Zel's Del Mar

Churros with ice cream

Zel’s Del Mar is a fun, casual restaurant and bar on Camino Del Mar.  The food is great and you won’t feel out of place if you show up with beach sand on your feet.  We were on our way to the racetrack, so were tidy and presentable.  The lunch menu is sandwiches, salads and flatbreads with interesting flavors and combinations, like a bison burger, crisp mahi tacos, bean quinoa crumble flatbreads and more.  In case you aren’t from California, you should know that the fish taco is our state fish.  (Actually, it is the Garibaldi fish).  The menu was so tempting, we had trouble deciding.  They also serve breakfast until 3:00 PM.

My friend and I decided to split the grilled chicken flatbread.  There was a nice char on the bread and it was loaded with arugula, diced artichoke, chicken and avocado.  It was so filling, we decided to split dessert.  We had the churros bites with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.  It was a good dessert to split, because it would have been too much for one.  The churros were delicious and the ice cream complimented it well.

Flatbread loaded with avocado

Zel’s is one of the many great restaurants in Del Mar.  It is a great place to stop if you are heading to the Del Mar track or need a break from the beach.  There are a lot of interesting stores in Del Mar, so Camino Del Mar is a good shopping street.