the broccoli was way overly salty. Pizza was fine, nothing spectacular but not bad.
Haggo’s Organic Tacos - yes, we went to two DDD places… don’t hate. So only two of us at the rest of the stops. We loved this place! The beans that come with each plate are super flavorful. Fish burrito fresh and delicious. Steak tacos consumed before I could ever ask how they were. Small and very good selection of local beers on tap. Surprisingly good wines as well for a list of three - two from Sean Minor and one from Turley. Nice offering of kombucha as well. We may have enjoyed this extra because it was two days after Thanksgiving and one day after pizza/pasta and fresh and healthy was extra appreciated. We also loved the atmosphere with Bob Marley tunes setting the vibe.
Park 101 - stopped in for a glass of wine. Such a fun place! Upstairs bar with view of Carlsbad center (21 and over), downstairs open patio with play space for kids and dog friendly. They seem to have carved out a space for everyone. Decent wine list although a bit pedestrian. Great beer selection. Free cotton candy with kids meals. Didn’t try the food but would probably visit again at least for drinks.
Wench and Rodent Seabasstropub- Didn’t realize that this place has two sides, the W & R side and a noodle semi-takeout place side. This felt like a great local hang out. Funky fusion-ish menu. We were greeted and offered to order drinks while they got a table ready for us. We ordered soup (wasn’t given a description) which was a relatively sweet broth with rice, green onion and bean sprouts. Not our favorite. Then we ordered some nigiri- very fresh, good quality fish. The rice was seasoned well. Some were brushed with sauce which was again sort of sweet. We had to ask for wasabi and ginger. Tuna belly yakitori was especially delicious- marinated well, savory. While we typically order more nigiri and sashimi we ordered a roll since they seemed to comprise about a quarter of the menu. We got a mango roll - sort of a California roll with yellow tail on top and topped with mango salsa. It was tasty, but my daughter ordered an extra order of Scottish salmon nigiri after since she preferred that. The staff here was so friendly! We were seated in a tiny room in the back that is only open on the weekends. It felt like a little room in someone’s house decorated with posters and house plants. Music (David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd,etc) and atmosphere were fantastic, and the prices were good. We feel like we might be regulars if we lived here.
Gaia Gelato- Oh my goodness. Go here! The ingredients show so vibrantly in the gelato! Highlights were honey lavender and banana chocolate chip. Sweetest family owns it as well.
Cafe Topes - what a find for our last day! Big, hearty breakfasts. So many great options from scrambles to benedicts, several pancake options and a couple of yogurt/granola bowls plus specials. We had Mexican Benedict (chorizo or soyrizo with tomato and avo - they were out so added spinach instead- with chipotle hollandaise) and country benedict (on biscuits with sausage patties, sausage gravy and bacon crumbles). Delicious but we couldn’t come close to finishing. Definitely an indulgence. Again with a super friendly staff. Carlsbad has been consistently friendly.
We were also here for soccer and good thing since we ate so much! What a fun town for a tournament. Can’t wait to return.
Will be in Carlsbad in a few weeks for Legoland. Any new places to add other than what’s mentioned in this thread??
I am also a Pizza Port fan as well, if you want to go down to Encinitas for Mexican La Especal del norte is a local institution especially for their Mexican soups but everything is good and it’s a nice place to go with kids
Pure Project Carlsbad is open. Great tap list as usual and rotating food vendors.
La Especial looks good! What do you recommend there?
So far, I’ve bookmarked:
Cafe Topes
Panca Peruvian
Beach Break Cafe
Pizza Port (but their pizzas look kind of like Costco pizza? 
)
My favorite is the Tlapeño I had the Albóndigas this morning and my friend the Tortilla soup (too much Ridge Montebello last night) but really it’s all pretty good not fancy but tastes like soup you’d have in someone’s home.
Pizza Port is where all the young surf families went for pizza when I lived here. It is that very Americana throw everything on top kinda place but done well IMO. They make their own ice cream, root beer & beer in house. No place in LA like it that I can think of
One Love Island Cuisine
Campfire
Pepper tree frosty
Cross street chicken and beer
Haven’t been to any of these recently, have fun at Legoland
As someone who spends a week in Carlsbad every year and goes to Pizza Port every time I would suggest going in spite of the pizza and not because of it. Lots of toppings for sure or consider wings and salad. The beer is phenomenal and the kids love it.
Additional options not mentioned include:
Bagby Brewing (O’side)
Jeune et Jolie (upscale)
Union Kitchen & Tap
URBN Pizza
Buona Forchetta
Crack Shack
Just returned from 3 nights in Carlsbad.
Ate at URBN pizza twice since we were traveling with kids and they loved it. Giant pizzas cooked in coal oven. Doesn’t have the blisters of neapolitan pies but the crust was just as floppy as neapolitan pies. The toppings seemed of high quality and tasted great, but if you’re looking for crispy crust, this is not it. Really good chopped salad as well. Biggest complaint would be that it takes unnecessarily long for them to make the pizzas. Both times we went, it wasn’t very busy but it took about an hour from ordering to get our pizzas. They need to work this out somehow.
Definitely the highlight of the trip was The Taco Stand in Encinitas. Fantastic carne asada. The burrito is crave worthy and MAYBE the best burrito I’ve had in my life. Got the regular and not the California style. I’m going to crave this burrito. Pass on the churros. Was below average. We went around 1pm and only had to wait about 15 min to order. The lines at dinner time were much longer.
I’d you’re ever in OC there is a Taco Stand in downtown Orange in the circle. Nearby a bunch of good breweries and Angel Stadium.
I’m rarely in OC but thanks for the heads up. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.