Beach Hut Deli — Restaurant in San Diego

Desperate to find parking to go whale-watching, we ended up parking at the Marriott (here's a tip - if you're here for longer than 3 hours, like we were, then park at the Amtrak station, it's only $17. We ended up paying $25 at the Marriott!) - and on the way to the whalewatching, we wanted a sandwich and it being Christmas day - almost NOTHING was open. we walked past Beach Hut Deli, my husband said hey, it's convenient, let's try it - I figured it would be small portions, probably not very good, and way overpriced - I mean, it had to be - as it was in such a high touristy spot. BOY was I wrong! I can honestly say, they were about the best sandwiches we've EVER had. My husband had (I think) turkey/avocado/pickle, blue cheese, tomato (toasted) on wheat bread - and you think - well, it's just a sandwich, how good can it be? IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE! Normally (at least in florida), you'd get a smear of avocado, so small you'd have to dig around to find it - not here - there were HUGE slices of avocado - all the way through the sandwich - sandwich was fresh, crunchy, DELICIOUS - I honestly can't speak highly enough about the sandwich. Silly, right - I mean, it's just a sandwich! I mean, JUST a silly sandwich!!!! not like it's a 10 course meal!!! But seriously - all through the whale watching tour, I kept thinking about it and saying "wow, that was a great sandwich" to my husband. It really was! I think it was about $8.50 - and well worth it. I myself had the avocado toast, which was only about $5.75 or something like that - two slices of toast with avo and tomato - again - just delicious - I don't know WHAT they do with their sandwiches, to get those flavors - but after the whalewatching tour, I wanted to go back and get another one of each. Unfortunately we couldn't, we had to go elsewhere to meet some people - but if I was EVER in San Diego again, I would most definitely go there and get exactly the same. I don't know what it was about it - it's ridiculous really - I mean, they're just sandwiches - but they were just OUTSTANDING! I seriously think just about the best sandwiches we've ever had (other than the Mack House in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they make the best toasted cheese sandwiches in the world - unique, gourmet - out of this world) - but I'd say this is a very, very close second. Absolutely excellent. No, we didn't see any whales, just dolphins. But it was Christmas Day, so they were probably all off somewhere having...

As others have mentioned, the location is great but the food is overpriced. I would expect things to be a little more expensive in this area of downtown, but for the price, I did expect higher quality food. There are very few fast service restaurants in this part of town, and the outdoor patio by the park is very nice, but definitely expect to pay a lot for a mediocre meal. Service was friendly but slow, we waited quite a while for just two sandwiches. In terms of the food, the menu makes it sound like the sandwiches are loaded with flavor and toppings (lots of different sauces, breads, etc.) but it's really not that flavorful. We got the meatball sandwich and a pastrami sandwich. The meatball sandwich was two giant slices of bread with just four small meatballs and some sauce, very little cheese. Neither the meatballs nor the sauce had much flavor. The pastrami sandwich was supposed to come with lots of toppings and cheese, but if there was cheese on there, I could neither see nor taste it. We completely finished both sandwiches, so it's not good value for the price either. We were still hungry so we got a bowl of tomato soup--it was $8 for a small bowl of soup and "garlic bread," which was just a slice of toasted white bread cut into sections. Again, bad value. Unless I really need a faster meal when I'm in this area of downtown, I will not...

This may be the best casual restaurant on the waterfront in downtown San Diego. The Beach Hut has all the bases covered: Delicious food, excellent cordial service, comfy atmosphere and prime location.

The sandwiches and coffee are superb. My "Stay Classy" breakfast burrito with sausage, cheddar, avocado eggs etc was super tasty, hearty, hot and filling on a nice breezy morning. I also really like their "Skinny Dipper"(roast beef, cheddar, onions veges au jus). And the big chocolate chip cookies are yummy.

Their Ryan Bros coffee is outstanding and at .50 cent refills an excellent value.

I have been watching the World Cup there(big screens on walls as well as large ones in booths for prime viewing) which has been alot of fun.

Service by manager Brittany and Crew is really outstanding..ranks in my top 10 in San Diego and they really know how to make really amazing sandwiches.

The location is unbeatable facing the water/USS Midway Museum with a nice outdoor lounge to soak...