Ryan Jubela opened Masters Kitchen & Cocktail in 2014, replacing a legendary drag car shop. Now the sprawling space features exposed bow and truss rafters, a covered patio, planter-divided dining room and bar, shiny booths, four-tops, high-top communal seating, and flat-screen TVs. Executive Chef Josh Richardi now helms a glass-fronted kitchen that churns out flavorful California comfort food. Chickpea falafel waffle is a fun food mash-up balanced with pickled cucumber salad and tangy lemon yogurt. Baby mixed greens come with roasted carrots, feta, pistachio, and apple cider vinaigrette. Entrees are available after 5pm, including seared, togarashi-spiced ahi with foraged mushrooms, green tea soba noodles, nori pesto, and lobster miso sauce.

Greg Distefano, a self-described “brewer-owner-janitor,” opened Oceanside Brewing Company in an industrial area near Oceanside Municipal Airport in 2016. The space features art-lined sea blue and yellow walls, a big back patio, prominent Marine Corps logo, and blackboard menu for 22 taps. 5, 13, and 22-beer flights are available in 5-ounce increments, depending on your willingness to drive/walk/crawl away from the brewery. I would recommend all three beers in my flight: MOC-5, a mango orange cream ale, Jimmy “Juicy J” Hoppa, a juicy West Coast IPA; and Corps IPA, a ‘Merican IPA that Distefano called “the balanced IPA.”

Iole and Miguel A. Young, a couple from Lima, opened Panca in a strip mall next to Launderland in February, 2012. Their Peruvian restaurant features simple wood pallet decor, cream colored and brick walls with photos of Machu Picchu and Peruvian ingredients: maiz, potatoes, spices, and of course panca, an indigenous chile pepper. Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken features caramelized skin and comes with one large side, in my case, skin-on “fresh cut” French fries. Quinoa cakes combine the Peruvian grain and a five-cheese blend in deep-fried patties that incorporate red pepper, white onion, and celery and come with home-made ocopa (a sauce made with peanuts). Anticuchos are available Friday-Sunday, featuring three beef heart skewers that are marinated in Peruvian spices and served with choclo, salsa criolla, and grilled potato.

Chef-owner Christine Loyola has turned Petite Madeline Bakery into a neighborhood favorite since 2011. The space features exposed wood rafters, concrete floor, glass siding, and tantalizing pastry-filled cases and counters. The two baked goods I tried were both very good, a flaky chocolate croissant called a chocolatine and their brioche du jour, in this case loaded with apricot and pastry cream, topped with candi sugar. Petite Madeline Bakery is also known for breakfasts featuring house-baked breads, hand-crafted sausage, and of course eggs.