Herb & Wood — Restaurant in San Diego

We rolled into Herb & Wood with a crew of ten for a bachelor party, ready to celebrate and eat our way into a food coma. We’d booked in advance, but the only slot they had was 8:30 PM — clearly, this place is popular.

From the jump, the vibe was immaculate. The hostess greeted us like we were old friends, Justin (our waiter) instantly felt like part of the bachelor party, and our table in the big dining room was straight-up romantic — fireplace in the middle, candles glowing, and a room packed with ridiculously good-looking people.

🔥 Side note: The fireplace is both gorgeous and a potential personal sauna. One of our guys was basically slow-roasting until a staff member mercifully turned the flames down — ambiance intact, man saved. Also, the lighting is “mood” levels of dim at night. Half our table had to break out phone flashlights to read the menu. Apparently, our eyes aren’t 21 anymore.

🍹Drinks: We dove right in with cocktails — the Mezcal & Mango, Tequila & Watermelon, and the Old Fashioned (all $19 each). Every drink was a hit. I had two Tequila & Watermelons myself — picture-perfect presentation, dangerously sippable. The bachelor went for the Old Fashioned and loved its “strong in the best way” kick.

At one point, someone decided whiskey shots were necessary. We ended up with Jack Daniel’s at $15 a pop… I respectfully declined.

🍽️Food (aka where the magic really happened):

Hamachi ($25.19) – Buttery, flavorful, and gone in about 30 seconds. My only complaint: it disappeared faster than my paycheck.

Beef Carpaccio ($24.64) – Quality meat, tangy vinaigrette, lemon breadcrumbs… this plate had more personality than half the people I know.

Shrimp Toast ($24.59) – Garlic herb butter and tomato broth soaking into wood-fired sourdough. Packed with flavor!

Focaccia ($18.31) – Warm, fresh, and served with apricot marmalade, green blueberries, and whipped crème fraîche. Sweet, savory, and just bougie enough to make me sit up a little straighter while eating it.

Roasted Oysters & Bone Marrow ($29.61) – My friend’s main course and possibly the love of his life. He called it “11/10” and I’m pretty sure he meant it.

Crispy Broccoli ($16.32) – The sleeper hit of the night. Saucy, crunchy, perfectly cooked… Note that it was normal broccoli, not broccolini. MVP status achieved!! 🏆

Golden Dutch Potatoes ($15.71) – Crispy, cheesy, citrusy perfection. I’d order these as an emotional support side any day.

Woodfired Half Chicken ($34.73) – My main, and definitely a win. Flavor-packed, juicy, with a perfect sauce to complement.

Lobster Mafalde ($68.21) – Whole Maine lobster, and rich tomato velouté, the person who got this said they loved it!

Seared Tuna Steak ($32.57) – Three people at the table ordered this, and all three sang its praises.

Gnocchi ($38.62) – Tender with oxtail and parmesan, but reportedly “not overly filling”.

Parker House Rolls ($12.87) – Sweet, salty, and with garlic herb butter that I would legitimately just eat straight.

Overall: The food? Incredible. The drinks? Worth ordering twice. The staff? Attentive, kind, and full of good recs (shout-out to Justin).

My only complaint is that they didn’t bring out a celebratory dessert with a candle for the bachelor — a small gesture that would have been the perfect finale.

Still, Herb & Wood nailed it. Great vibes, excellent food, and a setting that’s perfect for celebrations or a date night out. My wife and I already have it on our “must-visit” list for our next San Diego...

Very much a 10/10 for the vibe of the place, but a little less for variety and healthy options. Some combinations were really good as a whole but didn't leave as good of the last taste if you have components by themselves.

My husband and I came here for our one month anniversary, and they got us a dessert on the house. I'm not sure what it was, but it looked like Blueberry Ice Cream, a Shortbread Cookie, some crunchy thing (maybe butterscotch bits?) and fresh blueberries. The combination of all of this together really was unexpected. I'm not usually a berry fan so this is a lot coming from me. It was even better without the fresh blueberries in my opinion.

Husband got the Vodka & Pear Cocktail to start. It was lime, orange, fall spice, malbec with cheese frico (crispy cheese disc on top) and tasted amazing. I could chug that myself! The cheese added a good complex flavor to the drink (you actually eat it with the drink!)

