Eating out

Seed oil free restaurants in San Diego, CA

Short answer

42 places in San Diego, CA are reported to cook without seed oils: 34 cook with animal fats or fruit oils — beef tallow, lard, duck fat, ghee, butter, olive, avocado or coconut oil, 5 fry in peanut oil, 3 report being seed-oil free without naming a fat. Each entry reflects what the venue has been reported to use rather than an inspection, so call ahead before you rely on it.

Cooking with animal fats and fruit oils

Beef tallow, lard, duck fat, ghee, butter, olive, avocado or coconut oil — the fats a kitchen chooses deliberately, and the clearest signal available from outside it.

  • Barra Oliba

    1980 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowgheebutterolive oil

  • Botanist Barista

    4680 Cass St, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilcoconut oil

  • Catania

    7863 Girard Ave 301 f3, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Costa Brava

    1653 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Crest Taco

    3980 Third Ave, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • Deeply Nourished

    9932 Mesa Rim Rd, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowgheebutterolive oilcoconut oil

  • Deeply Nourished

    5646 La Jolla Blvd, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowgheebutterolive oilcoconut oil

  • Farm To Smash

    3555 Rosecrans St, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowavocado oil

  • Key and Cleaver

    4727 University Ave, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • Lofty Coffee Little Italy Cafe and Bakery

    444 W Cedar St, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Mazara Trattoria

    2302 30th St, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Michele Coulon Dessertier

    7556 Fay Ave, San Diego, CA

    butterolive oil

  • Monello

    750 W Fir St, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • North Italia

    7055 Friars Road, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Olympic Cafe

    2310 University Avenue, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Paleo Treats

    3275 Adams Ave # A, San Diego, CA

    coconut oil

  • Swagyu Burger

    4545 La Jolla Village Dr, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • Swagyu Burger

    315 Tenth Ave, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • The Wise Ox Butcher & Eatery

    2855 El Cajon Blvd, SUITE 1, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • Vanman’s

    1380 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA

    beef tallow

  • Yanni's Bar & Grill

    12015 Scripps Highlands Dr, San Diego, CA

    butterolive oil

  • Zgara Greek Grill

    1229 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA

    olive oil

  • Buffalo Wild Wings

    9690 Reagan Rd, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowchain

  • Buffalo Wild Wings - Camino Del Rio

    1640 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowchain

  • Lazy Acres Market

    422 W Washington St, San Diego, CA

    olive oilchain

  • Outback Steakhouse - Camino Del Rio N

    1640 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowchain

  • Outback Steakhouse - Clairemont Mesa Blvd

    4196 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA

    beef tallowchain

  • Parakeet Cafe - General Atomics Ct

    3535 General Atomics Ct, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilchain

  • Parakeet Cafe - India St

    1680 India St, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilchain

  • Parakeet Cafe - Paseo Pl

    3745 Paseo Pl #820, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilchain

  • sweetgreen - Craftsman Way

    10562 Craftsman Way, San Diego, CA

    olive oilchain

  • sweetgreen - La Jolla Village Dr

    4575 La Jolla Village Dr, San Diego, CA

    olive oilchain

  • True Food Kitchen

    7007 Friars Rd Suite 394, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilchain

  • True Food Kitchen

    4303 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA

    olive oilavocado oilchain

Frying in peanut oil

Peanut is a legume rather than a seed, so peanut-oil fryers appear on most seed-oil-free lists. The oil is still roughly a third linoleic acid, and opinion in the seed-oil-free community is genuinely split on it — which is why these venues are counted separately here rather than folded into the number above.

  • Five Guys - Genesee Plaza

    5650 Balboa Ave #101, San Diego, CA

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Hillcrest

    670 University Ave, San Diego, CA

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Liberty Station

    2445 Truxtun Rd, San Diego, CA

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Naval Base

    2260 Callagan Hwy Bldg 3187-A, San Diego, CA

    peanut oilchain

  • Five Guys - Naval Base Coronado

    Naval Air Station North Island Building 2017, San Diego, CA

    peanut oilchain

Reported seed-oil free, fat not named

Listed as avoiding seed oils without the source naming what they cook with instead. Worth a call rather than an assumption.

  • Puesto at The Headquarters

    789 W Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA

    reported seed-oil free

  • Puesto La Jolla

    1026 Wall St, San Diego, CA

    reported seed-oil free

  • Puesto Mission Valley

    5010 Mission Center Rd, San Diego, CA

    reported seed-oil free

What to ask before you order

A kitchen can change supplier without changing its menu, and a venue that roasts in tallow may still fry in something else. Four questions settle it in about ten seconds:

  • What do you fry in? — the fryer is where the volume is, and it is often a different fat from the grill.
  • Is the dressing or sauce made in house? — bought-in dressings and mayo are almost always canola or soybean.
  • Are the buns or tortillas baked here? — bakery goods are a common hidden source.
  • Do you cook the vegetables in butter or oil? — the answer is frequently a blend.

How to read this list. Each entry reflects what the venue has been reported to cook with. It is not a certification, nobody has inspected these kitchens on your behalf, and menus and suppliers change — treat it as a shortlist to call, not a guarantee. The four questions above are worth asking even when a place is listed here.

Elsewhere in California

Keep reading

Start eating cleaner today.

Your next grocery run is the perfect time to try it. Scan a few things — free for 7 days.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

7-day free trial · cancel anytime.