About San Diego Picks

Beyond the beach postcard

Most people picture San Diego as surf, sunshine and the Gaslamp Quarter. Locals know a bigger and more interesting city. There is Kearny Mesa, where Convoy Street is lined with Asian restaurants and bakeries; Barrio Logan, home to the murals of Chicano Park; the sportfishing docks of Point Loma; the Craftsman bungalows of North Park and South Park; and neighborhoods like Mira Mesa and Rancho Peñasquitos, where families run their everyday errands far from the tourist trail.

What we do

San Diego Picks helps people choose. Our editors publish rankings for the kinds of businesses people search for every week: restaurants and breweries, plumbers and pool services, dentists and urgent care, salons and spas, attorneys, real estate agents and more, sixteen categories in all. Every ranking is about one trade only, which keeps the comparison honest.

The way we work

We research each category across the city's neighborhoods, from the coast to the inland mesas. What matters most is how a business has looked after the people it serves, year in and year out. Each business is checked to make sure it is trading and listed correctly; we then select the strongest few and revisit our rankings on a regular basis so they stay accurate.

We are especially careful with the categories where a bad choice is expensive, such as roofing, solar, auto repair and medical care. In those, a long and steady record matters even more.

Who uses San Diego Picks

Military families arriving on new orders who need a pediatrician, a vet and a moving company in a hurry. Students at San Diego State and UC San Diego. Longtime San Diegans hunting for a better mechanic or a new lunch spot. Visitors who want to skip the tourist traps and eat the way locals do.

A word for business owners

If your business appears on San Diego Picks, head to the For Businesses page to claim it and fill in your profile with pictures, opening times and a few words about what makes you different.