Here's all the food we got.. Seven Spiced Caulini (roasted then flash-fried cauliflower, fried chickpeas, cauliflower hummus, dried apricot, curry leaves) I asked for the cauliflower not to be flash fried just to avoid some of the oil. It did still seemed pretty oily though but it was okay. The fried chickpeas were so nice and crunchy! As for that cauliflower hummus? That was my favorite part! I could have had a plate full of that hummus with some pita bread on the side. So good. I think the apricot bits we got for a little tart so the whole combination left a little tart and bitter taste in my mouth. A keeper without the apricot.

Husband and I shared Roasted Half Chicken (mostly white-meat chicken, braised kale, pickled mustard seeds, caper herb salsa) Chicken was really perfectly cooked - No complaints about that at all. It did have the skin on, but it wasn't crispy or super flavorful so my husband and I both took it off before eating. The braised kale went really well with the chicken, but I wouldn't eat it buy itself.. Same with the pickled mustard and salsa - real good with everything on the plate, but not to have by itself. Quite a decent amount of kale on their. I was surprised by the vegetable serving on there because most places don't have as much.

Husband got the Oxtail Gnocchi (gnocchi, oxtail, roasted garlic, parsley, chive, sherry, parmesan) and loved it! Oxtail was very soft, so was the gnocchi. I tried some of the gnocchi and it actually was super soft. Downside was that portion size was very small. I don't think it was worth the cost of the dish. There was also quite a bit of plain curry left with the plate after the meat of the oxtail and gnocchi were eaten.

Chocolate Tarte.. Such an amazing dessert! a dark chocolate tarte coated in sesame chocolate ganache, butterscotch sauce on top, smoked tahini ice cream, butterscotch bits around, crispy caramelized praline disc on top. I was surprised by how rich and dark that chocolate tarte was. I'm a very big fan of chocolate that's leaning dark but this was even dark for me! I was shocked! It really went well together with the butterscotch sauce and tahini ice cream and that disc or top. The ice cream on its own..The butterscotch on its own. Even that praline thing on its own. Man... So good! Whoever made this was genius. Most popular dessert because they were just coming out of the kitchen on end. Every other table was...

The restaurant is hard to find because the name is facing a side street. It’s basically in a brick building. You’ll see Crack Shack and Juniper & Ivy then it’s Herb & Wood at the corner.

Parking is difficult to come around in Little Italy so we valet in front of Crack Shack for $10. If you valet at the corner in front of Herb & Wood, it’s $12.

We had reservations for 2 and got seated right away. This place was packed like pre-pandemic days.

Our server was Dominique and she was the absolute best! She was informative and knew how to upsell the experience if you know what I mean! Everything that came out of her mouth and her recommendation and personal favorites, we got. It did not disappoint and this was one of the best dinners we had.

The menu is set up where the appetizers are meant to be shared then you have the entrees but if you want vegetables, you’ll need to order it as a side because it doesn’t come with any.

D’anjouicy ($16) - vodka pear citrus with fall spice. Almost taste like spiked ginger ale.

Pork belly ($21.97) 5 pieces, crispy, caramelized in candied orange and walnut sauce. Wish we had bread to soak this up and scrape the plate! So yummy!

Roasted oysters and bone marrow ($24.97) - OMG this is a must! You scoop a piece of bone marrow and place it on each oyster then slurp it. Then use the bread to dip the sauce. Perfect combo. The bone marrow added a creamy texture.

Mushroom special ($13) - didn’t catch the name of the mushroom but it’s in a spicy salsa verde sauce with peas and topped with crispy noodles. Gives a crunch texture. Super tasty!

Grilled iberico pork “secreto” $(38.99) - basically pork lion with pancetta (cured meat), cannellini (white kidney beans), apple mostarda which is a sweet spicy combo of apples and mustard syrup. All the flavors meshed well together and the texture of the beans.

Torchio lamb ragu ($35.45) - I’m not a fan of lamb but I did try one pasta. The lamb is already in the meat sauce. To me, I could taste the gamey texture and didn’t like it. But my friend loved it.

Raspberry semifreddo chocolate espresso ice cream raspberries ($13.77) - this was a raspberry frozen mousse. Semifreddo is lighter than ice cream so underneath the hard chocolate shell is the raspberry semifreddo which was delicious because it was like eating ice cream. Then you have the espresso ice cream on the side and bits of raspberries and chocolate crumble.

Brian Malarky’s restaurants do not disappoint. We’ve been to Herb & Sea and now Herb & Wood. Great service, excellent vibe, and...