101 Café

San Diego


This tiny, streamlined modern diner (1928) serves all-American classics from omelets and burgers to chicken-fried steak with country gravy, or steak and eggs and hash browns. Check out the local historic photos on the wall. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the owner and can quiz him about local history.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San Diego attractions

1. California Surf Museum

0.69 MILES

It's easy to spend an hour in this heartfelt museum of surf artifacts, from a timeline of surfing history to surf-themed art and a radical collection of…

2. Oceanside Museum of Art

0.7 MILES

This museum underwent a recent revamp and it now stands at an impressive 16,000 sq ft in a modernist, white shell. There are about 10 rotating exhibits a…

3. Oceanside Pier

0.81 MILES

This wooden pier extends more than 1900ft out to sea. Bait-and-tackle shops rent poles to the many anglers who line its wooden fences (per hour/day $5/15)…

4. Carlsbad Coast

2.47 MILES

Carlsbad’s long, sandy beaches are great for walking and searching for seashells. Good access is from Carlsbad Blvd, two blocks south of Carlsbad Village…

5. Mission San Luis Rey de Francia

4.33 MILES

About 4.5 miles inland from central Oceanside, this was the largest California mission and the most successful in recruiting Native American converts. At…

6. Museum of Making Music

5.3 MILES

Historical exhibits and listening stations of 450 instruments from the 1890s to the present, from manufacturing to the distribution of popular music.

7. Legoland California Resort

5.41 MILES

A fantasy environment built largely of those little colored plastic blocks from Denmark. Many rides and attractions are targeted to elementary schoolers:…

8. Carlsbad Ranch Flower Fields

5.51 MILES

The 50-acre flower fields of Carlsbad Ranch are ablaze in a sea of the carmine, saffron and snow-white blossoms of giant tecolote ranunculus. Take the…